The death of Rock n Roll?

Jeremy Bender

Platinum Member
“Rock and roll ain't nothing but jazz with a hard backbeat.” “The rock's easy, but the roll is another thing...
― Keith Richards, Life

There was a time when this was true.
I think that since the eighties happened, Rock lost it's roll thanks to machines.
 
I think that since the eighties happened,

I tend to think of the eighties in those terms as well. Like a natural disaster or major tragedy that should be looked back upon with remorse.

Machines are a means to an end. The goal of the music business is to make money. Machines, in all their forms, aid in cutting down on the costs of making and performing music. Pop music, and lets face it thats what the Stones were, a pop band with distorted guitars, has gone away from traditional instruments and toward machine made music due simply to profit margins. If you want rock that rolls, move away from the music designed to make money and find the bands that are doing for the joy of making music. Great rock bands are still out there, you just have to look a little harder for them.
 
Pop music, and lets face it thats what the Stones were, a pop band with distorted guitars, has gone away from traditional instruments and toward machine made music due simply to profit margins.

Is that really true? Isn't it more because new technology has allowed new and exciting possibilities that perhaps couldn't even have been conceived of before, and pop music reflects that? I bet Rihanna's record company can afford to record an acoustic drum kit, or a string quartet, if that was what they were going for.
 
Obviously rock's heyday was the 70s and since then it's started the usual process of fading back in the mix, destined to become just one more building block of music history ...
 
There still are and there will always be great pure rock bands. But certainly most of what gets generated today is just product, like Twinkies. It's hard to ignore all that crap, though. And it's irritating to me that most people can't tell the shit from the shinola.

Just remember what Neil Young said. He's a survivor if ever there was one, and he's still making great music: "Hey hey, my my... rock n roll will never die!"
 
People have been saying this is the death of rock n roll since at least the early 70's.

I do often wonder if it's run it course though.
 
Maybe mainstream music is moving full circle- back to where the 'band' and instrumentation is just background, and what is featured (or these days packaged) is the singer. I don't know, think Vera Lynn, Bing Crosby..hell even Enrico Caruso.
Hopefully even this will not lose its "roll'
 
There's so much great new music out there, it does the human race's creative efforts a disservice to judge them based only on the most aggressively promoted output of a handful of large corporations.
 
There was a time when this was true.
I think that since the eighties happened, Rock lost it's roll thanks to machines.

I disagree... granted, it's different nowadays, but there's still some genuine rock'n'roll out here today... but I guess it's on the ears of the beholder, always has and always will be... there's nothing new under the sun, but perhaps the Stones should stop rolling....
 
There's great stuff going on in metal in the last decade, and even now, if only people would look. As for machines.... drummers are becoming the machines. Listen to Gene Hoglan, Thomas Haake, Danny Walker, Ed the dude who plays for Ayreon, Cult of Luna's two drummers, the list goes on and on. The stuff that you don't hear on the radio is where all the action is.
 
I think there are long cycles of "rock". It gets overindulged with itself (70s), then the Sex Pistols come along and flatten it.
It builds back up again and gets fat and bloated (80s) ... then grunge comes along.

Perhaps we are due again now? hhhmmm ... maybe overdue.

radman
 
I think there are long cycles of "rock". It gets overindulged with itself (70s), then the Sex Pistols come along and flatten it.
It builds back up again and gets fat and bloated (80s) ... then grunge comes along.

Perhaps we are due again now? hhhmmm ... maybe overdue.

radman

I think this is spot on.
 
There's great stuff going on in metal in the last decade, and even now, if only people would look. As for machines.... drummers are becoming the machines. Listen to Gene Hoglan, Thomas Haake, Danny Walker, Ed the dude who plays for Ayreon, Cult of Luna's two drummers, the list goes on and on. The stuff that you don't hear on the radio is where all the action is.

I have to second this. This is where all the creativity lies as far as I am concerned. While I don't like ALL of it, I do like a whole lot of it. The drumming is almost beyond what seems humanly possible, the guitars are wandering all over the place and using things like sweeps as normal everyday fodder, the vocals have come to a point to where they can be from clean to Cookie monster and everything in between. The music takes paths that remind me of classical music. There are no limits, just like Rock used to be. Here is your new Rock n Roll.

Alright, maybe it isn't for everyone. So I see it like this: My dad doesn't like my music (metal), my grandfather didn't like my dads music (60's-70's rock), my great grandfather I never knew, but I would be willing to bet he didn't like my grandfathers music (polka). Now the funny thing about it is the younger generation does like the older generations music in my case.
 
When it comes to new music, I don't think there is anything wrong with any of it...there is lots of variety, some styles being far more prominent and kinda like the zeitgeist. Personally, I don't care for any of the pop or mainstream pop country, rap and its variants, etc etc....but I still see the artistic value and talent. Don't mean I gotta listen though. Something like Nickleback is where I draw the line though....they are talented but that is pure formulaic pablum.

Amon Amarth is interesting....I check out all kinds of new bands online that I would call rock and roll, they are there....just not mainstream. I mean, it's never gonna die in my circle because I decide what to listen to and what bands to play in.

And I really despise these three name phrase bands.....Pierce The Veil....come on man, dumb!! Cage The Elephant?? These are actionable phrases.
 
Stone Temple Pilots is NOT an actionable phrase, therefor still cool.

I like a little fuzz in my music, but I'm just tired of hearing distorted guitars playing power chords. I listened to Metallica and Slayers for 25 freakin' years, man. I do hear some cool Metal here and there and I like some of it for the creativity factor much in the same way one would look at a Dali painting. But my band is trying to be just as creative in a different sort of way by pushing the boundaries of our own playing and searching for a sound that we can call our own using mostly clean amps and a positive vibe to the music. But that's just us. We're hippies! I think rock will survive. Teenage angst will always manifest its way into music, and I don't think it's gonna be all lollipops and flowers. I know, I was a teenager once. Tool will be coming out with a new album hopefully next year and it will once again give rock n' roll that shot in the arm it needs in this generation.
 
Someone has to speak out against this three-name actionable phrase band naming blasphemy!

You're right.

Let's bring back sensible names like they used in the good ole days.





Say, whatever happened to Mott the Hoople?
 
Never was a fan of the band or the name....terrible name. Should also be expurgated. Although I'm not privy to English meanings, i never did take that as an actionable phrase....I think Mott is a person and hoople is a descriptive term for his avolition.....so, in terms of your reference I would call it an abject fail..

But keep trying....im sure we will find a popular band name from the classic rock annals that describes the act of painful fornication or the act of taking a large earth roving beast and containing it.

Now, Ian Hunter on his own....that's a different story....he and mick ronson....cleveland rocks baby!

You're right.

Let's bring back sensible names like they used in the good ole days.





Say, whatever happened to Mott the Hoople?
 
The internet has killed band names. In the 90's when I was first starting bands we could name ourselves whatever we wanted (we in fact named ourselves "The Wanted") and not worry if anybody else outside our town had the same name. Now with the internet I can see immediately if any other band has our name. So instead of "The Wanted", of which I am sure there were hundreds, we would have to come up with something completely original that no other band on the planet has.

Hence we get bands like, iwrestledabearonce and Five Finger Death Punch. Although I still say Korn is the worst band name in history.
 
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