Sadly, I believe in the sentiments expressed by John Q and others below on the difficulty of formerly big selling artists like Journey etc. making a sizeable dent in the marketplace without considerable record company backing. But I don't think its impossible. True lovers of melodic rock and by this definition I include just about everyone who patronizes this site can make a difference. I may not be a millionaire but I'm always buying new product, especially by quality smaller labels like ESCAPE , MTM FRONTIERS etc. If these record labels survive and begin to prosper then eventually the larger companies will take notice. That's the advantage we have over all these 'dance/hip hop/alternative trendies' they don't stick to their favourite bands. And often they only buy "singles" rather than "albums". It's no accident that bands like IRON MAIDEN and even POISON are selling out arenas after all this time. The trick is say on the Iron Maiden bill adding a real up and coming melodic rock band to the tour to capitalize on the success. TEN for example from England are not doing much in the U.S. but I hardly think it's the music. I sent a tape to a few friends in the States and they were all positively drooling at the mouth. They couldn't believe the quality of the music, some of them saying it nearly rivalled prime-era Whitesnake.
Even this site has helped greatly in spreading the melodic rock word. For example, look at the increase in the 'message board' entries as compared to a few months back. I'm not saying 'melodic rock' will become huge again but if we concentrate our resources we can make sure it survives whilst all the other "trends"- hip/hip metal, dance, grunge, boybands fade into oblivion. And everytime a 'biggie' comes around - the latest Iron Maiden or Bon Jovi album, an opportunity avails itself for a lesser known but equally worthy companions like Ten or Heartland.
What do you guys think? CHEERS.KAOS FAN...