1) Soft rock is highly undervalued in the modern framework of "mainstream" music. Somehow, as mainstream tastes have shifted in the past 15 years or so, it's become a requirement that all music - even terrible pop stuff like the feces set to music by Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood - has to be "edgy". Even if the sum product of the artistic effort contains no meaning, musical ingenuity, or vocal talent, there has to be some sort of attempt at expressing a high-intensity emotion.
Soft rock, which I'm not even going to define (as was once said about pornography, you don't need to define it because you know what it is when you see it), almost never possesses an emotional "edge" at all - and even the soft rock which is actually good is marginalized to old-person radio stations as a function of this.
Lots of music that we derisively label as "soft rock" in 2010 was created by some very talented singer-songwriters and rock music groups - groups that were once considered part of the mainstream. Individuals like Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, Elton John, Bruce Hornsby and Boz Scaggs, as well as mainstream rock bands like Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Foreigner, and America, are these days most often heard on radio stations designed for your dentist's waiting room/office cubicles occupied by 56-year-old accounts payable managers.
Why? In my measured opinion, because they're not "cool" enough. I don't mean to knock the ways in which we label music as cool, because in general this is a very accurate long-term process of self-selection. (For instance, we realize now that Led Zeppelin is much cooler than Michael McDonald. If I were the program manager at a large-city classic rock station and I needed ratings, I'm going to fire up the Zepp and play the dulcet tones of Mikey McD, if I play him at all, early on Sunday mornings.)
2) Point #1 doesn't mean that soft rock isn't good. Now, much soft rock isn't that good. (In the soft rock playlist that follows, you won't see anything from Wham! or Celine Dion or anything.) But most people who listen to music do it for a combination of two reasons - they like the music itself, and they like what the music tells them about themselves. It's the second reason that often gets in the way of people understanding that soft rock is often valid.
3) Soft rock tells us something meaningful about ourselves, it's just we often don't want to hear it. Like all forms of art, music helps us understand things - most importantly, ourselves in relation to the world. For instance, if I'm driving in my car and I get cut off by some asshole, I'm going to put on Metallica or something, most likely. I think that I do this because Metallica matches my mood (which is anger), and it also helps me understand (in a weird way) that I am still validly a man.
Soft rock kinda serves the opposite purpose - it's searching, smooth, and often addresses silly topics like love and introspection. Most people - especially dudes - are uncomfortable with this form of musical expression (even though they likely secretly listen to it when they're alone, at least sometimes). I'm sorry; I'm just not that uncomfortable with it, and when you become comfortable with it, you become more willing to accept the fact that at least some soft rock is good music, for all the reasons that music can be good.
And now, on to the list... I'm half-impressed with myself and half embarrassed for putting this together. OK, so maybe it's 20% impressed and 80% embarrassed. But still, I'm posting this on the Internet.
Notes on this list:
- Very important: These songs DO NOT REPRESENT THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF MUSIC THAT I ENJOY. I also have every Metallica CD ever - even the bad ones like "St. Anger" - on my iPod.
- Songs that I've included unironically are indicated with an asterisk *. (Translation: If you see the cute little star next to the song title, that means that I genuinely like the song. Otherwise, assume that I'm including the song either because I think it fits sonically or because I'm trying to be corny.)
- Comment and make fun of me all you want - but, if making fun of me, also include in your comment an accurate estimate of how many of the 20 songs you actually like. (With few exceptions, I know it's greater than zero.)
2. "Sister Golden Hair" - America*
3. "The Way It Is" - Bruce Hornsby & The Range*
4. "Walk of Life" - Dire Straits*
5. "The King of Wishful Thinking" - Go West
6. "Things Can Only Get Better" - Howard Jones*
7. "Power of Love" - Huey Lewis & The News
8. "Your Love" - The Outfield*
9. "Higher Love" - Steve Winwood
10. "St. Elmo's Fire" - John Parr
11. "I Wish it Would Rain Down" - Phil Collins
12. "To Be With You" - Mr. Big*
13. "Graceland" - Paul Simon*
14. "Walking in Memphis" - Marc Cohn*
15. "Another Day in Paradise" - Phil Collins*
16. "In Too Deep" - Genesis
17. "Mandolin Rain" - Bruce Hornsby & The Range*
18. "Waiting for a Girl Like You" - Foreigner*
19. "I Can't Fight This Feeling" - REO Speedwagon*
20. "What a Fool Believes" - The Doobie Brothers
Enjoy...
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