Paramore "Paramore"

Pop punk band Paramore have practically made a career for themselves, at such a young age, for being one of the most recognizable names in modern rock. They have released three albums, 2005’s All We Know Is Falling, 2007’s Riot! And 2009’s Brand New Eyes, all of which have a distinctive signature sound that no other band has really been able to duplicate. Much of the credit for the band’s sound has always gone to lead vocalist Hayley Williams and her powerful yet charming voice and her capability to sing a rock song and still be taken seriously. Not enough credit ever does go to the band itself, which consists of bassist Jeremy Davis, guitarist Taylor York (who joined in 2007) as well as the Farro brothers Josh and Zac respectfully on lead guitar and drums.

Alice Sweet Alice "Mandala"

Kansas City rock outfit Alice Sweet Alice has been compared to a few artists since they started recording music. Artists such as Evanescence and Garbage have been mentioned in the same sentence as them rather frequently. Understandably they have a uniquely dark style of an alternative rock sound, which is complimented by the spooky yet smooth vocal styling of female singer Ali Kat, whom I personally would compare to that of Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries, only without the distinctive lilting style of singing that Dolores has.  What is important is that ASA do in fact have their own identity, which has been showcased on three independently released albums, from 2008’s First Light to 2009’s Moloko & Ultraviolence, and their most recent release, 2011’s Mandala.

Device "Device"

By the time Disturbed released their fifth and most recent album, Asylum, in summer of 2010, fans pretty much had an idea of what a Disturbed album would sound liked; David Draiman’s growl of a singing voice and Dan Donegan’s heavy and sometimes over-computer processed guitar licks on top of many different electronic sounds that only a production studio could muster. There were definite differences between each album, but by the time Asylum came out, the band just sounded uninspired and unwilling to really try anything new. To no surprise the band would go on “hiatus” approximately a year later.

Art of Dying "Art of Dying"

I had so much fun reviewing Art of Dying’s Vices and Virtues a few months ago, and I’ve enjoyed writing my reviews of independent bands and their independently released albums so much that I decided to mix the two, to show how far these bands can possibly go.