Afro's Sig

[DvChWi]

Here is oneafroboys current sig, just so you don't have to look it up:

"Rock is dead. It's just that no one will admit it. So out of the stagnant pool that is "rock," we get a bunch of crappy bands with their guitars turned up too loud and irritatingly distorted. The "guitarists" only know three chords, four, if you're lucky. The singers can't sing and they all have this annoying nasal way of "singing," this is when they're not screaming, or growling, or whatever you want to call it. Not that you care about the melody, because you've probably have heard it before, not that it was good to begin with. And all they do is whine about how the world is going to end because they broke up with their girlfriend. Wait, how old are these guys? How long ago did they go through puberty? Exactly.. So, what you get is a whole genre of music, where everything is annoying and where creative and artistic are only used in juxtaposition with the word "not". "

I thought this would be interesting to discuss.  I myself don't think rock is dead.  A lousy mainstream is not an idicator of a dying genre, IMO.  There is still room to grow.  Don't let the man-children scare you.
 

[Josh]

I think the spirit of rock still thrives in underground bands like Over the Rhine, as well as in a handful of mainstream bands like Radiohead, REM, and U2.

Rock is not dead, but most artists on the forefront of rock are incredibely sad.

[oneafroboy]

I would say the spirit of rock is not dead, no more than the spirit of classical music is dead. Obviously, the groups that Josh mentioned are still making listenable, artful rock music.

I would argue, however, that the innovation of rock, i.e. the growth and development of rock, is dead. Most of rocks musical boundaries were explored in the 70s. The 80s and 90s didn't contribute that much to the territory that lies within rock. There was punk and the grunge movement, but arguably, mostly this had to do with guitar sound, tempo, and vocal treatment.

Continuing in the rock tradition--as most mainstream bands are doing--will not lead us into new musical horizons. I really hope that in coming years, that some new, fresh musicians will rise up and start doing something new and creative and outside of the box that is rock music.  A new kind of music, if you will. Hopefully this might revitalize the creativity of the pop music world and the radio will soon stop being the leaky faucet of drivel--no, garbage--that it has become.

[Vlad!]

A concept can never truly be dead...saying rock is dead makes about as much sense as saying mathematics is dead. However, if I take off my literalist hat for a moment, it may indeed be true that those who enjoy the rock of the past few decades have little for them that is now being produced. One great thing about art in general is that it is constantly changing, so that what is currently being produced differs from (unfortunately not always surpasses, but that may be a matter of opinion) what has already come before.

[Skrappybiskit]

That sounds like something that might have come from "Your Band Sucks" over at Somethingawful.com...

SKraps