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Is Rock in its "Jazz" phase?


electrow

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I don't know that that is a fair assessment, only because the balkanization of rock genres over the last couple of decades probably had more to do with it being pushed off the radio. And let's be honest, rock had a good run for a simple concept done to death. Comparing it to jazz, is, well, unfair to jazz, which slipped from the top of pop music to being the music of the intelligentsia, too 'challenging' for mass appeal, too stodgy for the young [but still out there after 100 years!].

 

Now the 3 chord rock approach has become too challenging for the young, and beats and a minimalist melody line with a nod to one or two chords fuels r&B/hip-hop, much sampled from 'greater works' of the past. Just as our parent's thought rock'n'roll was a passing fancy [and their parents thought jazz was a passing fancy...], we thought the rise of Rap/Urban was going to lead nowhere fast...look how wrong you can be.

 

There will always be the pop/fluff of the Katy Perry's, shock pop of the Lady GaGa's [although she is leaning toward the old mainstream pop ballads, which will be the end of her career ;) ] and sappy love songs a la Adele. Because it is basic simple entertainment that triggers something in...dare I say it? Women. Guys are going to gravitate to the urban, tough, machoistic sound, like they did with Link Wray, the Stones, Zeppelin...now hip/hop, rap...[although Kanye makes absolutely no sense to me at all...what a tool...]

 

I will also take a jab at games like 'Rock Band' and 'Guitar Hero' for 'cheapening' the experience by making it look like playing rock music was always just a matter of touching the right colored dots at the right time. Those games were huge for a couple of years, and now?

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"...something fetishised by an older audience, but which has ceded its place at the centre of the pop-cultural conversation to other forms of music..."

 

Yeah. I never thought of it that way before. But I lost interest in Rock decades ago. I continue to love the pre-British invasion R&R though.

 

It's not an exact analogy to Jazz. Kids still buy millions of guitars. They still play in garage bands.

 

I just spent eleven and a half years in the Far East. Rock music isn't really popular or even influential there. Western boy bands, 70's acoustic schlock and rap are much more popular in that part of the world. The local music, if it shows any western influence at all, will have more latin, disco, film-score or orchestral pop flavor than rock. Electric guitar parts are still common in local songs though.

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