I mean, first, how do you define Rock 'n' Roll? Like Classical music it has its different periods and schools - I've heard 'true' rock'n'roll defined as that stuff from the 50s like Elvis and the early Beatles, much as 'true' Classical only extends from 1750-ish to 1825-ish and then it becomes Romantic, etc. In which case, that hasn't been lively for quite some time now.
On the other hand, if you're looking at the broader church of Rock, various styles come in and out of resurgence ... 'Indie' is an incredibly vague definition and seems to have more or less replaced what was called 'Alternative' in the 90s, which to the best of my knowledge just indicated artists who fell somewhere between 'pop' and 'metal.' But 'Indie' often includes bands who incorporate (or downright mimic) sounds from earlier Rock movements. The Decemberists, for example, can sound like Prog Rock sometimes, Punk Rock at other times, and then turn around and do Simon and Garfunkel which I don't think is technically Rock at all but I'm no expert. In my extremely limited experience with popular music it seems to me that the progress of Rock reached a fork in the road sometime in the early 70s, where it went from being more lyrical to more percussive and aggressive, leading to punk and heavy metal. Indie/Alternative seems to be what would have happened if it had taken the other road and followed a separate path of evolution ... there's no saying the pendulum won't ever swing back the other way. And if the success of Rock Band is anything to go by, rock'n'roll will never truly die - in ten or fifteen years the kids who grew up playing Rock Band might bring it back.
You might like to listen to Mitch Benn's Wondrous Stories which is about the rise and fall of the symphonic concept album of the 1970s ... there's only three days left to listen, though, so be quick!
Creme Brulée, on the other hand, is definitely dead. :)
I mean, first, how do you define Rock 'n' Roll? Like Classical music it has its different periods and schools - I've heard 'true' rock'n'roll defined as that stuff from the 50s like Elvis and the early Beatles, much as 'true' Classical only extends from 1750-ish to 1825-ish and then it becomes Romantic, etc. In which case, that hasn't been lively for quite some time now.
On the other hand, if you're looking at the broader church of Rock, various styles come in and out of resurgence ... 'Indie' is an incredibly vague definition and seems to have more or less replaced what was called 'Alternative' in the 90s, which to the best of my knowledge just indicated artists who fell somewhere between 'pop' and 'metal.' But 'Indie' often includes bands who incorporate (or downright mimic) sounds from earlier Rock movements. The Decemberists, for example, can sound like Prog Rock sometimes, Punk Rock at other times, and then turn around and do Simon and Garfunkel which I don't think is technically Rock at all but I'm no expert. In my extremely limited experience with popular music it seems to me that the progress of Rock reached a fork in the road sometime in the early 70s, where it went from being more lyrical to more percussive and aggressive, leading to punk and heavy metal. Indie/Alternative seems to be what would have happened if it had taken the other road and followed a separate path of evolution ... there's no saying the pendulum won't ever swing back the other way. And if the success of Rock Band is anything to go by, rock'n'roll will never truly die - in ten or fifteen years the kids who grew up playing Rock Band might bring it back.
You might like to listen to Mitch Benn's Wondrous Stories which is about the rise and fall of the symphonic concept album of the 1970s ... there's only three days left to listen, though, so be quick!
Creme Brulée, on the other hand, is definitely dead. :)
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