rock is dying ??

[brianrost]

Rock's been on life support since the 80s. There's been lots of going back and redigesting older styles. As an aging boomer, every new rock band I hear just reminds me of some older band.

The electronic dance genres are more mainstream outside of the USA (funny, because electronic dance was invented here). Skrillex has won Grammies but I don't think the mainstream is really ready for him yet (those who haven't heard him yet should, just for reference).

[Musical_musings]

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the Universal Amphitheatre. Well, here it is, the late seventies going on 1985. You know, so much of the music we hear today is all pre-programmed electronic disco, we never get a chance to hear master blues men practicing their craft anymore. By the year 2006, the music known today as the blues will exist only in the classical records department of your local library." ...Elwood Blues

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they allow disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children now are tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.” ....Plato

[treekiller]

Originally Posted by FreshTrooperXBL

...Hammond organ. Age 20 and love the whur of a Leslie in covers of Procol, Deep Purple, Led Zep ...almost swung upon a working but beat to bits Farfisa organ the other day. Now who actually plays those old beasts nowadays? And in rock context?

Ever heard Gov't Mule???

[rtslinger]

Mine is not the same situation as yours either. My 15 and 17 year olds hate today's music and only listen to classic rock and metal stuff but, early metal not today's barkers as my kids label them and all of my kids including the 25 year old are into the RHCP early funk. In fact they love my original music from the 1980's and keep asking me if I am going to put it out there again. hmmmm maybe?

[rtslinger]

Originally Posted by treekiller

Ever heard Gov't Mule???

Sure we covered Soul Shine for a while great song!

[Floridabwoy]

Originally Posted by brianrost

(funny, because electronic dance was invented here).

This discredits your post. Most dance music is most defo NOT from the United States. Yes Skrillex, A-Trak, Deamau5, Diplo are american but this is a small small small small sampling of the mainstream electronic artist in the world.

IMO, that rock pretty much sucks right now. All the acts are watered down by A&R guys. King's of Leon suck... Im sorry.
They do. I would rather listen to M83 than Death Cab for Cutie anyday. The only real rock going on are bands like Widespread Panic, etc. on the Jam Band Circuit. Or Alt Punk/Revival bands like The Menzingers, Red City Radio, The Gaslight Anthem, Hot Water Music, etc.

The truth is most of the production and general creativity is electronic music. Listen to some of the hip hop/britney/Rhianna pop instrumentals. There is some very good stuff going on there.

Rock will come back, Grunge destroyed the pop boy band thing in the 90's

What is really funny to me is, I am in my 30's now and the kid's today look like the dress like we did in the 80's. Beastie Boys in the Fight For Your Right video style. Its all circular my friends. Its all circular.

[jtl1380]

Originally Posted by J_Funk_77

I think it was said, mainstream rock is dying in the US. I think thats why Dave Grohl said what he said at the grammys. If you look at the big rock concerts of the year its always a older band. I think Van Halen will be the big one this year, Stones, Aerosmith and others in years past. Rember when Ozzfest and Lollapolooza rocked the year. When was the last time a Rock/Hard Rock band ruled the world? Pearl Jam? Nirvana? GnR? Motely Crue? If you look every year the biggest baddest show's of the year are normaly played in the UK or somewhere. I guess thats why the US has Pop History???

I loved this quote from Dave Grohl, but did anyone else find it horribly ironic that after saying what he did, they then had the Foo Fighters playing in a mash-up with Chris Brown and two electronic "musicians"? (and wth was up with that mouse head helmet thing?)

While true rock n roll has lost some momentum and audience, the slack has really been picked up by the country industry. I was never a big fan of country music even though I grew up in the south and it was all over the place. That being said, today's country music has really gravitated toward a much more rock feel. I play in a country band now, and find myself drawn to the music by the rock, blues, and bluegrass music that it's rooted in. If you're looking for honest musicianship these days, country is actually a good place to start. (That is something that I never thought I'd hear myself say 15-20 years ago)

[jbednarski]

Originally Posted by CannyBusDriver

yup its all about dubstep, trashy club rap (lil wayne and stuff), and lady gaga. Bass guitar has been substituted with dub wobbles and garageband

+1. My kids have turned me on to some way cool music (Skrillex, Deadmau5, Kaskade, Pretty Lights, etc. and new bands like Foster the People, etc) and after I listen to this music everything else sounds boring. I took my 14 YO daughter to Lollapalooza last summer and the EDM tent was as or more popular than the live acts. One of the supervisors there told me that it had only been there the year before and that it had doubled in size when we were there and they expected to give double again the space in 2012. Evolution, yes, can't stop it. Here in Chicago rock radio still thinks were in the 1970s. I still love funk and R&B but with more of a hip-hop feel to it like D'Angelo. Bands like Submotion Orchestra, Author and Dub Trio seem to push the boundaries by mashing-up the old and the new and that's great. So what am I listening to as I write this? Mick Taylor's amazing guitar work on the Stones "Time waits for no one". There's room for every kind of style out there.

[Clef_de_fa]

My only question will be : Why does Rock and Roll have to be mainstream ... why is it important it is on the readio etc ???

There is a lot of music that won't ever be on the radio and it is ok.

[Floridabwoy]

Dub Trio and Pretty Lights are both sick.

[tdub0199]

OP, I feel you man, I have two kids, son who is 12 and a daughter who is 16, My son is into all kinds of rock (Guessing because I taught him well) but my daughter listens to stuff like you mentioned and I don't even consider that crap music, I was watching something "Rock" related the other night on tv and and soon as my daughter caught wind of what I was watching went back to her room and turned her little ipod setup as loud as it would go..... what did I do? Turned the tv up even louder.....

[jbednarski]

Originally Posted by Floridabwoy

Dub Trio and Pretty Lights are both sick.

Check out the movie "RE:GENERATION Music Project" to see a way cool segment of Pretty Lights working in Nashville. Who says country and EDM can't mix, and mix well?

[klejst]

Music in general no matter what respective genres you are talking about is always evolving and growing/branching out. Anymore it's like like a "fall behind and don't evolve with it and get left behind" way of thinking . I believe the advancements in technology obviously play a huge role in both music production as well as distribution these days. I also think the music you grow up with is the music you generally affiliate yourself with the most as well. Sad thing is most kids these days think along the lines of Justin Bieber as is the best musician ever and way better than any artist or band in the past

Don't get me started on this apparent new dubstep phenomenom...

[Edward G.]

It's not so much that rock is dying; it's that the competition is thriving and growing more varied and diverse almost by the day.

Rock is no longer the exclusive currency of rebellion and individuality; it's one of many.

[jbednarski]

Jim Morrison Predicts The Future of Music - YouTube

My fav band of my youth, The Doors, and Jim Morrison predicting in 1969 that he could envision one person with some "tapes" and a "machine" playing a concert to thousands of people in the future. Sounds a lot like what Skrillex and his ilk are up to. See also the film: "The Electric Daisy Carnival Experience" to see the future.

[Floridabwoy]

I heard on the Re:Generation Derek didn't get along real well with the country artist..

[animvl]

I will add this; Rock is still the biggest selling genre of music. In rock, there are hundreds of bands and hundreds of listeners but with pop there are a handful of acts that everyone buys which is why they dominate the charts presumably. If you like pop music, your going to be buying Rihanna and Lady Gaga but if you like rock, there is a whole world of music to chose from.

Some stats I found, I had a particular one in mind but couldn't find it unfortunately:
» 2007 US music sales by genre @ IT Facts
The Nielsen Company & Billboard

The second link shows that in 2009 and 2010, rock was the biggest selling genre even without metal being included in the bracket.

[Fullback32]

I don't think rock is dead. Just listening to the Octane station on Sirius/XM, there are a lot of new hard rock bands doing their thing. Someone's listening to it or these new bands wouldn't exist. I may be an anomaly liking the newer stuff at 49, but the young people are definitely listening to it. My son, 16, and all his friends like that stuff as does my 19 and 22 year old daughters. In fact, the 19 year old is playing bass and singing in a rock band. There's also all the alternative rock out there thriving as well.

I think it's more that rock, as my generation knew it, has changed so we might not recognize that it's actually there. Let's face it, a lot of folks of my generation are "stuck" and are not listening to the new stuff.

Lastly, pop alternatives have always challenged rock and seemed more popular. I distinctly remember begging the DJ at high school dances in the 70s to play some Ted Nugent, Van Halen or Zeppelin only to treated to more Commodores, Bee Gees or Earth, Wind and Fire. In the 80s, we had New Wave and Madonna that seemed more popular than rock. Nothing new here.

No, rock isn't dead. You just have to look for it.

[Toastfuzz]

I just bought tickets to see the Black Keys and Arctic Monkeys in Cinci, I dont know much about em other than they get labeled Indie alot and all the hipsters in my city like em, but I plan to experience it true Rock show style

Maybe "rock" isn't mainstream anymore, but its surely not dead. I keep finding cool new bands in the Stoner/Doom thread in Bassists forum, that genre is pumping out all kinds of awesome new music. Really creamin over this newer band Red Fang right now.

[jbednarski]

Originally Posted by Floridabwoy

I heard on the Re:Generation Derek didn't get along real well with the country artist..

He didn't but the track he got out of him was awesome.