Why Rock Music is in Trouble

[Weevil]

Way, way too much pressure is put on exciting new rock bands to be "The Band that Saves Rock"

At the Drive in
Oasis
The Strokes
The White Stripes
BRMC

and so on and so forth.

A band puts out a pretty good album and is so hyped to the point that they have to be the next Nirvana or people are all disappointed. Until we learn to just let these bands develop the scene won't grow. Grunge was around for years before nevermind.


Just thought I'd shout some music stuff.

 

[Guest]

Am I so uncool now that I'm almost 30?

I only recognize one group!

 

[Weevil]

Am I so uncool now that I'm almost 30?

I only recognize one group!

I'm afraid so.

 

[nzwookie]

New rock is a failure because it does not have any impact....The older generation of rockers have careers spanning 20-30 years and they still have the ability to hit you in the ears...New bands carry a 2-3 year lifespan at best.....

 

[Weevil]

New rock is a failure because it does not have any impact....The older generation of rockers have careers spanning 20-30 years and they still have the ability to hit you in the ears...New bands carry a 2-3 year lifespan at best.....

That's ridiculous. First off we can't know that unless we're 30 years in the future. Second, you're speaking out of a connection with those bands that most people don't feel. Have the Rolling Stones done anything of note since 1980?

But either way I've always said it's better to burn out than to fade away.

 

[Guest]

Oh well.

It's not as if I was cool in the first place.

And, I'm a big fan of homegrown, as opposed to mainstream. Generally speaking, of course.

 

[nzwookie]

That's ridiculous. First off we can't know that unless we're 30 years in the future. Second, you're speaking out of a connection with those bands that most people don't feel. Have the Rolling Stones done anything of note since 1980?

But either way I've always said it's better to burn out than to fade away.

30 years from now your entire argument will have collapsed....if the bands are still around.....Rock did not die,........

 

[Weevil]

Oh well.

It's not as if I was cool in the first place.

And, I'm a big fan of homegrown, as opposed to mainstream. Generally speaking, of course.

None of these bands are really mainstream. Oasis maybe.

 

[Weevil]

30 years from now your entire argument will have collapsed....if the bands are still around.....Rock did not die,........

Rock has been stagnant since 94. Nothing if note or interest has come out since(Nothing that made a dent in popular culture anyway)

Right so you can't compare the first few years of The Strokes to the thirty years of the Stones and then say "The Stones have lasted longer therefore they're better."

 

[Guest]

Thanks, weevil.
Now, I feel like an old slug.

Heh. Next thing I know, I'll be wearing polyester culottes.

I'm not hijacking, really.

I do wonder if earlier generations felt the same way?

 

[nzwookie]

Right so you can't compare the first few years of The Strokes to the thirty years of the Stones and then say "The Stones have lasted longer therefore they're better."

Im not saying that........lol...I hate the fucking Stones.....

What im saying is Rock will only die if the new bands do not have the same type of staying power as their predecessors..

 

[Weevil]

Im not saying that........lol...I hate the fucking Stones.....

What im saying is Rock will only die if the new bands do not have the same type of staying power as their predecessors..

I don't know about that. The 6 years we had of Nirvana or the 8 years of the Beatles might be notable simply because they didn't have the time to grow stale.

 

[Ukin]

Rock?

Rock and Roll...now there is a terminology of my yesteryears. Being of the age when ROCK was ROCK..I must agree that the old bands and their music lives on and on. I know of Oasis, only because of being English...but I must confer that they...nor none of the new bands will outlive or outperform the bands and their music of the true rock bands. I am willing to bet my last $ that in 30-40 years from now we won't be hearing Oasis or that ilk on the radio. I also believe that the Stones still perform to sell out concerts?
The 60's music still lives and will never die (I hope)

 

[JazzManJim]

Rock, or any other musical form, will continue to be blase until it returns to the philosophy that the music is more important than the marketing.

It's more important to be musicians and perform well and do good God-damned music that it is to look pretty and have flashy dance moves and be in a flop of a movie.

Of course, that's all up to the record companies, and right know, they have a complete strangehold on what kind of music hits the masses. Indy labels and small clubs are live and still kicking, but they're fringe and always will be unless somethign changes.

 

[427cobra]

As a first time poster, I'll keep my response as short as I can. Rock has becoem stale for a great many reasons: too much cooporate involvment, teen pop, fickle public tastes, semi-good bands, and probably many other reasons that have not been thought of or put down. I'm a guitar player, and a pretty good one, but most of the music I like would not have gotten recorded had it been written today. Take Jeff Beck for example, David Gilmore of pink floyd has called him the most cosistent guitarist of the last 25 years, but he'd never get signed or get to make music in todays industry if he hadn't been a legend already. Same with good ole Carlos Santana, and the always mind blowing Jimmy Page. They've made some pretty good music since their 60's/70's heyday, but if not for that they'd never get the chance, for the reasons mentioned above. If rock's introuble, then it's up to the people who love it as well as the people who play it to save it. So much for keeping it short.

 

[Blues]

Rock Music may be out of favor, but most of the truely great rock music cuts were never top 40, nor aimed at the tastes of 14 year old girls.

Me, I still thrive on AOR radio stations and can find quite a few in the major markets ( I can pull 3 or 4 stations up in my area).

Thanks to MTV and VH1, what is today called Rock, is generally anything but. Britney Spears and the boy bands are pop, and Rap is it's own world entirely. Nothing wrong with it, if it's what you like, but call it what it is.

In reality, I can't afford to go to a rock concert anymore. 90 bucks to see the Stones from the upper deck in Giants Stadium, give me an f'ing break!

 

[Darowyn]

I do not give a **** for cool, but I've been involved with Rock since it still had Roll attached, and I can tell you exactly why the Rock Bands were better in the old days.
The bad ones have been forgotten.
For every Beatles there were a dozen pale imitations who were around for a couple of years then went back to work in offices and shops. That happened in every era - We have a Led Zep millionaire in the next town- but at every gig we do we meet someone who was a second rate Metaller at the same time.
Second rate bands can have short lived success on the back of a strong bandwagon- and good bands can have success brought to a stop by their wagon hitting the buffers.
Apart from that there are two down factors for a band wanting to make it today.
The Music Marketers.
You in the US are currently playing host to Simon Cowell. His aim is to make money from music- he does not care whether it is good. He stated that he would rather have Will Young (winner of our Pop Idol competition) than David Gray. "Because Will will always do as he is told, but David might never write another tune as good as Babylon"
The big money comes from peddling junk music to teenies- so all the marketing and promotion money goes on Britney and the Boy Bands.
"Attitude."
A lot of music is mostly aimed at maintaining the generation Gap. As long as your mother hates it, you, as a kid, will want to buy it.
Much "Nu Metal", Post Grunge, Post Rock comes into this category, and so does Hardcore, Hard House, Industrial and countless other clattering Dance genres as well as Gangsta Rap.
The ethos of all these bands is confrontational, rejectionist andnegative. "Ugly music for ugly people" is what it said on one of my student's T shirt.
It would go completely against the grain for any of these bands to put on an entertaining show, or try to connect with the audience, so they are unlikely to make the crossover into mainstream. To make it worse, the press will vilfy and band who does entertain as "sell outs"

 

[wizbit9]

the rock scene generally has become stale with currant bands having a 1 maybe 2 record deal and then flop disapear into oblivion

example the lost phrophets are big at the mo because of 1 single that was released. the album was shite and they are stll gonna be big for a little while.

there is no music to get your teeth stuck into

i grew up a dedicated heavy metal fan listening to the likes of slayer, pantera, sepultura etc

i saw these bands touring 10yrs ago and they rocked then and 10yrs on they are still going on. look at the headlining slots on the ozzfests around the world. kids todaya re getting a raw deal. Linkin Park, Limp biscuit, and papa roach will not be headline acts in a decade things will have become progressively worse.

it going to need a big change in the way the media hypes bands up for us to start getting real talent out on not manufactured pap that sells records through the media shite

 

[Laurel]

A lot of music is mostly aimed at maintaining the generation Gap. As long as your mother hates it, you, as a kid, will want to buy it.

The same could be said for The Who, The Beatles, The Clash, the Sex Pistols, Elvis Presley, and nearly every ground-breaking rock act out there.

Music has not gotten worse - we've grown older.

 

[SINthysist]

Rock became what it was because of the times, the turbulance, the message. The behavior of the generation preceeding mine was designed to shock and offend an America that they felt alienated from.

The latest generations do not feel that and have lost their ability to shock the generations that invented shock. We're pretty jaded. Hell, I see kids wearing the same exact outfits I wore in junior high school.

That speaks volumes...

You can't have great art without great pressures and up until 9-11, our nation just did not have really great pressures, I mean, other than the ticky-tack ones we kept inventing.

Grunge was a reaction to recession and stag-flation as a generation began to loose hope of a bite of the apple...

 

[nzwookie]

A perfect example of staying power........


My musical idol is Alice Cooper......and before you laugh consider this.....

His first album was realeased at the tail end of the sixties
His last album (to date) was released in 2001
It rocks like a motherfucker
He is currently touring although in his mid 50s
He is not now nor ever has been mainstream popular
He survives on musical ability and a dedicated fan base..not hype
He has survived many low points in his career but never given up
He does not bow to the *current popular styles*

Biased I may be but the facts speak for themselves.....

PS......approximately 30 albums and none have made No1

 

[Draco]

Rock will never die...for one simple reason.
All the modern bands/group/singers/whatever keep re-hashing the old songs. Look at any boyband (god forbid) They have their music written for them, they have their dance steps choregraphed for them, their precious little harmonies are all written/compiled/recorded by computer. As long as they have someone else music to plagarise they will carry on. Just look at Ronan Keeting, (one of musics biggest tossers-IMHO) What has he ever written? (actually sat down and physically poured his meagre heart and soul and talent into) NOTHING. He's as manufactured as Chesdale cheese, and about as tasty.

Gimme a singer, a lead, a rythynm, a bass guitar, a set of drums and four or five talented people to play them. Thats a band. Not a bunch of dorks with a turntable, someone elses LP and four idiots in baggy trousers going "YO YO YO Wazzup Ya'all"

Wookie had a good point, give then 10-20 years before calling them legends of rock.

As to what the Stones have done, they are still touring, they are still cutting albums every five years or so, they are still influencing the music scene, even tho they are all nearly 60 years old. Hmmm..Ronan and Piff Diddy or puff daddy or whoever you call yourself...lets see exactly where your are in 20 years time.

And yes, I'm a un-ashamed fan of the Stones, I grew up with them, they cut their first record the year I was born (1964).

Neil Young said it best:

Hey Hey My My
Rock'n'Roll will never die
Better to burn out, than to fade away
Hey Hey My My

 

[nzwookie]

I may not be a *Stones * fan.........but I respect them for what they have acheived.....

Boy/Girl bands are the shit that is burying good music under commercial oriented money grabbing fools...

**Never too old to rock n roll--Never too young to die..**

 

[Draco]

*Too old to rock'n'roll, too stoned to stop*

 

[Weevil]

What you people are missing, for the most part, is that most have you have never heard the bands I'm talking about. You're imprisoned by the mainstream and have become so complacent in your tastes that you accept Clearchannel's ownership of the airwaves and settle back and continue to listen to, I don't know, Foghat's greatest hits.

My problem here has nothing to do with the quality of the music because, I think, right now Music is great. I'd compare it to the late eighties where a lot of great bands were out there on the fringes but they needed that big commercial success to break through.

Draco, how can you at the same time quote Neil with the "better to burn out than to fade away" and push the Stones? The Stones have become the posterboy for fading away.