A lot of the problem is that most men grow up listening to rap, and women grow up listening to divas, and if they don’t listen to those genres, then they listen to country. So many young musicians are growing up listening to mediocre quality music, and they tend to slip into genres that are somewhat less competitive, artistically, like Rap or Country.
That leaves fewer musicians to carry on the Classic Rock tradition. Besides, what’s the point? The fact is, the Classic Rock era turned out the best popular music of all time. That sound like a wild statement on its face, but it really is true. What band emerging now seems like it could be the next Beatles, or Rolling Stones, or Led Zeppelin, or Pink Floyd? I can’t think of a band that threatened to have that kind of influence since Nirvana.
There have been a few worthy artists, like Adele, and a few truly great singers, like Ariana Grande, but there are no other superstar Rock artists whose talents are undeniable, like Michael Jackson, or Prince.
Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Adele, and Ariana Grande are about all I can think of, and that is over about 30 years. Compare that with the 60s or 70s, or even the 80s, when artists were establishing MASSIVE careers that would last decades, on a monthly basis. At the end of the year, you were listening to a dozen classic albums by bands you hadn’t heard of a year ago, and another dozen classic albums by your favorite bands. GREAT music was just pouring out, and it became popular not because of an enormous marketing campaign, but because the music was great, and the word spread. Hardly any of Pink Floyd’s music was ever on the radio, and yet they established a career and a catalogue that sells to this day. Taylor Swift seems huge, but back in the day, she would have been outsold by a dozen other artists.
So why even bother re-inventing the wheel? There is already about 50 years of AMAZING music that young people today have never heard. I always get downvoted when I say this, but they are from people who don’t know what they are missing, and think today’s music is perfectly acceptable.
The music of the 60s and 70s inspired my to pursue a life and career in music. Today’s music would not have inspired me at all.
I know a lot of people who would completely agree with you, so maybe there was something special about the 60s, 70 & 80s. Many artists today even list those classics as their inspiration. But it depends on taste too. I personally think the conventional rock genre is worn out. So if you’re only into that then maybe it isn’t worth exploring further.
I also agree that most artists today only seem to hit a couple of great albums at most before they fade. I think there’s more to greatness than popularity, but yeah there’s not many artists producing amazing music consistently for decades. There’s a few, but fans also seem to move on quickly as well now.
But I do think the talent and great music is absolutely there. It just might not be in the form you want.
Rock was very controversial when it first started right? Thinking Elvis. And I’d say that’s opened the doors to a huge variety of new genres. To the point where the concept of genre can’t even categorise what we have today. Artists have so much more creative freedom now imo.
And I expect there’s way more active musicians today as well, so people’s attention is spread across so many different artists and styles.
I can’t speak for conventional rock, a lot of what I listen to is considered alternative/indie rock, and I don’t know how to measure greatness, but the music I’m hearing today is for me, much more artistically and emotionally impactful than anything I’ve heard before.
I am talking about Modern Pop, and Rock.
A lot of the problem is that most men grow up listening to rap, and women grow up listening to divas, and if they don’t listen to those genres, then they listen to country. So many young musicians are growing up listening to mediocre quality music, and they tend to slip into genres that are somewhat less competitive, artistically, like Rap or Country.
That leaves fewer musicians to carry on the Classic Rock tradition. Besides, what’s the point? The fact is, the Classic Rock era turned out the best popular music of all time. That sound like a wild statement on its face, but it really is true. What band emerging now seems like it could be the next Beatles, or Rolling Stones, or Led Zeppelin, or Pink Floyd? I can’t think of a band that threatened to have that kind of influence since Nirvana.
There have been a few worthy artists, like Adele, and a few truly great singers, like Ariana Grande, but there are no other superstar Rock artists whose talents are undeniable, like Michael Jackson, or Prince.
Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Adele, and Ariana Grande are about all I can think of, and that is over about 30 years. Compare that with the 60s or 70s, or even the 80s, when artists were establishing MASSIVE careers that would last decades, on a monthly basis. At the end of the year, you were listening to a dozen classic albums by bands you hadn’t heard of a year ago, and another dozen classic albums by your favorite bands. GREAT music was just pouring out, and it became popular not because of an enormous marketing campaign, but because the music was great, and the word spread. Hardly any of Pink Floyd’s music was ever on the radio, and yet they established a career and a catalogue that sells to this day. Taylor Swift seems huge, but back in the day, she would have been outsold by a dozen other artists.
So why even bother re-inventing the wheel? There is already about 50 years of AMAZING music that young people today have never heard. I always get downvoted when I say this, but they are from people who don’t know what they are missing, and think today’s music is perfectly acceptable.
The music of the 60s and 70s inspired my to pursue a life and career in music. Today’s music would not have inspired me at all.
I know a lot of people who would completely agree with you, so maybe there was something special about the 60s, 70 & 80s. Many artists today even list those classics as their inspiration. But it depends on taste too. I personally think the conventional rock genre is worn out. So if you’re only into that then maybe it isn’t worth exploring further.
I also agree that most artists today only seem to hit a couple of great albums at most before they fade. I think there’s more to greatness than popularity, but yeah there’s not many artists producing amazing music consistently for decades. There’s a few, but fans also seem to move on quickly as well now.
But I do think the talent and great music is absolutely there. It just might not be in the form you want.
Rock was very controversial when it first started right? Thinking Elvis. And I’d say that’s opened the doors to a huge variety of new genres. To the point where the concept of genre can’t even categorise what we have today. Artists have so much more creative freedom now imo.
And I expect there’s way more active musicians today as well, so people’s attention is spread across so many different artists and styles.
I can’t speak for conventional rock, a lot of what I listen to is considered alternative/indie rock, and I don’t know how to measure greatness, but the music I’m hearing today is for me, much more artistically and emotionally impactful than anything I’ve heard before.