Where is Music Heading?

[Shaun Lopez]

There are many phases/trends in society that changed the history and shape music. Where do you think our society is going with mainstream music?
Right now I think we are in Rap take-over. It seems that our perception ( especially the youth, 16-29)is heading towards music that engages a club style atmosphere, where people can grind down on the dance floor and try to hook-up with everyone. When I go and see local rock bands perform, #1 people don't show up in the masses like they use to, and #2 no one is really paying attention and all they are really doing is scoping out the scene. Now..., I know that we will always have rebels and a counter-culture, so where the heck is rock headed?Can we still say Rock and Roll will never die? Has it? With all these cookie-cutter rock bands getting regurgitated by larger record labels? Will there ever be another Kurt Kobain,John Lennon etc... Do we need to start a new wave?c'mon fellas/ladies...let's hear it!!

 

[dMac]

Hey Hey, My My ...

I think Rock will survive. But if I knew what the next-big-thing will be, I'd be in a band playing it! Or at least at a record company signing bands and making big $$$$.

How about this whole thing I keep reading/hearing about that rock will be saved by The Vines, The Hives, The Strokes, The White Stripes, etc.?
Any opinion? My first impression is that the Hives and the Vines are kind of picking up where the clash left off about 20 years ago...

Speaking of 20 years ago ... I saw Bruce Springsteen live last night. For an old guy, he still rocks!

 

[Wes]

Rock

Just like most things throughout history, rock will most likely come back around. As for mainstream, I don't really think there is such a thing. Just because a majority of people enjoy one type of music doesn't mean that it's all they listen to. As far as I can tell, all thats mainstream today is what is "marketed" as such by corporations. Yes, it sounds anti-organization but it is very evident. Real talent seems to be a second-place prize compared to good lookes and a synthesized beat and/or money. But thats not to say that there aren't people who listen to and play music for other reasons. Culture and Rebellion are excuses to act a way that is counter to natural taste without seeming like a follower. That means that mainstream is really a facade. It is not a movement of musical taste, but rather a movement of popular taste, which is not taste at all. So.. yeah, there is no need to worry about the death of rock because people still listen to it. So the day rock dies is the day when people stop listening, and in essence, stop caring. That makes it not matter either way.

 

[Shaun Lopez]

Music Music

I too have always thought rock and roll will never die. There are just too many people in the world with so many different musical backgrounds that it would be impossible for rock extinction. Bottom line is( if you have ever played in front of a crowd,or have even gone to a live show, you know what i'm talking about) people play music because it gives them pleasure, a fullfillment and overwhelming rush of free expression through means of their very own instrument. How can somthing that feels so genuine and free ever be given up.

As far as The Vines, Strokes, White Stipes etc.. I think it is a quick return to the past. But who knows, maybe we need to take a trip back to past to open our eyes again on Rock and Roll history so we have other means to explore the present. I don't really think that these bands will "save" rock, but i'm sure they will have an influence on rock's musical landscape. It takes people to believe again like they once did in the 60s and 70s for rock to be "saved". Any band that can do this, whether it be The Vines etc..., will have a huge impact on rock culture.

 

[jadesmar]

We are in a wave of dance music.. this is nothing new.. it happens about every 15-25 years. It happened in the late 50's, again in the disco/new wave era and now again.

There is always rock on the charts, and there always will be. If you choose to ignore the charts, there are now more rock bands trying to make good than ever.

That is all.

 

[peter71]

I don't really think that anything has happened to rock, or will actually. If you look at the industry, the real talent has always been around. The only thing to go was the bands that were more a part of the trend, than the creators of the trend. You can still go out and get new Joe Satriani records, or find new stuff by Jeff Beck. You can find new Dream Theater, Rush, Yes, and any number of bands. Peter Gabriel is still out there and so is Paul McCartney. In fact, whether you like Pearl Jam, or you like Jethro Tull, you can still find new music from them. It may not be as main stream, but then again who cares. What is popular today will just be thrown out tomorrow. In five years, people will look at their Kid Rock and Limp Bizkit the same way people of my generation look at their Warrant or Sherrif records.

If you go to Favored Nations or Magna Carta you can find some great guitar rock. So hey, smile, rock is here, always has been (at least since the 1920's) and always will be!

But then again, what do I know, I am a Detriot Tigers and Lions fan....

 

[bassdude63]

True, true. Music trends run in cycles. I remember the term: "rock is dead" in the late 70's-early 80's when the Disco herpes was big stuff. Thank God for bands like the Clash, Echo and The Bunnymen,etc.. Popular music is driven by the 18-25 yrs old market. Eventually people will get burned out with the current dance music scene and Rock will be back.

 

[Stan Dupp]

I wish the true art of music would come back. I know in it's heyday progressive rock was so innovative that people didn't know what they were listening to. I know Peter Gabriel has been mentioned time and again on these pages but I recently saw The Musical box re-enact the Selling England By The Pound tour.
It made me realize the Gabriel and comany were just young punks at the time they wrote those songs...early 20's I think.
Their songs are full of nuance and feel. Many prog bands such as Yes, Saga, King Krimson, Marrillion et al, had the foresight to " do something new".
They were innovators not just copies of each other.....
Think of this...How many singers must we have that sound exactly like Eddy Vedder?
How many bands have to sound like tool and how many versions of the Back Street boys do we have to listen to?

How I long to hear an ORIGINAL tune!

 

[bassdude63]

All Right! a fellow prog rocker!! I'm a HUGE fan of Crimson,Yes,Genesis,U.K.,etc. And look back at bands like Deep Purple, Led Zep,The Who, Sabbath-they all sounded unique! That's what I think is so exciting about bands marketing themselves via the net and bypassing the record companies. Many of today's bands sound so similar to me. I thought I was just getting old. It sounds like everyone is tuning down to "D", and you're right-most of the singers sound like Eddie Vedder. The rest bark. A newer band I thought was very fresh sounding was Rage Against The Machine. Too bad they're not "fully intact" anymore. D.M.

 

[yarrix]

same reflection here

 

[metalfrik]

i really really enjoy rock and i hope that gods like MetallicA will someday be out there to keep rock alive by the way MetallicA kicks everybodys and everythings ass thanku

 

[LJHSBassdude]

I'm in one of the major marketing demographics [16 year old male] but as far as the dance/rap/pop mainstream stuff today i think the bulk of it is crap. If i had a picture of it i'd post my bumper sticker-You Can't Spell Crap Without Rap. That being said i currently listen to Weather Report, P-Funk, Slipknot, Rascall Flatts, Eric Clapton, The Beatles, Jaco Pastorius, Skynrd, Duke Ellington [jimmy blanton verry good], Charles Mingus along with some of the more mainstream groups and others from different time periods. I don't think rock will ever go away until we are extinct. I do agree with the trends/cycles in music. If you look at the fashion trends you will notice that some things that where popular in the past ,i'm not sure when didn't live it, such as bell bottoms & bohemian stuff. At school i don't tend to agree with the people that think music has to have a phat beat yo, but also don't agree that if it isn't Bach it isn't suited for my ears. Thats the end of my ramble.

 

[ebb soul]

I bame the death of radio as a format for artistry rather than marketing. Music will continue to be dreary, listless or 'feel sorry for me', and no guitar work worth mention. Radio sucks due to corporations and the fact that like one person owns all the stations. thereby they all sound the same no matter where you go-lame.

 

[metalfrik]

the greatest paradox in the world is of how good music is ignored and bad music is adored by the way, i think the vines, the strokes all of those groups suck in my mind, all they do is scream and do a couple of power chords.

 

[peter71]

One other side note about the music industry. One of the problems that seems to be coming about is that people care much less about music in general. People are getting sick of musicians and groups much faster than they used to. Back in the day (everything before 1989) it was not unusual to have a band be popular for over ten years. Now it is an anominally to have a band have more than one or two SINGLES let alone albums do well.

I think this is because for a while now people have been fed bad music. Songs that are very programatic, very formulaic and not worried about their content, but rather songs that are all image. You can only listen to so much bad music before you stop taking it seriously or even caring. Think of the bands you liked in other era's. There is no way that Rush would survive today if they were just starting. They are not cute enough for one, and for another, no one will wait through a song like 2112 anymore.

The unfortunate thing about all of this is that it makes people apathetic to new ideas or music. How many times have you gone to watch a band at a bar, and they are a good band, and the only time people look up or take notice is when they play a cover? People don't want originality or to have their boundries stretched anymore. They want McDonalds, which is the same here as it is in San Diego as it is in Boston as it is in Texas.

So I say go Foo Fighters (who happens to be on in my stereo) and go Peter Gabriel and go Tori Amos and go any other people that are making the masses uncomfortable by listening to something different. It is good for them.

Oh, and for more information about the McDonalds idea, read the McDonaldization fo Society, a good book if you like to read boring things with interesting information. But what do I know, I still think Nuno Bettencourt is one of the best guitarists I have ever heard...

 

[bigman]

blame it on the $$$$!

In search of the almighty $$$ corporate america has figured out exactly what everyone wants to hear. ( at least that's what supposed research companies want you to believe) This is why we have radio segmented into minute slices of the music scene. They have a belief that we want to hear the same 20-30 songs or artists over, and over, and over stc......
I can't listen to commercial radio anymore. I'm in NYC, and there is nothing original except NPR, and that is a little mellow for my taste. At least it's variety. Hell, we don't even have a country station.

There is no originality on the radio, so new music can only be exposed on a grass roots level. Once this becomes popular, the execs come in and sign anything similar till it stops selling.

I think "rock" music is going to remain stagnant - there hasn't been anything compelling in quite a while - till someone comes out with a straight ahead R&R record that is accessable by a mass audience - think Springsteen in '75 Born to Run.

Yeah, then it will be copied and oversaturated, etc..

Hey whatever happened to the "single" ?
I think bands need to release single till they have an albums worth of decent music, instead of a single on an album of filler.
People would be willing to spend $$ on a good album.

my 2cents