Is Rock N' Roll Dead?

I call it the auto-tune age. The present, nowadays, for today the sound of perfectly in key mumble rappers loom. The mainstream, as they call it, is filled with non-worthy 'beat-tapes' and meaningless repetition. Pop music is seemingly fading as pretentious individuals such as Lil Pump and Cardi B rise to fame and fortune. It makes me sad to think that many years ago, music was something that took effort, years of practice and dedication, band rehearsals, percussion, harmony, synth, brass, strings, and real instruments. Where has the real music gone? Believe it or not, it's still out there, and although a few of what I would call the greats, Bob Dylan, AC-DC, Pink Floyd, Guns N' Roses, Eric Clapton, etc. are still performing and producing, I can't help but notice the 'real' music scene has declined. Blame it on the internet if you like, blame it on technology, I blame today's generation, of course, I am part of it. Clichéd as it is, it seems this generation isn't right for me. I hear others saying the same thing too, but it's really true. Of course, I don't wish to escape it, I'm just bewildered. Rock n' roll, once a thriving empire built upon the sound of electric guitar riffs, endless rhythms, and meaningful lyrics such as that of Led Zeppelin, Dylan, or Dire Straits is now overlooked by talentless buffoons who can't even write their own songs. Auto-tune it seems makes it impossible to compete with the likes of modern pop stars. It cannot be, these talentless morons don't deserve this, and as for the rise in rap, 'artists' calling them self 'rockstars' and so on, I am truly saddened.

I'm new to Vocal, but I hope to expand on my musical interests in future articles and share my passion with you. I also hope my frustration is justified somewhat. By the way, I haven't always been like this, I used to listen to pop music, I used to listen to electronic music such as Daft Punk, and even rap music, we've all heard Eminem etc. And I've enjoyed listening to hip-hop in the past and still do occasionally. I've gone through many many different genres myself, from punk Green Day to folk legend Bob Dylan, who I will talk about more in articles to come. I would say he has been my biggest musical inspiration.

The question is, can (what I would call) real music be revived, because like I said it's still out there, modern day rock n' roll bands do exist believe it or not. Forget four chord progressions as well, I hate it when people stereotype rock n' roll to be a thing of the past or a dead phase. Of course music is all subjective, however, for those fellow rock n' roll fans, I have seen hope of a rebirth in many small bands such as The Lemon Twigs which give off a Beatles-like vibe, taking inspiration from The Beach Boys is absolutely fantastic and definitely one to watch. As well as American band Greta Van Fleet, although their sound is clearly borrowed from Led Zeppelin, they know how to rock. New age music has become of interest to me, mostly through the work of Mike Oldfield. However, like the most of them, he's now old and soon to pass. Another up and coming musician of a very young age is a fellow youngster named Jacob Collier, specializing in harmony; a true prodigy and a master at what he is doing definitely worth a listen to all fans of harmony.

Who knows what the future holds for music, no one can say, my opinion, however, is that it has taken a turn for the worst. The majority of contemporary mainstream music has no meaning, no style, no fusion if you will.

Anyhow, maybe, just maybe, rock n' roll will return.

I hope what I have said makes sense. Thank you for reading. Rock on.

Picture Credits

• Jacobs Media
• Vulture