Is Rock Dead?

[Aktivator]

The overwhelming message that came over is that today's rock artist (I deliberately exclude the word 'star') needs to be a business person as well as a musician. The smart ones are bypassing the record labels and taking charge of their own affairs, which, of course, involves messy things like production, distribution, and marketing amongst a million other things. Social media is becoming key to marketing strategy. Another general view is that the day of the rich rock star is over. It is now a job, like any other. Most of the new bands are looking to build what they call 'a community' of followers of say 10,000-20,000. They would hope to get their home addresses/email/phone numbers in order to generate income in the future. How times change - can you imagine getting a phone call from Roger Waters - and even if you did he'd probably tell you to f*ck off

So how does this make rock dead? There are 100's of bands doing this today although phone calls is going to far more like emails. I do agree this is exactly what I'm talking about. although I disagree with a band can't become a bit bigger than 10,000 -20,000. Plenty of bands are doing mid level venues in most
Cities. 500 bands with 20000 fans is 10,000,000 not a dying number .

 

[mrJim]

^^Sure thats fun with numbers I guess but its a drop in the bucket from a sales perspective. right?

 

[Khor1255]

^ let me be clear if you are looking for the same formula hard rock of the 70's and 80's good luck that is a hard find although out there. If you are just looking for good rock it's is still out there. Take a look thru soots list or my list if top albums of 2013. But don't expect the next pink Floyd or led zeppelin .

That's really the point. Groups in the 60s and 70s weren't usually adhering to a formula (at least the truly great ones usually weren't) but rather trying their hand at all the elements that went into the initial creation of rock from previous genres.
Today we usually only see this in groups trying to produce an 'eclectic' sound for it's own sake rather than people who fell deeply in love with the blues, country, jazz, classical etc and felt compelled to express it even if the song was meant as pop or quasi pop. You just aren't hearing whole bands well versed in the fundamentals anymore but rather 10th generation removed from the base rock revival acts.

Again, I'll bet there are bands currently playing that would make me chew on those words but they aren't the ones who are making any kind of commercial success.

Please give me an example if I am wrong here. I would be delighted to be in error on this point.

 

[Big Ears]

Is this the article? Rock's not dead: but you might be killing it... | Blog | Classic Rock

The website seems to be saying that bands, judged to be rock bands by the author, are dismissed by social media users as 'gay' because they have a fresh-faced anodyne image. The magazine's thesis is that people see these images on social media, don't like them and ignore the music. Thus, rock music dies.

This leads me to think:

- Some of us are old enough to remember when even Black Sabbath and the Rolling Stones were fresh-faced.
- Seventies bands adopted a fashonably androgynous look, without being gay (or they may have been, but who cares?).
- Rob Halford and Freddie Mercury are gay, but they are members of real rock bands.
- Who gives a monkey's toss what Facebook users think?
- There is nothing new in juding by the visual image. If I liked the visual image, I bought into the band. If not, I didn't.
- Rock music is not dead while bands play live and audiences continue to see them.

The magazine is adamant these bands are rock bands, but they sound quite commercial to me. Sometimes bands are presented as rock bands, yet, irrespective of their image, they are more like pop groups. The existence of pop groups is not a basis for concluding that rock music is dead.

I don't care for much modern 'rock' music, but it does not mean it is dead.

 

[Aktivator]

I don't care for much modern 'rock' music, but it does not mean it is dead.

Yeah BE I like that I'll change it to

You don't like modern rock , but it doesn't mean it's dead.


Look maybe living in NYC and going to concerts weekly and hanging out with people who are booking bands and writing about music in NYC gives me a warped view. It's a big city's and this city handles a lot. I remember going to see chick corea in 1978 and he was playing down the street from the ramones. Or seeing hot tuna around the corner from a punk club.. It's no different today I'm at a small club tonight seeing some up and coming bands. The first guy was a singer/ songwriter from nowhere canada he is playing in a wool hat and jeans not fashion mag material. The next band from the uk sound refreshing and good. Across the street is a nite club playing lady gaga crap . I've got two friends at different venues seeing bands I like too. Too much good music. Last week I saw a classical guitar summit . Those guys blow the door off you 70 rock guitarists.
I never have the time to see the good jazz

My friend today told me to play old song new song with you guys and see if you could figure what is what.

 

[Vehicle]

Who opened the Grammys this year?

No, rock is alive and well.

 

[coltrane2]

It's dead for any new rock band hoping to make a serious living out of it a la Zeppelin, Bon Jovi or Guns N Roses. However, it can never die for listeners as the archive of great material is locked in stone forever. In 200 years time, assuming the human race hasn't gone and blown itself up, some 14 year old kid will be spinning Deep Purple's Fireball for the first time and marvelling at it. It's like saying classical music is dead simply because that period of watershed genius (1600 - 1910) is in the past. Does that render the music of Bach, Mozart or Beethoven dead or irrelevant?

These are two separate things: rock music being at the absolute epicentre of Western culture is a thing of the past. Like or not, the last gasp was Guns N Roses Chinese Democracy (terrible album, but the last breath of a big budget LP). We were lucky to have lived through that golden age or part of it (1964 - 1992, depending on your point of view and your age). Because it really was the golden age of rock.

Impact? This has no effect whatsoever on our experience in terms of home listening (I can pluck out a copy of Led Zeppelin II, Wish You Were Here or Back In Black anytime I choose), but the live experience of absolutely monstrous, big budget, kiss the baton stadium acts will be dead inside 15 years.

It's the circle of life. Not a travesty or anything to be concerned about at all. Enjoy the music, which is well and truly alive every time you hit play!

 

[Groovy Man]

Aktivator, just because some people, including myself, believe rock's glory days are long over and probably never to return, that doesn't atomically mean their opinions are wrong or they are close minded and they are ''haters'' of modern rock.

Personally, nothing would please me more, than to discover 5, 6, 7, 8 new kick ass- top notch rock bands this year...but the chance of that happening is very bleak.

And before you say, I don't earnestly look for new rock bands is wrong. Word of mouth, through friends in the rock community and the rock world , usually spreads the word of new good rock bands...but so far I haven't heard of any new earth shaking new rock bands in a long long time...everything new just seems so blah nowadays. And that is sad....honestly, very sad.

 

[Pappy]

I don't have an answer to the question but I'll use this post to address a problem I've had with the coverage of rock music. Now this isn't the case with people at a forum like this or music fans like us. But I've noticed a problem of people not letting go of the past. You can look at top ten lists all over the place. You can take a top ten list of things such as Top Ten Rock Singers, Guitarists, albums, Live albums, etc from 1985. For the most part they'll look the same in lists made today. Top bands are still said to be, Zeppelin, Beatles, Who, Rollings Stones, Metallica, Iron Maiden, etc etc. New bands are rarely if ever listed. There is a problem of new bands simply not getting a chance.
I'm not saying bands like those listed aren't great classic bands and I'm not saying top ten lists matter but that's just an example of the ignorance of rock music made after Kurt Cobain died.

There are great singers, bands, albums obviously still being made but there is a large chunk of society that refuses to believe anything is as good as what happen in the 50's - 80s.

 

[Khor1255]

Who opened the Grammys this year?

No, rock is alive and well.

I don't know. Who?