Rock Music: The decline of a genre?

Question

The past 50 years has seen the emergence of the most original and proficient rock artists of our time, from Elvis to the Rolling Stones, Led Zep to Soundgarden, Nirvana to the Chilis, Pink Floyd to the Sex Pistols, the list goes on (and on, and on, and on,).

In the past 5 or so years all we have seen in the realm of rock music is the continual churning out of bands that differ in sound and original material as much as the shape of wheels on cars?

Are we to say that the Artic Monkeys are our Beatles? Is Sum41 our Clash? Do we have a Clapton for our generation? The question is; in the face of the continual appearence of generic music on our radios; is rock music a genre in decline in the 21st century? What is your opinion?

Answer 1

I think the originality and the heart have gone out of Rock. Bands are so manufactured and musicianship has gone out the window. I am hoping it is a cycle or a revolution and music in its' purest, raunchiest, most real form with true musicians like Neil Peart and John Bonham, Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Joe Satriani, Jimi Hendrix, Tony Iommi, Les Claypool and vocalists like Robert Plant, Geoff Tate and Rob Halford come screaming for vengeance :)

Answer 2

There are far better bands out there than the Arctic Monkeys and Sum41. And, frankly, Clapton, while a genius as a guitarist has always been a fairly mediocre songwriter.

Regardless, rock music is not in decline. It's constantly changing. You finger the most commercial, crappy pap as being representative of rock right now in Arctic Monkeys and Sum41 and that's not very fair. What about excellent, original acts like Arcade Fire? They have commercial appeal and do not sound cookie-cutter in the slightest. The Shins.

Oh-- and I'll second the above and say that there's literally no way for a band to be the "next Beatles." You had to be first to be the Beatles.

Answer 3

It's not that. It's the A&R people at the labels who, once a song or style becomes a 'hit', rush to sign as many imitator bands as they can. And then many bands follow the trends and try to sound the same. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. It's the same with television programming. All of a sudden there are all these 'paranormal' dramas about people, mostly women, who 'can see dead people' and try to resolve their 'murders' or whatever. They are all spinoffs of that movie where the kid says "I see dead people". I cannot recall the movie title right now. One show like "Medium" becomes a hit, (worthily or not) and everybody else tries to jump on the bandwagon. But the music industry is about to change in the most major of ways. Now, you can download all the songs you want over the Internet, usually okayed by the bands themselves who put their music on the Internet so there is no real need for A&R departments any longer since young people who have been raised with technology download individual tracks instead of entire albums.So bands no longer need to be signed to a label incurring debts or needing big promotional budgets. They just go on the social networks (MySpace, etc.), and post their music. Meanwhile all of the major and independent record labels have merged and there are less than five left and they are megacorporations. With the advent of the Internet, the near demise of the 'record label' is pretty much upon us. It's the Brave New World of music.

Answer 4

In some ways, yes. I do believe that there is a considerable amount of crap music, and not enough industry changing bands. The Stones, Zeppelin, the Pistols, they all changed rock. Rock was not, and never will be the same because of them. So it is hard to find bands that change the rock industry like they did. There is a lot that has been done, that can't be done again. But, I don't think Rock is dead. When the bands you listed were big, rock was the most popular genre of music. It was new, and for that reason, it was more popular. Today, Rap, R'n'B, and Pop have taken over the charts. Rock is defiantly not the most popular genre. Plus when people think of rock now, they think of Nickleback, or Linkin Park. They think of stupid bands that don't have any meaning to their songs. Good Rock is not popular. And, because of this, less great Rock is heard. So, yes there is still incredible rock musicians out there, but they're hard to find, because the public is not listening to them, as they were in generations before.

Answer 5

So, what was the date the music died? There has always been sugary poppy crappy music, and there have always been a few bands who break free from that. Some of the stuff may not be to your taste, but more likely you just haven't been exposed to it. Except for Elvis and the Rolling Stones--all of those bands were famous to people who liked good music long before they got their first song on the radio.

I think we are just going through one of those two-year long dry spells where the music just doesn't rock. It'll be over soon. I wish I could tell you who the next great one will be--but really, you never know. I thought 311 was going to save funky rock, and then they went the trippy route (still great to listen to). I guess I'm just saying that when I thought the Chili Peppers were the greatest band anywhere, no one over 25 had heard of them. Maybe a youngster will post and tell us where all the good stuff is hiding.

Answer 6

The old bands are by far the best bands IMO. There can never be another Floyd, Beatles (thank goodness!) or Stones.

Last year (recent in musical terms) Iron Maiden released A matter of life and death and got ratings near those of Powerslave and Number of the Beast. (high). Megadeth released another album recently too.

And now the industry is driven by money, but it can be changing with myspace and the internet in general. It means those with a huge internet following (someone with a lot of fanboys/fangirls for want of a better word) can propagate crap.

That said I do like some MCR and Rammstein and Staind

And with any luck the crappy music will spawn a true Floyd reunion tour, well I can dream!

Answer 7

I think you're right in alot of ways. Electronic music, house music etc seems to be positioned for the throne. Alot of pop-rock is homgenious...And yet the youth of today are always going to look for meaning in the words and pure energy of rock songs.

Electronic music can be hollow and paints a picture of the future as a dance floor littered with debris and techno gadjects strapped to our arms. the Plugged-in masses.

Rock music can blend various genres- ska, metal, reggae, RnB, rap, hip-hop can all "get to rockin'" at some point. So it will still be at the forefront for a long time despite it's decline.

The problem I think your talking about is how pretty much all the good chords, outfits, accents, taglines, choruses and drumbeats have already been used and are thus repeating themselves. So yes, to answer your question, Rock music as a genre is in it's decline but there is HOPE for the future because every minute a new artist is born. In terms of generational labels, this one coming up in the cradle is "the Artist" (Generation X was "the nomad") I think that gives us hope for some zesty continually expanding new directions in Rock music

What do you think about Radiohead? Rolling stone said they had to destroy rock n roll to rebuild it or elevate it something...

Answer 8

I'll start by saying that NO ONE is the "next Beatles". Just not happening. 'Least anytime soon. No one band has made SUCH a huge impact on music & pop culture since them.

Rock in decline? There's still lotsa good stuff, but most of it is under the radar by indie bands. That's where the truly refreshing, creative work is now.

Music is no longer the one common ground for young people. It's (de?)evolved into general entertainment. Look at Idol. Everyone wants to be a singer....& an actor.....& a producer...& start their own clothing/ perfume line.

Answer 9

I've had ears for the last 50+ years and the number of one hit wonders and truly dumb songs isn't so far off from todays.
The difference seems to be that todays songs are more country than pure rock for white audiences, and more hiphop for black. By the way, there has always been a split between black and white music for purists.
The thing that made those stars shine back then was the fact that they were so rare, and rarity takes time as well as talent.
Who really thought the Stones would be touring as grandparents? But who can replace them? Music has always had fashions and trends and fads, it will continue.

Answer 10

i should mention PRIMAL SCREAM before i say anything - they rock

i guess the music of today just doesnt cut it when compared to music from the past

look at classical music - much of the best classical music was written hundreds of years ago

sum41 are most definitely NOT the clash! nor the monkeys our beatles - but then no band is the beatles

the closest thing i can think of to a clapton for our generation is Omar from The Mars Volta - though thats only technically - he hasnt really achieved anything like the required crossover appeal to warrant comparison to clapton

i love at the drive in and mars volta - but im in a minority

these things are cyclical - there'll be another exciting phase for rock music soon enough