is music getting crappier?

[celtic_crippler]

Yes it is...but...there is a resurgence of good music coming out of the Atlanta area that is fresh. If you ask me, it's way past time for one.

A very good friend and student of mine sings for the band SoulStash. They played for the dropping of the Big Peach in Atlanta this New Year's and will be on tour starting in March so keep an eye out. They're crazy live.

You can hear Southern, Rock, Rap-Core, Country, R&B and all kinds of other influences in thier music.

Check out their stuff here if you like:
http://www.myspace.com/soulstash

 

[matt.m]

To me rock is: Queen, David Bowie, David Lee Roth Van Halen, Led Zepplin, Alice Cooper. I am so out of pop culture my favorite clothes are coming back. I am the guy who hears "Hey man, Ted Nugent called and wants his shirt back."

I will forever be stuck in the 70's to mid-80's. Rock was Def Leppard: High N Dry, Pyromania, Hysteria.....anything after those were crap.

 

[jarrod]

No one bothers to play the garbage from the past anymore - we remember the gems and sift out the junk from our memories. How many thousands of composers did the world go through to create Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin? How many Beatles songs still actually get air play? How much Elvis still gets air play? Most of it was "listenable, but unmemorable".

How does the saying go? "90% of everything is crap"? Recordings just give us a chance to retain the good 10% from the past.

i dunno man, i've seen crap revivals here & there. remember the darkness? immediately after followed a revival of def leppard, poison, etc.

To me rock is: Queen, David Bowie, David Lee Roth Van Halen, Led Zepplin, Alice Cooper. I am so out of pop culture my favorite clothes are coming back. I am the guy who hears "Hey man, Ted Nugent called and wants his shirt back."

I will forever be stuck in the 70's to mid-80's. Rock was Def Leppard: High N Dry, Pyromania, Hysteria.....anything after those were crap.

sorry matt, no offense. i love alice cooper & zepplin

jf

 

[shesulsa]

No one bothers to play the garbage from the past anymore - we remember the gems and sift out the junk from our memories. How many thousands of composers did the world go through to create Bach, Beethoven, and Chopin? How many Beatles songs still actually get air play? How much Elvis still gets air play? Most of it was "listenable, but unmemorable".

How does the saying go? "90% of everything is crap"? Recordings just give us a chance to retain the good 10% from the past.

The plethora of cover bands and their popularity stands in opposition to your statement. Classic rock is still quite popular - in fact my daughter stands in amazement when I sing along to a song by a newer artist and then plops down in disgust when she finds the song is a remake of a classic. Recently, however, she's been listening to the classic rock stations to hear the original versions and appreciates the talent required to produce a good sound on wax. Undigitized talent is where it's at for her ... and that's all I could ask for.

I'd say if you listen to only the "good" 10% of classic music, you're not listening to the really good stuff, you're listening to billboard music. Popular rock. That's not how truly good music is defined. A good rock snob will point out the third song on the second side of a popular band album if the quality is good but it doesn't have a popular hook ... that takes investment in music and the time to listen to it and know what's good and what's not.

Nevertheless ... I think music opinion has gone the way of wine opinion - 'if you like it, drink it' - and we lose great musicians every day when music programs in schools are dropped.

Ah well.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

The plethora of cover bands and their popularity stands in opposition to your statement. Classic rock is still quite popular - in fact my daughter stands in amazement when I sing along to a song by a newer artist and then plops down in disgust when she finds the song is a remake of a classic. Recently, however, she's been listening to the classic rock stations to hear the original versions and appreciates the talent required to produce a good sound on wax. Undigitized talent is where it's at for her ... and that's all I could ask for.

I'd say if you listen to only the "good" 10% of classic music, you're not listening to the really good stuff, you're listening to billboard music. Popular rock. That's not how truly good music is defined. A good rock snob will point out the third song on the second side of a popular band album if the quality is good but it doesn't have a popular hook ... that takes investment in music and the time to listen to it and know what's good and what's not.

Nevertheless ... I think music opinion has gone the way of wine opinion - 'if you like it, drink it' - and we lose great musicians every day when music programs in schools are dropped.

Ah well.

Album! A younger person would say what the heck is that! :rofl:

 

[Kreth]

I will forever be stuck in the 70's to mid-80's. Rock was Def Leppard: High N Dry, Pyromania, Hysteria.....anything after those were crap.

Wow, I never would have expected to see Def Leppard on the good side of a comparison to crap. :lol:
Granted, a lot of recent music has been over-produced **** (Amy Crackhouse? Who thought that was a good idea?), but there's been some decent stuff as well. Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Gov't Mule (old guys, new band), Pantera, Sevendust, Black Label Society for a few examples.

 

[Andrew Green]

20 years from now I'm sure my kids will be lamenting the "good ole days" when groups like Buck Cherry and Britney Spears were actually "playing music, by God and not this crappy noise". Same with the argument that the kids from each successive generation are more violent, more truant and so forth. It's all relative.

I like to think they will end up in that special place of music, filled with other popular acts like MC Hammer, Kris Kross, Vanilla Ice, New Kids on the Block, Paula Abdul and other memories that are buried even deeper.

 

[BrandonLucas]

Ok, I gotta reply to this...

I'm in a band myself. I'm 26, about to turn 27, and most of the people who listen to my band are still in highschool, so we kind of have to know what people are going to want to hear.

The problem in our area is that virtually everyone is in a band. It used to be cool a few years back to say that you were in a band, but around here, it's nothing new to anyone.

I agree with what someone said in a previous post that this is turning into the Guitar Hero era. Playing music has become popular, which is great in my opinion, but the problem is that noone wants to take the time to actually learn their instrument anymore. And, in addition, no one (around here, anyway) actually wants to take the time to learn to actually sing and not growl into the mic.

Now, I will say that it is far, far easier to record music and get it out to the public than it was 10 years ago, or for that matter, 5 years ago. But, that doesn't mean that just because someone has easy access to recording equipment and software that they have an instant ticket to stardom. If that were the case, I would be typing this from my laptop on my tour bus as we drive across England. And regarding the question about the software that puts the singer in the correct pitch, it's called AutoTune, and is available for anyone to purchase, much like the rest of the studio equipment necessary to record quality music.

But, regarding whether or not music is getting crappier these days, I can say that there is an awful lot of crappy music out there, for sure, but there are still good bands out there. I agree that agents are signing alot of bands that just completely suck, IMO, (such as Buck Cherry), but it's all about their image rather than their music.

However, there are bands, such as Bullet For My Valentine, that actually have talent. They do have some screaming in their music, but it's not overwhelming. The singer can actually sing well, and everyone in the band is extremely good at their respective instrument.

It all boils down to the fact that there will always be crappy music that is put out there to the general public, and alot of times it seems like they outnumber the better quality bands that have legit. But, if you do some digging, it is possible to find good bands out there, and many of them haven't been signed yet.

So, while you're digging, maybe you should check out my band...we have some screaming in the vocals too, but our singer is pretty good about carrying a tune...no Autotune needed.

www.myspace.com/maxkincaide

 

[Sukerkin]

Kind of reminds me of Iron Maiden meets Metallica on the way to a Queensryche gig.

Not too bad, altho' I do think the singer needs a little less 'throat' and a bit more 'diaphram'. That's just personal opinion of course, as is that I think the mix needs some work. How much gigging have you done? That's always an excellent way of ironing out the 'sound'.

MySpace seems to be home to all the worlds bands these days . Not a bad thing for examining the music but it does tend to turn into a wall of 'sameness' if you browse too long.

However, there are gems to be found there. No Redemption for one:

http://www.noredemption.co.uk/

 

[matt.m]

I agree with Shesula,

When you look at Queens "Bohemian Rhapsody, or Another One Bites the Dust" everyone knows them. Why? Thank the Billboard, however "In the Lap of the Gods, Father to Son, Drowse, White Man, Dragon Attack, are all better."

I am a bigger fan of the "Not so well known" from a band then the over played.