Is rock dead?

[Pendulous]

I am not sure what the charts are like in other countries of even what’s big but Rock is pretty much dead in the UK, actually correction Rock has lost identity here in the UK.

Same way here. Rock songs are few and far between. Just looked at the Billboard 100. Took about 30 songs to get to something I recognized, and that was Train. Rock is definitely not dead, not with the broad definition of it, but it is possible it's transitioning into something different. It is 2012, and I haven't really heard what this millenium has been as far as what type of rock music is currently popular.

[Windry]

I've definitely notice a major drop in good Rock Bands over the last 2 years, but the Black Keys are keeping rock alive for me.

[Badpaladin]

Same way here. Rock songs are few and far between. Just looked at the Billboard 100. Took about 30 songs to get to something I recognized, and that was Train. Rock is definitely not dead, not with the broad definition of it, but it is possible it's transitioning into something different. It is 2012, and I haven't really heard what this millenium has been as far as what type of rock music is currently popular.

What's happening is what would traditionally be considered "rock" is ceasing to exist, because tons of bands are taking elements from it and mixing it with other stuff. Just off the top of my head, relatively popular and critically-acclaimed bands would be:

- The National
- Arcade Fire
- Thrice
- Brand New
- Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree
- The Black Keys
- Wilco
- The Antlers
- Deerhunter
- The Dear Hunter

A good amount of those bands are what you would call "indie rock", but the rock elements are there. Whether or not somebody likes it is entirely subjective, but if it's older 70's-80's, "dad rock" that people want, it's simply not here anymore. The genre has evolved.

[kynthrus]

I felt somewhat the same before I started exploring outside of just American/Euro bands. There is a lot more rock out there than you think.

[WaitingforMoP]

Imo yes Rock music is dead

But Metal is alive and kicking

What's happening is what would traditionally be considered "rock" is ceasing to exist, because tons of bands are taking elements from it and mixing it with other stuff. Just off the top of my head, relatively popular and critically-acclaimed bands would be:

- The National
- Arcade Fire
- Thrice
- Brand New
- Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree
- The Black Keys
- Wilco
- The Antlers
- Deerhunter
- The Dear Hunter

Well yeah, but those bands (I admittedly am not familiar with Wilco, The Antlers, or Deerhunter, so they could be idk) but none of those have that Rock & Roll purity.

They don't sound like rock purists like Led Zeppelin or Blue Oyster Cult for example, they are all rock bands of some sort but what I'm saying is that I do generally agree that pure rock and roll is pretty much dead

A good amount of those bands are what you would call "indie rock", but the rock elements are there. Whether or not somebody likes it is entirely subjective, but if it's older 70's-80's, "dad rock" that people want, it's simply not here anymore. The genre has evolved.

Right, but I think alot of people would argue that going from Led Zeppelin to The Black Keys is more of a devolution. I haven't heard any Stairway to Heavens or Achilles Last Stand type masterpieces out of those guys (Yet anyway)

[Bigbazz]

Rock is not dead.

[Slanderize]

Ballads are dead, but the rock lives on.

[Badpaladin]

Well yeah, but those bands (I admittedly am not familiar with Wilco, The Antlers, or Deerhunter, so they could be idk) but none of those have that Rock & Roll purity.

I agree, they don't sound like 1950's Rock & Roll.

They don't sound like rock purists like Led Zeppelin or Blue Oyster Cult for example, they are all rock bands of some sort but what I'm saying is that I do generally agree that pure rock and roll is pretty much dead

Woahhhh, rock purity? You do realize that there is no such thing as "pure" Rock music, right? Both bands played very particular styles of Rock music. Their music was not pure in any sense of the word. Dad Rock bands - King Crimson, Cream, Blue Oyster Cult, LZ, Black Sabbath, The Yardbirds, Dire Straights, The Who, The Rolling Stones, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, etc - are not the representation of "Rock Music". They are popular bands from a time period that represented only one subset of an amalgam of popular music at the time.

Right, but I think alot of people would argue that going from Led Zeppelin to The Black Keys is more of a devolution. I haven't heard any Stairway to Heavens or Achilles Last Stand type masterpieces out of those guys (Yet anyway)

Are those songs masterpieces, or are they just considered masterpieces by use of circular logic? Or does barely knowing what the whole thing sounds like, but outright stating how awesome it is constitute something becoming a masterpiece? Or does a (in many peoples' eyes) great song come out at a time where media is incredibly limited such that only a few artists are known?

There was no internet back then. Unless you had a ton of money, you got your music from the radio and a small collection of CD's or LP's at a record store. Artists would only have their music heard if they had connections, wrote marketable music and caught the attention of somebody important at a major record label. There was no such thing as an artist becoming famous out of the merit of their music, posting show dates on facebook and attempting to reach out to as many people as possible. It simply wasn't possible.

It makes no sense to compare modern music to music written before the internet was in widespread use.



Best video about this on the internet.

[WaitingforMoP]

Best video about this on the internet.

Heh, I went ahead and watched it because they had Leprosy from Death on that little stand back there

He has a point, I'm sure if you try hard enough you could even find a disco band thats activley making new music today, or like he was actually saying influencing bands. You can hear the disco-esque elements he mentioned in Red Hot Chilli Peppers music and they are completely active

But also, whenever I say a genre is dead I didn't mean literally non-existant, but that its popularity or the quality of it isn't nearly what it used to be.

I even said Rock was dead earlier, and like I said I don't really beleive its 100% dead, theres still some great rock bands like Coheed & Cambria out there but that for the most part its pretty hard to find the good stuff anymore as far as plain rock goes

[Markluzz]

Alternative Rock is starting to make a rise in popularity, no its not the rock you used to think of, but the rock of today isn't the same as the 90's rock and that isn't the same as 60's rock, etc.

Alternative Rock is quite good and the top 2 songs currently are alternative rock (We are young and Somebody that I used to know) both fairly good songs, and Pumped Up Kicks was really popular last year same with Mumford and Sons and Florence and the Machines. No you aren't going to hear 90% rock or even 50% rock, probably more like 20-30% but it's making its comeback.

[Ovacor]

Rocks can't die stupid...gawl.