why is it that music has lost it's shine?

Question

Hip-Hop and stuff has contaminated what music truely is.. and even in rock, the most popular bands are anti-religious things like Slayer, Slipknot, and Nine Inch Nails. I feel guilty listening to these bands, can someone tell me if these bands are truely anti-religious? Cause I think the album name "God Hates US All" is a bit of a giveaway...

Answer 1

Lost its shine??? Freaking hilarious. Maybe all we need to do is send "the music" to Turtle Wax and ask for the Ultimate Wash with a choice of shining the tires or floor-mats. Rock was not invented to serve you religiously. If you feel guilty about listening, then don't. As for those bands you mentioned, have you done your homework? You don't exactly make a strong case as to why they are "anti-religious."

Answer 2

Just about everybody develops generational myopia about music at some point, where the stuff they grew up with becomes "what music truly is" and anything newer is "contaminating" music. Ask your dad if he thinks Slayer is what music truly is. :) He'll probably tell you that Slayer is a contaminant and the Beatles are what music truly is. And HIS dad would have said the same thing about Miles Davis and the Beatles respectively. And so on, backward through the generations.

Personally I'm not crazy about rap and hip-hop. You could make a case for chanting to a beat being an art form of some sort, but I don't think it really qualifies as music. However, look back over the generations and you'll see similar things said about metal, rock, jazz, ragtime, when they were new. People walked out of the premiere of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" for the same reason, and even Beethoven came in for the same criticism when his work was new. I'm not comparing rap to Beethoven - perish the thought. I'm just saying that past a certain age it's hard to maintain the perspective necessary to hear music in the latest noise. It seems to me that age is about 25 for most people.

There is an up side, though. If you're not crazy about the music of today, start digging backwards. There's almost a hundred years of recorded music to investigate, and it spans literally hundreds of years of written music. If you go into it with an open mind, rather than just looking for more of what you grew up with, you might find there are musical forms you can enjoy now that you would have missed the point of when you were younger. For example, I find myself listening to a lot of jazz from the 40s through the early 60s - music I dismissed when I was a punk rocker in my 20s. Not that I don't still play the punk songs! But now I have a wider range available.

Answer 3

First, hip-hop has been ruined by record labels and corporate greed...the old hip-hop from the 80s and 90s easily blows most of mainstream hip-hop today (with the exception of Nas, Kanye West, and certain others). They think it's all about bling, girls, and drugs...even real gangster rap was more well-thought and talented. Rock has also seen corporate america ruin it a little, but not as much...we still got subgenres of rock, each one appeals to a certain group. Perhaps something like indie or hard rock will work for you.

As for religious, I don't think NIN is a religious group. Reznor does make references to religion in some of his songs, but songs like Starsuckers, Into The Void, Only, Hand That Feeds, and Survivalism are not religious song.

Actually, the most popular rock bands at this moment are Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Three Days Grace, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Linkin Park...all are not religious by any means.

Answer 4

You can ask a million people and get 2 million different reasons as to why this is happening...

I think the mainstream and society in general is just really tired...

This being the age of cynicism also doesn't help, there are lots of great albums and bands out there, but with Gen-X music snobs doing A&R and Zine reviews today, I've found that the bands that make it today are the most act like they don't care or that think playing an instrument suddendly makes them philosophers , I honestly think Apathy and Cyncism among Rock artists is a HUGE part of the reason, people need to get over themselves. If you're too cool to talk to people, or if the 'scene' bores you that much, then please go away...

Answer 5

I was unaware until last year that the music industry had gotten so bad. I am raising my grandaughter now she is 15,was really mixed up,Then I listened to her music ,that she listenes to day and night. I decided to curb the amount of music she was allowed ,then some of it I took away completely,its all about self destruction,death being a fantasy,praising evil.
So I searched for good music for her that she would like,could find none so I dug out the music I listened to. The 60's-80's now the darkness is gone she no longer is trying to commit suicide...she sings ...she is HAPPY.Music is a big influience.

Answer 6

So you won't listen to artists who may not be religious or have themes that are secular? I have no idea what the belief systems are of any of those bands, but if the content of their lyrics offends you, just don't listen to it.

Without listening to it, liking it or even knowing much about it, I can tell you that the Christian music scene is flourishing right now - it seems like it's permeating secular radio no matter what, like it or not. Maybe some of those acts have the "shine" you're looking for.

Answer 7

Have you tried Lamb of God?

I don't think being anti-religious is necesicarily a bad thing, and listen to slayer for a minute. What else are you going to sing about like that, sunshine and puppy dogs?

Answer 8

Personally I think the music has become secondary to the lifestyle projected. I for one, and I'm sure I'm not alone, am tired of the excess and want something I can truly appreciate materially and spiritually.
T4

Answer 9

Music hasn't lost it's shine it's just changing...just don't listen to negative music. Listen to things that don't contradict your beliefs, so you are not offended because some people will like it, some won't. So you inevitably can't ever get rid of any of it.

Answer 10

I don't think it really should matter whether they are or aren't....music is for ALL people....that does include people who don't necessarily believe in God or have other beliefs besides your own...just because you may not like it doesn't mean it's lost it's shine to others....musicians are people too and some have different beliefs than yours....doesn't make them bad, though