Rock isn't dead

[steve-bbb]

It just smells funny

but if it is dead then look on the bright side Gene

youll have plenty of time now to take more lessons from Carole

[url="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/gene-simmons-rock-is-finally-dead-20140907"]http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/gene-simmons-rock-is-finally-dead-20140907[/url]

[HowieBass]

It's resting!

[paul_5]

I heard that Rock Music thought Gene Simmons was dead.

[GrammeFriday]

What a prat.

[Cat Burrito]

I actually like Gene Simmons / Kiss but he's a 65yr man who is acknowledging that things have changed. The days of Elvis or the Beatles had gone by the time Kiss cam along and it is different again now. I do see some sense in what he is saying but there are enough people coming to gigs etc for rock music to continue for a very long time. It's just the old "things ain't what they used to be" line.

[HowieBass]

I'm trying to remember how I used to find out about small club gigs (in the Manchester area) back in the 70s and 80s before the Internet and social media came along - very probably by spotting flyers up in record shops and adverts in music and local press. You actually had to put some effort into finding out what was happening, so when you stumbled across something really interesting, you felt well rewarded. In this current era of increased publicity for all manner of things, it now seems to make bands and music scenes feel less exclusive than they used to be and somehow less valuable by virtue of their ubiquity. Things certainly ain't what they used to be (thinks about the girls of the punk era) *sigh*

[ubit]

He says there's no more major acts anymore but he's forgetting Foo Fighters, who are a major stadium band now as are the Chilli's . There's plenty other rock acts that have not had enough time to become legendary. I always liked Kiss and Gene, but he's becoming a bit of a knob with these outbursts and statements!

[BigRedX]

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1410189706' post='2546950']
He says there's no more major acts anymore but he's forgetting Foo Fighters, who are a major stadium band now as are the Chilli's . There's plenty other rock acts that have not had enough time to become legendary. I always liked Kiss and Gene, but he's becoming a bit of a knob with these outbursts and statements!
[/quote]

The Foo Fighters owe their entire popularity to Nirvana.

There's still money to be made in rock music, but IME there are now even less opportunities to make writing recording and playing a full-time paying occupation.

Edited September 8, 2014 by BigRedX

[Beer of the Bass]

Wouldn't it be natural for "Rock Music" as Gene knows it to take a back seat after this long? I mean, Music Hall, Big Band Swing, Rockabilly and any number of other styles aren't in the mainstream any more either.

Edited September 8, 2014 by Beer of the Bass

[Dad3353]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1410191220' post='2546963']
Wouldn't it be natural for "Rock Music" as Gene knows it to take a back seat after this long? I mean, Music Hall, Big Band Swing, Rockabilly and any number of other styles aren't in the mainstream any more either.
[/quote]

This ^^^^.

Rock may well be another gem in the diadem of musical history, but the jeweler is still at work. There are many more to come, I'm sure.

[SteveK]

I think he's absolutely right! I consider myself lucky to have lived through an age where music meant [b]so much[/b] to [b]so many[/b] people.

[chris_b]

+1

You had to be there.

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1410191220' post='2546963']
Wouldn't it be natural for "Rock Music" as Gene knows it to take a back seat after this long? I mean, Music Hall, Big Band Swing, Rockabilly and any number of other styles aren't in the mainstream any more either.
[/quote]
I work with young people and also have a 20 year old musician son.

In my experience, a lot do listen to rock but only as one genre among many.

I rarely listen to it myself.

[RAY AGAINST THE MACHINE]

I can see his point. Rock will be seriously wounded but not totally dead IMHO

[flyfisher]

If rock music (or any other genre) really does die, won't that primarily be because no one is interested in it anymore . . . . in which case what's the point of it living?

In Gene's 'good old days' I seem to recall one of the common laments being that musicians had to sell their souls to the record companies that controlled everything. Well that's all changed now and any 'bedroom band' can easily assemble more tech than Abbey Road had back in the 60s, create their own music and then publish it worldwide on the web, all of which has massively democratised music - which must be a good thing, right? After all, it's not the music companies that create the music is it? That's still down to the artists isn't it?

Well, yes, except that if the world only has a handful of megastar bands then, firstly, music fans have a limited choice of what to buy and, secondly, all music purchase revenues are funnelled into that handful of bands, making them mega wealthy, while all those talented artists without contracts just play for themselves, friends and the local pub. But if there are millions of accessible bands then music fans have far more choice to seek out exactly what they want to hear, with the result that most bands have a far smaller fan base, and the money spent on buying music is to be spread far more widely, making it harder for bands to earn big money.

Be careful what we wish for eh? A global megacorps music business pushing a relatively few bands or a democratised music scene where everyone can participate?

[GrammeFriday]

Spot on, Flyfisher. I'll have the democratised music scene where everyone can participate, thanks - sorry, Gene!

[ubit]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1410190566' post='2546958']


The Foo Fighters owe their entire popularity to Nirvana.


[/quote]

So what's your point? He was saying no major bands came out since, what was it 1985?

[Billy Apple]

I'm old and new things scare me. Edited September 9, 2014 by Billy Apple

[fumps]

Aww god why do we let old rock stars with no grasp on the real world have an opinion ?
It's just silly lol

Rock is still alive, stadium rock & all it's cliche's has died.

[Dave Vader]

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1410189706' post='2546950']
He says there's no more major acts anymore but he's forgetting Foo Fighters, who are a major stadium band now as are the Chilli's . There's plenty other rock acts that have not had enough time to become legendary. I always liked Kiss and Gene, but he's becoming a bit of a knob with these outbursts and statements!
[/quote]

I'm mostly with you on this, but it's worth remembering that both of those bands have been going for more than 20 years now, it's like defending the 90s with Black Sabbath and Deep Purple (both of whom did do albums in the 90s, and no, none of them were good).

[ubit]

Black sabbaths newest album is really good, so I'm not sure where that leaves this point .

My own take on it is, yeah there's no more absolute giants out there at the moment, but there's still lots of really talented , good bands coming out all the time. Bands like Deftones are, to me, already legendary, but that's subjective, but then again, isn't everything? Some other bands may well, given time, become huge rock acts in their own right.

The thing is, I like rock and I find plenty of good new music, as well as older stuff to listen to, so genes talking through his rearward orifice

[BigRedX]

[quote name='GrammeFriday' timestamp='1410208613' post='2547217']
Spot on, Flyfisher. I'll have the democratised music scene where everyone can participate, thanks - sorry, Gene!
[/quote]

And no-one at all can make a full time living out of creating music unless they already had a foot in the door by the end of the 90s.

[BigRedX]

[quote name='ubit' timestamp='1410248848' post='2547397']
So what's your point? He was saying no major bands came out since, what was it 1985?
[/quote]

All the major bands these days owe their success to the fact that they got their big break before the turn of the century.

Foo Fighters would just be another very minor rock band if their singer hadn't previously been the drummer in Nirvana.

[flyfisher]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1410278110' post='2547757']

And no-one at all can make a full time living out of creating music unless they already had a foot in the door by the end of the 90s.
[/quote]

Does it actually matter if no one can make a living out of creating music as long as the music is created in the first place?

Edited September 9, 2014 by flyfisher

[Dad3353]

Most 'classic' composers managed to get by with a patron to help out (although some had academic posts...); most classical musicians, actually playing the stuff, had a pretty hard time paying the bills. There are a few operatic mega-stars, but most lyrical artists are on modest incomes, too. How many folk multi-millionaires are there..? Ain't nothin' special about rock, except its (now creaking...) 'business model'. Back to normal, I should think, and not too soon.