We live in an era of classic-rock revivalism. We go crazy for reunions, we buy as many tickets as we can, and sometimes we even pay attention to the new records these bands put out, even though the general consensus is that no reunited band will ever put out a record as good as the ones they did in their prime.
Of course, not every band can generate the same level of excitement surrounding their new recordings. After all, not every band was all that popular in their prime. Their one or two hits may still get daily play on 93.7 The Arrow, but I mean, nobody's really seriously asking for new music from most of those bands.
Yet they produce it anyway, and I have tasked myself to enlighten you all on their continued existence. With 2012 coming to a close, we now take a look back on all the classic-rock bands who recorded new music this year that you never even knew about or wanted.
6. The Fixx, Beautiful Friction Remembered For: The classic New Wave jam ""One Thing Leads to Another."
New Album: Beautiful Friction, which wants for some detail on the Internet, is apparently the return of bassist Dan K. Brown, exciting the one guy who knows who that is. As for the rest of us, we can be content to fantasize that it's The Da Vinci Code guy and we just never realized he was The Fixx's bassist.
Is It Good?: Not really, no, although fans will be delighted to hear that The Fixx has not changed their sound in 30 years. New single ""Anyone Else" is a little bit heavier on guitars, but sounds no less like it was recorded in 1985. So if you're into that sort of thing, this might be for you.
5. Donald Fagen, Sunken Condos Remembered For: Being one of the guys in Steely Dan. You know, "Do It Again," "Reelin' in the Years," all that.
New Album: Sunken Condos, which apparently some people got decently excited about. It made it to No. 12 on the Billboard 200 and, oddly enough, went to No. 28 in Japan. Fagen went for a "lighter feel" on this one, whatever that means in respect to his albums, because seriously, who listened to his last three solo records?
Is It Good?: You remember that movie 50 First Dates? It's a lot like that. Apparently Fagen developed that kind of amnesia sometime around the late '70s, when smooth jazz and disco were the flavors of the day, and has been working on this album ever since, thinking that those styles are still popular.
His handlers, to their credit, have apparently gone to extraordinary lengths to preserve a studio exactly as it would have appeared in 1979, because the new single "I'm Not the Same Without You" sounds exactly like a recording from that year. It's remarkable really. But is it good? No, of course not, it's fucking awful. It's like Bobby Caldwell if he was even whiter.
