OK... firstly, to be clear, I certainly didn't mean to imply that rock is healthier now than ever before - far from it, I believe rock is a shadow of what it once was in terms of popularity.
I too despise the parody of rock that is emo, for instance, and I hate with a passion the kind of 'fashion rock' that lacks any kind of soul and is all about hairstlyes and clothes, with no substance.
Of course, some of my all-time favourite bands were from the 60s and 70s, and most of my modern favourites wouldn't exist without them - in no way am I trying to say that things are better now or trying to undermine those decades.
All I was trying to say was that if you love rock music and bother looking outside of the charts you will still find great rock bands all over the world. I agree, there are less proper rock venues and less decent rock bands at a grass roots level now than ever before - popular tastes have changed - but not *everyone's* tastes. There are still rock bands and rock fans everywhere I have been.
That said, let me try to respond to some of your points... remember, I'm not getting personal here so please don't take it the wrong way! I respect your opinions!
Bael wrote:You tell me ONE band that is supposedly rocking so hard.
OK, I'll name one - I think Queens Of The Stone Age rock as hard if not harder than, say, The Who, and a raft of other groups of that era. That's my personal opinion and I'm not saying everyone should agree - it might even be hilarious to you, as you say - but to simply deny there are no good rock bands anymore seems a little short sighted to me. You can't just write off all modern music just because your favourite bands happen to have been from 30 years ago.
Other bands from the 90s and 00s that I think rock pretty darn hard and were/are also 'fairly' successful, at least in my humble estimation, include Nirvana, At The Drive In, Pixies, Dinosaur Jr, Clutch, Mclusky, The Living End, The Black Keys, Reverend Horton Heat, Biffy Clyro, Motorhead, Wolfmother, And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, System of a Down, Fu Manchu, The Mooney Suzuki... that's a short list of examples off the top of my head, I could go on... my point is, there are plenty of bands who still rock out. Outside of the mainstream, I could go on endlessly listing great underground garage rock and heavy rock bands from all over the world who continue to keep the passion of rock music alive - they're there if you bother looking and don't just give up on modern music.
Knuckle Bones wrote:I disagree. There is a huge rock scene...but, it's not mainstream.
Agreed, exactly what I said, and I stand by it.
As for the 'death of the guitar solo' - perhaps it's a generational difference, but I'm *glad* that less players do 10-minute, irrelevant guitar solos these days. To me, that's self-indulgent tosh and not what rock is about at all. Also I have to say, though I dislike metal personally, the self-indulgent guitar solo is certainly alive and well in that genre...
To me, rock music is essentially about passion, heart and spirit, and you can disagree if you want but there will always be bands out there with those things in bucket loads, even if they won't get hyped on MTV or mainstream radio.
Finally, what you said about not being able to make a living anymore out of music - I sympathise, I'm struggling myself to make ends meet and trying hard to be successful. I would dearly love to make just enough to live on out of music...
But to be honest, I bet things weren't much easier 30 years ago. There's still a huge amount of luck involved in being a successful band, and there always was. The music industry has never been a meritocracy.
At least now with the internet and modern global communication, it's easier than ever before for artists and fans alike to make direct connections. Personally, I'm glad I live in an age where as a low level musician I can make those kind of connections, in a way that was never possible even 10 years ago - I've been lucky to play on some great rock'n'roll stages and to have discovered first hand that rock music is alive and well all over Europe - I can't comment on the US.
Anyhow... I probably won't be able to reply to this post again for a while, as I'm off on tour to Belgium tomorrow for a week or two... playing some good old rock'n'roll shows to some appreciative rock'n'roll fans!
