Most bands play one style of song. If you listen to Metallica it all sounds exactly like Metallica, and if you listen to Black Sabbath it all sounds like Black Sabbath. I like AC/DC a lot but you can pick those sounds out on the radio in a heartbeat because they all have certain things in common. Eric Carmen Read Quote
If you actually go back and listen to my first album, there are some things on there that are kind of rock ‘n’ roll. Eric Carmen Read Quote
So when I went to Arista, I had a period of writing where I suddenly was unrestricted. I wasn’t writing for a band for the first time. It opened up a whole other arena for me to work within. Eric Carmen Read Quote
I remember our first interviews at the Capitol tower. These magazine people were asking us things like ‘What’s your favorite color?’ and ‘What do you like to do on a date?’ I’d ask, ‘Where are you from?’ and they’d say, ‘Fave’ or ‘Rave’ or whatever. We wondered, ‘When do the real writers get here?’ Eric Carmen Read Quote
Half the people tell me, ‘I love ‘Go All the Way,’ but why do you have to write all those schlocky ballads.’ And half say, ‘I love ‘All By Myself,’ but why do you waste your time with this rock ‘n’ roll stuff?’ I’d like to think that I could do both. Eric Carmen Read Quote
I hated prog rock; to me, it was the ultimate expression of a bloated sense of self-importance and mindless self-indulgence. Eric Carmen Read Quote
I wanted to have a band that could rock as hard as the Who and sing like the Beatles and the Beach Boys; a band that could play concise, three-and-a-half minute songs with power and elegance. Eric Carmen Read Quote
It wasn’t until after Raspberries, Big Star and Badfinger came to exist that powerpop became a genre. In each case, I suspect Pete Ham, Alex Chilton and I all felt the same void after the Beatles broke up, and somehow we were all trying to fill it. Eric Carmen Read Quote
Over thirty-plus years, a certain myth has grown up around the band. And the last thing I ever wanted to do was put us on a stage somewhere, in less than the best circumstances, and pop the bubble, have the fans come in and say, ‘Gee, they weren’t that good.’ It’s your responsibility to give them something to be excited about. Eric Carmen Read Quote
