Rock is dead

[Square Wheels]

It's sad but true.  There is no good new rock.

 

This isn't a post of my favorite band is better than your favorite band, but a reflection on my music listening habits.

 

I was born in the 60's and grew up on the Beatles, the Doors (see I don't even like them but listed them), the Stones.  I even had a copy of the Sticky Fingers album with the zipper.

 

Will there ever be another Led Zeppelin?  The Who?  Lynyrd Skynyrd?  Woodstock?

 

I know there were always one hit wonder bands like we have now, but where are the bands playing stadiums with 50,000+ people year after year?

 

Who / what is to blame for this?

 

I am feeling very melancholy over losing my rock.

[kingtermite]

Who / what is to blame for this?

 

You. For being a retro grouch and not realizing that there have been great bands. There have been "the next Led Zeppelin" type bands. Pearl Jam? Dave Matthews? Just because "you" don't like them as much, doesn't mean they haven't been just as big and has just as much impact on musicians who came after them.

[Thaddeus Kosciuszko]

It's sad but true.  There is no good new rock.

 

Oh for goodness sake!

 

How can you not say the magnificent talent displayed by today's most popular rap artists falls short of any smattering of skill displayed by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Lynard Skynard, The Who, or even David Cassidy?  Have you no ears?

 

[team scooter]

Theres good new stuff out there, but its hard to find. They certainly don't play it on the radio.

I for one, listened to Willie's Roadhouse (retro country on satellite) most of the nine hour ride home last weekend.

At least until my wife finally threatened me with bodily harm.

[goldendesign]

Oh for goodness sake!

 

How can you not say the magnificent talent displayed by today's most popular rap artists falls short of any smattering of skill displayed by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Lynard Skynard, The Who, or even David Cassidy?  Have you no ears?

 

 

Take: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis or Eminem as a prime example. Both cross genres, play to sell out crowds, have had massive popularity (Macklemore more recently, Eminem for over a decade)

 

Or for more traditional "Rock":

Foo Fighters

Pearl Jam

Linkin Park

Mumford & Sons

Arcade Fire

White Stripe

Raconteurs

Jack White

 

All these artists/bands have multiple albums, sing to sellout crowds, reach top one hundred on the billboard charts, and are good.

 

 

I don't define my tastes by a genre. I use my ears and my adrenaline. Rock is definetly not dead, I  think most genre driven segregation is.

 

Hell, look at Daft Punk for a defining artist, maybe not "rock" by your definition but in the sixties was "rock", rock? Or was it still finding its way from the fifties? Daft Punk being almost thirty years of being innovative, household name.

[KrAzY]

I still like rock, but roll has to GTFO!
I personally would rather sit around listening to 40's to 60's music all day then to listen to some of the crap that are playing in the radio these days.

it seems anyone can be the next big thing no matter the crap they ate and are trying to spit into the mic. There is no talent now a days, everything is either synthesized or sounds like crap.

[Chopped Liver]

The 60's was a magical time in music.....it gave birth to some of the best bands and music ever seen.

Then came the 70's and disco.  Music puked.  Beethoven rolled over in his grave.  Cocaine became popular.  And the rest is history.

[Road Runner]

It's sad but true.  There is no good new rock.

 

I agree, but on a much larger scale than just "rock".  We use to have people like James Taylor, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Carole King, Smokey Robinson (Motown sound in general), and, yes, we even had mega pop stars like MJ.  In the country and western genre, we had great artists cranking out great songs, huge hit after hit.  

 

Today's "music" is a pale comparison to the music of the last half of the 20th century.  People can apologize and point to exceptions all they want, but the fact is my friends, as Don McLean once said, the music has died.  

[JerrySTL ★]

I suggest Wilco, Radiohead, and Ha Ha Tonka.

[Randomguy]

All the good bands break up after two albums these days, it seems.  Plus, the model now is to put out enough new material to get people to come to shows, so you aren't lambasted with rock music these days.  It is out there, but it is often crap.  When it isn't crap, the band breaks up and you have to hope something new will surface from them.

 

Anyway, it is still out there, although the creative part doesn't last as long, and the pieces are constantly moving, and people get tired of recreating the wheel all the damn time.   So you have young punks that get together, haphazardly slap something together that is occasionally brilliant, then they disappear from the scene.

 

I wouldn't want to be a musician now.

[Square Wheels]

So for those that think rock lives on, where do I buy tickets for something like this:

 

 

Or for a band as talented as this:

 

[jsharr ★]

I bet if you took the same amount of drugs now as you did then that you would love the music of today.

[Olas Nah]

I have been less and less impressed by music that I've seen in person. Small stuff? Great. Concerts? Hell no...always lousy. I think I'm going to refuse to see a musical performance in the future unless it involves less than 500 people in the audience.

[kingtermite]

I have been less and less impressed by music that I've seen in person. Small stuff? Great. Concerts? Hell no...always lousy. I think I'm going to refuse to see a musical performance in the future unless it involves less than 500 people in the audience.

[Olas Nah]

I did see Robert Plant at a local gig the other year, he was there just kinda joining along, and it was funny how you could see him do some of his classic moves on stage, but it was also neat to see that he was past the old Zepplin days like it was just a thing he'd done. But, he's old school rock.

[torch511]

I hate hate HATE the large scale overproduced area shows of today. I think if you define "good rock" as trying to find moden versions of Led Zepplin, Rush, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, or The Beatles then I think you will be sadly disappointed. But to say there is no "Good Rock" is completely ignorant.

 

Muse, for one. Despite my hatred of large scale arena shows, they put on a really effing good one. Matt Bellamy can legit sing and you can like or dislike the music, but there is no argument that they are ground breaking and original. I am not even a big fan. I like some of it, some of it not so much but give credit where it is due.

 

Linkin Park is also a solid contender for a modern neo-classic rock. Foo-Fighters as well - Dave Grohl is amazingly talented and again... not really my cup of tea. Green Day - up until that whole bizarre melt-down by Billy Jo - They've been around since the early 90s... 20 years and still going and they've had a bevy of songs that still get airplay.

 

I think a lot of the BEST rock comes from small local clubs by small local bands. I just don't think "Rock" sells right now so the recoding industry just isn't looking for the talent in that genre and not signing them to major recording deals. You're better off browsing social media and finding talent away from the major labels.

 

Personally, I think Led Zepplin sucked then, sucks now and why a bunch of people continue to listen to that crap is beyond me. I think a whole lot of classic rock is pretty bad, and now that a lot of CR radio stations play an assortment of grunge it's just another reason to skip over them.

[goldendesign]

I hate hate HATE the large scale overproduced area shows of today. I think if you define "good rock" as trying to find moden versions of Led Zepplin, Rush, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, or The Beatles then I think you will be sadly disappointed. But to say there is no "Good Rock" is completely ignorant.

 

Muse, for one. Despite my hatred of large scale arena shows, they put on a really effing good one. Matt Bellamy can legit sing and you can like or dislike the music, but there is no argument that they are ground breaking and original. I am not even a big fan. I like some of it, some of it not so much but give credit where it is due.

 

Linkin Park is also a solid contender for a modern neo-classic rock. Foo-Fighters as well - Dave Grohl is amazingly talented and again... not really my cup of tea. Green Day - up until that whole bizarre melt-down by Billy Jo - They've been around since the early 90s... 20 years and still going and they've had a bevy of songs that still get airplay.

 

I think a lot of the BEST rock comes from small local clubs by small local bands. I just don't think "Rock" sells right now so the recoding industry just isn't looking for the talent in that genre and not signing them to major recording deals. You're better off browsing social media and finding talent away from the major labels.

 

Personally, I think Led Zepplin sucked then, sucks now and why a bunch of people continue to listen to that crap is beyond me. I think a whole lot of classic rock is pretty bad, and now that a lot of CR radio stations play an assortment of grunge it's just another reason to skip over them.

 

Pretty good assessment, I agree on most of this. Large venues the music can be subpar. Then again; 2001 Deftones, Incubus, and Taproot rocked the Palace of Auburn. By far best live concert I went to that was a large venue.

 

Great small venue is Janis Landings here, saw Flo Rida a few years ago. Ten feet from the stage, one DJ, three other artists. Killed it.

[kingtermite]

Great small venue is Janis Landings here, saw Flo Rida a few years ago. Ten feet from the stage, one DJ, three other artists. Killed it.

I hated Janus Landing. It was often cramped and the outside acoustics were horrible. I saw a number of bands there, probably all/most back in the 90s.

 

Come to think of it though, I can't think of any outside venues I went to back in Tampa area that I liked. Florida State Fairgrounds were 10X worse than Janus Landing for acoustics. I saw the Allman Brothers there and couldn't even really hear them. I haven't been to that new amphitheater they put in at the fairgrounds though. Straub park wasn't too good either.

[goldendesign]

I hated Janus Landing. It was often cramped and the outside acoustics were horrible. I saw a number of bands there, probably all/most back in the 90s.

 

Come to think of it though, I can't think of any outside venues I went to back in Tampa area that I liked. Florida State Fairgrounds were 10X worse than Janus Landing for acoustics. I saw the Allman Brothers there and couldn't even really hear them. I haven't been to that new amphitheater they put in at the fairgrounds though. Straub park wasn't too good either.

 

Straub sucks, the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater, formerly 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheate,r formerly Ford Amp, formerly Florida State Fairgrounds (seriously) has nice new stage and the acoustics are better.

 

Janus has redone their outdoor stage recently, maybe 8 years ago, and made a big improvement. They also don't try to blast you out now so the mood mellowed.

 

Skippers is still kicking ass but thats all local hippies getting stoned and playing reggae or some hipster crap. The bands/music sucks but the people are awesome.

[kingtermite]

Straub sucks, the MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheater, formerly 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheate,r formerly Ford Amp, formerly Florida State Fairgrounds (seriously) has nice new stage and the acoustics are better.

 

Janus has redone their outdoor stage recently, maybe 8 years ago, and made a big improvement. They also don't try to blast you out now so the mood mellowed.

 

Skippers is still kicking ass but thats all local hippies getting stoned and playing reggae or some hipster crap. The bands/music sucks but the people are awesome.

I'd heard good things about that amphitheater...just didn't know the name because I knew it had changed a few times.

 

Good to hear about Janus.

 

Skippers....never actually went there, but heard about it all the time. They were always advertising on the radio. A guy worked with at SWFWMD back in the 90s died from some kind of food poisoning or something he got from some oysters at Skippers Smokehouse.

[Ralphie ★]

Take: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis or Eminem as a prime example. Both cross genres, play to sell out crowds, have had massive popularity (Macklemore more recently, Eminem for over a decade)

 

Or for more traditional "Rock":

Foo Fighters

Pearl Jam

Linkin Park

Mumford & Sons

Arcade Fire

White Stripe

Raconteurs

Jack White

 

All these artists/bands have multiple albums, sing to sellout crowds, reach top one hundred on the billboard charts, and are good.

 

 

I don't define my tastes by a genre. I use my ears and my adrenaline. Rock is definetly not dead, I  think most genre driven segregation is.

 

Hell, look at Daft Punk for a defining artist, maybe not "rock" by your definition but in the sixties was "rock", rock? Or was it still finding its way from the fifties? Daft Punk being almost thirty years of being innovative, household name.

I love today's music!  There is so much out there.  Just to name a few more, The Black Keys, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Drive By Truckers, Lissie, The Bird and the Bee, She and Him, Laura Mvula, Elvis Costello, Neko Case, Mayer Hawthorne, etc, etc., etc.