I'm getting tired of hearing hipsters and tweens and gangstas say that 'rock is dead' and that rap or pop is what replaced it. Freakin Iron Maiden was topping album charts overseas and Metallica- as crappy as they are- are still doing the same. And a bunch of 'old timey' rock bands also cropped up in blues rock, retro doom, and trad metal (ever heard of Rival sons? A lot have apparently and same with cage the elephant).
Are you honestly going to look me in the eyes and tell me rock is dead?

All popular music of the last >20 years is dead inside.

Of course it isn't.

EDIT:
@ inhumanist: Yes, inside, maybe...

Is it dead? *As youth music, quite nearly.* You're not exactly going to find hordes of teens rocking out as blatantly as they did in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, but then again not all teens rocked out in thatr decade either.
Look, there are dozens of sites out there discussing this. They all give you great answers.

www.forbes.com/sites/michelecatalano/20 ... ead/Cached
www.huffingtonpost.com/.../dave-grohl-g ... n...Cached
louderthanwar.com/10-reasons-why-rock-is-not-dead/Cached
superhypeblog.com/digital/is-rock-deadCached
www.guardian.co.uk › Culture › Music › Pop and rock
www.uproxx.com/.../12-reasons-why-the-r ... -...Cached

In fact, if you look at it at a broad term, rock is thriving. However, the thriving aspects of rock are mainly= pop punk; dubstep rock; indie rock; grindcore (underground as it is)

Modern rock is. There's stuff that they're playing on the radio from nowadays that sounds 100% identical to stuff that came out in the late 90s, right down to having that shitty Stain'd-esq post-grunge singer voice. It's just depressing.

You hear hipsters, tweens and gangstas claiming rock is dead often? Cause I don't. People who are enjoying vibrant scenes don't usually give much of a shit about what's going on elsewhere.

It's old school rock fans themselves who are usually concerned about rock, IME. Wondering what's going on with it.

The problem may well be one of genre definition. Lots of rock fans do not consider the groups you cited, Maiden and Metallica, as valid rock. They consider it as noisy garbage. Likewise for the next generation of rock like Smashing Pumpkin in the 90s and whatever the hell came next because I kinda lost track.

It's a genre in constant flux, with a lot of its fans not accepting various sub genres. Makes it tough to make much of an impact these days when no one likes the same kind of rock.

I was going to post something about the subject at hand, but then saw Riffs' post, and decided it wasn't necessary. What he says is pretty much dead on regarding the situation.

I feel like I need to clarify that I think metal shouldn't be considered a subgenre of rock. It just has the same instrumentation.

Where I live, they love mocking us about how 'rock is dead', saying it quite audibly that 'man, that shit sucks; 2 Chainz/Mr. Hurricane/PSY/Linkin Park is better.... (mainly talking about this kind of rock viewtopic.php?f=11&t=94686) So I do hear it quite often myself.
Well not anymore, but I used to. It was ridiculous one day where I actually brought a Motorhead jacket to school, and a bunch of pop-punk emos shouted "MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE FOREVER, OLD SHIT ROCK NEVER." So I can back Mr. Nordhausen's claims that it does happen. And unnecessarily often at that.

EDIT: And during one online gaming session... Let me tell you, you can't mention Black Sabbath. You can't mention Nirvana. You can't mention Black Crowes. You *can* mention AC/DC, but you can mention Metallica. The second you mention Led Zeppelin, a bunch of 'em jumps you talking about Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. Now, on my part, I thought they may have been trolls, but they didn't 'troll' on any other regard, so I'm not sure.
I just have to accept (and I have, grudgingly) that some people genuinely like modern pop, swag, pop punk, country soft rock, dubstep, and dance music. And that not all of it is bad.

^ I cringed a little reading this post. You'd have to be pretty obnoxious to other people to get them to say things like that to you. I never experienced anything like that (real life or online gaming) and I'm pretty open about my taste.

Actually, when I just started a new school and passingly told someone that I listened to 'old school rock', I immediately got called lame and that I don't have any musical taste, and when I said I loved 'heavy metal'- "Do you need help? Do you fucking need help?" And they were serious- they thought I was going to kill myself.
And when I do meet a metal head-
"this bland grindcore band or that bland grindcore band?"
"No, more like (this bland doom metal band)."
"You suck. That's not metal."
"I also like Judas Priest. Ever heard Painkiller?"
"They ain't metal either. They're pussy metal. They don't scream, they're gay-ass metal."

Unless you meant that the others were obnoxious, I have to disagree with you. When you're slightly open about musical preferences, it does become a tad obvious what the trends are.
That's why I never talk. Usually, I say things that wind up getting people pissed off. (Oh, I like this movie! "Why?!? That movie sucks!!!" *Cue 20 minutes of movie discussion.*)
I might need to move.

SHM, are you 15?

C'mon guys (OP), we all know the answer to this thread...

19.

No idea about hiphop fans (although I hear their genre wars are pretty intense), but I hear from hipsters about how indie is dead constantly.

I think everyone thinks their genre is dying, especially on the internet.

SHM, from what I can gather, you're either completely sorrounded by immature fuckheads, or you somehow behave in a way which leads people to act in such a way. Guess which one I think is more realistic?

I don't know about you guys but I've always put faith in the Foo Fighters to raise the flag of "mainstream rock". Apart from them, there are several other bands who meddle around with the grungy aspect of rock. Take for example this really awesome Aussie band called 'Tracer'. They're doing a good job at what they do.

But I mean, Queens of the Stone Age are coming out with a new one. They are the best rock and fucking roll band left. So obviously it's alive!

As far as I'm concerned, every style of music in the world is still alive and well. It becomes alive the second you start to listen to it, and it dies when its effect has worn off on you.

No. There are enough quality releases out there, you just have to look for them. There's always been an incredible amount of shit released, most of which you just never heard of yet.

It's alive and well but perhaps, more underground than it might have once been. But sadly, most of what passes for mainstream rock these days is, as one poster described, "shitty Staind'esque post grunge" stuff like, well, hundreds of cookie cutter bands I can think of. Or, any number of millions of cookie cutter Linkin Park/Sevendust clone bands. We're getting near one of those times where rock just needs a new movement to invigorate it, just like grunge once re-invigorated rock in the early 90's (before eventually becoming a boring washed up parody of itself)

Does anyone here have a good grasp of what is popular these days? I mean in a statistical, objective way.

Right now, the Billboard top 100 ( a pretty good indicator of sales and downloads) has mostly things like Rihanna and Bruno Mars, and some flavour of the week "rap" and "hip hop" dominating it's top 50, with a few limp dicked radio rock artists making appearances in the other 50. As a commercialy viable concept, there are only a few bands like Muse still championing it but it's very much dead. As an idea and music, it won't die any time soon and there are still bands with a decent amount of success, just not new or very many.

I hate it when people do this on forums. There should be a rule.

I say radio is dead, great music is out there and always has, but mainstream radio has gone from a mall to an airplane window in terms of what it opens the listener to. Pandora does a good job of bringing new music to the listener, but it's really up to the listener now to go out and find music they like if they don't like what's on the radio.

For sure. Nobody under 25 allowed on the internet.

Seriously though, I'm sure it's a form of self-selection bias. Being 34 I tend to mentally assume that everyone I'm talking to online is at least in their late 20's, and I'm surprised when kids still in school are posting. Probably because back in my day the internet was a series of tubes with a pterodactyl patching up the connections (and occasionally making sassy comments about "it's a living"). Joking aside, its just WEIRD seeing people talking about high school being something going on right now. I cant imagine what it would be like these days.

If a genre is 'dead' because a bunch of tweens and hood rats don't listen to it then consider me a necrophiliac

we're still relevant, they love us in Uzkazbistan!


may as well say Christianity is thriving, since missionaries are still exploiting the most ignorant corners of the world to keep their numbers high.

I wouldn't say god is dead, or rock is dead, but...Iron Maiden? if everyone who liked them back in the days when cassettes were bought died right now, how many people alive would like them? may as well say The Beach Boys are still alive and well ... my parents' generation will still be listening to them and trying to figure out what 'Gangnam Style' is for decades to come.

even that's generous.
anyone over 25 who still can't use their/there/they're properly needs to be terminated.

The funny thing is, I don't think Ralf is older than 17.

Even if you want to say rock isn't dead, it sure as hell hasn't been relevant for nearly 50 years.

No, I don't consider metal to be part of rock. And neither should you.

Nonsense. Rock and Metal are intricately linked together to the point where some bands can sit comfortably in both categories.

You mean like with rock and blues? That fact does nothing for your point.

Not sure what you are trying to say but whatever. It wasn't really a point, more like a hint.

There's no "point" to make. Or rather, there is one by looking through the history of rock and metal, their structures, themes, aesthetic but why the fuck go through painfully obvious stuff like that?

Metal is part of rock. It was born from rock and it still carries its trappings in many ways. And as such, it is part of it. Metal fans and musicians all around recognize this fact. No special snowflakes who want it to be its own unique thing will change that.

I guess that the more balanced way to see it would be saying that metal, while being its own, separate music genre, is intrinsically linked to rock in the end. As Riffs says, there's no denying that.

No offense, dudelette, but all I think of when reading the OP is:



It's a ridiculous question and a really trivial concern.

So, no, I don't think it's "dead"... I also think refusing to diversify your interests (like every high school-aged stoner who's just discovered "Classic Rock" and now considers himself an ultimate authority on "REAL music") is as bad as being "one of those people" only listening to what is spoon-fed to them on the radio, or otherwise only following musical fads to seem "cool".

FYI, classic/"retro" rock was "cool" and "trendy" once. Look no further than Wolf-fucking-mother... uuuuuugh.

'Rock' is such a wide term that proclaiming it dead is a bit non-sensical.

I do love how people claim rap replaced it, though, as I consider it the perfect embodiment of a genre that died as soon as commerce got its greasy fingers on it. I don't want to sound like the stereotypical 'boo hoo, mainstream' kind of guy, but once your music style is being used by governmental bodies and politicians and the like to communicate towards "the youth", you know its status as some sort of a musical 'rebellion' is history. The thing is, though, that this applies to pretty much any genre. Be it rock, rap, punk or black metal. For every Akitsa there are 10 Dimmu Borgirs, so to speak.

If genre B is historically linked to genre A it doesn't make it a part of A. Super simple stuff.

There is no denying that metal has its genesis in rock, but there are enough qualities that separate metal from rock to make it an independent genre. Metal is a different musical language, so to speak, made to talk about fundamentally different concepts (less introversion, feelings, love, elevating the mundane; more war, epic storytelling, existentialism and an undogmatic exploration of the dark aspects of life) and using its own distinct means of expressing them (most prominently powerchord and riff based, non-linear, narrative songwriting). Rock, as a part of the umbrella term "popular music", is normally limited by its aspirations to please the masses and generate revenue by catering to an increasingly Huxleyan society. Metal has other priorities.

Agreed; at this point, I think calling metal a subgenre of rock would be like calling rock a subgenre of country or blues.




I can agree with that too.

I know there's a fine line between genuinely disliking the music that's currently considered popular, and being an elitist ass who hates things just because they're popular. But I know where I stand. I just don't hear the passion or creativity in most of the stuff that's on the radio these days, whether it's rap, pop, or the version of "rock" that's mainstream right now. I can't help disliking it. I hear the same vocal sound over and over again, the same repetitive beats and half-assed instrumentation, and nothing new or stimulating lyrically.

That's why I'm a metalhead, and why a lot of what I listen to is from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. It does more for me, end of story. And maybe a lot of people don't think it's cool right now, but I'm not worried about it going anywhere. The way I see it, most of the more popular music is fleeting. It's made for radio. It's short, it's not too complex for the casual listener, and it's likely to get stuck in your head for a day, but you won't be thinking about it in a year. It's for people who prefer to listen to whatever happens to be playing rather than put effort into experimenting and exploring a wider range of music. Most of them will download the big songs, but won't go out and get those artists' entire discographies. Can you imagine Taylor Swift or Ke$ha still filling stadiums when they're in they're 60s? I doubt it. But guess who's still going? Aerosmith. AC/DC. Megadeth. Motley Crue. Rush. Motorhead. The list goes on. I've never heard someone say they were really into Iron Maiden for a week and then got over it. These are the bands that have staying power. They always keep a loyal following while popular trends come and go. I'm positive that they, and the young bands they inspire to make real rock and metal, will always be around for those who want it, even if they're not evident on the charts.

Why should livelihood be measured by the scale of popularity? Quantity of consumption doesn't indicate it very well.

Sit down dinners are dead - more people than ever eat in their cars, in front of their televisions, in front of their computers. Some people don't even own dining tables! A smaller group of people regularly eat at sit-down dinners, and they may hold a special significance to them. People who sit at a table with others are dwelling on a remnant of the past, you can do it much more efficiently, rather cooking dinner in your home and sitting down with others to eat it, you could drive past the window of a restaurant and get your dinner wrapped in a tortilla with waxed paper around it so you don't even need to take time out of your day for this weird antiquated practiced that some people adhere to. They probably listen to music on CD, or tapes, or records, when you can just have an iPod, why bother?

Pickled fish is a dead meal, a remnant of the past. It was popular in the 1950s and 60s in America, but fewer people eat it, though it is still quite popular in Northern Europe. Many Americans are uncomfortable and even unfamiliar with it however, and may react poorly to those who enjoy it.

And what about the space program? It's dead. It's no longer a matter of national pride, American astronauts are brought to the International Space Station by the Russians. Sure, there's a small group of enthusiasts, but it's not something that everyone cares about these days. If you care about space programs and research like that, you're living in the past - we learned it all already, and it's just being repeated in different ways for people who really like it and are interested in hearing about it again, worked into a different form, but it's all just repeating itself. Why stare into the sky anyway, you space cadet?

Pickled Fish's Not Dead.