Genre Deep Dive: The Big Music (Part 3)
Legacy and the modern artists keeping the flame alive.
In Part 1 I attempted to piece together a working definition for this genre that isn’t really a genre and in Part 2 discussed the qualities that make up The Big Music and the important artists from its first wave. Now it is time to examine the genre’s legacy, influence, and identify the musical acts that are carrying the torch (whether they realize it or not).
As with many others, The Big Music intermingles and cross pollinates with a number of musical genres. Two of the big ones being post punk and heartland rock, but that’s not all. Because this “genre” is more of a vibe and sound than style, its elements have been focused through a number of other genres. Some of these include,
Pop rock
New Wave
Celtic rock
Folk rock
Pop
Neo-psychedelia
Hard rock
Jangle pop
Gothic rock
Synthpop
Alternative rock
Indie rock
Art pop
Chamber pop
Post punk revival
Indie pop
And that’s not all of them.
This fact is important to recognize when looking for The Big Music in the 21st century. For example, the Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys, at least for the first half dozen years of the century, certainly played music that was anthemic, pounding, heartfelt, and sincere, not too unlike Big Country before them. Other artists that I would argue fit into the vibe of The Big Music include Sam Fender (heartland rock), The Killers (alternative rock, post punk revival, new wave), Baby Queen (indie pop, indie rock), Dave Hause (heartland rock, folk rock, punk rock), fun. (indie pop, pop rock, indie rock), and Sam Russo (folk rock, heartland rock), just to name a few. Then there’s Taylor Swift. Yes, that Taylor Swift. Her 2021 album Red (Taylor’s Version), appears at number 19 on Rate Your Music’s Big Music chart (when Big Music is selected as the genre or influence). This is her only album to get the Big Music tag, and based on my very cursory perusal of the record, I can hear it. As I laid out in Part 2, this “is more of a vibe and a sound than a traditional genre in music.”
In a way it’s fitting that the first artist to bring back the mood and the vibe of The Big Music was U2. The band’s 2000 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind was heralded as a return to form and is filled with rising and soaring anthems like “Beautiful Day.”
The other album to come out in 2000 was Coldplay’s full-length debut Parachutes. Coldplay is easily the most well known and commercially successful of The Big Music bands in the 21st Century. But in 2000, they were playing a type of folk pop rock that didn’t do a whole lot of rocking. Not that the band has ever really “rocked hard,” but still, this was Coldplay before they went full-on U2. Truth be told, I’d never really listened to Coldplay until sometime last year and I did so after listening to an episode of the podcast Switched on Pop about that band. In the podcast cohost Charlie Harding laid out a theory about Coldplay’s music.
"After going through the entire Spotify catalog, I really feel like I'm beginning to understand them. And especially listening to their fan perspectives. In talking about how Coldplay makes them feel, their audience said "On days that I feel like shit I can put on Coldplay and it calms me down. It's like a familiar blanket." Another fan said that "they're one of the few bands that have a positive message and are just good souls." And yet another listener says that "Coldplay covers a wide variety of topics but you can boil it down to love, faith, compassion, life and death. The band makes great songs that are fundamentally earnest in nature." These are universal themes. They are sometimes antithetical to what I teach in my own songwriting classes where we talk about adding specific details that are unique to your life. There's not a lot of red scarves and cardigans in Coldplay. It's a lot of like "where are you, I love you, I'm reaching out to the universe, everyone is wonderful, love is great, yay," but there's a place for that in music. And in reviewing this entire body of work, I now understand Coldplay as secular worship music."
Harding went on to do a side-by-side comparison of Coldplay’s “Fix Me” with Hillsong United’s “Oceans.” Explaining,
“...worship music like Christian worship music that over the last many decades has sort of merged religious music with pop instrumentation and sounds but with particular emphasis on rock instrumentation, ethereal big organ and string pad sounds, and a unique song form that isn't so much our typical verse-chorus song form, but the ever building crescendo. [...] This is the worship formula and it really codeveloped at the time that Coldplay was coming up. We're playing similar instrumentation, with a very similar, ever building crescendo-like song form."
Hillsong United is a contemporary Christian worship group based out of Hillsong Church (a, probably, non-denominational, charismatic megachurch). Apparently they are one of, if not the, biggest force in modern worship music. My first exposure to this type of thing was about 10 years ago when I attended a service at Church of the Harvest with my daughter. She’d been going there for a few years with friends and wanted to get baptized and asked me to come along (you can read more about my journey with religion and faith here). The service was essentially a concert with a speech in the middle. Unbeknownst to me, this is a thing in places like Hillsong and Life Church. What struck me about the music is how much it reminded me of U2. And that honestly shouldn’t surprise me. Based on my limited experience with Christian music and the Christian music, for lack of a better term, scene is that it was always a few steps behind popular culture. That and one of the secular groups that it was okay to listen to and like was U2. So, it makes perfect sense that those kids who grew up in the church loving bands like U2 would end up making music in the Irish band’s vein. When the 90s pop culture embraced irony, it seems to me that, without even knowing it, those Christian kids embraced The Big Music.
In his piece The Return of The Big Music, Rob Hughes discussed the spiritual nature of the bands U2, The Alarm, and The Waterboys.
“This growing style [...] was haughtily described by The Waterboys’ Mike Scott as “a metaphor for seeing God’s signature in the world.”
Scott’s songs certainly came loaded with spiritual ruminations. As did those of U2 and The Alarm, who both salted their lyrics with Christian symbolism. But most of all this was earnest, passionate rock that aimed to turn live shows into a vast communal experience. Alarm anthems like Blaze Of Glory and Sixty Eight Guns were unabashed songs for the people, rolling in on waves of good time camaraderie.”
Harding finished the episode on Coldplay stating,
“I think that this is wonderful. I feel like the secular world needs uplift, compassion, joy, lyrics about love and overcoming pain that are open to interpretation. That aren't about scarves that you left behind at a lover's house. Sometimes you just need a giant stadium full of people looking for meaning that has a never ending build and a giant message of belonging.”
Hillsong also played a part in the origin story of this century’s other big, Big Music band, Gang of Youths. Founding members David Le'aupepe (lead vocals, guitar, and piano) and Joji Malani (lead guitar) met attending Hillsong when they were 10 years old. They later met Sam O'Donnell (drums) and Jung Kim (guitar and keyboards) through the church. They literally came up in the church.
While not at the commercial level of Coldplay or their contemporary Sam Fender, Gang of Youths have produced three excellent albums of soaring crescendos with songs about life, compassion, loss, perseverance, and joy, one of which is easily the high watermark for the genre in this century–Go Father In Lightness (it also happens to be my favorite record of the 21st Century so far).
The artist that exemplifies what Jim Allen called the “unabashed belief in the redemptive power of larger-than-life rock” more than any other is Frank Turner. Songs like “I Still Believe,” “Pass It Along,” and “Four Simple Words” are literally about “the redemptive power of larger-than-life rock.” Turner is one of a number of punk troubadours that picked up acoustic guitars in the mid-to-late aughts. While his debut EP, Campfire Punk, was his folkiest endeavor, the last song on his full-length debut Sleep Is for the Week, “The Ballad of Me and My Friends,” foretold the big direction he was heading.
This all begs the question, what is the legacy of The Big Music? Obviously two extremely huge bands found great commercial success with this sound and vibe, in U2 and Coldplay. Then there’s the influence. It’s an influence that, I would argue, is deeper and more pervasive than most people realize. To bring things back full circle, let’s again consider Frank Turner’s appearance on the One Life One Chance Podcast and his unintentionally perfect definition of The Big Music.
"...I put it to you that the most influential band of the late 20th century is U2. [...] They invented what I refer to as Stadium Indie and what I mean by that is any type of music where essentially you've got four main chords in the major keys, you've got some instrument droning a fifth over the top of it, you've got a driving beat, and you've got soaring vocals, and that is Coldplay and that's some bits of earlier Radiohead, but it's also Mumford and Sons, it's Kings of Leon. Do you know what I mean? It's all, it's obviously, that's why I say Stadium Indie. There's a template that U2 laid down which and indeed it's some of my stuff so I mean I'm not being bitchy and any of this..."
While The Big Music may never get the recognition that it deserves. The sounds and vibes those post punk kids pioneered in the late 1970s and 1980s left an indelible mark on music, even if most people don’t realize it.
Timeline of Notable Releases (2000-2025)
2000
Parachutes by Coldplay * (Features “Yellow” and “Sparks.”)
All That You Can't Leave Behind by U2 (Includes “Walk On,” “Elevation,” and “Beautiful Day.”)
2001
Sing Loud, Sing Proud by Dropkick Murphys (The band’s third album and first in the 2000s. Includes “The Gauntlet.”)
Neon Lights by Simple Minds (Covers album.)
2002
Cry by Simple Minds (The band’s first proper album of the 2000s and 14th overall.)
A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay (Contains “Clocks” and “The Scientist.”)
2003
Blackout by Dropkick Murphys (Features “Fields of Athenry.”)
2004
In the Poppy Fields by The Alarm (This is the band’s first album since breaking up in 1991.)
Hot Fuss by The Killers * (Includes “Somebody Told Me” and “Mr. Brightside.”)
Funeral by Arcade Fire *
How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb by U2 (Features “Vertigo,” “City of Blinding Lights,” and “All Because of You.”)
2005
Exits by The Boxer Rebellion *
X&Y by Coldplay (Features “Fix You” and “Speed of Sound.”)
The Warrior’s Code by Dropkick Murphys (Contains “Sunshine Highway,” “The Green Fields of France (No Man's Land),” the title track, and “I'm Shipping Up to Boston.”)
2006
Sam’s Town by The Killers (Includes “When You Were Young” and “Read My Mind.”)
2007
Sleep Is for the Week by Frank Turner * (Features “The Ballad of Me and My Friends.”)
Neon Bible by Arcade Fire
The Meanest of Times by Dropkick Murphys (Features “God Willing.”)
2008
Love Ire & Song by Frank Turner (Features “I Knew Prufrock Before He Got Famous” and “Photosynthesis.”)
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends by Coldplay (Includes “Viva la Vida.”)
Prospekt's March by Coldplay (EP. Includes “Life in Technicolor II.”)
Day & Age by The Killers (Features “Spaceman” and “Human.”)
2009
Union by The Boxer Rebellion (Includes “Spitting Fire.”)
Lungs by Florence + The Machine * (Features “Dog Days Are Over.”)
Aim and Ignite by fun. *
Poetry of the Deed by Frank Turner (Includes “Try This At Home.”)
Borrowed Chords, Tired Eyes by Northcote * (Features “Worry.”)
2010
The Suburbs by Arcade Fire
Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys by My Chemical Romance (Features “SING.”)
Rock & Roll by Frank Turner (A “taster” EP leading up to 2011’s England Keep My Bones. Includes “Pass It Along” and “I Still Believe.”)
2011
Resolutions by Dave Hause * (Includes “C’mon Kid.”)
The Cold Still by The Boxer Rebellion
Rise Ye Sunken Ships by We Are Augustines * (The band changed their name to Augustines. Includes “Chapel Song.”)
England Keep My Bones by Frank Turner (Contains “If Ever I Stray,” “Peggy Sang the Blues,” and “I Still Believe.”)
Division by Golden State *
Mylo Xyloto by Coldplay (Features “Hurts Like Heaven” and “Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall.”)
Ceremonials by Florence + The Machine (Features “Shake It Out.”)
2012
Some Nights by fun. (Includes “We Are Young,” “Carry On,” and the title track.)
2013
The Journey by Big Country (This was the band’s first and only album recorded after the 2001 death of Stuart Adamson. The Alarm’s Mike Peters handled vocal duties.)
Tape Deck Heart by Frank Turner (Features “Four Simple Words,” “The Way I Tend to Be,” and “Recovery.”)
Northcote by Northcote (Includes “Hope the Good Things Never Die.”)
Promises by The Boxer Rebellion (Includes “Diamonds.”)
Devour by Dave Hause (Includes “We Could Be Kings.”)
The Narrator by The People The Poet *
2014
Augustines by Augustines (Features “Nothing To Lose But Your Head” and “Cruel City.”)
Strange Desire by Bleachers * (Features “Rollercoaster.”)
Big Music by Simple Minds
2015
The Positions by Gang of Youths * (Includes “Magnolia.”)
Telemetry by Fire in the Radio *
Positive Songs for Negative People by Frank Turner (Features “Love Forty Down,” “The Next Storm,” and “Get Better.”)
Hope Is Made Of Steel by Northcote (Features “You Could Never Let Me Down” and “Bitter End.”)
Greyhound Dreams by Sam Russo * (Includes “Small Town Shoes” and “Sometimes.”)
2016
Your Rock And Roll by Northcote (EP)
Ocean by Ocean by The Boxer Rebellion (Includes “Big Ideas.”)
Let Me Be Clear by Gang of Youths (EP. Features “Strange Diseases” and “Native Tongue.”)
This Is Your Life by Augustines (Features “Are We Alive?”.)
2017
Bury Me in Philly by Dave Hause (Produced by The Hooters’ Eric Bazilian. Includes “With You,” “Dirty Fucker,” and “The Flinch.”)
New Air by Fire in the Radio
You Should Be Happy by The Goo Goo Dolls (EP. Features “Tattered Edge / You Should Be Happy.”)
Gone Now by Bleachers
Go Farther in Lightness by Gang of Youths (Features “What Can I Do If the Fire Goes Out?,” “The Deepest Sighs, the Frankest Shadows,” “Let Me Down Easy,” and “Say Yes to Life.”)
2018
Ghost Alive by The Boxer Rebellion
A Short Obsession with Time by The People The Poet
Be More Kind by Frank Turner (Includes “1933,” “Little Changes,” “Don’t Worry,” and the title track.)
Dead Boys - EP by Sam Fender (Features “Poundshop Kardashians” and the title track.)
2019
Kick by Dave Hause (Features “Saboteurs” and “The Ditch.”)
Hypersonic Missiles by Sam Fender * (Features “Will We Talk?” and the title track.)
No Man's Land by Frank Turner (Includes “Sister Rosetta.”)
Everyday Life by Coldplay (Includes “BrokEn,” “Orphans,” and the title track.)
2020
Working Title by Nat Gray (Originally released under Nathan Gray. Includes “The Markings,” “In My Defense,” and the title track.)
Back to the Party by Sam Russo (Features “The Window” and “Young Heroes.”)
Monuments by Fire in the Radio (Features “Tulare.”)
Let Me Roar by Northcote
Medicine by Baby Queen (EP. Includes “Pretty Girl Lie.”)
2021
Refuse To Lose by Sam Russo (EP of full-band versions of three songs from Back to the Party, “The Window,” “The Basement,” and “Young Heroes.”)
The Yearbook by Baby Queen (Technically this is a “mixtape.” Features “Raw Thoughts” and “Dover Beach.”)
Seventeen Going Under by Sam Fender (Features “Spit Of You,” “Pretending That You’re Dead,” and the title track.)
Blood Harmony by Dave Hause (Includes “Sandy Sheets.”)
I Don’t Live Here Anymore by The War On Drugs
Rebel Songs by The Iron Roses (Originally released under Nathan Gray. Features “Fired Up” and the title track.)
2022
FTHC (Deluxe) by Frank Turner (Features “Haven’t Been Doing So Well,” “Punches,” and “The Gathering.”)
angel in realtime. by Gang of Youths (Features “in the wake of your leave,” “the man himself,” and “the angel of 8th ave.”)
Surrender by Maggie Rogers (Includes “That's Where I Am.”)
2023
Wholeheart by Northcote
Drive It Like It's Stolen by Dave Hause (Features “Damn Personal,” “Pedal Down,” and “Cheap Seats [New Years Day, NYC, 2042].”)
No Joy by Spanish Love Songs (Features “Haunted.”)
The Iron Roses by The Iron Roses * (Includes “Screaming for a Change.”)
Quarter Life Crisis by Baby Queen * (Features “We Can Be Anything.”)
2024
Open Arms by The Boxer Rebellion (EP)
Bleachers by Bleachers (Features “Modern Girl.”)
Undefeated by Frank Turner (Includes “Do One,” “Girl from the Record Shop,” and “Pandemic PTSD.”)
2025 (January-June)
People Watching by Sam Fender (Features the title track.)
* Full-length debut
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