Quote:
Originally Posted by positiveaob
The term "Rock" is such a nebulous thing. It's tough to really call it dead or dying when you dont really have a good definition for what it is. I think in a lot of ways it just sort of morphed into the music we have today, which to me isn't bad at all. Rock and roll of the late sixties was a completely different beast than that of the fifties, and seventies was different than that of the sixties, and so on. Remember, probably the biggest selling group of the seventies was Abba. Not exactly hard-core rock and roll.
And keep in mind, whenever you look at music from a past era you're just thinking of the songs/groups that stood the test of time. There was plenty of junk back then also. It's the same way with literature. You can look at the classic novels from a period of time and think we've regressed since then but the reality is there was plenty of crap back then too. You just dont remember it or hear about it because it sucked and got forgotten about.
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Why is the term
Rock a nebulous thing? Rock derived from music during the 40s and 50s rock & roll basically. Electric blues, jazz, folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and so on. Of course Rock has influenced modern music of the day, and so has countless other genres and sub-genres as well. Abba was a pop group during the 70s, not a Rock band, and quite the opposite and far from being a hard-core rock and roll band, as you suggested in the above.
You stated "
whenever you look at music from a past era you're just thinking of the songs/groups that stood the test of time". I can understand that being the case for your average listener. But even so, there are plenty of underground bands from any era that have actual good music, but its up to the individual to search and find them. Its not all based on just the popular bands/artist with high ratings. The fact being... it
IS what it IS.
You have to look at certain eras and genres by putting yourself in that particular time and decade to better understand the music from a more coherent standpoint. You cant take a particular band or artist,
say from the 70s for example, and compare them with bands or artist of the current day. It just doesn't work like that.
Its all based mainly on common sense, and I understand that it might be hard for someone to explain themselves if they didn't live the experience of whatever particular era is being discussed. But it is there for all to see, explore, and understand ... its called the
genealogy of musical genres, which is for the more die-hard music enthusiast.