Embracing the changes in the music world

[JRA]

what I find humorous is the hubris of some people when it comes to "rock and roll". They're treating it like it's the penultimate form of musical expression, and that if it isn't continued the world will be worse off musically.

agreed: i've been playing for over fifty years = i have never been a rock player!

i play more R&R now, in my jazz group(!) than i have ever done previously (but we 'jazz' those tunes...it's instrumental music).

some of you guys need to get out more, IMO.

 

[Nev375]

99% of people over the age of 30 are just dinosaurs stuck in the music of their heyday and are simply prejudiced against anything new and unfamiliar. Almost all of you are not as open minded as you think you are.

Not so sure about this. Not sure where you get your numbers. I can say with certainty that 100% of those under 30 do not know what it was like growing up in the 60s and 70s.

Don't you know that 87.5% of all statistics are made up on the spot? I think what you are doing is trying to justify your own point of view by calling me out on my numbers rather than the point I was trying to make. That's human nature to stick to your own beliefs and alienate any point of view that threatens your own. Being open minded is hard.

 

[P-oddz]

99% of people over the age of 30 are just dinosaurs stuck in the music of their heyday and are simply prejudiced against anything new and unfamiliar.

I'd argue with your numbers. All my friends and I are late 30's, pushing into 40's, and discover, talk about, and share new music every week. From all sorts of genres.

I WOULD say that 99% of people who say that there is no good music being made these days, probably have not kept up with the times and are likely still relying on old paradigms to listen to music (terrestrial radio, what's on television, etc.). I think it has more to do with closed minds than age, per se, although those things can often times be connected.

So let that be a lesson to you all: Don't let these whipper snappers call you "old fuddies". Get out there and find some new music in the world and put down those Zeppelin albums for a minute.

At the very least, listen to John Paul Jones in Them Crooked Vultures instead:

 

[buldog5151bass]

99% of people over the age of 30 are just dinosaurs stuck in the music of their heyday and are simply prejudiced against anything new and unfamiliar.

Everyone likes what they know. Lots of young people are unwilling to listen to "old" music. I can find stuff I like from this year, and hundreds of years ago. I can find music that makes me cringe from this year, and hundreds of years ago.

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

Don't you know that 87.5% of all statistics are made up on the spot? I think what you are doing is trying to justify your own point of view by calling me out on my numbers rather than the point I was trying to make. That's human nature to stick to your own beliefs and alienate any point of view that threatens your own. Being open minded is hard.

My numbers are it based on facts and I don’t have to justify anything. You made a broad statement about everyone over 30 and then you follow up with another condescending comment. Apparent being narrow minded is easy.

 

[Nev375]

My numbers are it based on facts and I don’t have to justify anything. You made a broad statement about everyone over 30 and then you follow up with another condescending comment. Apparent being narrow minded is easy.

Not everyone. But thanks for supporting my argument.

 

[P-oddz]

How many others (true rock bands) are out there? Tool, Foo Fighters, Metallica and Aerosmith all come to mind, and I'm sure there are others. All but ID are older bands. Put another way, how many relatively young bands are headlining stadium tours? Clearly it's not what it used to be throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's. Perhaps this is more of a trend in music touring overall rather than any indication that rock music is on the decline. I do think there is a correlation however.

How many of those bands that you listed were headlining stadium tours when they were a relatively young band?
I would also argue that a lack of arena rock acts is not really indicative to the current state of music. There are plenty of touring rock acts that are playing to thousands of people nightly that may not fall in the "arena rock" category.

 

[kartiste]

Do you know why progressive rock has seen a surge recently? See if you can take a guess.

With young people, I mean.

Oh, oh, call on me teacher! It's that young people have been reading Leon Trotsky's theory of "The Permanent Revolution"!

 

[Spidey2112]

agreed: i've been playing for over fifty years = i have never been a rock player!

i play more R&R now, in my jazz group(!) than i have ever done previously (but we 'jazz' those tunes...it's instrumental music).

some of you guys need to get out more, IMO.

Soon, hopefully...

 

[ZenG]

I'd argue with your numbers. All my friends and I are late 30's, pushing into 40's, and discover, talk about, and share new music every week. From all sorts of genres.

I WOULD say that 99% of people who say that there is no good music being made these days, probably have not kept up with the times and are likely still relying on old paradigms to listen to music (terrestrial radio, what's on television, etc.). I think it has more to do with closed minds than age, per se, although those things can often times be connected.

So let that be a lesson to you all: Don't let these whipper snappers call you "old fuddies". Get out there and find some new music in the world and put down those Zeppelin albums for a minute.

At the very least, listen to John Paul Jones in Them Crooked Vultures instead:

Just listened to that. You can't be serious.

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Anyway if you're using One Direction as a shining beacon of the youth of today's mental state...I rest my case.

Thanks for clarifying your point! As for O.D. to be honest I made a point there myself: I have no clue how relevant they still are, it just so happens I picked up their name (from this forum amongst other places) as one of the new bands that "kids" like. I listen more to "oldies" radio stations than the "trendy" ones because those feature too much electronic / dance (and EDM) which is simply something I do not enjoy listening to. I do however enjoy it on those rare occasions when I find myself in a club (you know, of the dancing variety).

Contemporary genres are the increasingly-blended echoes of the old conventions bouncing around a world that still remembers when convention existed, aided by the technology to more easily blend them.

Which I think is a good thing. All music is derived from other music and mixing genres can and will lead to interesting results. From an evolutionary POV it makes sense to mix the "DNA" of several genres in order to come up with something new.

The real question in my opinion to help determine the continued viability of rock music is to ask the following question: how many bands can still go on successful stadium tours?

Judging by the fact that, in my country at least, the three biggest concert venues are booked almost daily (and sold out most of the time) I would say a helluva lot of bands still go on successful (stadium) tours. To be honest, if that is the first thing to go and it means seeing bands in smaller venues again, I am all for it!

I went to see Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in concert last weekend, along with 17,999 other people. I was underwhelmed and it had NOTHING to do with the band. They rocked, they gave everything they had and more. And it simply did not make as much as a dent of an impression because I was seated far away and the overall sound sucked. I am sure Mason Casey was playing bass - I saw him do it! - but I could barely discern any notes played. I saw several Bad Seeds behind the piano, probably taking a rest cos I didn't hear any piano lines coming through ... Stadiums? They are the death of rock 'n' roll!

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

Not everyone. But thanks for supporting my argument.

Sure thing sparky, you’re the winner.

 

[JMacBass65]

If you really want to embrace the changes in modern music, delete anything on your playlist more than 10 years old and actively start looking for NEW music to replace it with. SERIOUSLY TAKE THE PLUNGE! I actually did this about 5 years ago and need to purge things again. Doing so has taught me a few things about music.

For one, music of today is not worse than the music of yesterday. Rock is just not mainstream, nor as profitable as it once was, but that's an entirely different issue. Things go out of fashion. But there are definitely brilliant musicians and bands that exist. I use things like Pandora and tastekid to find them as well as watching Jules Holland or any other program or youtube channel that caters to new music.

99% of people over the age of 30 are just dinosaurs stuck in the music of their heyday and are simply prejudiced against anything new and unfamiliar. Almost all of you are not as open minded as you think you are. I discovered that I had some narrow-minded tendencies myself. So I thought about that very hard and decided I could either justify my own prejudices or put some effort into repeated listening of some stuff that I didn't like at first.

If you listen to something enough, there's a good chance you will develop a taste for it. That doesn't mean you will learn to like auto-tuned pop. Obviously, if something goes against your core values you are less likely to ever accept it. But if you want to expand your boundaries you HAVE to venture out into some wild uncharted territory, but on the plus side, you can decide which direction you wish to explore.

As for your favorite classic rock? Don't worry. You'll still get to hear plenty of it when you hang out with your friends.

Great post.

 

[Nev375]

It's cool. I like it, but it sounds like a clone of something that lived and died in the '70's rather than what evolved from it over the years.



To me, when I think "bleeding edge of musical evolution" I think about Alt-J. Most older people are absolutely going to hate them, but one thing I have to say is they tend to draw from so many different genres and blend them together so they are kinda hard categorize. I certainly haven't heard anything at all like them.

Their bassist left after their first album and they simply continued on without him as a trio. I like to jam along with their recordings to practice creating basslines to fit.

The Mercury Prize is awarded in recognition of the best new album out of the UK every year and is selected by a panel of musicians and other music industry professionals. Album sales and popularity aren't supposed to be factors in the judging and it is not limited to any specific genre. Alt J has had 2 of 3 albums they've released nominated and they won the prize in 2011 for their debut. If you check out the list of nominees a person is likely to find at least 1 newer act they can appreciate no matter what you are into.

 

[japhy4529]

Thanks for clarifying your point! As for O.D. to be honest I made a point there myself: I have no clue how relevant they still are, it just so happens I picked up their name (from this forum amongst other places) as one of the new bands that "kids" like. I listen more to "oldies" radio stations than the "trendy" ones because those feature too much electronic / dance (and EDM) which is simply something I do not enjoy listening to. I do however enjoy it on those rare occasions when I find myself in a club (you know, of the dancing variety).



Which I think is a good thing. All music is derived from other music and mixing genres can and will lead to interesting results. From an evolutionary POV it makes sense to mix the "DNA" of several genres in order to come up with something new.



Judging by the fact that, in my country at least, the three biggest concert venues are booked almost daily (and sold out most of the time) I would say a helluva lot of bands still go on successful (stadium) tours. To be honest, if that is the first thing to go and it means seeing bands in smaller venues again, I am all for it!

I went to see Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in concert last weekend, along with 17,999 other people. I was underwhelmed and it had NOTHING to do with the band. They rocked, they gave everything they had and more. And it simply did not make as much as a dent of an impression because I was seated far away and the overall sound sucked. I am sure Mason Casey was playing bass - I saw him do it! - but I could barely discern any notes played. I saw several Bad Seeds behind the piano, probably taking a rest cos I didn't hear any piano lines coming through ... Stadiums? They are the death of rock 'n' roll!

Well, then I'd like to move to your country as that is clearly not the case any longer in the US. When I was in my teens into my mid-20's (1987-1997), I went to see about 12 stadiums shows a year along with 5-10 small to mid sized venues. Back then even a band like RATT could sell out The Spectrum in Philadelphia (which seated ~17k). I recognize you're probably being a bit facetious, however, if stadiums are the death of rock music then it's been on a slow death spiral since The Beatles played Shea Stadium back in '65!

I've been to stadium shows with really bad sound and other shows with excellent sound (at the same venue!). It really depends on the acoustics (which admittedly are often quite bad at stadiums), the PA and the sound person. Of course those factors are equally at play at smaller venues.

 

[Frank Tuesday]

Rock n roll is boring. It's a fetid pool of stagnation. There are still musicians doing great things with rock, but on the whole, it is drab and stuck in the quagmire of tradition.

 

[japhy4529]

Rock n roll is boring. It's a fetid pool of stagnation. There are still musicians doing great things with rock, but on the whole, it is drab and stuck in the quagmire of tradition.

Yes, quite so. Every rock & roll fan should be forced to read your post and immediately destroy/delete their entire rock collection and listen only to Math Patrol music.

 

[kartiste]

Yes, quite so. Every rock & roll fan should be forced to read your post and immediately destroy/delete their entire rock collection and listen only to Math Patrol music.

Now, now comrades, let's settle down. ... Hey, who stole my Che' shirt!

 

[P-oddz]

It's cool. I like it, but it sounds like a clone of something that lived and died in the '70's rather than what evolved from it over the years.



To me, when I think "bleeding edge of musical evolution" I think about Alt-J. Most older people are absolutely going to hate them, but one thing I have to say is they tend to draw from so many different genres and blend them together so they are kinda hard categorize. I certainly haven't heard anything at all like them.

Their bassist left after their first album and they simply continued on without him as a trio. I like to jam along with their recordings to practice creating basslines to fit.

The Mercury Prize is awarded in recognition of the best new album out of the UK every year and is selected by a panel of musicians and other music industry professionals. Album sales and popularity aren't supposed to be factors in the judging and it is not limited to any specific genre. Alt J has had 2 of 3 albums they've released nominated and they won the prize in 2011 for their debut. If you check out the list of nominees a person is likely to find at least 1 newer act they can appreciate no matter what you are into.

I wasn't putting out Them Crooked Vultures as a "cutting edge" band. In fact that album is from 2009.
I was more saying that if people are still thinking that Zeppelin was the pinnacle of rock and roll, at least listen to what John Paul Jones (Zep bassist) did in the past 30 years.

 

[P-oddz]

Just listened to that. You can't be serious.

Sure am serious. Not so sure if you are, or what you meant by that dismissive comment lacking in any real, defined criticism.
I'd be more than happy to try and list some more modern bands that might fit into your idea of what is good or not if you give a little bit more of a back story.