Did rocknroll die?

[Ewm]

Whitesnake's last album (Forevemore - 2011) - is by far the best rock album in the last decade (Didn't mean to offend any authors here)

Another proof RnR aint dying!
And they ****in rock playin it live!

Whitesnake - Forevermore - YouTube

Whitesnake - Forevermore - YouTube

[old mark]

There has always been a lot of shit to go through to find the diamonds, but that doesn't mean there are no diamonds...just have to dig.

mark

[vintageJIM]

Jimi said it's all in your head .........

[5-0 phonebooth]

Originally Posted by Thumpalumpacus

I couldn't disagree more. The 60s in particular were a decade wherein the listener had to sort a ton of dirt to find the diamonds. For all the Beatles and Jimis that you had, how many Strawberry Alarm Clocks and Iron Butterflys did you have to look past? The 60s is the decade that invented the prefab band. The idea that it was some higher plane of musical existence is clearly not warranted. The Monkees saw to that.

Speaking as a proud snob, I could actually argue the points in their favor, but I'll give you the Alarm Clock. With opinions aside, show me a current 'classic' pop band, pre-fab or not, that is worthy of carrying The Monkees jock straps. Honestly, I'd like to be informed of a single entity that can match up.
Iron Butterfly? With their many eventual faults that I can list, I'd love to relive their best moments. Were you there? Eric Braun was incredible. Lee Dorman, even in retirement can twist the nuts off of most current bassists when it comes to songwriting and solidity.
The Beatles, Jimi? I'll be happy to continue sifting the entire Sahara desert to find anything close, it's a hobby of mine, can you help me find even one? Excuse me, but no, you can't, they don't exist. The true worst of the '60s sounds awesome compared to what is considered worthy of billions of dollars today, it's sadly laughable. The plane level you dismiss is so far above the conception of most now that it's pointless to try and express or explain. If you don't really know, or agree, fine, but little to nothing since compares to the rock n roll magic that was the '50s,'60s, and '70s, period.

[SGMM]

Simple answer to this question....buy Ozzy "Diary of a Madman" CD....play track "You Can't Kill Rock & Roll"....rinse & repeat!!

[Brian in NJ]

Originally Posted by 5-0 phonebooth

If you don't really know, or agree, fine, but little to nothing since compares to the rock n roll magic that was the '50s,'60s, and '70s, period.

Modern bands are playing with a handicap: in the 2010s it's a hell of a lot harder to find something that hasn't already been done than it was in the 1960s.

25 years ago I started listening to classic rock radio and my eyes were opened, having spent the previous half-dozen years listening to top-40 stuff. I will agree that the mid-60s began a period of musical innovation and classic tracks that hasn't been equaled since.

But for me I've found that I can only listen to those songs so many times. The Eagles' "Hotel California" is a masterpiece, and yet I don't care if I never hear it again - no exaggeration. (love the Gipsy Kings' cover - but I digress )

I'm lucky to be within range of an FM station that still plays a lot of new music. Not all of it is "rock and roll" but some of it is. Sat radio helps too - there's a lot of great new music being played out there. On a list of my 20 all time favorite songs, at least 4 were released since 2000.

I'd just encourage anyone not to dismiss new music simply because it's "new". It's not all Adele and Ke$ha and Jay-Z and whoever else is on the Billboard chart these days.

[5-0 phonebooth]

All true, Brian.
What I think may be part of the problem is that kids aren't being raised on seriously good music from the post WW2 years, they are reflecting the crap that's been done since 1980 onward, that's a almost a sure bullet to the head as far as RnR is concerned. Start with '40s bands like the Maddox Bros. and Rose, my choice for the birth of RnR, dig into the many black artists of any era, wake up every morning with Little Richard, discover the SUN catalog, put on Dick Dale and turn up the volume even higher, then you're into the cornicopia of the '60s (way beyond what is usually heard) and if all that doesn't light the fire to really rock, then it's not in the soul and one might as well do something else in life. Like the 5 foot stick of dynomite, Steve Marriott used to scream... ROCK ON!

[Stage Fright]

As was mentioned, Rival Sons kicks ass. Too bad the music industry sees more money in rap and pop crap. But as mentioned, that's the way it's always been. In the 70's, we had Led Zeppelin, Rush, Black Sabbath, etc but we never heard them on the radio, We heard Elton John, REO Speedwagon, The Beegees, and every now and then, a good band like Foreigner or Boston or Kansas would break into the top 40 scene.

[RebelsofRocknRoll]

No way dude ! haven't you heard of

Nickelback get's hit with ROCKS! - YouTube

Nickelback get's hit with ROCKS! - YouTube

Black Veil Brides - "Perfect Weapon" Standby Records - YouTube

Black Veil Brides - "Perfect Weapon" Standby Records - YouTube

[EasyAce]

Originally Posted by Thumpalumpacus

The 60s is the decade that invented the prefab band.

Invented, not quite. Perfected, maybe. But it would be very hard to name a single decade where you didn't have to plow through tonnage of chaff (prefab or otherwise) to get to the real wheat.

About the Strawberry Alarm Clock? They got one of the greatest screwings of their time---they actually were a real, legitimate band (they coalesced around musicians who'd been slogging 'round southern California for several years previous), originally called the Sixpence, who made their rounds and built a following and got a recording deal. They were developing a style that was their own take on psychedelic garage rock with rather sophisticated vocal harmonies and didn't seem afraid to be experimental, either.

What you probably don't remember: Their biggest hit was a complete accident; what became its B-side, "The Birdman of Alkatrash," was actually planned as the A-side, with the hit-to-be planned as an instrumental (co-written by lead guitarist Ed King and keyboardsman Mark Weitz) for the B-side, until their producer sent the instrumental to a songwriting friend who came up with its infamous lyric. Here's where the story gets real fun: the copyright filing inadvertently excluded the song's real writers but credited them as the song's arrangers, and as a gag the band had a sixteen-year-old kid who hung out with them do its lead vocal. (What the hey, it was supposed to be the B-side, right?) At the same time, they changed the band's name, fearing too many bands out and about with names similar to the Sixpence, and inspired in part by the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" the new monicker was born, and the single was picked up by MCA's Uni subsidiary.

Bam! "Incense and Peppermints" (you'd have to be a real sourpuss not to admit that that record was just plain fun, then or now) became a blockbuster hit in 1967, while the band managed somehow to finish a first album (and a good one) in spite of suddenly revolving membership that landed them with the unusual configuration of two bassists. Between the membership revolvings and their management issues, they managed somehow to get out another small hit ("Tomorrow") and another good album (Wake Up, It's Tomorrow, which was actually better than the debut set; in addition to their musicianship their harmony singing had actually deepened a bit), but the aforesaid issues caused them no end of grief. (One major bone of contention: their producers constantly imposing outside lyricists on their in-house songwriting.) Over a year after they had a number one hit (for which the previously-mentioned copyright filing mistake cost its actual writers, band members King and Mark Weitz; neither saw a dime's worth of songwriting royalties from that record's success), the issues made most major promoters afraid to book this band who'd previously toured with the like of Jimi Hendrix, the Who, Country Joe and the Fish, Buffalo Springfield, and even the Beach Boys.

The Clock finally canned their management---who formed a bogus version of the band in retaliation, and in spite of legal action taken by the actual band. (That should ring only too familiar to fans of the Zombies or Fleetwood Mac, both of whom also suffered from bogus versions put together by former managers.) They managed to squeeze out a fourth album, somehow, and what was left of them---including Ed King, who'd played that delicious fuzz guitar throughout "Incense and Peppermints," including its classy solo, and had proven himself an excellent guitarist---played a show for which the opening band was a little-known group of Southern boys who became friendly with King and invited him to join them, which he did for three albums and several tours.

A group of Southern boys known as Lynyrd Skynyrd . . .

[Rocknburn]

Thanks for every replies!I think all we have to do is wait for another guns n roses bomb.In industry.Just wait for couple of years and ill plant the bomb with my band!

[Rocknburn]

Steven and Joe working on the new Aerosmith album - YouTube

Steven and Joe working on the new Aerosmith album - YouTube

MY HERO JOE ****IN PERRY DID IT AGAIN!THEY ARE COMING BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN!

[gypsyseven]

The Gaslight Anthem & Bruce Springsteen - The '59 Sound (PROSHOT) - YouTube

The Gaslight Anthem & Bruce Springsteen - The '59 Sound (PROSHOT) - YouTube

[5-0 phonebooth]

Originally Posted by EasyAce

Invented, not quite. Perfected, maybe. But it would be very hard to name a single decade where you didn't have to plow through tonnage of chaff (prefab or otherwise) to get to the real wheat.
About the Strawberry Alarm Clock? . . .

Well played, good sir, well played.

[tao_of_drew]

I hate to say it, but rock may not be fully dead, but it's breathing its last.
There's bands out there that may be pretty good, but I think the spirit of rock is all but gone.
A few bands out there hang onto it (Taddy Porter, Black Keys, etc.), but just because you play a loud guitar in a world of pop singers doesn't mean you're playing rock n roll.
Rock n roll is all about danger, a willingness to put yourself on the edge and see how far you can go without slipping over. It the exact opposite of polish; it's about letting mistakes happen and not only not giving a f***, but relishing in the realism of the whole experience.
Rock n roll is not giving a s**t. Go listen to a Led Zeppelin album... hear how many "mistakes" there are going on? No retakes. Hit it and quit.
Autotune and digital recording with infinite tracks to play with and experiment have killed that ethic, and to me, that was the heart of rock n roll.
Listen to "Exile on Main St.", then go listen to "A Bigger Bang", you'll see what I mean.
Yeah, that's one example, but the record buying public expects polish and perfection nowadays. You can't get away with making "Begger's Banquet" today.
Sorry Neil Young, but rock n roll will die if people don't stop expecting their music to give a s**t.

[5-0 phonebooth]

Originally Posted by tao_of_drew

rock n roll will die if people don't stop expecting their music to give a s**t.

Another slam dunk of reality.
re Neil, he's one of the very few still living it.
Years back after a great all-electric show, a friend bemoaned that Neil needed some artistic management, I guess because instead of playing a single one of his hits, or anything familiar for that matter, he just rocked the house big time. In fact, all 5 shows were the same, high octane rock. Neil plays as he feels, like it or not. "Maybe they didn't get what they wanted, but I got what I wanted".

[Rocknburn]

Originally Posted by 5-0 phonebooth

Another slam dunk of reality.
re Neil, he's one of the very few still living it.
Years back after a great all-electric show, a friend bemoaned that Neil needed some artistic management, I guess because instead of playing a single one of his hits, or anything familiar for that matter, he just rocked the house big time. In fact, all 5 shows were the same, high octane rock. Neil plays as he feels, like it or not. "Maybe they didn't get what they wanted, but I got what I wanted".

Maybe its about drugs?:|Toxic twins didnt give a shit cause they didnt knoe what they were doing

[5-0 phonebooth]

Originally Posted by Rocknburn

Maybe its about drugs?:|Toxic twins didnt give a shit cause they didnt knoe what they were doing

There's a lot to be said, pros/cons, for various amounts of drug use/abuse. The music world would be way different without drugs, all the way back to the days of Armstrong, Bird, Holiday, Baker, Getz, Jimi, etc., but we've seen enuf sadness to advocate too much for useage. It's part of that edge that makes things interesting, but is such a slippery slope.

[lespaul01]

RnR Lives & Tim Fezziwig lives.

[HibuniaMaiden]

NO!!...it will never die!!

[mgenet]

No.

It may be in a coma though.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm also pretty sure rock'n'roll is still around, at least in my home.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Originally Posted by 5-0 phonebooth

Speaking as a proud snob, I could actually argue the points in their favor, but I'll give you the Alarm Clock. With opinions aside, show me a current 'classic' pop band, pre-fab or not, that is worthy of carrying The Monkees jock straps. Honestly, I'd like to be informed of a single entity that can match up.

The Foo Fighters. Rock energy, pop melodies. The Silversun Pickups are pretty damned good, too, and musically interesting. And there are plenty of other bands who would make the SAC look like the hacks that they were. Have you given those bands a listen?

Iron Butterfly? With their many eventual faults that I can list, I'd love to relive their best moments. Were you there? Eric Braun was incredible. Lee Dorman, even in retirement can twist the nuts off of most current bassists when it comes to songwriting and solidity.

You have at it. Whether or not I was there is irrelevant, because we're talking about their music, not the cultural millieux. I've heard IAGDV, the album, and was bored to tears. Perhaps because I wasn't on acid at the time.

The Beatles, Jimi? I'll be happy to continue sifting the entire Sahara desert to find anything close, it's a hobby of mine, can you help me find even one? Excuse me, but no, you can't, they don't exist.

Quick, name five working rock bands. Can you do that? Do you search out new music?

The true worst of the '60s sounds awesome compared to what is considered worthy of billions of dollars today, it's sadly laughable.

Shit happened and happens in every decade. Don't make me start posting the absolute horseshit that got palmed off on the public in the 60s.

What's happening here is that we remember the best and (understandably) forget the worst. Then when we go back to evaluate the whole, we have a skewed sample. Let's bring some balance back into the discussion:

Something Stupid - Frank Sinatra - YouTube

Something Stupid - Frank Sinatra - YouTube

Bobby Goldsboro - Honey - YouTube

Bobby Goldsboro - Honey - YouTube

Over And Over Dave Clark 5 - YouTube

Over And Over Dave Clark 5 - YouTube

You were saying something about "laughable", right? Where were we?

You're a classic example of what I was saying. The exaltation of the 60s, and the overlooking of shitty music like the three songs I've posted here, is endemic. The 50s, 60s, and 70s had great music, and had turds. So does modern music.

The plane level you dismiss is so far above the conception of most now that it's pointless to try and express or explain. If you don't really know, or agree, fine, but little to nothing since compares to the rock n roll magic that was the '50s,'60s, and '70s, period.

Or so you say. So far as I can see, you're thinking that repetition forms sound reasoning, because you're clearly ignoring the fact that shitty music was produced in those three decades, in quantity ... just as it is nowadays. The good ole days were no different, really. It's just that modern music has a sound that you don't like because you didn't grow up with it.

Really, you who worship at the altar of 60s music, take heed of the lyrics one of your idols wrote:

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

There's good and bad music in every generation. Take the time to hunt it up, and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

But don't criticize what you can't understand.

[lespaul01]

truth ^^

[zendriveseven]

The Court Tavern in New Brunswick, NJ, just closed it's doors a few months ago. It sounds like no big deal, but it was one of the last places left to hear some great original rock bands in NJ, and the very last in New Brunswick. I'm thankful I got to play there a few times and I will miss it.

The same goes for the Cover band clubs. I'm really glad I caught the tail end of that. The money was great in the early 90's playing the Jersey shore clubs like the Headliner, Jenk's, Joe Pops (my favorite), quarterdeck and local bars. Great times! Hopefully it's not at and of an era, but it sure looks like it.

As far as "mainstream" rock goes, the Foo Fighters (and a few others) are keeping it alive for now.

[5-0 phonebooth]

What utter BS, Thumper.
While I know I grew up in what could be called the best years for music, it doesn't jade me towards appreciating post '80s music at all. I can list plenty of artists that are/were incredible, I'm constantly searching for new discoveries new and old, but the ratio post '80s is incredibly diminished compared to the 20 years I mentioned, not even in the same universe. Silverson are OK, I liked the show I saw, but the FOO's suck, and the videos you posted I like, thanx for the listens, got more? Obviously we're not going to agree, and that's OK, I enjoy being right as much as I enjoy good acid. Even those my own age will have major disagreements on personal attitudes towards our generation's musics, viva la difference! But if you're under the age of 50, you missed out. Here you go, I like this young guy a lot davy knowles - YouTube.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Originally Posted by 5-0 phonebooth

... and the videos you posted I like, thanx for the listens, got more?

This pretty much impugns your opinion, then.

Obviously we're not going to agree, and that's OK, I enjoy being right as much as I enjoy good acid.

I humbly submit that if acid is required to enjoy the music, it might be lacking something on its own.

I can understand your sentimental attachment to the music of your youth, even as I spurn it. It doesn't, however, change the fact that the 60s were as filled with dreck as any other decade.

But if you're under the age of 50, you missed out.

Again, this point is about milieux, not musical quality. I don't need to have lived in the 50s to hear 50s music. By this logic, we cannot appreciate the works of Aristotle or Hemingway because we weren't alive when they were writing. This is clearly fatuous logic.

I've heard plenty of music from all three eras, having grown up in the 70s the child of parents who listened to plenty of music around the house.

So, your opinion notwithstanding, I haven't missed too much, thanks.

[mgenet]

If the music, from whatever generation or era, moves me
I will continue to listen to it.
Be it rock, jazz, classical, romantic, musicals, or the street musician...

It is God's gift to us.
All we need to do is just listen.

[EasyAce]

Originally Posted by Thumpalumpacus

Shit happened and happens in every decade. Don't make me start posting the absolute horseshit that got palmed off on the public in the 60s.

What's happening here is that we remember the best and (understandably) forget the worst. Then when we go back to evaluate the whole, we have a skewed sample. Let's bring some balance back into the discussion:

Something Stupid - Frank Sinatra - YouTube
Bobby Goldsboro - Honey - YouTube
Over And Over Dave Clark 5 - YouTube

You were saying something about "laughable", right? Where were we?

I'll see your laughable side of the 60s (though I'm surprised you didn't throw in the like of "My Boyfriend's Back," "D-I-V-O-R-C-E," "Yummy Yummy Yummy," or "It Must Be Him," too!) and raise you some of the laughable sides of the '70s . . .

Gallery, "Nice to Be With You"

Gallery, "Nice to Be With You"

Bill Withers, "Ain't No Sunshine"

Bill Withers, "Ain't No Sunshine"

Mary McGregor, "Torn Between Two Lovers"

Mary McGregor, "Torn Between Two Lovers"

. . . the 80s . . .

Berlin, "Take My Breath Away"

Berlin, "Take My Breath Away"

Loverboy, "Working for the Weekend"

Loverboy, "Working for the Weekend"

Culture Club, "Mistake Number Three"

Culture Club, "Mistake Number Three"

. . . the 90s . . .

Aqua, "Barbie Girl"

Aqua, "Barbie Girl"

Chumbawumba, "Tubthumping"

Chumbawumba, "Tubthumping"

Hootie and the Blowfish, "Hold My Hand"

Hootie and the Blowfish, "Hold My Hand"

Marc Anthony, "I Need to Know"

Marc Anthony, "I Need to Know"

. . . and don't get me started on the Aughts!

And to think, we were the snotty kids who thought our parents and grandparents had dreamed up the essence of drivel with the like of "Mairzy Doats," "How Much is That Doggie in the Window?," "Mule Train," "Pennsylvania 6-5000" (what, they wanted me to worship puppy chow like Glenn Miller when there was meat like a Count Basie or a Duke Ellington or a Benny Goodman or a Stan Kenton?) or "Cocktails for Two" . . .

[tao_of_drew]

I think Dave Grohl (who I'm no fan of) summed it up best:
"The human element of music is what's important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most important thing for people to do... It's not about being perfect, it's not about sounding absolutely correct, it's not about what goes on in a computer. It's about what goes on in here [your heart] and what goes on in here [your head]....
The "human element". That thing that happens when a song speeds up slightly, or a vocal goes a little sharp. That thing that makes people sound like PEOPLE. Somewhere along the line those things became "bad" things, and with the great advances in digital recording technology over the years they became easily "fixed". The end result? I my humble opinion.....a lot of music that sounds perfect, but lacks personality. The one thing that makes music so exciting in the first place."

This isn't about whether you're 13 years old and you love Zeppelin, so therefore rock ain't dead.
It comes right down to consumerism. New rock music cannot be made because people have come to expect the human element, as Grohl defined, removed from their music.
Look at the White Stripes or the Black Keys. Listen to the first albums they did then go listen to their last ones and tell me part of the human element, the rawness, isn't missing from those latter releases. And it's missing because record companies won't allow it to be released unless they hear a hit.
People don't want raw, teetering on the edge of falling apart rock n roll.
People want Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Lil Wayne.
Sorry. Rock is dead. The desire for perfection killed it.

I'll hang onto my Zeppelin, my Foghat, my Stones, Chuck Berry, Trashmen, and Sonics... but it's like looking at a picture of a deceased loved one; no matter how much you love them, you can't bring them back, and all you have left are the memories.