According to this Reuters article Sting says,
“Rock music has come to a standstill — it’s not going forward any more, it only bores me.”
At first I was a little perturbed by reading that. However, in some ways he is correct. How?
Granted, there has always been bad music out there, and it is true that rock music identified a generation. But ROCK music as a genre is a completely stagnant genre. The only artists that seem to get notoriety are the ones that can emulate an older artist or band. (i.e. The Strokes, The White Stripes, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Amos Lee, Ben Harper, and even most early 90’s bands that harkened back to 70’s guitar rock.)
I believe the only reason we still use the term “Rock Music” today is just because that has been the phrase used for the last 50 years and that is how the majority of music that caters to young people is labeled.
However, I think music today is as exciting as ever. What I find to be amazing about listening to the majority of young people is they are truly fans of MANY kinds of music. Today you will find accomplished jazz musicians who are hip-hop fans, and vice-versa. You will find hip-hop fans that love country music (Mike Skinner of The Streets).
With the Internet and the wide availability of music, the playing field has truly been leveled for kids. They have exposure to all kinds of music. No more will geography limit music fans from exposure to ancient music (yes - even Sting’s lute music) and new stuff (like my current fave, the Decemberists).
The exciting thing about this time in history is the fact that most listeners today simply classify music as music. It is increasingly difficult to pigeonhole bands anymore because so many influences of popular music have seeped into the psyche of young musicians.
I think this is a great thing.
What do you think? Is rock music stagnant?
2 Comments until now.
I don’t think rock and roll music is stagnant at all. As mentioned, there are a number of brilliant and innovative rock and roll bands on the scene today: the White Stripes, the Killers, Franz Ferdinand, Belle & Sebastian, the Weakerthans, and yes, the wonderful Decemberists, just to name a few.
Are these bands derivative of earlier rock and roll? Absolutely. But no more so than the very bands they are deriving from.
Sure, some of Jack White’s riffs sound like he’s just putting a new spin on Zeppelin. But Zeppelin were just putting their own spin on bluesmen like Willie Dixon, and John Lee Hooker. And those bluesmen were reinterpreting the gospel and spiritual songs they were raised on.
To paraphrase Thelonious Monk, there can’t be any new notes. The challenge for modern artists is to rearrange, rethink, and reinterpret how to put those notes together.
Rock music is by its very nature a stagnant genre. I think one of the best groups tricking it up right now though are TV on the Radio. Great stuff that really takes the genre to a different level in my opinion.
But yeah, that’s rock for you. Not much forward movement.