Vehicle
Aging Metalhead
I must disagree with Vehicle.Mainstream music is not E-volving,it is DE-volving into a mire of vacuous meanderings..................
No argument here.
There's just so much emphasis on vocals today the the actual music is an afterthought.
All these cattle call shows are about singing. There are no talent search shows devoted to musical instruments of any kind. Once in a while, a band will show up, but I don't recall any winning anything.
If you think about it, what makes a genre? Is it the vocals? The lyrics? The era? The look? The attitude?
The answer to all these things is yes. They all have some part in the creation of a genre.
However, all these things combined don't come anywhere close to defining the music of a genre.
The music is how people differentiate one genre from another. That's the core, the lightning rod, the measuring stick.
If Sinatra sings The Trooper with a full brass section behind him, you're not gonna find it in the record store's metal section. It's gonna be in the swing/big band section.
What if one of those death/speed/phlegm metal bands did There's No Business Like Show Business? You're not gonna find it in the show tunes section.
The song's music defines the genre.
The music is the final deciding factor when comes to genre. That's why mainstream is so watered down and bland. They don't care about the music, only the vocals.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying vocals aren't as important as the music. It just that vocals are the most easily manipulated musical instrument.
That's why these talent shows focus on vocals. You don't need to know much about music at all to be able to sing.
Same thing applies to listening. Most people can tell a good singer from a lousy singer.
Getting back to the topic at hand, rock music is still here, you just have to do a little more looking.
The music industry is a vocal Pez dispenser now.
If you want current rock music, it can be found right here at CRF. Just look around.
Here's a start
http://www.classicrockforums.com/forum/f51/new-bands-classic-rock-fans-would-like-14137/