Carlie Fahrnbach Christine Olding ENG 200 8 April 2014 Rhetorical Analysis Bob Marley and KISS are

both musicians who have made their mark on the musical world. With both groups having sold over millions of albums it would be safe to say that they were successful artists. These artists were definitely successful in their own ways. It is important to look at the ethos, logos and pathos of these artists and one of their songs in order to see the way in which they differ. When compared to KISS, a glam rock band, Bob Marley does not exhibit the typical ethos, logos, and pathos aspects of Glam Rock. With that being said, it would be difficult to consider Bob Marley a Glam Rock artist. Bob Marley was born in February 1945 in St. Ann Parish which was a very poor area of Jamaica. Marley was born to a young black mother and a white father who eventually vanished from Marleys life. Marley eventually lived in Trench Town Kingston where he struggled in poverty. However, Marley found hope in the traditional reggae music of Jamaica. Marley eventually began working with his childhood friend Bunny Livingston and thus the band Wailing Wailers was formed. The Wailing Wailers caught a break when they signed with Island Records. After a couple of years, the band decided to break up and that is when Bob Marley began his career as a solo artist. Marleys career flourished and he began selling millions of records. His music was gratefully influenced by his spiritual beliefs in the Rastafarian movement. Bob Marley eventually died of cancer in May of 1981 at the age of 36. After his death Marley was awarded the Album of the Century for his hit album Exodus (http://www.biography. com/people/ bob-marley-9399524). Needless to say Bob Marley lived a very successful life and his career as an artist exemplifies that perfectly. KISS formed as a band in 1970 when Simmons and Stanley met in a different band. They eventually added Criss and Frehley to the mix. The band quickly became known for their theatrical performances and makeup. Although their fans were always supportive of their music, KISS had a hard time getting started and were not always financially stable. Things began looking up for them after they released their album Alive. Their fan base became much broader after this as well. They began reaching

Fahrnbach 2 teens and more females. Criss ended up leaving the band in 1980 and was replaced by Eric Carr. The band was not depicted without their makeup until 1983 in their song Lick It Up. Although most fans thought their career ended in 2001 with a final tour, they were pleasantly mistaken to learn that KISS is continuing to make albums and occasionally touring (http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/kiss/ biography). The band sold millions of albums and had a very successful run and have the potential to keep that run going for years down the road. When looking at Bob Marley and analyzing his style of music it would only make sense to analyze one of his most well-known songs, One Love. This song was written in 1977 and was a part of Bob Marley & the Wailers album Exodus. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Love/People_Get_Ready) The song is a perfect representation of Bob Marleys musical style and how he exhibits ethos, logos and pathos. When looking at the ethos in this song it is clear that Bob Marley exhibits aspects of representation, credibility and authority in the song One Love. Bob Marely represents himself modestly in this song and in all of the songs that he performs for that matter. Bob Marley tends to dress very simply, jeans and a t-shirt with his very famous beanie to hold his dreads in. He has a very relaxed style and never really wears anything over the top or flashy. Marley is also very credible as far as this song is concerned in the sense that he is responsible for bringing reggae music to the United States and across the world. Finally, concerning ethos, Bob Marley has authority over this song considering he wrote the song and performed this song. As far as logos is concerned in this song, Bob Marley is most definitely making a claim and it is also clear that this song does not have a solid structure. The claim that Bob Marley is making in the song One Love is all about peace. Bob was all about peace in his music and this song is no acceptation. He is pushing for peace in this song. Bob wanted all war to stop and it was his goal to bring peace to people. Bob even went as far as to host a One Love Peace Concert where he brought together both political parties on stage and had them shake hands as he sang songs of peace. Bob Marley is expressing this same desire for peace in his song One Love. He is saying that we all need to have one love, one vision, one mission. He says that everyone needs to come together as one and then everyone will be alright. This separation and war is not the end, there is still improvement to be had. Bobs vision in this song is essentially peace for everyone. It is also clear that this song has no structure to it. When looking at the

Fahrnbach 3 lyrics it is clear that all of the verses are different. There is not one section of the lyrics that is exactly the same, they change every time. Finally, when looking at the pathos of this song it is important to look at the visuals, the singing as well as the lyrics of this song. When looking at the visual of this song it is clear that his performance does not draw emotional responses because he is so calm when he plays. Because of his heavy intake of marijuana (up to 1lb a week), he is more relaxed when he plays and it becomes very clear that he is not playing to entertain his audience with a show but rather he is entertaining his audience with the music. The vocals and singing in this song are very happy and they draw a happy emotional response for me. They are upbeat and make the listeners feel a sense of hope. Finally, the lyrics in this song draw an emotional response for me as well. I really like the lyrics to this song and what they stand for. I have personally seen division all around me and the hurt that it can cause and hearing Bob Marley singing about unity and coming together to love one another puts a smile on my face. I think too often we are wrapped up in our own beliefs and our own desires that we can cause division within us because we are too consumed with ourselves. Bob is saying in this song to let all of that go and to just love one another. This is a great message that I think everyone needs to hear! When analyzing the ethos, logos and pathos of KISS it is just as important to choose an appropriate song that represents their music well. Rock and Roll All Night is a great song to analyze the ethos, logos and pathos of KISS. Rock and Roll All Night was released in 1975 and was written by Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. The song is so well liked and popular that it has been the closing song for almost every KISS concert since 1976 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_Roll_All_Nite). This song is a great representation of KISSs musical style and use of ethos, logos and pathos in their work. Concerning ethos, this band portrays an undeniable representation as well as credibility and authority. KISS is very well known for the makeup that they wear. Their dramatic makeup that covers their entire face adds to the theatrical performance that KISS puts on. They represent themselves in a manner that is unique to them. Their representation diminishes their credibility in their music. KISS does not have much credibility in the song Rock and Roll All Night considering they cant even show their faces in the song. They cannot be viewed as credible if we dont even know who they are. Finally, in regards to the authority of KISS and the song Rock and Roll All Night, they have a lot of authority over

Fahrnbach 4 the song. Along with performing the song, KISS also wrote the song. This gives them a lot of authority over the song because they are able to do what they want with it. KISSs logos in the song Rock and Roll All Night is very evident. They are most definitely making a claim in this song. The claim that they are making is that they want to party all of the time. They want to rock and roll all night and not care about the world or the worries of the world. The whole song is about partying and about getting crazy. This is not the only song that is all about partying. Listeners can see that this idea of getting drunk or partying all night is a common theme in music by KISS including songs like Lick it Up and Crazy Crazy Nights. The musical structure of Rock and Roll All Night is very clear and concise. There is a clear chorus and pattern to the song. This makes the song much easier to understand and it definitely helps them get their point across. Finally, concerning pathos, KISS definitely draws emotional responses through their visuals, singing and lyrics. The emotional responses that they draw however, are not exactly positive. As far as the visuals, it is very clear that KISS is performing to put on a show. They are all decked out in their makeup and are giving their audience a show. I personally think this takes away from their music and therefore draws a negative response with me. I personally think that bands need to be about the music rather than the performance. Concerning the singing in Rock and Roll All Night the vocals are very harsh and in your face. Listeners can definitely hear the rock and roll in their music through the vocals. Finally, Rock and Roll All Night has some very strong lyrics and they are also very repetitive which enforces their message of partying all night, etc. The lyrics talk about partying and getting crazy which also draw a negative emotional response for me. I do not think music should be all about sex, money and drugs and I feel like that is what this song is about when looking at the lyrics. Bob Marley and KISS are similar in two main ways. One way that they are similar is in their desire to oppose society. They both want to go against societal norms and be different from their peers in one way or another. This is a common theme that is easily recognized in both of these artists and part of the reason why they were both so famous. They both drew audiences who also wanted to oppose society and do their own thing. Bob Marley and KISS were known for their desire to be different and they both portrayed this message very clearly. Secondly, KISS and Bob Marley are similar in the sense that they both are extremely popular bands. They both have sold millions of albums which go to show

Fahrnbach 5 the success of these bands and their music. It would be unfair to say that one band is more successful for their style of music, etc. because they were both extremely successful musicians. Although the idea of opposing society is the biggest similarity for KISS and Bob Marley it also poses as the biggest difference between the two. The ways in which the two bands oppose societal norms couldnt be any more different. KISS uses extreme measures to oppose society. They want to oppose the societal norm of being conservative and rather they want to party all day and get with a bunch of girls. They do not care about politics or the world, they only care about being the craziest person possible and living a life that harshly opposes society, and this is the essence of Glam Rock. There is a reason that KISS is considered Glam Rock and that is because of self-exploitation and drug exploration. Both of these aspects are used in their song Rock and Roll All Night and are a major reason why they oppose society. Bob Marley on the other hand, takes a completely different approach to opposing society. The aspect of society that Bob Marley opposes the most is war. Bob Marley wants peace in this world and he does everything he can through his music to encourage that. In his song One Love Bob Marley is claiming that we all need to come together and love each other, etc. He is saying that our society is full of hate and we need to leave that behind and love each other. Although Bob Marley used an unimaginable amount of drugs and specifically marijuana, he didnt use that in his songs. His songs were all about love and peace and were never about drugs. It would be easy to look at Bob Marley and think that he uses drug exploration throughout his music however this is not the case because that is a lifestyle choice rather than an image that he wants to portray with his music. Even though both bands oppose society, it is safe to say that their methods in doing so differ too much to consider them being in the same genre of music. After analyzing the background of each musical group as well as looking at a specific song from each group it is clear that these bands differ too much to consider them both Glam Rock. Glam rock bands such as KISS exhibit aspects such as self-exploitation and drug exploration. Bob Marley does not exhibit any of these aspects. Although it would be easy to say that Bob Marley uses a lot of drugs, etc. this is not a reflection of his musical style and the ways in which he opposes society. KISS and Bob Marley are two completely different musical groups and they differ in their ethos, logos, and pathos and with that being said it would be logical not to classify the two groups into the same category of music.

Works Cited: "Nesta Robert Marley." 2014. The Biography.com website. Apr 08 2014 http://www.biography.com/people/bob-marley-9399524 KISS Biography. Rolling Stones Artists. Web. April 8, 2014 http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/kiss/biography. Rock and Roll all Night. Wikipedia. Web. April 8, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_and_Roll_All_Nite. One Love/People Get Ready. Wikipedia. Web. April 8, 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Love/People_Get_Ready.