Is Rock Music Gone?

[DogmaticRock]

It is a pretty vast subject but is it true? The days of electric guitars and mosh pits disappearing before our very eyes? Over the last couple of years its become evident people want to know more about how Bieber wants to be a ladies boyfriend or how Katy Perry would take a guy down like a domino.

A lot of the rock bands that used to exist in the 80s and 90s are the ones still standing on thin ice, except for a few exceptions like Shinedown and Rise Against. Looking over the Billboard and Rolling Stone charts, the list isnt that pretty. Unless Gotye and fun are rock, survival is in the hands of the fittest. I remember when MCRs "Welcome To The Black Parade" and Green Days "American Idiots" were hits out of the ballpark on stations, charts, you name it, it was there. What is it people, particularly young people, want? Music they can shake their body to. Often I find it astounding how a few drum beats easily outbeat a guitar riff, easily. Anyone can make a drum beat, even a caveman could do it. I often find myself falling into the seas of depression as I see Dwight Wayne and Eminem and Carrie Underwood last another week (all that time Adele was on, dont get me started) on the top of the charts. From the exhaustive research I have done over the web and in music magazines, I am sad to say rock music is falling in with the days of cassettes and DVDs.What are your thoughts on this?

[Gijs]

Things go in cycles. Who knows we are entering a era of acoustic music soon. Maybe not, though. Rockmusic sure as heel isn't dead. There are noumerous underground/independent bands that are amazing and make rock. You won't find them in the charts, but they are there.

[john]

I don't think it's dead, but it is in a lull... but it's not the first time that rock has not been in fashion. True it is not doing so well in charts, but that will only last so long. At some point the dominance of factory music and the covers of a small subset of songs will wain.

Rock has always more freely embraced indie, and indie music frequently doesn't show in charts... why? Because the location that chart music is drawn from is very limited. Download sales are now more influential, but those download sales are drawn from a small subset of music sites, and those sites frequently are more pop oriented with an almost zero representation of rock and indie on those sites.

In the same way that the obessession with celebrity culture in it's current form will pass, so will the pop music fads. As mentioned before it's a cyclic thing. The difference this tmie is that the effects of piracy has driven certain genres to the brink, to the extent that it now shows in even larger followed genres such as rock. A few years ago jazz and folk felt it. Okay they all feel it, but pop is still currently supported by the main media and that is propping it up especially with shows like "XFactor" and "x's Got Talent"... in fact those sort of shows supply the main backing of pop music. If there was a rock equivalent no doubt rock would surviving piracy better than it currently is. Lets make no bones about it, piracy is still wrecking the main changes in the music. Rock is certainly the most obvious sysmptom of that problem.

[DogmaticRock]

Five Finger Death Punchs "American Capitalist" sold extremely well last year, which I thought was starting to lead to a recovery of rock music.

[john]

If there was a rock equivalent of xfactor / pop idol then rock music might stand a chance. There are some great current rock acts out there to be discovered.

[TapperMike]

And they are all working for the love of it but not much more. It's very hard to get paying gigs (least around here) without playing covers. Covers get you into the better clubs, originals get you kicked out. Or get you to do the occassional festival with no site or sign of a label to be had.

In California it's all pay to play. You the artist has to pay the club for the night and then get as many people to come to the show so you can break even (or not) There are a lot of great acts that can't play in california clubs becase they owe the club owners too much money.

In places like Chicago or Detroit it's a little different. I've seen quite a number of great acts where they've given up on any sense of fame or recognition outside of a few loyal followers. Everyone is playing in two cover bands and working a full time job just to support their original work. It's not like 5 years down the line or 10 years down the line. Alot of these guys have been supporting their original music in a working band (with the day job and the cover bands) for going on 20 or even 30 years now. Great music and if you've never been in the state you've prolly never heard of them.

[DogmaticRock]

It might be important to learn how the clubs are in Cali since I'll be moving to LA within the next year.

[TapperMike]

Stock up on ramen noodles before you go.

[Gijs]

In the mainstream: Yes.

In de indiescene: No

[McnaughtonPark]

radio listeners hear what others want them to hear. Chances are, the bands you like were influenced by someone, look up their music. Its a thread that weaves through time and it will lead you to some fantastic music. By the time you do all that, you probably will find yourself less interested in radio crap.

Unless u live somewhere that has publicly supported and not commercially supported radio, you will always hear the latest song that someone thinks will sell Ovaltine.

[Rudi]

I dont know.

The TV is on right now. My partner Jan is watching. I am ignoring it as usual.

Same goes for most commercial radio.

I only have an untidy phone.

I can play a bit of ragtime. Is that ready for a comeback yet?

[DogmaticRock]

In a interview, Daron Malakian said he was influenced by bands like the The Ramones and Serj Tankian said he originally listened to cultural music back in Lebanon, so maybe punk music can be a sign of recovery, I dont know. How well Shinedowns Amarillys sold gives me some hope. But as long as Pitbull and Eminem keep showing their faces, we got a long way to go.

[beatpoet]

It's hard even to define rock music these days, so I'll go with "guitar bands". I don't think guitar bands will ever truly disappear, at the moment there's just a big problem with a lack of invention. The reunion culture is as big as it's ever been, so there definitely is a trend within guitar music of looking back on the past rather than progression. Guitar bands used to emerge saying we've had enough of all these boring old farts, our time is now . . . you never hear that anymore.

[DogmaticRock]

Rock has been dead for a long time. All I hear is second generation hip hop. Nashville is still producing good country music, however, with young bucks like Luke Bryan.

Yeah hip hops like the grim reaper of music. Country? I dont know.

[Steve]

I think you're all listening to the wrong radio stations! Tune in to Planet Rock or any Rock station and you'll hear Rock! There are some great bands coming out of Scandinavia! And there are so many Rock gigs doing the rounds as well! I don't mean AC/DC or those bands, but New bands. If you listen to the popular radio stations, you're going to get 'popular' music! Get out and find something new. I recently went to see 'The Answer' and The Union' Two cracking bands who are great live! Rock should be listened to Live.

[McnaughtonPark]

I think you're all listening to the wrong radio stations!

I know thats right!! For me anyway, been wrong for too long.

[TapperMike]

I turned off the radio many years ago. and only hear what's happening in rock radio when I walk into a Jimmy Johns. Which is about once a year. It's alway the local radio station and always way way to loud.

[iamandrew248]

No, rock is still there. It may not be rock and roll or classic rock, but a new area on the wheel of rock has been chosen.

Green day is rock, Five Finger Death Punch is rock, and theres many soft rock bands out there, and many underground death/speed rock bands.

[TomT]

Yeah, when WBCN went off the air here in Boston, I was pretty depressed. They were the last holdout after WCOZ left town. To add insult to injury, the signal was taken up by one of those new, perky mix stations. Nothing against that type of music but it just felt as though we were being steamrolled by mediocrity.

So there's still classic rock stations with their exhaustingly tight rotations and whatnot but you know, it's like anything else; seek and you shall find. It's not entirely out of the question that the new generation may pick up the torch sometime in the future.

As far as the music scene itself I can't really say at the moment. I'm doing rock acoustic myself at open mics in Boston and thereabouts and now that I'm slowly getting geared back up again with electric guitar equipment , I'll be rocking the F%#* out of any gig I find down the road. LONG LIVE ROCK!! l..l_ _l..l

lll lll

[Baldy]

Rock music and any sort of associated genres, (Punk, Metal, etc) are always going to be live experiences. I doubt we'll ever get another moment where rock captures the public attention, but as long as musicians keep wanting to tour, the fans will show up. Case in point, Download festival happening right now, still pulling in huge numbers every year no matter what.

I mean, a few weeks ago I went to see Example (For any who don't know that'd be electronically driven rap) and while it was a great show, it didn't compare to the Machine Head gig I was at last week. It just seems like rock music will always come up top when it comes to live performances.