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ledyanoy
Despite being a musician with some rock influence in my sound itself, I have shared a similar attitude. Most of the songs in the rock genre are too simplistic, with no real songwriting backbone. The entire thing rests on 'mood,' which definitely counts for something - but if you take most of those songs out of context and play them raw on an acoustic instrument, they're nothing.
To me, the test for a good song is - what happens to the song when you take it out of context? If you get rid of the production and specific instruments, do the lyrics, melody and rhythm move you? If so, then you might have an actual song. Something timeless.
I grew up on Broadway & Classical, just because that was my own taste and I didn't care what others were doing. People around me might have listened to rock and pop, but I didn't until much later. As a kid, Les Mis, Miss Saigon and Phantom of the Opera lured me in, and I could never downgrade from the genius of those songs. I do enjoy the production style of some rock, but I always envisioned myself playing songs like "Memories" from Cats as a guitar solo over piano and tribal drums. If I had stuck with music, you'd hear long, drawn-out violin-like guitar solos (Jeff Beck style) over piano and deep rhythm. Even if I didn't play guitar myself I would arrange it as such and run the band.
I always wrote the guitar solos in my own songs. They are melodic and tell a story; a conversation between vocals and guitar. It is part of the composition, not just gratuitously showing off the guitarist's fast fingers. You can hear the melodic story unfolding.
When I auditioned guitarists, I told them they would not be allowed to "noodle" over my songs. The solos are part of the melody and the song structure, period. If they didn't like it, they didn't have to join the band. They were free to express themselves, play the solos in their own style and 'voice,' but the melody and timing must remain as I wrote it.
The problem with upholding a band nowadays is that every decent musician fancies himself a songwriter but very few actually write. So they think they can join up with someone who writes actual songs and just noodle over it. Maybe they can, but that songwriter won't be me.
That said, I resonate with the sentiment that the death of rock really matters - because it's the last genre we have which wasn't totally computerized. Rock still requires real instruments, learning how to play them and having some semblance of melody and rhythm, even if not always advanced - whereas most music today just requires buying the right software and pushing a button. Don't even get me started on autotune.
Last edited by Animal; 10-23-2019, 11:50 PM.Comment
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I'm not sure that I agree that music is in a wasteland right now. I think what's actually going on is that we have so many artists right now. In the past, there wasn't such a huge influx of everyone doing music and having it readily available on spotify etc. Because there is just so much, there is also a lot of bad, but I can think of quite a few artists off the top of my head who are very musically talented. Some of them I've seen live, and their live voices and skills floored me. A few examples would be Halestorm, Muse, OneRepublic (they're actually played a lot on pop stations, but they are all pretty talented musicians and make great music videos as well). I can definitely list more as well. I'm not saying they'd be your cup of tea, but it's hard to say they aren't very talented.The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:
A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.Comment
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Arya For sure - but the general standard, like the stuff you hear playing on the radio in stores - is pretty pathetic. Also if you look at the top 10 from 1960 and then you look at the top 10 from 2019 you might cry. Bring tissues.Comment
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The top ten is bullshit for sure. I think if you look past the top ten bullshit that plays though, we have more access to really great music than ever before, and a lot of it is current. I don't listen to the radio very often though.Originally posted by Volcana View PostThe day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.
I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist,
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist:
A feeling of sadness and longing,
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.Comment
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For sure, but the things playing on the radio reflect the culture at large. I may not indulge the culture at large in my spare time, but if I work in a store, or go grocery shopping, there it is. The change in Top 10 from then to now really speaks volumes about how culture is declining.Originally posted by Arya View PostComment
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As soon as I clicked on this thread someone put on Sweet Child of Mine.
Anyways, haven't they been saying that for years now? Certainly since the death of Cobain and to a lesser extent Dimebag.
They also said that about jazz, classical, and other music. They're still going strong, but the problem is that with things like spotify, every genre has become saturated. This really started happening in the 90s though, when hip hop, country, and electronica started to dominate instead of mainly rock. Even rock began to branch off with punk, grunge, soft rock, and others.
My point is that rock isn't dead, but there's no one playing innovative stuff, or if they are, they're being lost in the mix with thousands of other artists.
I'm curious how the musicians could play the notes in their own voice and style if they had to play the notes exactly as written AnimalComment
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One other point which kind of is related, is I saw a rant by this local musician who's been in the local scene for years. It was a Facebook rant a few years back about how he's sick of musicians acting sexist and misogynistic because they think they're some 80s rock band. Were are the bitches at, we're going to fuck some groupies after the show, flash your tits at us. That kind of thing.
I've only really seen this by one person who was obsessed with 80s rock and being macho and trying to be seductive and make sexually provocative rock music. But it was pretty cringey.
I'm pretty sure this happens in every genre though. It happened with jazz musicians, happened with country musicians, hip hop and DJs are notorious for it, and yeah it happened with rock as well.
Anyways, I guess he was sick of this attitude that he kept seeing in musicians. He played a mix of punk, rock, and metal but it was more of a joke band that got popular.Comment
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Daeva
YESS! Love it! Also at the end he says that rock 'taught the kids where the beat is.' Very accurate. I've always said (and I've noticed Jeff Martin says this too) - rock and roll is about sex. It's about libido and drive. All music may touch on sex, romance and drive as topics, but the genre of rock embodies it. With rock, you don't have to say "sex" or "libido" - you just feel that deep drive in your hips. It makes sense to me that the 'death' of rock also matched the 'death of masculinity' era.Comment
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