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Originally Posted by Janszoon
It's funny but I feel like it's pretty much the opposite. All those classic rock guys get held up as the gods in the pantheon of rock n roll while the punk and post-punk musicians are kind of neglected.
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Well that's not the case here at all, and certainly not for critics.
There are some punk bands I love, I have a modest punk library from 20 or so punk bands. But IMO the best punk bands tend to be more gifted than other punk bands on a technical level. Like The Minutemen and X. Though I also love Ramones just as much as the next person.
Overall I find the legacy of punk to be rather phony. I don't like the concept of music being this thing where image is REALLY important, prog bands consist of dorky guys with balding mullets and porn staches, it's like the
one rock genre that just lets the music sell itself, no need for a fashion line. The idea that punk saved rock n roll from progressive rock is absurd, prog was already getting kicked to the curb by the time punk showed up. Granted the late 70s did get really awful what with Foreigner and all and punk and new wave did make that half of the decade worthwhile, punk does deserve credit for that, without it, the 80s would have been nothing but Toto and Night Ranger.
But I feel punk did more harm then good in the long run, yes it lead to new wave and it lead to Pixies, Sonic Youth and Nirvana, blah blah. But to me aside from Joy Division, Wire and some Gang of Four songs, I never cared for post punk at all. It's like diet punk, punk without the fun, in other words it's something a 3 year old could do AND it's boring.
Then of course post punk begat goth rock which begat emo which begat "fake" emo
Punk begat pop punk which begat even worse pop punk.
Punk begat alternative which begat grunge which begat post grunge.
Punk begat hardcore which begat post-hardcore and grindcore which begat metalcore.
Punk begat new wave which begat synth pop which begat crappy synth pop which begat dance punk.
Sorry if it sounds like I'm reading out of the bible, but it seems that punk is responsable for just about 90% of everything that sucks about rock music today.
The punk movement seemed to have the concept that the ideal rock band is just a bunch of guys with no real talent who just crap out 1 minute songs, but what really matters is that they're having fun, and I like fun music, but I like it to be good too. I just don't get it, to me it's just an excuse for being lazy. And while there has been some great punk bands (at least up until the mid 80s) all that's left of it now is it's impact on what is ironically, awful corporate rock music.
And while theres still good things to come out of punk, as of now, I think prog is not only making a comeback, it's becoming increasingly more relevant, it'll probably overshadow punk in the future, I think the reason is because while prog was once overexposed by the media and punk was this refreshing new thing, now it's punk that's overpraised and overexposed, and it's prog that seems foreign and new to people. A lot of younger people have never heard of prog, both because it's mostly ignored by the media and because their parents are punk rockers or metalheads who got burned out on prog when they were kids, so to them it's brand new.
In other words the roles have switched, and I feel this cycle will continue forever. Simple rock music has gotten so popular that now people want something completely different, complex music. But rest assured once prog dominates rock n roll again, punk or something like it will be there to sh*t on it's parade once again. And that conflict of music philosophy will last forever.
The Mars Volta, Porcupine Tree, Muse, Coheed & Cambria, Sigur Ros, Isis, Tool and Battles are among the best bands we have today IMO, I know a lot of people hate the f*ck out of them. Likely because they fear the inevitable prog revival.
Sure it's reputation isn't clean yet (f*cking prog metal) but even so prog hasn't been as popular as it is now since the early 70s.
So to sum up this fanboy rant that is sure to enrage punk fans everywhere. What comes around goes around.
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Meh. I bet a lot of the difference in our perception probably comes from our difference in age in age too. I grew up in a time when those 70s guys were totally worshipped, but maybe when you were growing up the punks were more getting their due.
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I didn't listen to the radio much as a kid, just watched MTV. And after I got bored of Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock. I got into classic rock, it was completely foreign to me, and so I don't see why I should hate it because other people have been overexposed to it and now hate it.