Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post Reply
User avatar
Honorio
Higher Ground
Posts: 4467
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:38 am
Location: L'Eliana, Valencia, Spain

Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by Honorio »

Image

Yes, whatever happened to my Rock 'n' Roll? The name of this song by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club came to my mind when I was scrolling down the list of the best songs of 2015 according to the critics compiled by Henrik. Only a scarce 2 or 3 songs on the Top 25 could be filed under Rock, with "Pedestrian at Best" as the only Rock song on the Top 10. And this fact simply follows the trend of the last 10 years, with few Rock songs on every year Top Tens (no more than two songs per year).

People (like me) with many years listening to Pop music are quite used to listen periodically to some critics proclaiming loudly that Rock is dead. It happened in the early 80s during the heyday of Synthpop and again in the late 90s with the explosion of Electronica but, soon after, scenes like the Alternative Rock of the late 80s (Pixies, Sonic Youth) or the Garage Rock Revival of the early 00s (White Stripes, Strokes) brought back Rock music to prominence. But I'm afraid this time it's different, probably this time it's for real. Maybe Rock 'n' Roll is finally dead.

Obviously there are still many musicians playing Rock 'n' Roll. And there will always be, styles don't disappear so easily. There are still thousands of musicians playing New Orleans Jazz or Honky Tonk music. Even Medieval music is still played today. The difference, as I told before, is that the critics don't consider Rock music as relevant as, undoubtedly, it was in the past. On the following paragraphs I will analyse the changes of the opinion of critics using Acclaimed Music songs lists as a source but I'm aware that the most important change is not on the critics' opinion but on the audience's. Are teenagers still willing to continue supporting Rock 'n' Roll nowadays?

I hadn't made a deep research about the subject but, as a father of two teenagers, I got the subjective sensation that Rock music is losing steam amidst young audiences, at least in Spain. Young people not particularly interested in music listen to the Mainstream Pop that sounds on the radio, just like when I was young (despite the wide availability of music thanks to the Internet). And most of the ones who care about music choose Hip Hop or Electronica, in Spain many of the Alternative Rock festivals that were so big during the 00s are shutting their doors while Electronic festivals (with DJs instead of live acts) got massive audiences. Only the new Metal fans seem as faithful as ever. Probably it's not the same in other countries, according to data from Nielsen Soundscan Rock is still the style that achieve more album sales in the USA, with 40,9% in 2014 versus 17,18% of Hip Hop plus R&B and 15,8% of Pop. But anyway Rock music is losing percentage of sales, according to the same source 50,8% of the album sold in 2008 were Rock albums, 6 years after this percentage is reduced in 10 points.

Anyway this 40,9% is much higher than the 26% of Rock albums in 2014 according to the critics. So let's go back to the critics… Probably they are considering that Rock 'n' Roll language is exhausted, that it got nothing new to offer. But are they chosing new and innovative styles? Well, let's see the distribution of styles in the songs of 2000-2014 on the following graphic:

Image

The style more represented is Pop (40%). Rock is second with 17% but if we add the percentages of Hip Hop and R&B we obtain 29%, almost doubling the percentage of Rock. Electronic/Dance is next with 11% and the rest (3%) is mostly Singer/Songwriter and Indie Folk. If we look at the most represented sub-styles we find Synthpop and Art Pop at the top (9% each), third Contemporary R&B (8%), next Alternative R&B and Indie Rock (6% each) and Hardcore Hip Hop on sixth place (5%). So, are these styles really new? Well, not at all. Synthpop, Contemporary R&B and Hip Hop began in the late 70s so, even if Rock 'n' Roll was more than 20 years old when these styles appeared, they got a history of almost 40 years. And, even if those styles are undoubtedly defining the sounds of today, only time will tell if the acclaim will last. We'e seen many times songs and acts highly acclaimed in their times that fade away while some acts overlooked in their times get a delayed acclaim (Velvet Underground, Nick Drake). It's my personal opinion but, for instance, I don't find the 4-5 Synthpop songs on the Top 10 of the 2010s particularly memorable. Many times I got the sensation that critics don't choose the best but the more trendy. But that could take us to another debate.

So in order to document this slow fade of Rock 'n' Roll in the eyes of the critics I've compared the evolution of styles by decades. I've used the Top 100 on the songs lists and not the albums lists because (I haven't checked it out but) I have the sensation that this trend is more obvious on the songs list. To make it easier to compare I grouped all the styles represented on the songs lists (using Rateyourmusic as source) in 4 main groups: Rock, Pop, Black (African American styles) and Others (mainly Folk, Singer/Songwriter and Regional Music). In sub-styles sharing two main genres I followed my instinct, I'll use as an example two song (both Pop Rock and both sides of the same single) that were assigned to two different genres: "Something" was assigned to Pop and "Come Together" to Rock. For Electronic styles it was more difficult, I assigned them to Rock, Pop or Black again based on my instinct. Some examples: "Firestarter" was Rock, "Odessa" was Pop and "White Noise" was Black. Subjective, I know.

Here you can see the results by decade divided on these four groups:

Image
Image

The next graphic, taken from the previous data, is the definitive proof of what I was suspecting, the rise and fall of Rock 'n' Roll:

Image

You can see Rock's stunning debut in the 1950s (38%, an impressive percentage given the fact that it appeared in the last half of the decade). Then you can see Rock music spectacularly rising during the 1960s and the 1970s, having its peak in the latter decade with more than half of the acclaimed songs (58%). It had a significant decrease during the poppy 1980s (but still with a remarkable 42%) but a notable recovery during the grungy 1990s (the more rocker decade after the 1970s). And then… the fall. Rock music managed to tough it out during the first half of the 2000s but then it collapsed like a house of cards.

And on the next graphic you can see the evolution by decades of the rest of the music genres:

Image

- Pop music is experiencing a continuous rise on the critics acclaim from the 11% of the 1950s until the 46% of the 2010s, with intermediate peaks on the 1960s, 1980s and 2000s (coincident with the relative valleys of Rock music).
- Black (African American) styles had been always acclaimed by the critics but the percentage of this group began high in the 1950s, had a quick decline until the the 1970s and from then is experiencing a slow but continuous rise. Two personal observations: a) the high acclaim of the 1950s is a "delayed" acclaim, critics at the time were not as influential as they are today and posterior critics, especially from the 1970s, tend to (justifiably) praise the black acts that got sometimes overlooked at the time while some white acts (many times copying the black artists) got all the sales and acclaim and b) the relative low percentage of Black music during the 1960s and 1970s got nothing to do with the quality of this kind of music (that was incredibly good then) but with the extraordinary push of Rock music during that period.
- Other styles (Regional Music and Folk), on the other hand, is experiencing a continuous decline from the 1950s (if I had assigned Blues to Others instead to Black the percentage would have been 15%) with a mild rise during the 1970s thanks to the Singers/Songwriters.

And a final graphic introducing Electronic/Dance as the fifth big genre:

Image

In this case Electronic had a timid debut during the 1970s (with two songs by Kraftwerk on the Top 100) with a continuous rise after that, getting to the 24% of the 2010s. Having assigned this time Synthpop to Electronic and not to Pop (unlike I did on the first graphic), you can notice that with the introduction of this fifth genre there are no dominant styles right now, the music scene today is quite fragmented. Black (29%), Pop (27%) and Electronic/Dance (24%) obtain quite similar percentages, with Rock going from the first position to the fourth in the last decade. Let's see what is going to happen with the introduction of the 2015 songs in the next AM update but I don't expect a big change, probably even a deepening of this trend.

And that was all. I endorse an Excel file (maybe it could be useful to the ones that are going to compile the genres for the songs list). I haven't included anything interactive for this thread but of course you are free to share here your thoughts about the death of Rock 'n' Roll. Cause, you all know by now, Rock 'n' Roll is dead. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll!

Image
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
Romain
Happy Up Here
Posts: 5421
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:25 pm
Location: Lyon, France

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by Romain »

FABULOUS !
And I clearly see now why I found the End Of Year songs lists less interesting each year.
slick
Movin' On Up
Posts: 836
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2012 9:58 pm
Location: Waukesha, Wisconsin

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by slick »

Outstanding Post!!! I have been saying the same thing for years patiently waiting for the next great rock band that changes music... Still waiting for the next Beatles, Zeppelin, Pistols, Nirvana or The Strokes to come along with a 'Gamechanger'.
User avatar
Henrik
Site Admin
Posts: 6438
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 10:09 am
Location: Älvsjö, Stockholm, Sweden
Contact:

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by Henrik »

Superb analysis, Honorio!
Everyone you meet fights a battle you know nothing about. Be kind. Always.
TimmyWing
Different Class
Posts: 305
Joined: Mon Dec 10, 2012 8:59 pm

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by TimmyWing »

It's hard to say how much these end-of-year critics' lists influence my music tastes (probably more than I'd like to say), but either electronic music has suddenly clicked for me, or it's gotten a lot richer in the past few years.

My best friend and I have now gone to separate universities, and as he went to Manchester and started clubbing a lot, he came back from first semester with a much greater appreciation for house music and grime especially. He and a few others turned me onto the latest singles by Jamie xx, Skepta, JME, etc, which I certainly enjoyed. I'm mostly into old power pop and '80s rock/new wave, but when it comes to what's being released these days, either rock bands can't capture that aesthetic, or they're not trying to go for that one at all - they might be aiming for '70s glam-rock or '90s grunge, which are a little more hit-and-miss for me. And rock's just not being played at "the" clubs anymore (sure, you get rock nights and metal clubs, but the big dance genres these days are house, hip-hop, drum and bass, and reggae - there's just no question about it. The underground hits and slow burners usually fall in one of these categories, or sometimes R&B).

Another thing is that artists/musicians change, and the fans either let go of them or adapt to the new styles. I used to consider Tame Impala one of the best rock bands around today, even if their status as a band was dubious - but now even their status as a rock outfit is dubious. Would you call David Bowie's last two singles rock? Or Paul McCartney's recent collaborations?

To me, the most "rock 'n' roll" group in recent memory has been Death Grips, out of their aggressiveness and sheer abandon. And stuff like "On GP" actually does sound a lot like classic punk. So it's a fluid thing nowadays. But then, bands like The Libertines and Florence & the Machine had successful comebacks this year, so there's clearly still good things going on for an audience who appreciates it.
User avatar
BleuPanda
Higher Ground
Posts: 4717
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2012 1:20 am
Location: Urbana, IL

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by BleuPanda »

Sometimes I feel like Electronic is picking up where rock left off; there are a ton of electronic artists I consider great now compared to a decade ago. Similarly, a ton of the best rock acts in the 2000s also incorporated electronic elements. Modern electronic does a lot for me that rock also does; we could simply be moving away from 'organic' instruments and the rock setup as the basic backbone of modern bands.
User avatar
Listyguy
Running Up That Hill
Posts: 3010
Joined: Sun Feb 05, 2012 8:34 pm

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by Listyguy »

This is some great analysis Honorio! I don't have the time to read the entire thing now (I will do this later), so I'm not sure if this is mentioned, but with artists like Jimi Hendrix and Chuck Berry, are they classified as rock? As opposed to black?
phil
Unquestionable Presence
Posts: 527
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2012 4:03 am

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by phil »

Great post. You can quibble about some of the categorising of the styles into the groups above. But even if you did change a few things here and there, the result would be the same.

A couple of thoughts:
- Critics' songs lists in recent years have shifted more and more towards higher tempo, more immediate songs than has been the case in the past. While there are rock songs that fit into this (Pedestrian at Best being a good example), electronic and pop music is heavily skewed towards higher energy songs. This naturally results in a less rock focused list. For this reason I suspect if you were to do the same on the albums list you would get a less dramatic result (though I'm sure still a trend away from rock).
- I wonder if this also has to do with having so much music around now that critics take less time to truly engage with each release (hence the immediate songs get the attention).
- All time lists still usually feature rock prominently, even dominant category. The only thing is that they are all rock albums/songs from the 60s/70s. This is exemplified by Uncut's recent list of Greatest 200 albums of all time. So it isn't (at least not always) just a shift away from rock music entirely, but a dismissal of recent rock music.
User avatar
notbrianeno
Movin' On Up
Posts: 917
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 4:47 am

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by notbrianeno »

phil wrote:So it isn't (at least not always) just a shift away from rock music entirely, but a dismissal of recent rock music.
I think the "canonization" of most "classic rock" artists in the United States by the music press, baby boomer generation, and terrestrial radio network has largely contributed towards the declining influence and presence of younger rock bands.

Whereas countries like the UK are much more friendly to younger bands, many of them from the United States, partially due to the lack of a "classic rock" radio format, and the welcoming of younger talent in the mainstream rock press.

Possibly way off on this but just my two cents
User avatar
PlasticRam
Into the Groove
Posts: 2202
Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 12:51 am

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by PlasticRam »

Rap is the new rock n' roll.
I feel like that
jamieW
Keep On Movin'
Posts: 1938
Joined: Sat Oct 27, 2012 9:19 pm

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by jamieW »

Absolutely fantastic essay, Honorio! I’ve made many of the same observations over the past several years, and have always equated the death of Rock & Roll to the elements of the genre itself simply seeming overly familiar to critics and fans alike, as well as technological advancements that have led to the rise of electronic music.

You used the word “trendy” when referring to critics and pop music, and I believe this is also a strong factor. I feel that artists like Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, and Carly Rae Jepsen are examples of this; but I don’t think there could be a better example than the praise that’s been heaped upon Justin Bieber this year (who used to be a running joke, but I guess everyone loves a redemption story). Unfortunately, there are very few rock artists that are considered trendy with fans (where the trends usually begin) or the critics. (The Black Keys would come to mind as a possible exception; but even their catchy blend of blues-rock has suffered a backlash in the past few years.)

I love all genres of music, but most of my favorite current rock artists have albums that are limited to “Best” lists put together exclusively by metal magazines. Mainstream critics don’t even bother to review them. If we have reached the point where popular music magazines and websites have stopped acknowledging albums by all but a few rock bands, and fans are exposed less and less to what we’ve always known as Rock & Roll, it may indeed be the death of the genre outside of small, niche circles.
User avatar
bootsy
Shake Some Action
Posts: 1297
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2014 10:38 pm

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by bootsy »

I don't really consider it dead or gone or what happened to it. I still think it's there but just evolved. People still go back and listen to the classics, to the period where it was at it's highest. If it wasn't for this site I would never have listened to rock n roll. I have said this before but I'm so glad and thankful that I found this site a year or so ago because I have listened to a lot of rock and other genres ever since that I would have never listened to. I was strictly a hip-hop/R&B listener and a very fringe/basic rock or other genre listener. I think rock music will never be dead because of the the great music of the 60s, 70s, and 80s will never be forgotten and the music has just evolved in the modern era but the roots are still there.

Sometimes I feel like hip-hop is dead or what happened to it because I'm in my early 40s and the hip-hop of my teens is gone but that just means it's evolved and I accept that some people don't. Sports, the media and the way it covers things now changes but it's still got the core of what it used to be and we still have memories of what it used to be that will never die or go away.

I don't know just my 2 cents. ;)
User avatar
Dexter
Movin' On Up
Posts: 801
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:04 am

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by Dexter »

Superb article, although "Black" as a genre might raise some eyebrows (R&B/Hip-hop maybe?). Rock may not be dead but its popularity has waned tremendously since its last great peak, if I have to place a particular year, when the "Black" album, Ten and Nevermind were all released in the same year (1991). According to Neilsen Soundscan data, the combined sales for rock, alternative and metal albums have declined by 44.4% since 2006 (when rock was officially categorized as a genre) compared to 31.4% of the music industry as a whole. My guess is that metal and grunge were just too cool that when the second wave of nu-metal and post-grunge music came in its wake, it paled too far in comparison to its predecessor, even if it sold in millions (Limp Bizkit, Nickelback, Creed, matchbox 20, Linkin Park, etc) except for a few exceptions (Green Day, early Coldplay). Teenagers and young adults, the presumptive taste-makers of what music is considered current, now deemed rock as probably a blip in the radar with one or two bands breaking out, but none with the commercial impact say Taylor Swift or Adele. Radiohead and the White Stripes haven't sold mega-platinum albums despite the consistent love from critics. I do think one day, don't know when, an artist will "save" rock and will sell just like Adele or Taylor, until then we'll make do watching concerts, an area which rock is still going strong, of reunited "oldies" act like Guns N' Roses (hopefully in Coachella).
User avatar
Honorio
Higher Ground
Posts: 4467
Joined: Sat Feb 11, 2012 7:38 am
Location: L'Eliana, Valencia, Spain

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by Honorio »

Hey, my friends, many thanks for the compliments! I'm so grateful about that. And many thanks for all your observations, I'm glad to have ignited some debate here, moreover the kind of debate I prefer (a conversation about music with some kind of historical perspective). I wholy endorse most of your thoughts and I'll try to comment on them. Sorry for not answering individually but collectively.

I can see that most of you agree about that Rock 'n' Roll is dead, although I admit that it was a sentence I used mostly to catch your attention, I don't think it's exactly true. But maybe we all agree in that Rock music is on its way down (expressions like "its popularity has waned tremendously" according to Dexter, "a dismissal of recent rock music" according to Phil or "the declining influence and presence of younger rock bands" according to notbrianeno go in the same direction). But I see two different reactions about this "death" (or decline) of Rock 'n' Roll. Some of you regret (or express some sadness) about the fact but some others accept it gladly like a natural evolution on people tastes. It would be interesting to know the age of the ones on every group. Maybe I'm wrong but I guess that the ones on the second group are younger.

I find very interesting all your explanations about this decline, something I (purposely) did not enter in deep in my post. Let's try to categorize the culprits:

a) Some of us (including me) blame mainly the critics. I mostly agree with all of your comments:
- notbrianeno is right about the "canonization" of Rock by the baby boomer generation that dominates some press and radio that is not giving enough exposure to younger acts.
- And the observation of phil about critics shifting towards towards "higher tempo" and "more immediate songs" is absolutely spot-on. David Byrne said in his excellent book "How Music Works" (I seize the opportunity to recommend it) that music is so diverse, that it can produce so different (even opposite) sensations that he can't trust someone that likes all kinds of music (or something like that, I don't remember the exact quote). Why oh why the critics tend to choose songs that produce such a limited range of emotions? It has to be only Dance music with a sad undercurrent ("Dancing on My Own"-style) or the umpteenth showcase of a boundless ego ("now I run the game got the whole world talkin'")?
- But I would like to especially point at the comments by jamieW about many rock artists only being reviewed by metal magazines, while "mainstream critics don't even bother to review them." Exactly. Some Rock acts don't even got the chance to get a review (not to mention Country, Blues, Jazz and countless styles) while some "trendy" acts (yes, I used the word again) got systematically praised. It's like if some styles got an unreachable high bar to get into the best-of lists while others enters quite easily. Critics sometimes act like a bouncer on a chic club, letting people get in judging them by the look or the age. For instance, which was the last Blues album that got into an all-time list? I'll tell you because I checked it. It was 24 years ago, with Clapton's "Unplugged."

b) Some of you put the blame also on the musicians:
- Dexter talk about 1991 as the last great peak of Rock music and the posterior popular Rock acts paled in comparison, while the Rock critic darlings failed to reach the commercial appeal of Pop and Hip Hop stars. What more can I say? I agree 100%.
- Many of you point at the fact that many Rock musicians are changing their guitars for synths. TimmyWing, BleuPanda or bootsy pointed in this direction and TimmyWing found the best example in Tame Impala (or the last Bowie, although Bowie was always too restless to be considered stricltly Rock).

c) Not many found the audience guilty: TimmyWing talked about Rock music not being played in clubs anymore (and that's very important, people use to like the music is being played while they're having fun) and jamieW talk about fans as "where the trends usually begin." And jamieW, I agree with your comments about critics now praising mainstream acts. There is nothing wrong with it theoretically but probably they simply don't want to be perceived as snobbish intellectuals. Because, what's so special about "What Do You Mean?" or especially "Run Away With Me"? The fifteenth song of the year? Come on…

About your comments on the genre classification I agree with phil and Dexter about your objections. I used the main style as stated in Rateyourmusic (except in selected cases if I've found more exact the second main style also in RYM). Then I included the substyles in a main genre according to RYM and the "full genre tree" that appears on the front page of Acclaimed Music. Let's go there:
- Some main genres were not represented in the 700 songs, alphabetically Ambient, Classical Music, Darkwave, Descriptor, Experimental, Industrial, Musical Theatre, New Age and Spaghetti Western.
- Of the remaining genres Rock and Pop were assigned to Rock and Pop, Blues, Hip Hop, Jazz and R&B were assigned to Black and Country, Folk, Regional Music, Singer/Songwriter and Ska were assigned to Others. Dance and Electronic were initially assigned individually to the four main genres based on my instinct but, as I told, I did a second count creating Electronic as a fifth genre.
- "Black" genres not always included songs by black artists but songs included on the four genres mentioned before, with "Rehab" or "Stan" as example of white artists included in the "Black list" (mmm, Dexter, probably you're right, I've chosen a confusing denomination for the genre). And many black artists ended on to the Rock or Pop genres, including Chuck Berry and Jimi Hendrix, answering to Listyguy.
- The main problem in the genre categorizing comes with the "bridge" styles. Pop Rock is included in the genre tree both in Pop and Rock genres, Synthpop is included in Electronic and Pop, Pop Soul is included in Pop and R&B and so on. In these bridge styles I could have included many subjective (and so objectionable) decisions, I know.


Let's continue debating and commenting, please!!
Jeff
Different Class
Posts: 400
Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2012 12:46 am
Location: Washington, D.C.

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by Jeff »

As others have said, great work Honorio.

My first thought is this is partially a reflection of the increasing diversity of the music press, at least in the US (not that familiar with other countries, so I do not know if this true for them as well). It is important to note that most of the canon albums were selected by a music press that was probably around 95% white and male. [sidebar: As others have said, recent lists reaffirm the rock-centric canon to an extent, but then people tend to be hesitant to challenge received wisdom too much in any field (partially because the canon is all that many writers are familiar with from the era before they were active listeners)]. Certainly, there is a correlation here between an increase in female and non-white voices among music writers and a decrease in the acclaim of rock musicians. However, even the white male critics (who still must account for about 75% of the press) are abandoning rock music. Part of the issue could well be fatigue. If you have a canon of mostly rock music, perhaps you begin to favor new music that is anything else.

Unlike some others here, I see the decline of rock music as a positive. It is absurd that one genre should dominate lists the way that rock has in the past (the almost 60% in the '70s is particularly egregious). On an individual level, this would be fine. Afterall, everyone has their preferred styles of music. However, when every critic espouses the same genre bias we should begin asking questions for without dissensus there can be no discussion. Besides, wouldn't it be much better if lists had a roughly equal representation of genres (this would never happen as genres wax and wane, but speaking here in the abstract) and we could chalk the past of rock-dominated lists up to homogeneous listening patterns?

Unfortunately, according to Honorio's 2010s chart, as opposed to more balanced lists, rock's percentage is simply being replaced by pop. Instead of more diversity, we are just getting another dominant genre. I would argue this is preferable to yet another decade of rock dominance, but would prefer, for example, a few popular genres around 20% each with a plethora of more esoteric styles making up the rest.
User avatar
luney6
Movin' On Up
Posts: 868
Joined: Sat May 31, 2014 8:50 pm

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by luney6 »

I think that either there aren't as many good rock acts today, and if there are any really great albums being published today, they will probably only surface with time, probably because bigger labels are more hesitant to fund pure rock acts because they don't sell as well. Also, because it is a lot easier to become a musician today and market your own music today than there was before, the market is really diluted, as a lot more wanna but talentless and pretentious musicians really saturate the industry.

In fact, I don't think there is as much good music in general being published today as there was before, because today, it is a lot cheaper to make an album, and get it published than it was earlier, so a lot less effort and money is put into music by the artists. A lot of rock music today is as bad as all the other stuff.

Or maybe this is just a period of stagnation in the industry, and this has happened in the past. Perhaps, in a decade or so, if a hugely influential act enters the industry in the future, good rock music will return. Perhaps this is because the music industry is still getting used to the internet.

Also, why should the genre of music effect one's liking of the music itself? If a piece of music is good, then it should be enjoyable regardless of genre. In fact, many of the greatest and most innovative acts in the past did not fall into a specific genre altogether, or they created genres of their own.

Edit: Also, shouldn't Tame Impala be a rock act?
"God grant me the serenity to accept things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
User avatar
Romain
Happy Up Here
Posts: 5421
Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2012 2:25 pm
Location: Lyon, France

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by Romain »

A question I ask myself is "Did (and when) the Rap/hip-hop music, dominating the charts today, will become what the Rock is nowadays, a sort of "dad" music?"

By becoming super popular, is it going to lose interest for the younger generation, which no longer find themselves in this music? Like the revolutionnary 60's rock'n'roll became THE major genre, losing part of its interest.

For those who like this music, do you already have this feeling?
User avatar
BleuPanda
Higher Ground
Posts: 4717
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2012 1:20 am
Location: Urbana, IL

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by BleuPanda »

Romain wrote:A question I ask myself is "Did (and when) the Rap/hip-hop music, dominating the charts today, will become what the Rock is nowadays, a sort of "dad" music?"

By becoming super popular, is it going to lose interest for the younger generation, which no longer find themselves in this music? Like the revolutionnary 60's rock'n'roll became THE major genre, losing part of its interest.

For those who like this music, do you already have this feeling?

With Rap/Hip-Hop, I feel it has also evolved over time. There's a strong difference between 90s and 2010s within that genre. The same is true for Rock through most of its life, but I feel the genre has sort of exhausted itself by this point. Many of the major acts such as The Black Keys still sound like they could have existed decades ago, which isn't a good thing (I heard them playing on a local rock station that generally stays to the 70s, even). It very well could be the historical dominance making new rock redundant; there's so many 'essential' rock albums by this point it has taken me a few years to get through the top of the top. Exploring rock as a newer music fan is exhausting. Even within the genre, how many of the major rock bands would have actually been defined as 'rock' before the 2000s? The label 'alternative rock' as used throughout the modern era encompasses bands that feel like an entirely different genre that is hard to define. Outside of the major garage bands, the other rock acts in the 2000s sounded like they took inspiration from anything but. Radiohead turned to electronic influences, Arcade Fire consistently avoids the basic rock setup, LCD Soundsystem is modernized disco, etc. Even rock bands don't want to make 'rock' anymore.

In retrospect, The White Stripes era feels less like a revival as it does a swan song. Rock needed to evolve, and perhaps it has to the extent that those who crave rock can no longer recognize it as such. As a 23 year old, I honestly have one friend who seems to even care about the absence of rock, but he's the type of guy who lives in the 80s. All the other serious music fans in my social sphere have simply accepted the diversification.
User avatar
bootsy
Shake Some Action
Posts: 1297
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2014 10:38 pm

Re: Whatever Happened to My Rock 'n' Roll?

Post by bootsy »

Romain wrote:A question I ask myself is "Did (and when) the Rap/hip-hop music, dominating the charts today, will become what the Rock is nowadays, a sort of "dad" music?"

By becoming super popular, is it going to lose interest for the younger generation, which no longer find themselves in this music? Like the revolutionnary 60's rock'n'roll became THE major genre, losing part of its interest.

For those who like this music, do you already have this feeling?
I did for a brief time in the late 90s/early 00s because it seemed like hip hop was stale and the new generation: DMX, Ja Rule types were going to the hook rap songs with a rap then a R&B singer singing the hook and then rap again. And the South was on the rise with Master P/No Limit and Cash Money (Juvenile, Baby, Mannie Fresh, etc) and also with Jay-Z just being on top of the mountain by himself and on the verge of 'retiring'. That didn't last long because 50, Kanye, Lil Wayne came along in the early-mid 00s and sort of brought it back again. I know I'm leaving some people out but just giving a general overview. Anyway I hip-hop keeps reinventing itself with new styles and artist and the crossover appeal to different cultures and races doesn't seem like it will fade away and die. I will be very surprised if hip-hop becomes 'dad' music. I'm in my early 40s and mostly listen to 80s, 90s and some early 00s hip hop but I also listen to some of the new songs, albums, artists to know what is going on and I enjoy it for the most part. i know kids enjoy it too so at least this generation is not letting it die off.
Post Reply

Return to “Music, Music, Music...”