Au contraire.Rock music doesn't chart anymore.
http://www.americasmusiccharts.com/index.cgi?fmt=R5
http://www.billboard.com/charts/rock-songs
If by *Mainstream Rock* you mean Rage Against The Machine, Limp Bizkit and the like, you're correct. And it couldn't have died soon enough for me.*mainstream* rock music was buried 10 years ago
All kidding aside, my definition of *Mainstream Rock* - and most, if not all, Generation Xrs seem to agree with me - encompasses what is today four rock radio formats: alternative rock, mainstream rock and (Adult Album Alternative) triple A and, of course classic rock. You rarely, if ever, get them all today on one terrestrial radio station.
But I do agree with your point that there is still a lot of great Rock music out there, including much of the same type of Rock that Dom and I grew up with. But the methods of locating it all have changed.
In short, you're assertion of a Golden Age of music - even confining it to Rock - has merit, IMO. There is literally something for every sub-genred Rock taste. I'm certainly not going to turn up my nose at Modern Rock. Plus, many Rock bands are staging recording comebacks. No reason Led Zeppelin shouldn't be one of them.
Last edited by Revering4Blue; 02-22-2013 at 06:00 PM.
Whatever you do, do your best to not allow the struggles of life to interfere with the pleasures of living.
I've been reading that Grantland series I linked to earlier in the thread, and the fifth part on Metallica had a fact that just blew me away:
It's not unfair to point out that sales don't mean anything anymore though, Dom. People don't consume music in the same format as they did 20 years ago. Album sales as a whole are significantly down. If the music industry is lucky, people buy songs one at a time online. Most of them are pirated. Others are like me, and consume 90% of their music through online streaming services like Spotify (those don't show up in record sales).The Black Album sold 110,000 copies in 2012 alone, which is better than all but a handful of contemporary rock bands.
So why is it a Golden Age? Because for $10 per month, I have at my fingertips all music that was ever recorded, including from your beloved 1960s and 1970s, in addition to an infinite amount of music being recorded today. Anybody can record their music. There are no barriers. How awesome is that?
Dom Heffner (02-22-2013),Revering4Blue (02-22-2013)
Dom Heffner (02-22-2013),Revering4Blue (02-22-2013)
Without question, the manner in which we consume music has its advantages.
The fact remains that much of the older stuff sells just as much as the newer stuff. Go to iTunes, click charts, click rock. People buy the older stuff. And I'm not sure we can say that newer music is consumed differently so this is not a significant point.
By no means do I want to get into a taste contest with you- if this is golden for you, it's golden for you.
And for the record- Zeppelin was just a tad before me. Hated them.
I say this only to point out that they played very little role in my glory days. Duran Duran would have fit that bill for me.
But really listening to Zeppelin has convinced me the golden age was just before I was born. That's my taste, of course. It took getting older to realize Peter Cetera really did ruin Chicago.
Having said that, today's music may be all that and a toaster for you, and I am not trying to take that away from anyone.
I remember in my younger days arguing the hair bands were better than AC/DC. They aren't, of course, but they were for me then.
I spend every eight hour workday listening to Spotify, and typically I will hear five to ten new bands each of those days. I start with my favorites and dig more and more into obscurity. Sometimes, I find something in this pile that I am absolutely blown away by. For instance, a couple weeks ago I discovered this band:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctUsCIrIsq4
How much fun does that look?
My question then is, really, how would I have discovered this song in the supposed Golden Era for rock music, the 1960s and 1970s? I wouldn't have. This band, from Scranton, PA, would have played a few of these awesome gigs in their hometown, never gotten the publicity necessary for me to become aware of their existence, and dissolved. There's no way they would have gotten a record deal because, as I'm fully aware, they don't have mass appeal. Hell, you can say that song sucked and I wouldn't be offended. It just happens to perfectly match *my* tastes. And that's what is so cool about this era--I can find as much music as I desire that matches my specific tastes...
marcshoe (02-22-2013),Revering4Blue (02-22-2013)
Next to the Beatles, they're my 2nd All-time favorite rock band. But that's in pretty good company I'd say.
I've not only got every one of their albums, including various bootlegs, but about a year ago got on youtube and downloaded, transferred the audio to CD, a lot of old live stuff I've never heard.
Led Zeppelin I is simply one of the greatest rock n roll blues albums ever released, and it should be in everyone's collection. Dazed and Confused! Wow!
If Chip is reading this thread he'll verify a situation a few years ago in a local Cincy bar, after a Red's game, where I got in a lively discussion with a bartender over who is the greatest rock guitarist. He was a Hendrix guy, I'm Page. I guess it always boils down to personal preference, Everyone has that one who really grabbed hold of them, knocked them over the head when they heard them. And with me it has always been Page.
Over these many years I've had friends who were musicians, played in bands, and I'd always bring that question up. And pretty much every one of them told me that Page was a GOOD guitarist, but a better producer (one of the best). Several would say he was too "undisciplined", sloppy playing live. I saw it as shear rawness. His playing captivated me.
Did you happen to see them on Letterman abut a month ago? Pretty neat.I hope this happens for the sake of seeing something like this with my own eyes- just something to make me, for one night, think about how music used to be so awesome and something to look forward to. Someone convince Robert Plant that this is bigger than him. Please.
Looks like Page is going on tour this year...... http://ultimateclassicrock.com/jimmy...013-solo-tour/
If he comes anywhere near here I'll be there!
Has anyone ever heard is 1988 solo album Outrider? I never have, and need to find it.
Last edited by GAC; 02-23-2013 at 05:23 AM.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
That's true. He also played on Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual" too, as well as the Who's "I Can't Explain", and a few Kink songs. He was a very sought-after studio guitarist in the early-mid 1960's. My brother bought me two CDs where he was the session guitarist on various early (and forgettable) 60's bands....
Jimmy Page In-Session: A Look at the Guitar Legend’s Pre-Zeppelin Studio Work
http://www2.gibson.com/News-Lifestyl...page-0511.aspx
Led Zeppelin trivia: A few hit songs you never knew Jimmy Page played on .... http://www.examiner.com/article/led-...G-Survey-Close
Dom - you might enjoy the Yardbird's performing "Dazed and Confused" (with Page) at the bottom of the article.
Last edited by GAC; 02-23-2013 at 04:55 AM.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
Music is generational. What I mean by that is not that one generation can't enjoy another generation's music; but that each generation's likes to have something that's"theirs", that identifies them. My Dad was a HUGE Big Band Era freak. Loved Glenn Miller. With me, I'm still trapped in the 60s/70s. And that's fine with me. I really can't identify at all with any of "today's" music, and really don't know a majority of what's out there, other then what I hear my kids listening to. And I'm not impressed, but again - it's their generation.
But my kids, love my music. They've been exposed to it because I play CDs whenever we're in the car. I'm not a big radio listener. They especially love the Beatles. My oldest boy is currently captivated with "I Am The Walrus" to the point I'm about ready to Goo Goo Ga Joob him upside the head because he plays it constantly.
Yesterday I had my youngest boy in the car and I was listening to some old Alice Cooper.... Ballad of Dwight Frye, Halo of Flies, Generation Landslide, etc.... but when it got to No More Mr Nice guy he flipped out - "Dad, Is this a new band? Did you just buy this?".... "Uh, no son, it's only about 40 years old." LOL
I might be wrong as rain and just getting old, but I can't see my kids, when they're my age, wanting to share Lady Gaga, and some of the stuff they listen to today, with their kids.
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
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