No.731
I'm not a guy who listens to much rock but I've been trying to get into it more. But Rock culture feels like its the opposite of what it sells itself as. Its conservative, old, and non-threatening.
Every musical genre has a culture built up around it. Hard bop fans have a style and attitude that's different from fans of classical. Rock culture's attitude is youth rebellion and sticking it to authority. But rock fandom seems really conservative (not political). You have to respect the canon, bow to tradition, and play by strict genre conventions. Disrespecting famous rock acts isn't tolerated, unless those bands are considered "too mainstream." Sure, there's room for discussion and contrarian opinions, but rock fans will get very mad at you if you disagree with their high taste, especially classic rock and metal fans. They also seem to really like formulaic stuff that mimics the past. They'll have a bunch of bands they like (depends on sub genre they are into) and want a modern band that mimics that, like another Metallica 2.0 or whatever they happen to like. And the modern day band has to look and sound just like that fossil from 1971. Virtually all popular rock bands are really old too. Like decades old.
Last thing, the element of rebellion feels fake or at least staged for dramatic effect rather than something genuine although there are exceptions to this. Its not like rock bands are espousing ideas and values that are radically at odds with consumer society, unless they are some fringe N*zi band or black metal types. So what are people rebelling against? If you really were a rebel you wouldn't get on MTV, get radio air time, or be allowed on streaming platforms. You'd be black listed. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll aren't rebellious anymore and are more or less acceptable in mainstream society. You're not breaking any rules.
No.740
rock for a long time has been produced by members of the upper middle class. its sole focus is on compositional prettiness, and I would argue there's not even a pretense of contrianism/anti-establishment sentiment in modern productions, let alone the genuine article.
we are also in a period of cultural and creative malaise in the west, thanks in large part to corporate algorithms which have ruined normie's discrimination capacity and search skills when it comes to media consumption, and stealth censored much that is truly original or threatening to platform interests
>Every musical genre has a culture built up around it
increasingly I feel that will no longer be true
No.744
there’s tons of independent rock bands, MTV doesn’t even play anything outside of generic shitty club artists.
No.749
Albert Murray had this to say
>Both soul and rock make free use of idiomatic devices borrowed from blues musicians, but the so-called funky atmosphere they generated is charged with sentimentality rather than earthiness. Also, soul and rock almost always place primary emphasis on one-dimensional earnestness that all too easily deteriorates into a whining self-pity or a highly amplified tantrum of banging and crashing and screaming and stamping that obviously has far more to do with the intensification of a mood of despair than with getting rid of any demons of gloom.
No.754
>>731I disagree. Rock itself doesn’t seem to have an old guard of fans who ferociously defend the integrity of the genre from the standpoint of someone emotionally and culturally invested in it the way a crust punk or metal head defends their subculture. It’s usually from the standpoint of some boomer with massively underdeveloped tastes who just wants to hear what they grew up listening to, not because of any sincere dogmatism. These problems are honestly more pronounced within extreme subgenres such as death metal, black metal, and grind, where people are massively critical of anything that experiments or tries to break the formula.
It is funny though how different genres perceive this issue. You talk to young kids into rap and they openly think old rap and hip-hop is gay wwwwww. But I do think with the internet a lot of people are more open to experimenting with styles in rock and it seems like indie rock, emo, and shoegazeis having a major resurgence due to TikTok trends (not a good thing - but at least that dogmatism is gone).