Rock and Roll peaked in 1976

Ok, I'm lame; I like Frampton's "do you feel like I do" with the volume set at 11.

JohnGalt wrote: No band has any staying power anymore.

Wrong.

Tool, Coldplay, Radiohead, and Foo Fighters all come to the top of my mind.

Rock is not declining, it's evolving.

Saying rock peaked in '76 is like saying that music peaked with Mozart. Was he quite probably the greatest composer ever? Yes. No one will ever replicate what he did or make some of the advancements in music he did. However, what he did has been done and does not need to be replicated.

There will probably never be another "Dark Side of the Moon". The sweeping grandiose rock epics of the 70's are past. You may think that is the zenith of music, but it would be silly for bands to try to replicate what has been done. What they can do is forge new territory.

I think U2 is a more complete rock band than any in the 70's. I can't think of any bands from the 70's that can channel the pure animal energy, and then focus it, of Tool. Radiohead can craft twisted cerebral soundscapes out of pure noise, that bands in the 70's hadn't yet been able to harness. Kurt Cobain changed the face of rock more than any single man since John Lennon.

There was also the movement in the 90's that produced bands like Primus and the Presidents of the united states. They were post-punk and had, in a way, more punk than Punk. Punk was out to prove that they had nothing to prove. Band like Primus and Presidents really had nothing to prove and just made great songs. They made songs and played like you couldn't play in the 70's because rock had to be important and sacred. Primus just made great songs and didn't need to take themselves too seriously.

Rock also isn't as pure anymore. It's been blended with a bunch of different styles. Mix it with electronica and you get NIN. Mix it with hip-hop and you get groups like Portishead.

Rock has evolved and gotten better because it's not sacred anymore. Rock may not be as pure as it was in the 70's, but it hasn't declined.

As for personal bands, gotta love: Cake, Tool, Radiohead, Primus, Nirvana, White Stripes, Garbage, Portishead, NIN, Marily Manson, etc. Green Day's early stuff was pretty good, they're latest things have gotten too emo.

Black Sabbath wins.

AngryCorvair wrote: Black Sabbath wins.

With Ozzy or that little dude?

Dethklok eh? I hadn't heard of them. I was a big fan of Brendon Small back when Home Movies was still on TV, I'll have to look for it.

bastomatic wrote: Dethklok eh?

Mermaider. Mermaider. Mermaider. Mermaider. Mermaider. Mermaider. Mermaider. Mermaider. Mermaider. Mermaider. Mermaider. Mermaider.

bastomatic wrote: Dethklok eh? I hadn't heard of them. I was a big fan of Brendon Small back when Home Movies was still on TV, I'll have to look for it.

Watch the show Metalocalypse on Adult Swim.

They still show Home Movies, but it's at some weird time really late on Friday nights. I've noticed they don't seem to run any of the episodes where Paula Poundstone did the voice of his mother.

meh, I don't have CN.

I think you can watch episodes (or at least clips of episodes) on the Adult Swim website.

Salanis wrote:

JohnGalt wrote: No band has any staying power anymore.

Wrong. Tool, Coldplay, Radiohead, and Foo Fighters all come to the top of my mind.

Red hot Chilli peppers have been hanging in there for a LONG time.

U2 is still rocking.

Maybe it would be safer to say that no band that has come out in the past 5 years has been able to stick around for 10 years?

Salanis wrote: Rock also isn't as pure anymore. It's been blended with a bunch of different styles. Mix it with electronica and you get NIN. Mix it with hip-hop and you get groups like Portishead.

Rock never was pure ... it was an amalgamation of many styles Rythm and Blues, Country and Western, Jazz etc.

"Classic Rock" is no diffrent... Add extra Country and you get the Eagles... Add extra Blues and you get Led Zepplin etc.

Whoever said no such thing as a peak is right 1976 might have been a good year, but today is prety damn good too.

Jeff

Dr. Hess wrote: Bob Seger was just getting in full swing. It's been downhill since.

Coincidence? I think not.

All musical styles are amalgamations. I was just arguing that "Rock" was kind of defined in that era. If you define "good" rock as being as close to that original definition as possible, then nothing else will be as good.

It's like using Guinness to define what a Stout is. Other stouts might be better, but they won't be as Guinness as Guinness. It's more obvious to blend country and blues with Rock, because they're part of it's lineage.

Anyway. It's really easy to look at the past, see all the good stuff, and ignore the crap. It's a lot easier to see all the crap being produced right now and getting airplay. It will all be forgotten in 5-10 years.

In the past, music was not as segmented as it is today, so you had a greater audience. It's harder to stay popular today. The possible exception to this is country music, where popularity isn't determined by what's so "this week". The ones that do stay around usually have something to offer beyond the norm.

Part of our business is that we have a recording studio. The owner used to work at Muscle Shoals Sound and is also a musician, its pretty much a hobby for him. Anyway, the serious girls and guys are not hard to pick out from those that just want to be famous, and we turn down more people than we actually record.

I take calls everyday from kids that want to know if we'll record them doing rap and pay them. When I tell them it costs to use the studio, they start cussing me out and telling me how we'll regret it one day. Some are nice about it though. It's also easier today to get a demo and get it heard, but that also means there's a ton of no-talent crap played on the web and the radio.

Anyway, that's my perhaps jaded take on how modern music is these days, so I do think with a few exceptions, rock is better in the past. Some of the stuff you hear today is done with so little actual talent, it's amazing people buy it, but buy it they do.

David S. Wallens wrote:

AngryCorvair wrote: Black Sabbath wins.

With Ozzy or that little dude?

Everyone is going to prefer Ozzy hands down but i enjoyed the Dio years. Their is something about listening to a slow heavy song like Into the Void then immediately hearing Neon Knights. Very different music but i like em both.

As far as my comments about bands having no staying power, I meant more recent bands, not bands like Radiohead, Tool and others who have been around awhile. Seems like their are numerically more bands but fewer have have actual carriers or any talent. Kind of like a river that's a mile wide but only an inch deep

JohnGalt wrote: As far as my comments about bands having no staying power, I meant more recent bands, not bands like Radiohead, Tool and others who have been around awhile. Seems like their are numerically more bands but fewer have have actual carriers or any talent. Kind of like a river that's a mile wide but only an inch deep

Yup, no band that has come out in the past 5 years has yet been able to stick it out for 10+ years.

Coldplay has only come out in the past decade. I think we'll see them have staying power (I think they're the best balanced rock band since U2). The White stripes are really new. Although, I suspect Jack White will end up being associated with a string of groups. I suspect Death Cab for Cutie will have staying power too.

Coldplay has only come out in the past decade. I think we'll see them have staying power

God, I hope not.

stuart in mn wrote:

thatsnowinnebago wrote: I love that you know who Dethklok is.

I'm in my 50s and never was really into metal, but I get a kick out of Dethklok. I'm still trying to figure out how a cartoon band can go on tour, though....I don't think the Archies or Josie and the Pussycats ever did that.

Josie and the Pussycats came damn close. With none other than Cheryl Ladd as a member. There's evena Wiki page, but it won't link properly for some reason.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josie_and_the_Pussycats_(album)

Although Gene Simmons still bitches about it, great bands these days have cut the big record labels out of the equation and are selling there stuff on the net, I-Tunes and at their own shows. They are making the money on the concerts, not the contracts, so the labels have no supergroups. Especially since al they do is find a single hit song, fill a CD with crap and push it. Labels don't develop talent anymore, so they develop themselves.

So freed from the constraints of marketability, you have some freaking great music out there. Drive-By Truckers, Cross-Candian Ragweed, The Donnas, you just have to go find it becuase its not the stuff being crammed down your throat and its probably not going to be at Walmart.

It was alluded earlier, but there are also plenty of folks who won't take themselves seriously and can still make and sell music without being socially important. Check out http://www.unknownhinson.com/

No wwwaaaayyy 1976 was the peak. REM was 2 years from their first release, Blues Brothers was 4 years from the big screen. The Sex Pistls wouldn;t release their first album that turned into 11 or so until the following year. Drivin N Cryin was 10 years from their first release, and finally...everyone knows the 70s sucked.

For another great artist that, I guess is sort of rock (he gets called 'roots-rock', and is usually compared to Dillan, Waits, and Springstein), check out Jackie Greene. In particular, his latest album "American Myth" is fantastic.

He was opening for B.B. King for a while, and I hope he has staying power

My being a fan is kind of influenced by the fact that I went to high school with the guy (he graduated the year before me), and he was in Boy Scouts with a bunch of my friends.

David S. Wallens wrote:

AngryCorvair wrote: Black Sabbath wins.

With Ozzy or that little dude?

Both have their place in my collection. My favorite Sabbath tune is Neon Knights, but everything else is tied for a close second. Heaven and Hell = Paranoid = War Pigs = Sweetleaf in my book. All are strong, but Neon Knights just stands a little above the rest IMO.

Really? No one in here is a Kyuss/Queens of the Stone Age fan?

Josh Homme is about the only singer/songwriter (exceptions being Tool and Deftones) that has consistently produced records that have a different feel/style to them, yet I can still listen to.

The 3 bands I mentioned are the only ones, that I could put any of their CD's in and listen to all the way through, from start to finish.

I still love alot of older rock, Led, Hendrix, Sabbath/Ozzy, Metallica (excluding the load years).

But I would agree with most other assesments, that any more record companies just try to find a group they can preen and mold, sell a single to sell a record and move on.

Lame.

(Tubes in the amp are warming up as I write this...)

Absolutely, rock is evolving.

One major reason why I think rock music isn't as good as it was is because there's not as much smut in it. I don't mean blatant vulgarity like in rap albums - I mean the implicit stuff, the inuendos that makes Back In Black awesome and Paradise by the Dashboard lights brilliant. No 'Parental Advisory' stickers needed, because all the good stuff is in between the lines.

Salanis mentioned a good assortment of bands that are popular today...

Salanis wrote: Tool, Coldplay, Radiohead, and Foo Fighters all come to the top of my mind. RAs for personal bands, gotta love: Cake, Tool, Radiohead, Primus, Nirvana, White Stripes, Garbage, Portishead, NIN, Marily Manson, etc. Green Day's early stuff was pretty good, they're latest things have gotten too emo.

(That was a great post, BTW, and I think we could kill a lotta hours discussing some of the stuff in it.)

Good stuff mentioned there, but there's not enough smut! Bands today take themselves so seriously...man, listening to some of that stuff is a chore. Tool takes effort to listen to!

Do a search for the best selling albums of all time, and compare it to the current rock offerings as far as content goes. Smut is a fundamental ingredient in GOOD rock. I mean, what does Rock N' Roll mean!? Look at the history! Elvis! Oh yeah, it's in there there. The Beatles? Yup. Led Zep!? Gimme a break.

Metal is a different animal altogether though... Iron Maiden, Sabbath, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer - not exactly smutty, and it isn't supposed to be! That's how Judas Preists happen.

You want smut?

Just a minute, while I whip out my big ten inch...

record of the band that plays the blues.

Edit: Ella's innuendos were the best. Did you know that "A Tisket, A Tasket" is all about drugs? "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" is pure smut wrapped up in a long dress.