A Treatise And A Question About Modern Music?

Question

People here in Yahoo R&P keep repeating the same line like lemmings.
"Music changes, times change get over it"
Well I will "get over it" the day I drop dead, and not one second before. Yes music does change and evolve, but there is another concept in the scientific world called de-evolution.
Sometime in the natural world a species de-evolves and eventually dies out.
A process I strongly feel Rock music is deep in the throes of right now.
In the natural world species die of deforestation and human overcrowding.
Rock is dying from abuses of corporate power suits and FOB & Nickelback soulless clones which spew forth at an alarming rate

So My question is this what are Your thoughts on the de-evolution and upcoming death of Rock Music

I have heard an awful lot of modern rock music and Metal as well and to Me the most obvious common demominator is still a glaring lack of talent

Hey Muse...Back Off

I'm no one Grand Dad and You're silly insults only make You look bad

I have heard HUNDREDS of Bands since 1995 and
JUST LIKE I SAID
Talent Shortage abounds
Take that disco and Wham junk back to where You got it I've been there done that.....
If I had a computer then I would have griped about them too
And you can give Me skid Row over Ben Folds any darn day.

just watch who You are calling grand dad ok chippy

Move Forward My ***
Rock came to a dead damn stop years ago
If You call this repetitive tripe moving forward You need a head exam

Fonzie..that's quite all right
You and rckets have shown this whole section how to disagree with class and respect and I appreciate that
I understand You're viewpoint and admit their My be some truth to it
Thank You

Yes Jake to each their own...Agreed
I like screaming in My music too...sepecially when it's done by Geoff tate or Bruce Dickinson or Rob Halford

But be of good cherr for
A It's Christmas
B I just asked for links to great Modern bands in a New question....
So you all get Your Cahance to prove Me Wrong....
Won't that be fun

Thanks to everyone for helping to make Me see things in a bit of a different light

I Got so many great answers to this
I decided I must put it to a vote

Answer 1

With due respect, I don't buy into that theory at all. Good music exists in every time period along with the bad. Now, the case can be made that the traditional forums to discover music have been very badly corrupted. We can no longer count on listening to our local big city radio station to give us diversity and adventurous playlists. We all know what a joke MTV is. What proof do I have that rock is alive and very well? Satellite radio reminds me of it every day. Internet radio is thriving. The point is you're only stuck in the Nickelback world if you chose to remain in it. But things look very promising on the other side.

Answer 2

I'm very much on Rckets side on this argument. There is great new rock out there and will be for a long time, and I do think it has just evolved, not de-volved. All generations have been flooded with crap imitators of the originals, and you can't expect this one to be different. But todays good rockers aren't going to sound like the old guys, that would be boring. Even the good "revivalists" don't sound much like what they're reviving, in fact I think calling a band like the Strokes a garage rock revival band is a shame, it seems like we're all determined to compare things to the past, thinking regressively. The problem is a lack of new ideas, because after 50 something years it's kind of really hard to come up with something that hasn't been beaten to death already, but so many people constantly saying that nothing will ever be as good as the old stuff doesn't help. The standard rock formula has been perfected and played out, the new things shouldn't sound like standard rock, or it better be a great twist on it at least. But ever since the day that rock came to be there has been less and less to experiment with, rock isn't dying, it's just running out of new places to go, it couldn't evolve forever.

And I agree with you that the suits are ruining music, but all that means is that we've got to dig a little harder to find the goodies, that kind of thing has been going on for a long long time, it's nothing very new. But the good artists will still manage to get their stuff out there, and when there's a good new band out in modern times they deserve just as much credit as the old guys. We have to remember, it's not a fact that old music is better than new music, that's an opinion, personally I'd rather listen to The Strokes, Babyshambles, Common Rider, the Hives, and Gogol Bordello than Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and the Beatles.

Oh and I hear the band The 1990's debut album this year, Cookies, was really good too.

Answer 3

Grandad, rock music didnt begin and die in the 1970's. You mention FOB and Nickelback as if this generation is the first generation which had crap like that on the radio and tv. Back when you were younger, there was crap just as bad on radio as there is today. Remember Wham!? Disco? Hair metal? Yet you looked a little bit harder and came across some good bands. But you dont seem to be as inclined to do that these days, do you? You'd rather hear a song by FOB or Nickelback and conclude that that's the only type of music around today. Which is rather ignorant. Perhaps you should look a bit harder before casting judgement.

Personally, i dont want to hear a new group of 'classic' rock bands on the radio. THAT would be de-evolving. Rock music has to move forward in order to survive. Emo shouldn't last too much longer really, it's past its sell by date as it is. Emo is just another fad that'll die out. Most sub-genres die out sooner or later. Punk, Grunge, Hair Metal. I predict by 2010 there'll be a new genre of music sweeping the airwaves. Hopefully a good one

Answer 4

Hopefully there will be no death of rock and roll. There will always be a kid somewhere (not me, lol) who turns on some Zeppelin and go and pick up a guitar and start a band. As long as we have people listening to good rock, we still have hope.
Will rock be dead from mainstream radio? Looks like it. There really isn't a band today that I personally think compares to the classic and I've recently come to the revelation that bands that I call "modern" are sometimes just slightly younger than me, and that doesn't make them very modern, does it? There is a steady deevloution (starting from the 80') but it's becoming more rapid and widespread now a days.
But, this IS the music of my generation, so let the kids listen to what they want, all I want is for them to be exposed to other music, music they don't hear on the radio so they see all their options. After they've heard their options and still like MCR and FOB, let them be, it's their music tastes. But I really think kids should be exposed to older music, this might prevent the "death" or rock.

Answer 5

I disagree completely! Sure the major records sellers are usually awful, but since when hasn't that been true? There are so many interesting bands that are making great music that you just don't hear on the radio. And that was as true in the past as it is today.

On the plus side, bands don't NEED radio exposure to have their music heard and corporate rock is the real victim of de-evolution. Bands like Radiohead and Clap your hands and say yeah have already proven how obsolete the classic corporate model of the music industry really is.

Music is going back to a more DIY ethic. Bands putting out their own music and touring without the support of the major labels. So on the one hand you have to take the time to FIND the music you like - it won't be spoon fed to you - but there is WAY more music out there to be discovered, and easily available if you are fortunate enough to have computer access.

Answer 6

Bro, you know you're m'man, but I can't agree here. Rock will always be there. It ain't goin' nowhere. As long as there's some 14 year old kid sitting in his/her room hunched over a guitar, there's gonna be new waves of rock bands. The genre started in the US of A & it's still relevant.

Sure, it goes through ups & downs (hopefully we're at the tail end of a down right now), but during the lows, it's good to know 2 things: We can always fall back on the classics to hold us over until something Good comes along and/or the indie rock scene will keep things interesting...under the radar.

So m'man- screw the emo/mcr/fob crap. It'll run its course & time'll put it in its place. I think there's little danger of the likes of Nickleback coming out on top over say, Queen, in another 20 years. :)

Breathe easy. Rock ain't gonna die. The existence of this damn board is some proof.

Answer 7

Hello Darth! I think that classic rock will always be there and have it's die hard fans.... I mean it's just evolution... and we all know that evolution is not always the best... I mean look at what we as humans have done to this beautiful planet.....
But I do like the way some newer rock bands are headed such as Disturbed, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Korn, Creed, Godsmack, Rob Zombie, Slipknot, Mudvayne, Rage Against the Machine...just to name a few off the top of my head.. Kisses :)

Answer 8

Rock music is already dead.... We just refuse to bury it in the belief that it will somehow "come back to life". Things will never be as they once were, the great bands Sabbath, Rush, Deep Purple, Zepplin etc... keep touring to an extent, but when the old guys quit...I guess that will be the ultimate end. It's hard to admit, but everything changes as the generations change. I can remember my father looking at me like I was from another planet while I rocked out to Zappa's Freak Out. "That's not music...it's drivell he used to say. Now I find myself saying the same thing about this generations music. Some is good, most is not good.
A funny thought hit me as I answered, remember the Grateful Dead video with the skeletons playing in the band.... I believe thats where rock music is right now.
I won't bury rock, as long as I have vinyl and 8tracks etc...it will always live for me. But as a moral dilemma, I won't beat up on someone who likes something I don't. If they want to listen to MCR, FOB etc...have at it. I'll still be spinning my Sabbath, Rush, Maiden and every other genre I enjoy. As long as there are people like you and I Darth, Rock will never be buried, Zepplin, Sabbath etc will continued to be played while most of the music of today will not.

Answer 9

Below are the lyrics to Todd Rundgren's 1975 song The Death Of Rock And Roll. I've noticed that in the past, everytime it looked like Rock and Roll was about to die, something would always happen to bring it back. This isn't the first time it's gone down for the count but so far it's always gotten back up.

The Death Of Rock And Roll by Todd Rundgren
Just the other day I got a call from a friend
I heard what you been playin and I think its a sin
Why cant you make a living like the rest of the boys
Instead of fillin your head with all that synthesized noise?
Jackals wait nearby, watching rock and roll die
And no one dared to help it
Vultures fill the sky
I thought we was supposed ta, supposed ta be free
But we all got sold
It must be the death of rock and roll
The critics got together and they started a game
You get your records for nothing
And you call each other names
Things got out of hand and somebody got sore
Now were all tuning up for the rock and roll war
Time to take up sides, helping rock and roll die
Pick up your check at the window
No one left to cry
I thought we was supposed ta, supposed ta be free
But we all got sold
It must be the death of rock and roll
Nobody paid, nobody played, nobody stayed
Just my lonely guitar
Nobody paid, nobody stayed, nobody played
Just my lonely guitar

Answer 10

ac/dc: "it's never gonna die, never gonna die"

i've been trying to live by that line when thinking about this same subject, and i don't even think the major problem of rock music today is the pollution of rock music by bad modern rock bands(btw i do think nickelback is a good band, crucify me because no one else seems to think so, but fob is absolutely horrible), i think the problem is the overabundance of rap/hip hop/screamo music, because rock bands today almost seem to want to combine elements of these genres because of their popularity and classic rock because those are their main influences and end up creating this distorted sound which is nothing like either

the bottom line is that music and times do change, but that doesn't mean we have to accept it...as long as there are still people alive on the earth who care about classic rock bands and the sound they produced in their prime, their memory will always live on in the influences of other bands and in the hearts of their original fans...because every once in a while, you do get that rock artist who is influenced by the classic bands and truly does get it right