future of music? i'd like to hear some thoughts

BlackCorduroy · October 2011

Where is raw sincerity these days? Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Eddie Vedder....why are the musicians (I suppose could say "in my eyes," but this is about the only opinion I'm sure of) who produce and regularly execute the truth so damn rare? None of them have above achieveable talent...skill-wise ayway, as players or singers. And as far as singing, anyone can do it if they just fucking allow themselves to. It seems to me that these days the greatest human talent is overcoming the socially and self-constructed feat of allowing yourself to be you. It's too bad cause it's fucking beautiful when this happens. It doesn't even seem people really get it as listeners anymore. PJ20 was no doubt magical and I think PJ fans are great...but lately, after that festival and the film, I feel like I connect more with the bands more than any of their fans. I know this isn't true, but I'd love to see the love of music more. It's not about the seats- obviously it's better to be close-, the merch, poster, the setlist, the price of beer, proving your knowledge of the band, etc. It's about what happens to you when you hear that music and are apart of it. I'd love to attend a show and have a ten minute conversation with some fan on the way EV's voice moves in the last verse of It Makes No Difference cover '06. I'd also like to say that hearing even flow live under 50 times in my life that is an inevitable tragedy. Don't act so unimpressed by it. On a similar note....most people think Bob Dylan is a bad singer. If you find yourself in that group...That is terrifying, folks. Listen closer and beyond 1960s protest Bob. And if you should also find yourself in that strange group that seems to think Bruce Springsteen is cheesy..well, you must be insecure with your feelings. It makes me think you can't reeeeeally understand Eddie Vedder either. Put yourself on the line.
This is a legitimate issue...not a difference in taste. Your soul needs it. Music CAN serve to just entertain your way through a few minutes, but music should also make you discover something about yourself you didn't know. There's nothing inherently wrong with generic pop songs. But for kids they are replacing all that is real art and make understanding real art like understanding a foreign language. I mean all that, if at all possible, in the a non-asshole way and of course don't think less of anyone based on their music taste. Just really passionate about sharing a real love for it.

If you enjoyed this arrogant little mini-rant and have any words/advice/fears on the future of music that would like to include in a much larger, community style rant, please send. I am working on project to be finished next summer. Will include original music, covers, art, photography, writing, video, poetry... and not just my own- so send anything and everything you're proud of. Probably getting website underway...Speaking of which, the project will also be hitting hard on the the misuse of good technology, the education system and the misuse of good teachers, the global economy...so include those thoughts too. I'm just basically looping it all back to why music can save it all. If you cannot tell already I'm 21 and naive, but that's ok. I am very scared of the future when I see Adele's "Make You feel my love" topping charts. Most kids are lucky to know who Bob Dylan is, nevermind the masterpiece that is Time Out of Mind. Using Bob Dylan was just an effort to legitimize her by the music industry.

LikeAnOcean · October 2011

There's tons of great artists out there.

There's alway been "shitty" pop music. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, so forth never had any top hits on the pop charts. I think Bruce had a hit album and Pearl Jam made it big because grunge was in style, but other than that, you have to dig a little outside the realm of corporate radio to find all of the truly great artists out there.

Look at the top songs from any year or decade and you'll see it's always been shit.

btw, BlackCorduroy, I'm pretty sure we meet once. Outside Stanley's four years ago in Chicago trying to get in to see Ed, but we just missed him. I was the blonde guy.. Hope all is well!

StillHere · October 2011

Bob Dylan, Eddie and the like are great musicians because they are great poets...and tell it from the soul..not afraid to put it all out there...all on the line. I don't know if there are many true musical/poetic geniuses out there anymore, OR, at least not ones who are willing to risk their musical "career" in order to make real music. I'm sure there are, just not in the mainstream (at least that I know of). I am proud to know a few, locally, who don't really fit into the mainstream so probably will never "make it big" in the music world, but to them, as to me, that's not what it's all about.

Its about the word...the feeling, the way it touches your soul, that magical place the music takes you to. When you're at a PJ show and one of your favorites begins, and you just close your eyes and sway and let it take you where nothing and no-one else ever could. When you become the music, when Eddie's voice fills you and Mike's guitar speaks to you ... us and them... one. When you become a part of that, and the music takes you over ... when you reach that place, now that's what its all about.

I hope you all reach that place...if you haven't, let yourself go there. It's heaven.

apirk72 · October 2011

There are so many great bands out there today, just as many as there ever was. The only difference is you actually have to look for them a little bit because FM radio is pretty much dead when it comes to good music, thank god for XM.
The thing is you aren't going to be seeing these bands at any sheds but rather smaller venues, which in a way is great because the level of intensity and excitement can get lost in large venues and just explodes in smaller ones. I actually have problems figuring out which shows I want to hit and pass on usually.

The Oracle · October 2011

Wow....intelligent rants, like and agree with those, so I may lower it a bit! Twice in my lifetime I've thought my love of music as a listener was waning due to the talent, or more precisely lack of talent, and the genres of music being popular at the time. Firstly, in the mid-seventies, following the demise of the 60's culture and the popularity of stuff like Frampton Comes Alive and Hot August Night (no wonder I liked Zep so much)....but then punk hit my ear and saved the day and, so did, believe it or not...disco music. New genres and artists to match to awaken the soul. Then the proliferation of the snyth and hair bands of the eighties really had me questioning the future of music, but again the new genres of grunge and even rap (although I'm not a fan) saved the day. Now, what we need is other new genres...but has it all been done? In this day and age of instant communication, quick gratification, digital downloads etcetera I am again in a quandary. And with the corporates virtualling demanding immediate success of artists, where and how do the slow burning artists develop their music long enough to survive to reach the masses? Thank you.

LikeAnOcean · October 2011

apirk72 wrote:

There are so many great bands out there today, just as many as there ever was. The only difference is you actually have to look for them a little bit because FM radio is pretty much dead when it comes to good music, thank god for XM.
The thing is you aren't going to be seeing these bands at any sheds but rather smaller venues, which in a way is great because the level of intensity and excitement can get lost in large venues and just explodes in smaller ones. I actually have problems figuring out which shows I want to hit and pass on usually.

Paul McCartney recently said that there's bands out there today that are just as good, if not better than the Beatles or anything from rock history.

LikeAnOcean · October 2011

The Oracle wrote:

Wow....intelligent rants, like and agree with those, so I may lower it a bit! Twice in my lifetime I've thought my love of music as a listener was waning due to the talent, or more precisely lack of talent, and the genres of music being popular at the time. Firstly, in the mid-seventies, following the demise of the 60's culture and the popularity of stuff like Frampton Comes Alive and Hot August Night (no wonder I liked Zep so much)....but then punk hit my ear and saved the day and, so did, believe it or not...disco music. New genres and artists to match to awaken the soul. Then the proliferation of the snyth and hair bands of the eighties really had me questioning the future of music, but again the new genres of grunge and even rap (although I'm not a fan) saved the day. Now, what we need is other new genres...but has it all been done? In this day and age of instant communication, quick gratification, digital downloads etcetera I am again in a quandary. And with the corporates virtualling demanding immediate success of artists, where and how do the slow burning artists develop their music long enough to survive to reach the masses? Thank you.

Music is always evolving. I would say, Arcade Fire and My Morning Jacket represent a new evolution in music. All music has inspirations from the past.

Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, so forth have all worked independently artistically wether signed to a record contract or not.. there's billions of people out there and there will always be somebody pouring their heart and soul into music. Sometimes you just have to dig it up and find an emotional connection with it.

Cob · October 2011

All I know is I'm 42 and people have been saying the same thing since the early 80's about music....

Evacuation Rules · October 2011

Gob wrote:

Look at the top songs from any year or decade and you'll see it's always been shit.

This is very true. However, the "shit" from the 60's is still miles better than today's "shit".

LikeAnOcean · October 2011

Cob wrote:

All I know is I'm 42 and people have been saying the same thing since the early 80's about music....

Yep.. people were saying it even when Pearl Jam became relevant.

Parksy · October 2011

I think McCartney is way off base by saying that there are bands out there better than the Beatles or anything from the history of rock.

That said....

Maybe I'm a pessimist but I truly think that RIGHT now the best is behind us.

And to be clear... I'm not 'stuck in the past'. I regularly look out for new music and such. I'm on www.exploremusic.com pretty much every day and their is GOOD stuff out there from new acts. But in terms of 'true rock' we are lacking these days.

At the same time.. I find myself appreciating the past much more these days. Pink Floyd, Neil Young, Beatles, Rush, Zeppelin... etc etc... I find myself looking more into their catalogues and still finding good music.

I have faith in the future of rock... but we're far away from the rock explosions of the late 60's early 70's and the early/mid 90's.

JP33 · October 2011

The future of mainstream music is computer industrial hip hop club music.......about 10 to 20 years from now

CC9172 · October 2011

Rock is dead. But we still have Pearl Jam the last of the great rock bands.

JP33 · November 2011

CC9172 wrote:

Rock is dead. But we still have Pearl Jam the last of the great rock bands.

Right On Brother!

EdsonNascimento · November 2011

Parksy wrote:

Maybe I'm a pessimist but I truly think that RIGHT now the best is behind us.

Well, here's the thing I've always thought - in most professions/endeavors, you can build off past experience to improve whatever has come before. So, even if you can't exceed the Sisteenth Chapel, you can learn from it as an artist and produce good art.

But, with music, there's only so many notes and combinations that sound pleasing to the ear. And, while there was a segement that learned from the early pioneers and maybe even improved on it, at some point you reach the limit of what can possibly be done before you start sounding like a copycat (other than being total douches, why does Oasis get so much flack (for example)? They are Beatles "rip offs." If they were writing this stuff 50 years ago, they'd be trailblazers. But, now they are just a Beatles rip off. There stuff sounds ok. But, we've heard it all before, and we rightfully put it in it's proper place).

Why do you think folks started sampling old songs? They were smart enough to know their limitations, and utilize actual past performances and put their own spin on it. Maybe, it's not better, but at the minimum, unless you are Vanilla Ice, it's good.

So, not that it was ever easy, but it gets harder and harder to write new melodies that are both (actually) new and pleasing to the ear. You can even see it in individual artists. Time between albums gets longer and longer. That's because the early stuff is usually "pent up" releases waiting to be born. Now, they are just tyring to not sound like self-rip offs. That's the easiest way to lose relevance.

So, we either ignore the new stuff, or settle. Maybe, it's partly like our parents where we don't like our kids' music. But, my kids listen to the new stuff and my stuff. And they hate the new stuff. But, maybe that's because in the year PJ20, 80% of what they've heard is the greatest band still in existence.

Don't get me wrong. There is still decent stuff being produced. But, its a tougher row to hoe, and if/when someone comes along and captures the general imagination, we should appreciate it all the more.

smithnic · November 2011

I guarantee someone had this same rant in the 1950's about how "today's" music was an abomination compared to what music is supposed to be. You're romanticizing Dylan (I love) who went through some serious times where people hated what he was doing. Equally Springsteen was nearly dropped from his label back when labels were making money hand over fist.

Today's music doesn't have soul because it's not your soul they're talking to. In the words of the poet himself:
Come mothers and fathers Throughout the land Don't criticize What you can't understand.

Music changes, evolves, adapts and leaves us behind. We cling to the stuff that made us feel that we could change the world or were part of the world. When new music comes along and we don't get it, we cling even tighter. Hoping that it's not us that's left behind.