Define Classic Rock

2

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  • Edit:  I have had this conversation w people about the 2000's and the lack of staying power of the bands.  We did get a small movement out of Brooklyn for a bit that produced some good music.  Other than that what is there?  Linkin Park, White Stripes.  I know of some other smaller bands but nothing comes right out as being huge.
    Though complicating this is how music started to be consumed in the 2000s. You had Napster/filesharing, then iTunes where all songs were .99, then you had streaming. You basically had everything diluting everything's potential for success just because of the mass amount of music to consume.  
    That is a great way of looking at it.  Downfall of radio too.  How pop music survives was a mystery until Brian posted above.  Pop music survives because you still have teams building and making records where you have bands and their DIY way and producing their own albums gets them street cred but no airplay.
  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,630
    Pop music will never die. People want catchy tunes that makes them feel big emotions. It’s necessary too.
  • Pop music will never die. People want catchy tunes that makes them feel big emotions. It’s necessary too.
    This is why Country music has been so successful the past 20 years or so.  Catchy poppy tunes. Production teams to make them...

    What are some of the bigger acts for the rock genre these past years?  21 Pilots, Imagine Dragons?  Can we put Ed Sheeran in that group?

    Those bands had teams making their albums.  Unless Rick Rubin does the production does any band get noticed?

    Talking out loud and starting the conversation.
  • Zod
    Zod Posts: 10,906
    I tend to think most Rock is now classic rock.  Mainly because it's waned in popularity (and quality) for most of the 21st century.  Or maybe it's that I don't appreciate modern rock music, so 99% of what I listen to are bands that started before the year 2000.  

    I think kids are going start thinking (or already thinking) that rock music is a dinosaur.. but who knows what the future will bring.
  • Stellar rock albums from the 2010s:
    1. Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
    2. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
    3. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
    4. Tool - Fear Inoculum
    5. The Decemberists - The King is Dead
    6. The National - High Violet
    7. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
    8. Built to Spill - Untethered Moon
    9. The Black Keys - Brothers
    10. Spoon - Transference
    11. Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves
    12. Arctic Monkeys - AM

    Rock isn't dead. About half of these are 90s acts, but the others didn't surface until the 2000s (and I'm sure I'm missing quite a few albums that aren't coming to mind at the moment).

    I also think that all of the listed albums are certainly classified as "rock", not an amalgamation of genres. So are the albums approaching 10 years of age really considered classic rock? Or are we sticking with dad rock? Haha.
  • Zod said:
    I tend to think most Rock is now classic rock.  Mainly because it's waned in popularity (and quality) for most of the 21st century.  Or maybe it's that I don't appreciate modern rock music, so 99% of what I listen to are bands that started before the year 2000.  

    I think kids are going start thinking (or already thinking) that rock music is a dinosaur.. but who knows what the future will bring.
    Younger bands that I see now all have stated the same thing.  "We love the 90's era of music"  It's interesting to hear a 20 something band playing a dinosaur Jr cover during their set.

    I also think that the lack of airplay on the radio and MTV lessens the chance of a DIY or indy band making it in the industry anymore.
  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,630
    edited January 2022
    Pop music will never die. People want catchy tunes that makes them feel big emotions. It’s necessary too.
    This is why Country music has been so successful the past 20 years or so.  Catchy poppy tunes. Production teams to make them...

    What are some of the bigger acts for the rock genre these past years?  21 Pilots, Imagine Dragons?  Can we put Ed Sheeran in that group?

    Those bands had teams making their albums.  Unless Rick Rubin does the production does any band get noticed?

    Talking out loud and starting the conversation.
    I mean, on a successful, larger scale, thats about it. Clearly on an indie level, theres plenty of rock acts still. 






    Post edited by Tim Simmons on
  • LB260405 said:
    Stellar rock albums from the 2010s:
    1. Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
    2. Band of Horses - Infinite Arms
    3. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
    4. Tool - Fear Inoculum
    5. The Decemberists - The King is Dead
    6. The National - High Violet
    7. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs
    8. Built to Spill - Untethered Moon
    9. The Black Keys - Brothers
    10. Spoon - Transference
    11. Modest Mouse - Strangers to Ourselves
    12. Arctic Monkeys - AM

    Rock isn't dead. About half of these are 90s acts, but the others didn't surface until the 2000s (and I'm sure I'm missing quite a few albums that aren't coming to mind at the moment).

    I also think that all of the listed albums are certainly classified as "rock", not an amalgamation of genres. So are the albums approaching 10 years of age really considered classic rock? Or are we sticking with dad rock? Haha.
    Quite a few of those bands stem from the Brooklyn revival that I mentioned earlier even if they aren't from Brooklyn.  They could also be known as the Hipster revival, lol.

    Rock isn't dead it's just harder to find something with legs.

    I would add any Oh Sees album from the last 10 years too.  Some of it is on the harder side but they are great albums none the less.  All them Witches, Jack white, Cage the Elephant, Young The Giant have also put out great albums in the past 10 years.

    Of all the band listed here Arcade, Witches and Oh Sees have moved the needle for me.
  • Tim Simmons
    Tim Simmons Posts: 9,630
    edited January 2022
    I read this yesterday. interesting take.

    https://www.stereogum.com/2171542/2022-state-of-pop-address/columns/the-week-in-pop/

    We’ve been experiencing rumblings from the new guitar-based pop community for a little while now, starting with elder millennial and used-to-be-rapper Machine Gun Kelly pivoting to pop-punk on 2020’s Tickets To My Downfall, which featured genre OG Travis Barker on drums. Months later, tons of acts have followed suit, with everyone from Avril Lavigne (millennial) to WILLOW (Gen Z) tapping the Blink-182 percussionist to appear on their tracks, as if Barker’s presence adds a note of era authenticity. (Lavigne, being another Y2K pop-punk relic, doesn’t really need Barker’s presence for added legitimacy, but his involvement on her song certainly doesn’t hurt.)

    As for the “why,” I bet this current return to the guitar has something to do with Gen Z’s overall dismissal of the status quo. In 2018, writer Dan Ozzi attributed rock’s decline in popular music to kids “want[ing] to listen to songs that sound like commercials. Kids want familiarity. Kids want music to dance and take drugs to.” But a lot can change in four years. Today’s kids have lived through not one, but two once-in-a-lifetime recessions, a global pandemic, massive inflation, crippling debt, an attack on the Capitol, gun violence, and the overall breakdown of democracy. As a generation, Gen Z can see right through this “greatest country in the world” bullshit. A pop singer doesn’t have to be overtly political or plugged into the news cycle to feel the effects. Rock music — punk-rock, in particular — has always been a prime vehicle for expressing angst and frustration.

    Perhaps the most famous pop singer to make the guitar great again is Olivia Rodrigo, who dominated 2021 with her debut, SOUR, home to angsty anthems like “brutal” and “good 4 u.” There was also Halsey’s spectacular If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, which gave pop music a fresh, industrial edge, courtesy of producers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and laced its credits with rock veterans like Dave Grohl and Lindsey Buckingham.

    All of this renewed interest in the guitar has started to trickle down in earnest. Rising voices in pop — GAYLE, Clinton Kane, Nessa Barrett, jxdn, beabadoobee, Pinkshift — cite influence from ’00s scene staples like All Time Low and Paramore. But as The Face has pointed out, the roots of this resurgence can actually be traced back to last decade, when SoundCloud rappers like Lil Uzi Vert called Hayley Williams a major influence, and Lil Peep would sample guitar bands like Pierce The Veil and Real Friends. More recently, I would go so far as to argue that the success of The Matrix: Resurrections and its all-black dystopian/cyberpunk aesthetic both benefit from and will continue to influence the pop music matrix (because, come on, we’re totally getting more sequels). And as long as we’re talking about cyberpunk, video games, and the metaverse, tomorrow’s pop will no doubt be influenced by all of these expanded realities, with more artists — like Japanese Breakfast and CHVRCHES this past year — writing music for such platforms.

    Post edited by Tim Simmons on
  • I read this yesterday. interesting take.

    https://www.stereogum.com/2171542/2022-state-of-pop-address/columns/the-week-in-pop/

    We’ve been experiencing rumblings from the new guitar-based pop community for a little while now, starting with elder millennial and used-to-be-rapper Machine Gun Kelly pivoting to pop-punk on 2020’s Tickets To My Downfall, which featured genre OG Travis Barker on drums. Months later, tons of acts have followed suit, with everyone from Avril Lavigne (millennial) to WILLOW (Gen Z) tapping the Blink-182 percussionist to appear on their tracks, as if Barker’s presence adds a note of era authenticity. (Lavigne, being another Y2K pop-punk relic, doesn’t really need Barker’s presence for added legitimacy, but his involvement on her song certainly doesn’t hurt.)

    As for the “why,” I bet this current return to the guitar has something to do with Gen Z’s overall dismissal of the status quo. In 2018, writer Dan Ozzi attributed rock’s decline in popular music to kids “want[ing] to listen to songs that sound like commercials. Kids want familiarity. Kids want music to dance and take drugs to.” But a lot can change in four years. Today’s kids have lived through not one, but two once-in-a-lifetime recessions, a global pandemic, massive inflation, crippling debt, an attack on the Capitol, gun violence, and the overall breakdown of democracy. As a generation, Gen Z can see right through this “greatest country in the world” bullshit. A pop singer doesn’t have to be overtly political or plugged into the news cycle to feel the effects. Rock music — punk-rock, in particular — has always been a prime vehicle for expressing angst and frustration.

    Perhaps the most famous pop singer to make the guitar great again is Olivia Rodrigo, who dominated 2021 with her debut, SOUR, home to angsty anthems like “brutal” and “good 4 u.” There was also Halsey’s spectacular If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power, which gave pop music a fresh, industrial edge, courtesy of producers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and laced its credits with rock veterans like Dave Grohl and Lindsey Buckingham.

    All of this renewed interest in the guitar has started to trickle down in earnest. Rising voices in pop — GAYLE, Clinton Kane, Nessa Barrett, jxdn, beabadoobee, Pinkshift — cite influence from ’00s scene staples like All Time Low and Paramore. But as The Face has pointed out, the roots of this resurgence can actually be traced back to last decade, when SoundCloud rappers like Lil Uzi Vert called Hayley Williams a major influence, and Lil Peep would sample guitar bands like Pierce The Veil and Real Friends. More recently, I would go so far as to argue that the success of The Matrix: Resurrections and its all-black dystopian/cyberpunk aesthetic both benefit from and will continue to influence the pop music matrix (because, come on, we’re totally getting more sequels). And as long as we’re talking about cyberpunk, video games, and the metaverse, tomorrow’s pop will no doubt be influenced by all of these expanded realities, with more artists — like Japanese Breakfast and CHVRCHES this past year — writing music for such platforms.

    I've mentioned before that we are due for a music revival.  The timing and climate is ripe for it.  Unfortunately if this writer thinks we will go down the emo brand of music again Im out... 

    MJ Kellys last album is really good if you like Blink and I do.

    Never liked Skater Boi, Avril Lavigne the first time around either.

    Olivia Rodrigo has some talent but not seeing her as a rock person?  Same w Halsey.  If your idea of rock is some form of Daughtry then Halsey and Chvrches are for you.  People love Chvches too.  I tried.  Can't do it.

    The "wanting songs to sound like commercials" is a perfect definition.  How many underground songs are picked up and put into commercials nowadays?  Matt & Kim's song It's alright sells Buicks.  It's funny because Matt will say he is proud of that during concerts now. 
     I had no idea who Oliver Tree was until his song was featured in an Apple commercial.

    A commercial is a great way to discover bands nowadays, lol.
  • cp3iverson
    cp3iverson Posts: 8,702
    edited January 2022
    My definition of classic rock:  I think it’s now more of a sound than a time period.  
    Very southern influenced guitars (traced to a blues background).  Maybe just any traditional rock band in the future.  

    Rock in general won’t go away but the pop punk blend is always listenable and way more top 40 these days.  Willow and Olivia Rodriguez both owe a lot to Paramore who owed a lot to blink/Sunny day/ greenday and 100 other bands who owed a lot to the Replacements.  And so on.  There’s nothing original about Willow or Rodriguez for sure but it has guitars and drums at least.    
    Post edited by cp3iverson on
  • My definition of classic rock:  I think it’s now more of a sound than a time period.  
    Very southern influenced guitars (traced to a blues background).  Maybe just any traditional rock band in the future.  

    Rock in general won’t go away but the pop punk blend is always listenable and way more top 40 these days.  Willow and Olivia Rodriguez both owe a lot to Paramore who owed a lot to blink/Sunny day/ greenday and 100 other bands who owed a lot to the Replacements.  And so on.  There’s nothing original about Willow or Rodriguez for sure but it has guitars and drums at least.    
    Teeny bopper titilating music will always be here unfortunately.  That is a form of music that will always have an audience for good or bad.

    I do miss bad ass punk girls though.  Spit Boy was one of hem.  Check them out!!!
  • tempo_n_groove
    tempo_n_groove Posts: 41,445
    edited January 2022
    I went internettin and found that they are releasing a complete discography.

    If you are so inclined check them out.  They were before the riot grrrl stuff and feminist's before that was a thing.  
    https://dongiovannirecords.limitedrun.com/products/698205

    Now if Slant 6 would re release Inzombia...
  • mrussel1
    mrussel1 Posts: 30,883
    Classic rock is the first generation of rock, when the Beatles started doing drugs, until roughly 1980.  That's how I think of it.  So basically 1966-1980.  Certainly some bands that were in both generations are still classic rock (Petty, Floyd, Stones, etc.), but I don't consider bands that started after 1980 as being classic rock bands.  
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,664
    edited January 2022
    Though we're mostly talking about classic rock here, we seem to touch on something that comes up often: What is in store for the future for music?  I think about this a lot and mostly out of frustration because I am of a generation that lucked out and lived through several huge transitions in pop and rock music- from very early rock and roll and pop, to early 60's folk explosion, to 60's rock, blues rock, hard rock, psychedelia, prog, jazz/rock fusion, disco, New York CBGB scene, early punk, punk, new wave,  hardcore, metal, paisley underground, indi/college rock, grunge, rap (and whatever else I've missed)- not all favorite genres, but all adding something to the stew that has been popular music for the last several decades.
    What I question though is, are we (or am I) expecting too much in wanting to see yet another big change in music?  Music never evolved this quickly until the modern era.  It followed the same trajectory as rapid development of technology and population.  Add to that our world-wide rapid communications with so much information being shared so quickly and broadly, it becomes very difficult to come up with new formulas.

    Think about it- when is the last time a truly new form of popular (or even not-so-popular) music evolved?  Have we possibly hit a wall, mined all the possibilities, run out of new ideas?  What would it take to create a truly new form of music?  Newly created musical instruments?  New ways to alter sound waves? Finding new sounds never heard before?  Increasing the ability of humans to hear a broader spectrum of sound waves?  New drugs?  I really don't have a clue, but seeing how little the needle has moved in the last two decades compared to the last half of the 20th  century, I don't hold out much hope anymore for seeing anything truly new to coming to music.
    And I sincerely hope I am wrong.

    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • mrussel1
    mrussel1 Posts: 30,883
    brianlux said:
    Though we're mostly talking about classic rock here, we seem to touch on something that comes up often: What is in store for the future for music?  I think about this a lot and mostly out of frustration because I am of a generation that lucked out and lived through several huge transitions in pop and rock music- from very early rock and roll and pop, to early 60's folk explosion, to 60's rock, blues rock, hard rock, psychedelia, prog, jazz/rock fusion, disco, New York CBGB scene, early punk, punk, new wave,  hardcore, metal, paisley underground, indi/college rock, grunge, rap (and whatever else I've missed)- not all favorite genres, but all adding something to the stew that has been popular music for the last several decades.
    What I question though is, are we (or am I) expecting too much in wanting to see yet another big change in music?  Music never evolved this quickly until the modern era.  It followed the same trajectory as rapid development of technology and population.  Add to that our world-wide rapid communications with so much information being shared so quickly and broadly, it becomes very difficult to come up with new formulas.

    Think about it- when is the last time a truly new form of popular (or even not-so-popular) music evolved?  Have we possibly hit a wall, mined all the possibilities, run out of new ideas?  What would it take to create a truly new form of music?  Newly created musical instruments?  New ways to alter sound waves? Finding new sounds never heard before?  Increasing the ability of humans to hear a broader spectrum of sound waves?  New drugs?  I really don't have a clue, but seeing how little the needle has moved in the last two decades compared to the last half of the 20th  century, I don't hold out much hope anymore for seeing anything truly new to coming to music.
    And I sincerely hope I am wrong.

    New drugs... we definitely need new drugs. 
  • brianlux
    brianlux Moving through All Kinds of Terrain. Posts: 43,664
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    Though we're mostly talking about classic rock here, we seem to touch on something that comes up often: What is in store for the future for music?  I think about this a lot and mostly out of frustration because I am of a generation that lucked out and lived through several huge transitions in pop and rock music- from very early rock and roll and pop, to early 60's folk explosion, to 60's rock, blues rock, hard rock, psychedelia, prog, jazz/rock fusion, disco, New York CBGB scene, early punk, punk, new wave,  hardcore, metal, paisley underground, indi/college rock, grunge, rap (and whatever else I've missed)- not all favorite genres, but all adding something to the stew that has been popular music for the last several decades.
    What I question though is, are we (or am I) expecting too much in wanting to see yet another big change in music?  Music never evolved this quickly until the modern era.  It followed the same trajectory as rapid development of technology and population.  Add to that our world-wide rapid communications with so much information being shared so quickly and broadly, it becomes very difficult to come up with new formulas.

    Think about it- when is the last time a truly new form of popular (or even not-so-popular) music evolved?  Have we possibly hit a wall, mined all the possibilities, run out of new ideas?  What would it take to create a truly new form of music?  Newly created musical instruments?  New ways to alter sound waves? Finding new sounds never heard before?  Increasing the ability of humans to hear a broader spectrum of sound waves?  New drugs?  I really don't have a clue, but seeing how little the needle has moved in the last two decades compared to the last half of the 20th  century, I don't hold out much hope anymore for seeing anything truly new to coming to music.
    And I sincerely hope I am wrong.

    New drugs... we definitely need new drugs. 

    LOL. 
    Seriously though, I would love it if there was a psychedelic drug that left no unwanted side affects and was not addicting.  My few experiences with them were unpleasant.  My one adventure with opiated hashish sprinkled in a joint was heavenly but thankfully not readily available- way too addicting.
    "It's a sad and beautiful world"
    -Roberto Benigni

  • Brian and I have discussed about when is the new music boom going to happen?  Every 30 years or so something happens.  Last time was the 90's so we are due for something.  We had that blip w the Hipster/Brooklyn revival but I don't think it was big enough.  We need something that invades everywhere...

    Ahhhh, one can hope it comes soon.
  • mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    Though we're mostly talking about classic rock here, we seem to touch on something that comes up often: What is in store for the future for music?  I think about this a lot and mostly out of frustration because I am of a generation that lucked out and lived through several huge transitions in pop and rock music- from very early rock and roll and pop, to early 60's folk explosion, to 60's rock, blues rock, hard rock, psychedelia, prog, jazz/rock fusion, disco, New York CBGB scene, early punk, punk, new wave,  hardcore, metal, paisley underground, indi/college rock, grunge, rap (and whatever else I've missed)- not all favorite genres, but all adding something to the stew that has been popular music for the last several decades.
    What I question though is, are we (or am I) expecting too much in wanting to see yet another big change in music?  Music never evolved this quickly until the modern era.  It followed the same trajectory as rapid development of technology and population.  Add to that our world-wide rapid communications with so much information being shared so quickly and broadly, it becomes very difficult to come up with new formulas.

    Think about it- when is the last time a truly new form of popular (or even not-so-popular) music evolved?  Have we possibly hit a wall, mined all the possibilities, run out of new ideas?  What would it take to create a truly new form of music?  Newly created musical instruments?  New ways to alter sound waves? Finding new sounds never heard before?  Increasing the ability of humans to hear a broader spectrum of sound waves?  New drugs?  I really don't have a clue, but seeing how little the needle has moved in the last two decades compared to the last half of the 20th  century, I don't hold out much hope anymore for seeing anything truly new to coming to music.
    And I sincerely hope I am wrong.

    New drugs... we definitely need new drugs. 
    Huey Lewis has been screaming about that shit for years...

    We did get fentanyl.  Does that count?
  • HughFreakingDillon
    HughFreakingDillon Winnipeg Posts: 39,507
    mrussel1 said:
    brianlux said:
    Though we're mostly talking about classic rock here, we seem to touch on something that comes up often: What is in store for the future for music?  I think about this a lot and mostly out of frustration because I am of a generation that lucked out and lived through several huge transitions in pop and rock music- from very early rock and roll and pop, to early 60's folk explosion, to 60's rock, blues rock, hard rock, psychedelia, prog, jazz/rock fusion, disco, New York CBGB scene, early punk, punk, new wave,  hardcore, metal, paisley underground, indi/college rock, grunge, rap (and whatever else I've missed)- not all favorite genres, but all adding something to the stew that has been popular music for the last several decades.
    What I question though is, are we (or am I) expecting too much in wanting to see yet another big change in music?  Music never evolved this quickly until the modern era.  It followed the same trajectory as rapid development of technology and population.  Add to that our world-wide rapid communications with so much information being shared so quickly and broadly, it becomes very difficult to come up with new formulas.

    Think about it- when is the last time a truly new form of popular (or even not-so-popular) music evolved?  Have we possibly hit a wall, mined all the possibilities, run out of new ideas?  What would it take to create a truly new form of music?  Newly created musical instruments?  New ways to alter sound waves? Finding new sounds never heard before?  Increasing the ability of humans to hear a broader spectrum of sound waves?  New drugs?  I really don't have a clue, but seeing how little the needle has moved in the last two decades compared to the last half of the 20th  century, I don't hold out much hope anymore for seeing anything truly new to coming to music.
    And I sincerely hope I am wrong.

    New drugs... we definitely need new drugs. 
    Huey Lewis has been screaming about that shit for years...

    We did get fentanyl.  Does that count?
    "hey, we got a record deal!"
    "too bad half the band is dead"
    By The Time They Figure Out What Went Wrong, We'll Be Sitting On A Beach, Earning Twenty Percent.