Rock is finally dead, so says Gene Simmons

[Anubis]

You know what pisses me off? Paying $60+, going to an arena, and being treated like a criminal. Fuck you. Seriously, go fuck yourself. I decided long ago I wouldn't pay money for the jail processing experience, and I haven't been since. I stick with smaller venues, and more "respectable" acts.

I can have a 5* better experience at a bar for 5* less cost. Or I can see a band like Sigur Rós at a real concert hall, and get music most bands can only dream of making, and be treated like a guest, not a criminal. Easy decision.

also all of this

the last 2 times i saw Rush (their last 2 tours) were at larger venues and it was not so bad, same with iron maiden

 

[ElFenix]

didn't fivethirtyeight declare rock dead?

 

[Thebobo]

Spinal Tap - "These go to eleven...."



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xgx4k83zzc

Lol classic and if you ever want to see a Rap version of Spinal Tap watch "Fear of a Black Hat."

 

[Arcadio]

Good thing Metal is doing fine.

 

[zinfamous]

How long has it been since Gene Simmons has been relevant to anything?

basically: as long as he has drawn air. His opinions on everything are entirely dependent on the overwhelming gravitational pull of his gargantuan ego.

It is best no one ever listen to him speak about anything, ever.

 

[AdamantC]

Anyone who says rock is dead is a fucking moron. It's just not mainstream anymore, much like metal.

 

[1sikbITCH]

This guys new TV show is embarrasingly bad. I wouldnt put much stuck in his opinion.

Gene Simmons created the legendary rock band KISS and parlayed that into a 40+ year career and is currently worth 300 million dollars. He might know a thing or two about the music industry but you go ahead and keep your stuck to yourself there bucko.

"And now... THE GREATEST BAND IN THE WORLD.... KISS!!!"

1976
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LdiaLMLM-Q

2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KK8AzjNOww

 

[Printer Bandit]

RIP

 

[Brian Stirling]

Rock & Roll was the top dog from the mid 50's to about the mid 90's -- a run of 35-40 years. In truth, R&R had been in decline since the late 70's and the excess of the "Hair Bands" that were less about music and more about image was pretty much the final nail in the coffin. R&R hung on to the title into the 90's but the die was cast and R&R is now pretty well irrelevant. There are still acts that fill stadiums but they aren't selling squat for CD's or records.

Gene is mostly right in his analysis as the top music acts today are just pretty/weird voices and the creative people that make them go are largely unknown and relatively low paid. Miley makes a shit ton of money but how much does the lead guitarist make?

By the mid 90's young kids growing up no longer listened to the older siblings music and instead were listening to pop, rap and country and those music forms now dominate the charts and by a big margin.

I find myself listening to classical music more and more...


Brian

 

[IronWing]

Video killed the radio star but the internet dug up the corpse and smashed in its skull with its own thigh bone.

Gene is wrong. The mega-band is dead due to market fragmentation. But rock lives on.

 

[Naer]

Electronic music killedb
Rock

 

[disappoint]

Rock is not dead, just like classical is not dead. Just because your average tween dweeb doesn't listen to it doesn't mean it's dead. All it means is that crap music is all most tweens will listen to because they have been subconsciously hypnotized into liking it through repetition from radio stations playing it non stop in the background.

Saying rock and/or classical is dead is like saying science is dead just because the majority of the population is scientifically illiterate.

 

[tcsenter]

Yeah I mean, KISS for crying out loud! Listen to their music. It's not exactly brilliance. They needed gimmicks like make-up and costumes, Gene's fire-spitting and tongue dangling and blood capsule drooling, pyrotechnic-heavy concerts, a comic-book-come-monster mystique or mythology for their band and polished album art, and the other gimmicks that played a heavy role in their commercial success besides their music.

It's ironic to hear Gene Simmons lamenting the commercialized corporate state of today's industry. Has he tried to market a gold-plated KISS turd yet, cast from a band member's actual feces? I think that's the only thing left. Besides, he seems to love all things free market and capitalism, except it's influence on popular music?

 

[Crono]

Rock is dead as languages can be dead. Which doesn't mean it's completely gone or forgotten, just that it has evolved and combined with a lot of other genres, and original "rock and roll" is in the history books, as it were.

But even as with dead languages, it can still be practiced.

 

[disappoint]

Rock is dead as languages can be dead. Which doesn't mean it's completely gone or forgotten, just that it has evolved and combined with a lot of other genres, and original "rock and roll" is in the history books, as it were.

But even as with dead languages, it can still be practiced.

Sure someone is going to come along and say well if by "rock is dead" he means "rock is unpopular and not a viable way to make a living as easily as he did any more" then yeah that's right but is ROCK really dead or is it popular culture that is brain dead?

What I'm saying is rock, like classical and science, is not dead just because it's not popular. It's non-popularity is more of a statement on most people than on the unpopular thing itself.

And by classical I mean good classical, not boring classical. Because there is some good and bad. By rock I mean good rock and by science I mean good science and not pseudo-science.

My point is, good music will always be good, including rock. Popular or not.

 

[MongGrel]

U2 still seems to be doing pretty well in that market....

 

[ImpulsE69]

I think the overall point is that making money the way they did is dead. Which is true and been true for some years now. I make music and am around many middle aged musicians that still have dreams of "making it" the old fashioned way - you know, playing shows and a label picking you up and you do nothing but write music and tour. As far back as 2003 I was telling them the internet is changing all that and that the "rock star" is dying. Many still don't get it and think they are one song away from partying like Motley Crue in the 80's. Sure there are a few exceptions to that, but for the most part putting out albums and "making it" is over.

 

[lxskllr]

But even as with dead languages, it can still be practiced.

I'm still waiting for DooWop to make a comeback

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-uiIS5y_W0

 

[Kadarin]

U2 still seems to be doing pretty well in that market....

U2 never was a rock band.

 

[Away]

I guess God didn't put rock and roll into the soul of everyone.

 

[motsm]

That "Royals" song by Lorde won best rock video at the VMA's this year.

 

[zinfamous]

Yeah I mean, KISS for crying out loud! Listen to their music. It's not exactly brilliance. They needed gimmicks like make-up and costumes, Gene's fire-spitting and tongue dangling and blood capsule drooling, pyrotechnic-heavy concerts, a comic-book-come-monster mystique or mythology for their band and polished album art, and the other gimmicks that played a heavy role in their commercial success besides their music.

It's ironic to hear Gene Simmons lamenting the commercialized corporate state of today's industry. Has he tried to market a gold-plated KISS turd yet, cast from a band member's actual feces? I think that's the only thing left. Besides, he seems to love all things free market and capitalism, except it's influence on popular music?

:thumbsup:

U2 never was a rock band.

:|

 

[HamburgerBoy]

It's not rock if it doesn't sound like AC/DC or Nirvana or Led Zeppelin

okay

 

[drebo]

Anyone who says rock is dead is a fucking moron. It's just not mainstream anymore, much like metal.

Dude, all of that is complete shit by the standards of the greats from the 60s, 70s, and even the hair metal bands of the 80s.

And that's kind of the point.

Show me a good power ballad (à la "Dust in the Wind" or "November Rain") by a band that wasn't around in the 80s. Doesn't exist.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

"Gene Simmons is dead."
-Rock