Comments on: Is Rock Dying?

By: Red Death

Red Death — Wed, 12 Feb 2014 15:13:56 +0000

Part of the problem is there are far too many similar festivals all competing for people’s cash, so the sure fire winner is to sign up “big” headliners who will attract the masses. The problem being that there are only so many of the “big” headliners in any genre to go round hence you get a lot of repetition. Despite being a Metallica fan I would be quite happy not to see them for a few years!

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 16:27:17 +0000

Actually I wonder what proportion of readers of Classic Rock are actually buying music by newer bands. Suspect too many of them are buying endless reissues and boxed sets of music recorded 30-40 years ago.

By: PaulE

PaulE — Fri, 31 Jan 2014 14:48:57 +0000

So, the question is : What can we do about it?

I guess that anyone motivated to read Tim’s blog or Classic Rock Mag is probably already buying plenty of music, going to gigs and generally supporting their favourite bands. (if not, then start with that !)

A greater willingness to try other bands ? In my case there is a queue of things I haven’t got around to yet. A queue which is about to be held up by a release from one of my favourites. There is only so much time for listening.

An internet campaign to demonstrate how many rock fans are out there ? The trouble with this is that choosing to all buy one track will inevitably lead to the choice of that track being an old classic from the 70s – or arguments about which sub-genre to choose

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 22:24:34 +0000

@Ian

Indeed. The “Rock is Dead” idea seems to be based solely on the fact that all the really big “household name” bands are growing older, and there aren’t any newer bands operating on the same scale. Rock has fragmented into multiple overapping niches, and bands that get big within those niches can’t cross over to the mainstream.

The same fragmentation means that the bands who do cross over tend to be a far lower common denominator than the bands of a generation ago. One thing I’ve noticed is that the corporate indie festival scene (Glastonbury, Reading, V) seems to have the same revolving door of a dozen or so headliners as the rock and metal circuit.

Festivals shouldn’t be all about the headliners anyway. The best festivals ought to be the ones with a depth of talent right across the bill. Do they really need some aging has-been at the top?

By: PaulE

PaulE — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 12:23:37 +0000

When I said “fashionable” I was thinking of attempts to create crossover genres by mixing classic rock influences with something fashionable at the time. This and a linear view of the development of music causes people to have cut-off dates. The linear view is incorrect thinking as far as I am concerned, but all too common it seems.
The genre name “Classic Rock” also seems to imply a golden age in the past.

By: Ian Redfearn

Ian Redfearn — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 10:20:56 +0000

I don’t think rock is dying. In actual fact I would go as far as saying it has never been stronger. There are a large number of quality bands playing styles ranging from folk rock to death metal. The problem is that with all the diversity in music that society is still trying to monitor the trends of music through chart systems and radio play. The airwaves are jammed with soulless X factor corporate music (not much different to the corporate rock of the late 70s early 80s). Away from the mainstream there are still bands who have large fan bases and can sell out tours as well as smaller bands with loyal followings. The revolving door of bands at rock festivals is more a reflection on the organisers than the rock scene itself.

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 09:19:26 +0000

All depends on what you mean by “Fashionable”. I’ve cited bands like Opeth, Nightwish and Haken as having a newer sound. Not sure if you’d describe them as fashionable, but they don’t sound like 70s/80s rock, with things like cookie-monster vocals and lead singers who aren’t blokes.

By: PaulE

PaulE — Thu, 30 Jan 2014 09:03:22 +0000

To some fans “bands with a newer sound” means something fashionable that they don’t like. Is it possible to get away from that in a genre called Classic Rock ?

By: Ian Almond

Ian Almond — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 22:37:40 +0000

I just think that when new genres of music appear there is a release of creativity but over time you get the copy acts that simply try to cash in by producing music for money without the creativity.
when indie music emerged in the late 1970′s you had amazingly inventive bands such as Joy division/ new order, the cure, wire, talking heads, teardrop explodes, echo and the bunny men, early rem and the smiths.
Thirty years on we have corporate indie with dross such as the script, Coldplay,Snow Patrol dominating the genre aiming to sell dull safe music to dull people.

By: Serdar

Serdar — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 21:22:05 +0000

If I had to say what the big difference between bands-of-then and bands-of-now was, it would be songwriting. Not showmanship, not musicianship, but songwriting; it’s the single most consistently underappreciated musician’s skill out there.