Is ROCK dead, or is ALTERNATIVE ROCK dead?
Oh, you see it in all the trades, the late thirtysomethings and early fortysomethings are crying in their beer, one alternative rock station after another is biting the dust. Not only is it the end of an era, it's the end of rock music ITSELF!
Or is it?
Who's the biggest rock act of the last ten years?
Creed.
Oh, don't wince, I know you hate them, that bombastic lead singer with his arms wide open. But they were the band that sold all the albums, that sold all the concert tickets. And what does Creed sound like? STRAIGHT AHEAD ROCK!!
Make no mistake, the guys working for the major labels are too hip for the room. Most of the guys who revered the sixties and seventies acts have been squeezed out, their salaries were just too high. Who rules at the major labels now is people who bow at the altar of ALTERNATIVE ROCK! It's got to be different, edgy, discordant, testing the limits. But is this the kind of rock the people WANT??
Oh, we all lived through the eighties, hell they even made a movie about the music of that era, "The Wedding Singer". But, like the hairstyles those English groups sported, those days are done. But ever notice your average rock star is STILL wearing his unpermed, blunt-cutted locks down to his shoulders and below??
And it's not only the performers. Get in your car and drive around this country of ours. What ARE all these people wearing their jeans with hair down to their shoulders LISTENING TO? Certainly not alternative rock. Hell, if they WERE, those stations wouldn't have bitten the dust. No, what these people want is something more akin to Bob Seger, or Pink Floyd, or Led Zeppelin. Something straight ahead, with recognizable riffs, no quirks. And what are the major labels giving these people??? NOTHING!
Oh, one band. Three Doors Down. And even though they basically suck, last time I checked, they were doing quite well.
Furthermore, Creed wasn't on a major label. No major label would sign the act. No, Creed had to appear on an INDIE! Wind-Up.
Now anybody can sign one hit act. But then Wind-Up came up with another, Evanescence. Which, if you close your eyes, is not far from Heart.
Yup, it's all bullshit. The labels are not in touch with the CONSTITUENCY! Not only do those guys with long hair wearing their jeans not want ALTERNATIVE rock, they don't want rap EITHER!
There's a giant hole in the marketplace.
God, even look at the touring figures. R.E.M. struggles while Motley Crue sells out.
And it's not only the Crue, it's Def Leppard and Bryan Adams too. Yup, those two acts haven't had hits in a DECADE, but they're selling out minor league ballparks. Sure, there's some nostalgia involved, but nostalgia won't get you these numbers. No, somehow this music is RESONATING with the public.
Yup, it's not only the record labels that are hurting, it's the concert promoters too. Seems that just about the only thing anybody wants to see is ROCK ACTS! Oh, you get an occasional flash in the pan like Britney. But even the BACKSTREET BOYS are playing small halls, while the almost sixty year old Eagles sell out arenas at top buck. Isn't it EVIDENT?? That the future of the business is a return to BASICS???
It ain't complicated. Three chords. A chorus. If you're lucky, a bridge.
Oh, you've got to have a heavy bass. That hits you in the gut, that gets your genitals tingling. Hell, RAP knows this. I don't think ANYBODY'S dick ever got hard to alternative rock. And you've got to sing it like you mean it, like it's straight from your heart, not a focus group. About what you FEEL!
Instead of launching acts using Space Shuttle techniques, managing every minute detail, trying to work the system, trying to reach the moon, labels should be finding BAR BANDS and just supporting them on the road.
Think about it. How big was HOOTIE??? And Hootie didn't exactly suck, but they were no better than mediocre. What if you actually found a band that could play its own instruments that had some TALENT?? And you didn't overhype them, but built them from the ground up, not over ONE album, but a few. I think you'd end up with a platinum act that could sell out arenas year after year.
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