Did rock music slink off and die somewhere?

Travisthedog

Check out Greta Van Fleet and your faith will be restored

p90fool

Phil_aka_Pip said:

 I can't think of another time when the charts contained such a high percentage of listenable music. They certainly don't now.

Not to you, but they do to 18 year olds. 

Quite honestly, a singles chart which appealed mainly to 60 year olds would be a living death, 1953 all over again. 

randella

Rock's in the same place it was when I was first listening to it as a kid in the late 80's and early 90's.  It's on leftfield radio stations and TV channels, and in specialist magazines and on dedicated websites.

I never wanted it in the charts back then, and I don't now.  If it *was* in the charts, it'd mean it was the most saleable, bland, homogenised product it could possibly be.

Rock never was about the mainstream if you ask me.  The only reason it was in the charts back in the 50's and 60's is because the record company marketing twats hadn't quite worked out their formula for shifting units.  They sure hit their stride in the 70's with disco, though.

Pop is what it is, and I have no problem with it - but rock is sacred to me and I want it nowhere near the mainstream.

Lestratcaster

Look at the BRIT Awards last week, only 1 notable "rock band" won anything, the Foo Fighters. Its more of a pop award thing though as opposed to say, the Kerrang awards. But bands like Oasis and co still graced the BRITS in the 90's.

AlexC

I’m 47 years old. There’s a lot of classic rock I love (but I was a child when it was new). There’s a lot of Pop I love too. And jazz. And blues, etc, etc. I’ve never been nostalgic about music. There’s stuff I used to listen that I wouldn’t give the time of day to now. And stuff I listen to now that I wouldn’t have liked years ago. 
I would rather listen to (which I do) Wolf Alice, Savages, Lady Gaga and London Grammer than The Eagles, Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Budgie or The Doors.
The notion of what is ‘rock’ is has shifted - as it should. Otherwise everything’s just some sort  of retro tribute/pastiche.

crunchman

Blueingreen said:

Sporky said:

As with, I suspect, every period in history, music is better now than it has ever been before, on account of we've still got all the old stuff but we've got lots of excellent new stuff that wasn't around before.

Simples when you thinks abouts its.

Doesn't quite work like that though, because we tend to respond more easily to music that's culturally familiar.  Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington were fabulous musicians, but pre Spotify etc you used to be able to pick up cd boxed sets of their work for next to nothing while a mediocre album by a 3rd tier rock act was selling a gazillion times more copies at full price.  The reason? The passage of time has created barriers to appreciating that music for most ordinary listeners.  Music historians and enthusiasts will put in the work to cross those barriers but most folk won't.  Most of us don't listen to a lot of Chinese music for similar reasons.  Even most Western Classical music presents problems for a high percentage of listeners.

So although we've still got the old stuff, as you say, it's now minority taste stuff that doesn't have value to the average music fan.

Classic rock and pop music is in the process of becoming like early jazz.  The best of it will continue to be critically rated but young music fans will play lip service to how good it is while avoiding spending much time actually listening to it.  Meantime as others have said old fogeys will decry newer pop, which will in turn become the classic music for its own generation and the old-fashioned shit no-one listens to for the following one.

There is one major difference to early Jazz - the production quality.  Early Jazz didn't have multitrack recording and all the studio technology that classic rock had.

There is a huge difference between something like Floyd's DSOTM and those old 78s.

BloodEagle

randella said:

Rock's in the same place it was when I was first listening to it as a kid in the late 80's and early 90's.  It's on leftfield radio stations and TV channels, and in specialist magazines and on dedicated websites.

I never wanted it in the charts back then, and I don't now.  If it *was* in the charts, it'd mean it was the most saleable, bland, homogenised product it could possibly be.

Rock never was about the mainstream if you ask me.  The only reason it was in the charts back in the 50's and 60's is because the record company marketing twats hadn't quite worked out their formula for shifting units.  They sure hit their stride in the 70's with disco, though.

Pop is what it is, and I have no problem with it - but rock is sacred to me and I want it nowhere near the mainstream.

Agreed - theres LOADS of amazing rock music out there, its easier than ever to listen to it, and it doesnt care whether the mainstream likes it or not - if you think 'rock is dead' youre not looking in the right place

Kilgore

Rock isn't just found in the grooves of a piece of vinyl, CD or digital download.

It's a state of mind.

Stick it to the man and rock on dudes!

Bezzer

BloodEagle said:

randella said:

Rock's in the same place it was when I was first listening to it as a kid in the late 80's and early 90's.  It's on leftfield radio stations and TV channels, and in specialist magazines and on dedicated websites.

I never wanted it in the charts back then, and I don't now.  If it *was* in the charts, it'd mean it was the most saleable, bland, homogenised product it could possibly be.

Rock never was about the mainstream if you ask me.  The only reason it was in the charts back in the 50's and 60's is because the record company marketing twats hadn't quite worked out their formula for shifting units.  They sure hit their stride in the 70's with disco, though.

Pop is what it is, and I have no problem with it - but rock is sacred to me and I want it nowhere near the mainstream.

Agreed - theres LOADS of amazing rock music out there, its easier than ever to listen to it, and it doesnt care whether the mainstream likes it or not - if you think 'rock is dead' youre not looking in the right place

Absolutely these two posts here.  Although along with that there is also the chance that rock music is still there, but it doesn't match with the sort you like (not directed at anyone here that, generally) so it's "not rock".

This latter argument is certainly the case with my old singer who is of the opinion everything is shit because it's not like it was 25 years ago.  But he also says things like "Mariah Carey can't sing" because he doesn't like it ... I don't like it either but it's very obvious she's a hell of singist.

Legionreturns

The Lovely Eggs new album is out. Very very good so far! 

Sporky

Kilgore said:

Rock isn't just found in the grooves of a piece of vinyl, CD or digital download.

Ah - you're a tape man. Nice.

strtdv

Sounds like a shrinking violet..

Myranda

I've become rather a fan of modern rock (and rock-adjacent) wimins...

Lizzy Hale of Halestorm (which for some reason, my brain wants to pronounce Hal-es-strom like it's a swedish band... no idea why)


Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless (It's very strange knowing that I've seen the boobies of the same person who played Cindy Lou Who in The Grinch...)


Dorothy Martin of Dorothy (sort of bluesy-poppy-rocky-stuff)

ICBM

Myranda said:

I've become rather a fan of modern rock (and rock-adjacent) wimins...

Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless

I liked them for a while, but eventually that whole contrived bad-girl rock chick thing she tries too hard at wore a bit thin. The songs tread a very fine line between terrible and brilliant... this one is possibly my favourite, it's laughably predictable down to almost the last note and bit of arrangement, and leaves no rock cliché unturned - the video even more so, it's beyond self-parody to the point of genius.

sgosden

BloodEagle said:

randella said:

Rock's in the same place it was when I was first listening to it as a kid in the late 80's and early 90's.  It's on leftfield radio stations and TV channels, and in specialist magazines and on dedicated websites.

I never wanted it in the charts back then, and I don't now.  If it *was* in the charts, it'd mean it was the most saleable, bland, homogenised product it could possibly be.

Rock never was about the mainstream if you ask me.  The only reason it was in the charts back in the 50's and 60's is because the record company marketing twats hadn't quite worked out their formula for shifting units.  They sure hit their stride in the 70's with disco, though.

Pop is what it is, and I have no problem with it - but rock is sacred to me and I want it nowhere near the mainstream.

Agreed - theres LOADS of amazing rock music out there, its easier than ever to listen to it, and it doesnt care whether the mainstream likes it or not - if you think 'rock is dead' youre not looking in the right place

saleable & bland. Good old 'king of leon syndrome', take a good band that have made a name of themselves by doing something a bit different, then all of a sudden they're pushing out middle of the road pop rock.

Mumford and sons were massively popular because for their upbeat, fun songs. Now they're writing radio 1 level soft rock.

Bring me the horizon went from crazy heavy > angsty > sounding like coldplay.

Deaf Havana released one of my favourite albums (fools and worthless liars). next thing you know they're bent over waiting for a cover shoot with NME.

Paramore, and panic at the disco, have gone from legendary pop punk bands to generic alt rock.

Its an inevitability that a band on the brink of the popular scene will lean towards writing things that are more appealing to the mass market. its just a shame they tend to have to sacrifice the elements of their music that made them 'popular' in the first place.

Myranda

ICBM said:

Myranda said:

I've become rather a fan of modern rock (and rock-adjacent) wimins...

Taylor Momsen of The Pretty Reckless

I liked them for a while, but eventually that whole contrived bad-girl rock chick thing she tries too hard at wore a bit thin. The songs tread a very fine line between terrible and brilliant... this one is possibly my favourite, it's laughably predictable down to almost the last note and bit of arrangement, and leaves no rock cliché unturned - the video even more so, it's beyond self-parody to the point of genius.

"Eventually" ?? That's on the first album release

Having seen them live I'd say that if she's contriving a rock-chick image she's a very good actist

Phil_aka_Pip

p90fool said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

 I can't think of another time when the charts contained such a high percentage of listenable music. They certainly don't now.

Not to you, but they do to 18 year olds. 

Quite honestly, a singles chart which appealed mainly to 60 year olds would be a living death, 1953 all over again. 

More like 1958?

ICBM

Myranda said:

"Eventually" ?? That's on the first album release

Eventually as in I listened to the first two albums quite a lot for a while but in the end they started to grate.

Myranda said:

Having seen them live I'd say that if she's contriving a rock-chick image she's a very good actist

Well that is what she was before she decided to become a rock star .

You don't seriously believe she doesn't know exactly what she's doing with that perfectly tuned image do you? I thought it was only us men who were that shallow .

p90fool

Phil_aka_Pip said:

p90fool said:

Phil_aka_Pip said:

 I can't think of another time when the charts contained such a high percentage of listenable music. They certainly don't now.

Not to you, but they do to 18 year olds. 

Quite honestly, a singles chart which appealed mainly to 60 year olds would be a living death, 1953 all over again. 

More like 1958?

Plenty of teen acts in the charts in 1958. 

Myranda

ICBM said:

Myranda said:

"Eventually" ?? That's on the first album release

Eventually as in I listened to the first two albums quite a lot for a while but in the end they started to grate.

Myranda said:

Having seen them live I'd say that if she's contriving a rock-chick image she's a very good actist

Well that is what she was before she decided to become a rock star .

You don't seriously believe she doesn't know exactly what she's doing with that perfectly tuned image do you? I thought it was only us men who were that shallow .

Isn't assuming its an act just because she's young and pretty just as shallow? There's a lot of nergy in her performance. If it's an act it's a convincing one