Rock Music Needs A Kick In The Crotch

I tuned into my local rock radio station earlier today after a long hiatus if you will, and my god were the songs terribly dull. Just un-inspired, boring, bland, cliched, generic, over done drivel. It reminded why I stopped listening to the radio before. Literally every song I heard 'sounded' the same (Call it an overstatement if you want.). The down-tuned guitars. The drum patterns. The singing style. I'm sick of it all. It's been like this for the better part of the past decade, maybe a little before. Rock music desperately needs something done, and quick. Until then, I'll just have to keep popping some of my old C Ds.

To be honest, I've largely given up on rock music. I don't really mind, thee's plenty of other genres that are having good years.

Rock music's been having a 15-year hangover from the alt-rock/grunge explosion. It's terribly dull, and most of the critically-respected rock bands are old guard by now (Foo Fighters, Incubus, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam)

There's still some good rock coming out, but it's not very original good rock. I'm hoping a new movement comes around soon.

But yeah, like Erock said, lots of other genres are having good years. I'm more excited for hip-hop music than I've ever been.

This, in a nutshell. I'd love a revolution, but trend-hopping and train-spotting are only going to keep one on hold, and there are more exciting things outside the pit anyway.

Music as a whole is doing fine, and the genres I like are all so rock-influenced that I don't know or care where the dividing line is.

rock is dead surely we need to do somezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

edited 14th Apr '12 10:00:47 PM by Litis

I'd say rock is dead, but then it would instantly revitalize.

Counterargument against any good/original acts being absent: Cage The Elephant.

edited 14th Apr '12 10:51:00 PM by 0dd1

I assumed they were a One-Hit Wonder.

I'm wrong then?

Rock has been dead for a while now imo.

You can't exactly call someone a One-Hit Wonder if they haven't had a mainstream hit. It's my understanding that they're big in rock these days. I dunno, I don't pay much attention to whether things are big or not (unless it's something unavoidable, like Katy Perry or something, though that's not rock), I just listen to what sounds nice.

I love when I see posts like this that make blanket statements about genres. If all posts like this were true, then, effectively, every genre is dead, including ones that haven't been developed yet.

edited 14th Apr '12 11:00:39 PM by 0dd1

Ain't No Rest For The Wicked had a lot of radio play haven't heard anything by them sense.

And it does seem a lot of the new stuff in Rock has been from taking stuff from other genres as of late (*Moreso than usual anyways*).

Well, I do know quite a few people who like their music. "Shake Me Down" tends to be the most popular of theirs among them.

And I think the only reason that "Ain't No Rest For the Wicked" got so big was because of its use in Borderlands. It's a great song, but far from their best.

Huh. Not shabby.

Cage The Elephant kind of bore me, to be honest. It's like they're trying to be a male version of The Breeders, only with less charisma and/or basic talent.

While I like Cage The Elephant, they probably aren't the best argument for the revitalization of rock music, considering their heavy influence from grunge and other 90s rock. Most of the innovation in rock these days is in more Indie-influenced circles, so it's less likely to have a widespread influence. Dr. Dog released a pretty good album this year, and so did Cloud Nothings, but they're both relatively obscure.

The Darkness. One part Queen, one part AC/DC. They're the only band to have come about after the milennium which I would consider to be composed of "rockstars". Foo Fighters are generally pretty tame with the shenanigans, Creed is just plain watered-down rock, Skillet is the same... most artists who make any sort of rock nowadays don't even put the effort into being rockstars. The Darkness? Lead singer, Justin Hawkins, rides a lifesized white tiger prop over the audience while playing a guitar riff.

Admittedly it isn't the most outrageous thing ever done in the history of rock, but it's a STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

edited 15th Apr '12 8:42:45 AM by MrMallard

I find it annoying that people seem to think that "saving" rock involves either making it as larger-than-life as possible or as boring and lifeless as possible. Having it go too far in either direction is what causes these dry spells to happen.

That's the reason. You're been looking for good rock music on radio. Lack of inspiration and piggybacking has been all over the media since the dawn of ages, and that certainly applies to most other genres as well.

If The Darkness would be the ones to signal a revolution in rock (doubt it, they're very regressive and not forward-thinking or innovative at all) they'd have done it by now, since they debuted, you know, nine years ago.

@JHM: If you think they lack charisma, you haven't seen them live. Matt (basically the Face Of The Band) is a nut.

Yeah, I guess. Maybe their upcoming album will help revive rock, just a little?

Not gonna lie, when I first head Cage the Elephant I thought they were some old classic rock band that I'd never heard before.

On topic, does anyone else suspect that maybe rock is supposedly "dying" because it's not The New Rock & Roll anymore? I kinda have this perverse wish to see Moral Guardians panicking over it on a large scale again...

I think this cracked comic pretty much covers it. Modern rock just isn't evolving into anything memorable.

Meh Gangsta Rap had already taken The New Rock & Roll postition by the early 90's and Grunge was pretty big back then.