Mystic
We're all born mad
Britpop, too.
Is Rock and Roll Dead???
- Thread starter Andyman
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Britpop, too.
Ummmmmm...........................Yeah Okay........................I still think you and your dad are awesome.
I dunno about that, but it all may be relative. Coming of age during a time when the likes of Hendrix, Jagger/Richards, Clapton, Lennon/McCartney and others has us longing for the good old days, just like those before us may have longed for Sinatra, Goodman, and Miller.
For some reason, the experiences and styles of adolescence seem to be the ones that define us to some degree. I'm just wondering what musically today is doing it for my kids, as it certainly doesn't seem to be what we called rock.
spideyjack
Addicted Member
life will continue on this planet for many thousands of decades. Not every era can boast true rock n' roll phenomena like The Dave Clark Five, Foghat or Veruca Salt. Sometimes greatness may skip a year or two.
nitrous
96 dB freak!
Is R'n'R dead?
According to this week's Rolling Stone, Rod Stewart's new Merry Christmas, Baby album sold 162,000 copies in the last 2 weeks, putting this in the #3 position on their Top 40 Albums chart. Selling 162,000 LPs in the late 60s probably wouldn't have even gotten you into the Top 50 back then. Look at any Billboard or Cashbox Top 100 list from the late 60s. Now look at 1 today (does Billboard still have a Top 100 list today?) Seems that most songs in the bottom 50 slots from the late 60s could easily place in the Top 10 today. No competition.
According to this week's Rolling Stone, Rod Stewart's new Merry Christmas, Baby album sold 162,000 copies in the last 2 weeks, putting this in the #3 position on their Top 40 Albums chart. Selling 162,000 LPs in the late 60s probably wouldn't have even gotten you into the Top 50 back then. Look at any Billboard or Cashbox Top 100 list from the late 60s. Now look at 1 today (does Billboard still have a Top 100 list today?) Seems that most songs in the bottom 50 slots from the late 60s could easily place in the Top 10 today. No competition.
I've made comments to people that I think rock is dead. They usually recommend me a list of indie rock bands that i "should love". None of them ever impress me that much. Most of them try so hard to sound retro and lo-fi that they sound cartoonish, with a whiny lead singer and "ironic" lyrics. The Strokes were cool but they are the only band of their ilk that I like.
The strokes are the most recent band that I enjoy. I just don't like anything that's come out in the past 5 or six years, I wish I did
The strokes are the most recent band that I enjoy. I just don't like anything that's come out in the past 5 or six years, I wish I did
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Rock and roll is not dead.
It has changed. Morphed. Evolved. Pick a term for it. Look at how it is marketed and delivered compared to the Stones heyday.
I recall being outraged that Emerson, Lake and Palmer were demanding $8 a ticket because they were touring with a full orchestra. Today that would seem like a free show.
When I was my son's age, we hung out in front of a pair of speakers and spun The Who and BOC and whoever else was stacked on the spindle. There is not as much of a communal experience with younger people nowadays. Thus the appeal of an 80K stadium crowd is not what it once was.
Times change, the players change, but Rock and Roll can never die. I know this because Neil Young said it was so.
It has changed. Morphed. Evolved. Pick a term for it. Look at how it is marketed and delivered compared to the Stones heyday.
I recall being outraged that Emerson, Lake and Palmer were demanding $8 a ticket because they were touring with a full orchestra. Today that would seem like a free show.
When I was my son's age, we hung out in front of a pair of speakers and spun The Who and BOC and whoever else was stacked on the spindle. There is not as much of a communal experience with younger people nowadays. Thus the appeal of an 80K stadium crowd is not what it once was.
Times change, the players change, but Rock and Roll can never die. I know this because Neil Young said it was so.
Yeah rock and roll like the stones did it is dead. The stones can't even do it any more. I found a copy of "some girls" yesterday at the local record store and when I was listening to it my wife was shocked when the title song came on. A song from 1978 or so...
But there are modern bands that channel those bands. But what they lack is the excitement that surrounded the legendary bands. Jack White makes great rock music and has some interesting things to say about music but he isn't driving a rolls royce into a pool.
The black keys giggle about the one time they smoked pot and like... had no idea what was going on man, in their interview on fresh air. It just is a little timid for me. It isn't what made me want to play guitar, grow my hair into the ugliest hairstyle possible and make every bad decision I possibly could.
On the other hand hip hop has completely eclipsed rock music in the excitement factor. Those guys really can't stay out of trouble. And I think it is safe to say they are encouraging the young people to act dumb. And they took the rock audience and didn't ever look back. I think rock was last seen visiting hip hop in prison. It was in there on a gun charge.
Will rock music get it's excitement back? Hard to say. But I am hopeful. When things are at their worst is when something will pop up. The best rock music has always been the stuff that was a reaction to the status quo. Just takes a fresh voice.
The surefire way to know it is back is that the kids will like it and you and I...
We will hate it--- that is how the kids will know it is good.
But there are modern bands that channel those bands. But what they lack is the excitement that surrounded the legendary bands. Jack White makes great rock music and has some interesting things to say about music but he isn't driving a rolls royce into a pool.
The black keys giggle about the one time they smoked pot and like... had no idea what was going on man, in their interview on fresh air. It just is a little timid for me. It isn't what made me want to play guitar, grow my hair into the ugliest hairstyle possible and make every bad decision I possibly could.
On the other hand hip hop has completely eclipsed rock music in the excitement factor. Those guys really can't stay out of trouble. And I think it is safe to say they are encouraging the young people to act dumb. And they took the rock audience and didn't ever look back. I think rock was last seen visiting hip hop in prison. It was in there on a gun charge.
Will rock music get it's excitement back? Hard to say. But I am hopeful. When things are at their worst is when something will pop up. The best rock music has always been the stuff that was a reaction to the status quo. Just takes a fresh voice.
The surefire way to know it is back is that the kids will like it and you and I...
We will hate it--- that is how the kids will know it is good.
Highwaystar
Active Member
Muse anyone?
Rock band of the last decade IMHO. :thmbsp:
Karl
Rock band of the last decade IMHO. :thmbsp:
Karl
Isn't this the point where JohnVF comes in and derides us all for being old farts fixated on our outdated, antidilluvian, and oh-so yesterday fixations?
More seriously, and as I have said before, take a look at 1967. That year featured albums like Disraeli Gears, Are you Experienced, Odyssey & Oracle, Days of Future Passed, and even Satanic Majesties, that while criticized, is a much better Stones album than anything since Some Girls. I will not even mention the controversial Sgt Pepper. Well I guess I just did.
Anyway, can anyone imagine rock and roll ever producing another year like that? The last comparable year was 1991 and that was a long time ago.
R&R is not dead though. But it has waned and is now joining its cousin Jazz as a niche artistic form.
More seriously, and as I have said before, take a look at 1967. That year featured albums like Disraeli Gears, Are you Experienced, Odyssey & Oracle, Days of Future Passed, and even Satanic Majesties, that while criticized, is a much better Stones album than anything since Some Girls. I will not even mention the controversial Sgt Pepper. Well I guess I just did.
Anyway, can anyone imagine rock and roll ever producing another year like that? The last comparable year was 1991 and that was a long time ago.
R&R is not dead though. But it has waned and is now joining its cousin Jazz as a niche artistic form.
Never heard of them, which seems to support my point...
Isn't this the point where JohnVF comes in and derides us all for being old farts fixated on our outdated, antidilluvian, and oh-so yesterday fixations?
It's exactly that time!
Actually, all that I was going to say is that music is consumed differently now, and those who are the types that really would have been into the Stones in the past, now have a hundred indie bands to choose from instead of just the Beatles or The Stones to fight over. And because everybody's taste is a bit different, everybody gets their own band. That's part of indie's charm, and part of its curse. The shared culture of a giant band is missing, but you get to have this thing that is almost exactly to your taste, and shared with just a few people. A lot of bands today aren't in it to fill stadiums (though they probably wouldn't mind). They're happy with a small cult following.
I love the Stones but I don't know that we'll ever see anything like them, or Zeppelin, or The Beatles phenomenon again. Music consumption is different, music itself takes up less of a share of the cultural pie (video game franchises are the youth hits of today, and I don't say that with derision, its just something else to be into and they're very well done).
But yeah, I will say that you can't look at 2012 through the lens of 1972 and find anything like that. It ain't dead, its gone into hiding.
I think probably more money is being spent on video, but music seems to be more pervasive than ever. Folks everywhere are listening on phones and iPods and there's at least 3 American Idol style programs eating up the broadcast bands. It seems to be everywhere, but you are right, it's so micro-marketed and segmented that no one genre or band dominates as some did back in the day. And those dominant genres certainly aren't what we called rock
:thmbsp:
"Coming of age during a time when the likes of Hendrix, Jagger/Richards, Clapton, Lennon/McCartney and others has us longing for the good old days,"
Oh please with the exception of The Beatles( a boy band at the time) and few Stones tunes baby boomers weren't listening to that stuff when they were teens.
Oh please with the exception of The Beatles( a boy band at the time) and few Stones tunes baby boomers weren't listening to that stuff when they were teens.
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