Gigaton: Official album thread

[bodysnatcher]

This conversation is going about exactly as I expected.

You said rock n roll is dead and you can't name one good band that started in the past 10 years. You said kids these days rather listen to pop and rap. I dont think any of those are indicators that "rock is dead"

The implication was that rock is dead as a cultural item. It's still technically alive but, as I said, it has become niche. And that doesn't seem to be very conducive to good rock music. At least as far as my tastes are concerned. All the indie stuff you're talking about does very little for me.

I think being niche is exactly what will make it stronger. When it's out of view from the public eye, it doesn't need to be watered down to sell records (MORE MORE MORE!). It can grow and evolve and become that scary monster without the expectations of popularity and the constraints that come along with that

[LoathedVermin72]

This conversation is going about exactly as I expected.

You said rock n roll is dead and you can't name one good band that started in the past 10 years. You said kids these days rather listen to pop and rap. I dont think any of those are indicators that "rock is dead"

The implication was that rock is dead as a cultural item. It's still technically alive but, as I said, it has become niche. And that doesn't seem to be very conducive to good rock music. At least as far as my tastes are concerned. All the indie stuff you're talking about does very little for me.

I think being niche is exactly what will make it stronger. When it's out of view from the public eye, it doesn't need to be watered down to sell records (MORE MORE MORE!). It can grow and evolve and become something else without the expectations of popularity and the constraints that come along with that

That sounds great in theory and all, but I have seen very little evidence of that in practice. Rock music felt much more vital and forward-thinking at the height of its popularity in, say, the '90s. Or the '70s. In general, I'm not sure I'm convinced of the whole "less popularity equals greater creativity" narrative around any musical genre/movement. It seems that the opposite often proves to be true.

[Leatherhead]

This conversation is going about exactly as I expected.

You said rock n roll is dead and you can't name one good band that started in the past 10 years. You said kids these days rather listen to pop and rap. I dont think any of those are indicators that "rock is dead"

The implication was that rock is dead as a cultural item. It's still technically alive but, as I said, it has become niche. And that doesn't seem to be very conducive to good rock music. At least as far as my tastes are concerned. All the indie stuff you're talking about does very little for me.

Are you sure you're looking hard enough?

[Strat]

This conversation is going about exactly as I expected.

You said rock n roll is dead and you can't name one good band that started in the past 10 years. You said kids these days rather listen to pop and rap. I dont think any of those are indicators that "rock is dead"

The implication was that rock is dead as a cultural item. It's still technically alive but, as I said, it has become niche. And that doesn't seem to be very conducive to good rock music. At least as far as my tastes are concerned. All the indie stuff you're talking about does very little for me.

Are you sure you're looking hard enough?

He's not

[Jorge]

But guys, can art be objectively good? Let's talk about that for a while.

[Strat]

But guys, can art be objectively good? Let's talk about that for a while.

When are you guys going to release another album?

Spoiler: show

[LoathedVermin72]

This conversation is going about exactly as I expected.

You said rock n roll is dead and you can't name one good band that started in the past 10 years. You said kids these days rather listen to pop and rap. I dont think any of those are indicators that "rock is dead"

The implication was that rock is dead as a cultural item. It's still technically alive but, as I said, it has become niche. And that doesn't seem to be very conducive to good rock music. At least as far as my tastes are concerned. All the indie stuff you're talking about does very little for me.

Are you sure you're looking hard enough?

[Norah]

I just think that, by and large, youth doesn't relate to rock music right now. And youth is vital to a strong roster of bands. All the waves of great rock bands had youth at their core in some way. But because the youth's interests are elsewhere right now, we have a huge influx of great rap and pop music, while rock has become this softened, fragmented, niche thing. It will probably circle back around eventually.

I think you have a point here.

[Norah]

LV, even out your emojis so the lines are all the same please.

just adjust the width of your browser window

[E.H. Ruddock]

LV, even out your emojis so the lines are all the same please.

just adjust the width of your browser window

that seems like a lot of work, Pete.

[LoathedVermin72]

LV, even out your emojis so the lines are all the same please.

just adjust the width of your browser window

that seems like a lot of work, Pete.

I can do it for you. PM me your password.

[E.H. Ruddock]

LV, even out your emojis so the lines are all the same please.

just adjust the width of your browser window

that seems like a lot of work, Pete.

I can do it for you. PM me your password.

meandstratarejamily1

[Norah]

LV, even out your emojis so the lines are all the same please.

just adjust the width of your browser window

that seems like a lot of work, Pete.

I can do it for you. PM me your password.

meandstratarejamily1

*stratandiarejamily1

[E.H. Ruddock]

LV, even out your emojis so the lines are all the same please.

just adjust the width of your browser window

that seems like a lot of work, Pete.

I can do it for you. PM me your password.

meandstratarejamily1

*stratandiarejamily1

that would be too easy for someone to guess

[Mine]

This conversation is going about exactly as I expected.

You said rock n roll is dead and you can't name one good band that started in the past 10 years. You said kids these days rather listen to pop and rap. I dont think any of those are indicators that "rock is dead"

The implication was that rock is dead as a cultural item. It's still technically alive but, as I said, it has become niche. And that doesn't seem to be very conducive to good rock music. At least as far as my tastes are concerned. All the indie stuff you're talking about does very little for me.

I think being niche is exactly what will make it stronger. When it's out of view from the public eye, it doesn't need to be watered down to sell records (MORE MORE MORE!). It can grow and evolve and become something else without the expectations of popularity and the constraints that come along with that

That sounds great in theory and all, but I have seen very little evidence of that in practice. Rock music felt much more vital and forward-thinking at the height of its popularity in, say, the '90s. Or the '70s. In general, I'm not sure I'm convinced of the whole "less popularity equals greater creativity" narrative around any musical genre/movement. It seems that the opposite often proves to be true.

I agree.
The popularity excluding creativity/quality is part of a certain way of judging music that is very common and i guess we've all been hearing since we were 13 or something. It's that mentality that sounds invented by some failed musician who blamed their failure on the world for being to dumb to understand their supposedly artistically superior music. It's where statements in the vein, i like song A the most but i think B is the better song, originate from.
Rock started off as a very loosely defined genre overlapping with nearly everything else that existed. Than it started fragmenting itself into sub genre that are usually very narrowly defined and don't leave much room for creativity . Pearl Jam is the perfect example of this phenomenon in rock. They weren't grunge enough to be legitimately grunge in the 1st place than they dared to alter their sound sensibly which some still haven't forgiven them. This didn't use to be a thing in the 60's and 70's. Bands didn't care about being compliant with a certain sub genre and that allowed them to be really creative even if they were popular.
People like Bowie or Kate Bush explored a really wide pallet between the very accessible pop to very adventurous stuff without popularity having anything to do with it or being affected by it in the long run.

[stip]

Chuck klosterman had an interesting article that touched on this that I read today. It was about what artist/band would be the person historians turned to in 300 years when they taught kids about what rock music was

Spoiler: show

chuck berry

[Norah]

Chuck klosterman had an interesting article that touched on this that I read today. It was about what artist/band would be the person historians turned to in 300 years when they taught kids about what rock music was

Spoiler: show

chuck berry

Not a bad choice.

[epilogue]

I just think that, by and large, youth doesn't relate to rock music right now. And youth is vital to a strong roster of bands. All the waves of great rock bands had youth at their core in some way. But because the youth's interests are elsewhere right now, we have a huge influx of great rap and pop music, while rock has become this softened, fragmented, niche thing. It will probably circle back around eventually.

I think you have a point here.

I guess I just don't see how this is any different than any decade every, though. Maybe the 80s is the best comparison but there were tons of people saying the same things in the 70s, 90s, etc, too. Maybe instead of "rap" they said "soul" or maybe instead of pop they said "disco" but it does't seem any different now than before.

Same as it ever was.

[Norah]

I just think that, by and large, youth doesn't relate to rock music right now. And youth is vital to a strong roster of bands. All the waves of great rock bands had youth at their core in some way. But because the youth's interests are elsewhere right now, we have a huge influx of great rap and pop music, while rock has become this softened, fragmented, niche thing. It will probably circle back around eventually.

I think you have a point here.

I guess I just don't see how this is any different than any decade every, though. Maybe the 80s is the best comparison but there were tons of people saying the same things in the 70s, 90s, etc, too. Maybe instead of "rap" they said "soul" or maybe instead of pop they said "disco" but it does't seem any different now than before.

Same as it ever was.

But in the 70s for every kid going to the disco there was another kid getting stoked about the new Zeppelin record. Do we have that today?

That's an actual question since I'm old now and don't really have the inside scoop on what kids do anymore.

[epilogue]

I just think that, by and large, youth doesn't relate to rock music right now. And youth is vital to a strong roster of bands. All the waves of great rock bands had youth at their core in some way. But because the youth's interests are elsewhere right now, we have a huge influx of great rap and pop music, while rock has become this softened, fragmented, niche thing. It will probably circle back around eventually.

I think you have a point here.

I guess I just don't see how this is any different than any decade every, though. Maybe the 80s is the best comparison but there were tons of people saying the same things in the 70s, 90s, etc, too. Maybe instead of "rap" they said "soul" or maybe instead of pop they said "disco" but it does't seem any different now than before.

Same as it ever was.

But in the 70s for every kid going to the disco there was another kid getting stoked about the new Zeppelin record. Do we have that today?

That's an actual question since I'm old now and don't really have the inside scoop on what kids do anymore.

Yes, we do.

The only difference is that the system has changed a bit and we don't have as many all powerful conglomerates cramming shit down our throats. And we have Spotify, too.