Rock is finally dead, so says Gene Simmons

[ImpulsE69]

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.

There are more people in the world who hate those songs than like them, so...really it's all subjective. Corps chase the money, that's all it comes down to. Trends and fads change over time.

 

[zinfamous]

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.

Damn I miss the 80s!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3MXiTeH_Pg

 

[zinfamous]

There are more people in the world who hate those songs than like them, so...really it's all subjective.

citation needed!

 

[HamburgerBoy]

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.

>using power ballads to represent the quality of rock music
topkek

 

[ImpulsE69]

citation needed!

That's easy: number of people in the world - sales numbers. Anything else doesn't matter.

 

[lxskllr]

Damn I miss the 80s!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3MXiTeH_Pg

I miss 80s music as much as I miss 80s cars.

 

[IronWing]

citation needed!

"Loess in the wind, all we are in loess in the wind." No wonder they called themselves Kansas. Anyway, while I don't hate the song I was pretty much over it by the dawn of the 80s.

 

[schmuckley]

Bah..Gene Simmons Schmene Simmons
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuUZYS35oyk

Kiss @ it's best:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcj34XixuYg
Sounds better now than it did then

Is that a drum machine?

 

[ImpulsE69]

Hate might have been too strong of a word (except maybe in November Rains case), but the point was there are many more people in the world (or even just the US, than bought those albums - or any album). That is the only thing that matters to corps: getting a higher % of those people.

P.S. I still love Dust in the Wind.

 

[IronWing]

I guess if folks insist on finely dividing rock into sub-genres and then insisting that all but one of those contrived genres are not rock then yes, Elvis is dead. Otherwise, rock is doing just fine. Corporate dominance has ended. Anyone can publish. Rock radio, on the other hand, has been dead since the early 90s.

 

[zinfamous]

I miss 80s music as much as I miss 80s cars.

you're nuts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA1oFSMwRDU

 

[1sikbITCH]

Kiss are pretty much the definition of dumbed down, brainless corporate rock.

The only reason that they don't get called sellouts is that they didn't have any credibility to start with.

People are sheep. KISS sucked em in and got rich. It's the fucking American dream and they owned it. Haters gonna hate.

 

[who?]

Bob Dylan was never a massive seller but because he was big before affordable small computers executives could keep an artistic artist in the lineup and investors wouldn't see the by artist breakdown just the overall profit and loss.

 

[IronWing]

People are sheep. KISS sucked em in and got rich. It's the fucking American dream and they owned it. Haters gonna hate.

It was their Christmas Special that put them over the top.

 

[lxskllr]

you're nuts!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA1oFSMwRDU

That's a good song, and there's others too, but taken as a whole, I'd rather listen to a chainsaw than 80s music.

 

[schmuckley]

It was their Christmas Special that put them over the top.

I think it was the cartoon and action figures
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buZE-Qenof0

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/361030568286?lpid=82

KISS was quite commercialized.

Maybe THEIR rock-n-roll is dead..but it was meh anyway

 

[zinfamous]

That's a good song, and there's others too, but taken as a whole, I'd rather listen to a chainsaw than 80s music.

to be fair, a lot of TH's was released mid seventies.

 

[Jeffg010]

I can't help it but I like the kiss song tears are falling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEwnfhuPJGs


and

Up all night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTcLPHUq-Vw

 

[Paratus]

Gene's never been the same since the mechanical spiders got him.

 

[BUTCH1]

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

Meh, lot's of the "goth" mode, same old, same old. Lot's of style and little substance. As for Simmons I always thought of Kiss as a mediocre talent at best enhanced with eye-popping dress and pro-technicial effects during the show. At the time of Kiss's peak we still had Clapton, Allman brothers, Fleetwood Mac just to name a few still making great music, I never bought a single Kiss album and all of my friends at the time thought pretty much the same, 90% show, 10% music.

 

[kage69]

Never been a KISS fan, and don't care for Simmons much at all actually, but he's got some valid points here.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Kiss are pretty much the definition of dumbed down, brainless corporate rock.

The only reason that they don't get called sellouts is that they didn't have any credibility to start with.

100% agreed. i went to a kiss show - it was exactly as awful as i expected, and it was exactly the same performance they gave on every single stop on the tour, right down to accidentally shooting the light with the rocket guitar. call them on their crappy music and canned performances, and kiss and their apologists fire back with the classic "it's a show". yeah, if you want pro wrestling, call it pro wrestling and not a musical performance.

i'll give him this, though - he taught george lucas everything he knows about finding a sucker, milking him dry, and keeping the biggest cut.

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

about 40 years, which in 2014 is worth about 400 years.

Remember, it's always better back in my day says every person ever.

nope. i've always enjoyed all kinds of great music from the 30's to early 2000's, including their respective crap pop music. it's not me, it's the 21st century that has no taste or talent

 

[KillerBee]

No disrespect to Gene Simmons - I don't think any band member before or since has ever done that much self promoting/merchandising.

But for him to say "Rock is dead" that is laughable - what exactly is rock?
Now if he says Kiss is dead ...well I'm not going to argue.

Only The Who are officially allowed to say when rock is dead - for good.

 

[Staples]

90s grunge and alternative in general is dead. Rap the way it used to be is dead.

Sure they exist but they are tiny now. Heavy Metal is in that camp too.

 

[LegendKiller]

Avenged Sevenfold might disagree. Simmons may have a lot of money, but he doesn't have the comprehensive knowledge on rock.