The questions says it all: Is Rock Dead? Definately not, but rock n' roll is. Somewhere along the line we lost the roll. That element of the music that makes you tap your toe and roll along with the rhythm of the song. Now we are left with nothing but the rock (which can be good), but much of the original sound of rock n' roll has been lost. That's too bad I think.

That's similar to what Dylan said a decade ago. Now there's no Rock and Roll.
So today we have Acid Rock, Heavy Rock, Soft Rock, Jazz Rock, ,...fill in the blank Rock.
There's something missing IMHO. I don't feel the spirit of rock anymore in moder "Rock", with a few notable exceptions.
These days almost everything is about money, and art has taken a backseat to that. You may argue that Rock is not about art. OK, what about attitude, that's also lost too.
But there's hope.

the biggest reason to beleive rock n' roll is dead, is because most of it is a SELLOUT!
Yes, there are great bands that can really f---it up, but most peoples attitude towards music are few- familiar beat, repetitive, banal, and compressed to all hell. All as result of good old corporate America, deciding what's "hot" "smooth" or "fresh". Not much revolution there! And if you haven't noticed, there aren't alot of REAL rock icons anymore, just genre posers hanging out to catch their few bucks, and then buy stocks with their returns or something like that. And you must know of the 12 year cycle --we're in the 10th year now. Disco and Foghat in the 70's, Hair Metal and Milli Vanilli in the 80's, teenage sluts and preppy boybands who are basically a name and bad R&B in the 90's! Times will move on again- and the rest of the land will play catch up AGAIN in 2 or 3 years, good new music will become widely available to the mainstream, this time it'll be a little more reckless, more honed, and probably more interesting than the past few years have offered up. And go to the underground- that's where it's happening.

rock is there www.stonerrock.com

seriously.

Well, in a weird way, it's kind of like the Constitution. There have been a lot of things tacked onto it over the years, which is what was intended all along--it was supposed to breathe and change. I think the same is true of rock. If all our rockers still sounded like Elvis, do you know how completely boring the music scene would be? There must be change, there must be experimentation. Granted, the music scene is pretty damn boring right now anyway, but that's only what's at the top of the charts. Even in the 50's, you didn't find most of the great music in the #1 hits. That's where you found Pat Boone and Ricky Nelson and the like (now we have Ricky Martin & the facesless boybands).

There is plenty of good new music out there, you just have to search for it. You won't usally find it on the radio and almost never on MTV/VH1. It was a lot easier to find in the early 90's, late 70's/early 80's, and in the late 60's. It will surface again.

So is Rock N Roll dead? Does it matter? I'd have to say electronic music (no, I don't mean brainless rave music) may be the new rock n' roll. Rock n roll isn't really a sound. It's a feeling. It's something that is exciting and new and challenges the establishment. What's the establishment now? Hmm, well, rock music, to be frank.

You wanna know if rock is dead? Well, go to the place where they glorify dead things: the museum. That there are rock 'n' roll museums (EMP in Seattle, Hall of Fame in Cleveland) says it all. What greater anti-rock message than the idea of sticking rock 'n' roll behind glass and charging people half a day's wage to look at it (and please don't touch the glass...).

Perhaps rock isn't totally dead (it lives on in garages here and there), but it's apparent that the powers-that-be think so.

Boo.

Well, I'm not dead, and I still rock. You have to be more exact, than all thess sweeping generalities. Look for good, and you will find it. Anyway check me out at www.andy-pratt.com and www.itsaboutmusic.com

and check out the work of mike stern

God bless everybody

Andy Pratt

I'll chime in here. The Blasters, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Los Lobos, Southern Culture On The Skids, etc., etc., etc.

It's out there. But, you won't get it, by waiting around for it to drop in your lap. You'll have to find it.

P.S.

Andy, did you REALLY have to dig up a 6 year old thread, to find a way to spam? I'm sure you're a nice guy. But the Mike Stern reference in a thread about R & R ? Come on.....