[bobeau]

Here's my rub - I feel extremely let down by rock music genre for oh, the past decade or so. It seems the few respected bands that have mainstream appeal (like White Stripes, Modest Mouse) are good, but not producing canonical, timeless material. While the plethora of indie bands, while also many good, are more doing a lo-fi Pavement kinda thing or trying to just be too experimental/random without applying a strong focus to basic songwriting.

When I think of what The Beatles of today are, I tend to think of well, OutKast. IMO the last really great rock band that gave me that feeling was the Pixies. But they were never big in their day and you don't hear their stuff on the radio today, which is disconcerting. I guess this is what they mean by 'rock is dead'? But there are plenty of bands out there, maybe more than ever before... thoughts on this?

Am I wrong? Who should I be listening to? I saw the best albums of 2005 thread, gave several a listen on Amazon, and just didn't hear anything that grabbed me like I would have hoped.

 

[Jahn]

pearl jam. nirvana. smashing pumpkins. alice in chains. metallica. rage against the machine. early 90s bands (and ones that stayed relevant till then) will be the new classic rock, just like joy division finally got some retro cred after 20+ years. the fact that Blender, a youth mag, put "Love Will Tear Us Apart" at #7 for best song of all time speaks to its longevity and relevance - things you need to remain a Classic.

 

[bobeau]

Let me clarify - I mean bands currently producing music. I figure the Seattle wave will get some play and other bands that were big during that era, but we'll start to see that within a decade. What about the decade after that, what will be the 'new blood', lol.

Will we really be hearing the latest Franz Ferdinand single? Will they actually have a body of work that will continue on?

 

[bubbamc119]

Velvet Revolver are one of the good real rock bands around now. They say they have enough material for 5 albums at the moment. If they do 5 more albums, rock n roll is saved for a while longer.

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubbamc119 Velvet Revolver are one of the good real rock bands around now. They say they have enough material for 5 albums at the moment. If they do 5 more albums, rock n roll is saved for a while longer.

well i think of them as the post- Stone Temple Pilots, so put the Foo Fighters in there too, as the post-Nirvana band. Eh, might as well put Audioslave in there too as post-RATM.

 

[Kassem]

Just because they arent currently producing music doesnt mean they wont be classic rock in 20 years.

Have you listened to all the modest mouse albums?... They have a ton and they're ALL good.

I really wonder what type of effect all this corporate music roaming around lately is going to have in the next few decades.. hopefully it will be forgotten forever. Ech.. disgusting.

 

[Aman]

Classic rock?

That genre is dead. It's not going anywhere. Classic Rock goes from the Rock Oldies to Def Leppard. That's at least a thirty year span of time. Many classic rock stations I listen to go all the way up to the early 90s, with Nirvana.

If classic rock were to keep on going as a genre, then I'd say that it would be filled with bands such as:

Radiohead, Nirvana, Tool, Dream Theatre, The Flaming Lips, Phish, Oasis, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Gorillaz, Nine Inch Nails, and maybe The White Stripes and Beck.

 

[asmox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobeau Here's my rub - I feel extremely let down by rock music genre for oh, the past decade or so. ... I guess this is what they mean by 'rock is dead'?

'rock' is broad. mainstream rock isn't 'rock'. modern lo-fi garage indie rock isn't 'rock'. dig a little deeper.

whatever happened to Slint? the bands they spawned? Don Caballero? Gastr Del Sol? Tortoise? The Mercury Program?

more eclectic and artsy things, like.. Estradasphere? Upsilon Acrux? Bubblemath? Freak Kitchen? Mr. Bungle? Bumblefoot? Sleepytime Gorilla Museum? Ruins? Devin Townsend?

the progressive and the technical.. Porcupine Tree? Pain of Salvation? Dream Theater? Riverside? Gordian Knot? Cynic? The Flower Kings? Canvas Solaris? The Tangent? Ark? Andromeda? Spastic Ink?

the more defined, yet still great, rock.. 3? Dredg? The Apex Theory?

granted, many of those names aren't what you'd normally hear when asking the average person about 'rock music'.. but at the very base, it's rock. i doubt any of that will become 'classic rock' in 20 years, but i can almost guarantee that all of that will continue to have a very dedicated following into the future.

on the other hand, if you're limiting this to bands that have 'mainstream appeal'.. then i seriously question the relevance of this thread to 'rock music' as an umbrella genre.

 

[bobeau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kassem Just because they arent currently producing music doesnt mean they wont be classic rock in 20 years. Have you listened to all the modest mouse albums?... They have a ton and they're ALL good.

I have the last two, 'Antartica' is good and the last is so-so IMO. Just not feeling them as a great talent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kassem I really wonder what type of effect all this corporate music roaming around lately is going to have in the next few decades.. hopefully it will be forgotten forever. Ech.. disgusting.

I disagree - people like to use this as an excuse, but if something is superlative it will make its way out there, one way or the other. Something needs to fill the vacuum though and we get subpar stuff or corporate produced junk.

 

[bobeau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by asmox on the other hand, if you're limiting this to bands that have 'mainstream appeal'.. then i seriously question the relevance of this thread to 'rock music' as an umbrella genre.

No mainstream appeal is extremely important. To become canonical it has to be intertwined with culture. That people think it's "us against the music industry" I think it's kinda like rolling over and playing dead.

And by rock I do mean a huge umbrella, inclusive all that you mentioned.

 

[gratefulshrink]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobeau Here's my rub - I feel extremely let down by rock music genre for oh, the past decade or so. It seems the few respected bands that have mainstream appeal (like White Stripes, Modest Mouse) are good, but not producing canonical, timeless material. While the plethora of indie bands, while also many good, are more doing a lo-fi Pavement kinda thing or trying to just be too experimental/random without applying a strong focus to basic songwriting. When I think of what The Beatles of today are, I tend to think of well, OutKast. IMO the last really great rock band that gave me that feeling was the Pixies. But they were never big in their day and you don't hear their stuff on the radio today, which is disconcerting. I guess this is what they mean by 'rock is dead'? But there are plenty of bands out there, maybe more than ever before... thoughts on this? Am I wrong? Who should I be listening to? I saw the best albums of 2005 thread, gave several a listen on Amazon, and just didn't hear anything that grabbed me like I would have hoped.

I'd look to: Sonic Youth, Radiohead, Yo La Tengo.

 

[CMacDaddy]

I think Classic Rock stations will alwasy be around. Simply because middle aged people will always be around. As one generation grows into the oldies stations, the next grows into classic, while the classics kids start with the pop.

Future Classic Rock has to include...

Green Day, U2, System of a Down, The Offspring, The Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Dave Matthews Band, Weezer, and more.

These bands have been around for 5+ years and have multiple great CD's/singles. AND they have singles from their older CD's that still recieve radio play.

 

[bobeau]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CMacDaddy I think Classic Rock stations will alwasy be around. Simply because middle aged people will always be around.

Middle aged? I'm 29 and most of the stuff I listen to predates my birth. I mean I listen to a new stuff at the time it comes out but little of it has 'legs'.

I would think most here would be quite familiar with Floyd, Zeppelin, etc. And moving forward, that will still be played on classic stations... for instance today you might hear some Talking Heads, but you're still gonna hear a whole lotta Beatles.

And that's my point. It _seems_ to me rock music, that which reaches the public conciousness, has been on a continual decline. How will the current stuff which doesn't live up to the old compete? I looks like Zeppelin will dominate the radio from here to eternity, lol.

And about Zeppelin - at least in San Diego these guys really do dominate the couple classic rock stations, even stations playing current music play tons of Zep. And these guys were far from corporate rock, even though plenty of it existed at the time. They were experiemental, edgy, had full creative freedom, didn't do singles, didn't deal much with the media, play shows which many times were like sprawling jam sessions, etc. And these guys were crowned king.

Heh, maybe it's just the stations in San Diego.

 

[asmox]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobeau No mainstream appeal is extremely important. To become canonical it has to be intertwined with culture. That people think it's "us against the music industry" I think it's kinda like rolling over and playing dead. And by rock I do mean a huge umbrella, inclusive all that you mentioned.

worry less about what's going to become classic rock tomorrow, and more about what's good today. i'm about as far from disappointed with rock as you can get.. though, i haven't turned on the radio in years.

i really dislike 90% of the bands that have been mentioned thusfar by other people in this thread. in other words, i'm of the mind that 'mainstream appeal' is mostly worthless. yet, i think that rock is alive and well.

will what i listen to become classic rock? who cares. if it doesn't, it will continue to live on in the hearts and minds of people that look past mainstream appeal, and into the music itself.. and that's all that really matters, IMO.

 

[crazyfrenchman27]

Pretty much everything Jahn said...Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvana, certainly.

Have you listened to Smashing Pumpkin's Gish album? It's ridiculously classic rock...put in "Bury Me" and start head-banging. Not really grunge at all.

-Matt