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02-06-2002, 04:01 PM | #1 |
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Is Alternative rock dead?
This question has been presented to me about 8 or 9 times in the past few weeks just in magazines and on T.V. and it seems a hot topic at the moment.
What's your take on Alternative rock? How do you define it and furthermore, by your definition is it dead? |
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02-06-2002, 04:03 PM | #2 |
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Alternative Rock will only die when all rock music ends up sounding the same.
I never got what made it alternative... maybe because the music was gay? ------------------ http://raversaregay.homestead.com/files/USA.gif "I can always count on you" "That's true, up to 21" |
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02-06-2002, 04:08 PM | #3 |
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Probably because it was an alternative to the hair-metal shit that had preceded it, and of course pop music.
But I agree with you, I deem Alt. Rock as anything which is (without sounding too cliche) honest in it's approach. Music which is different without the artist forcing it to be different. |
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02-06-2002, 04:15 PM | #4 |
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I remember this topic being posted in 1998.
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02-06-2002, 04:18 PM | #5 | |
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02-06-2002, 04:20 PM | #6 | |
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I remember it being posted in 1999. ------------------ http://raversaregay.homestead.com/files/USA.gif "I can always count on you" "That's true, up to 21" |
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02-06-2002, 04:21 PM | #7 |
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david berman:
punk rock died when the first kid said: "punks not dead, punk's not dead" i think the same applies to alternative rock, or any kind of rock. ------------------ "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be" AIM: silvergeek000 |
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02-06-2002, 04:26 PM | #8 |
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But it's kind of an ongoing thing. I mean, I personally think that Alt. Rock in the strictest definition (i.e. not just the early 90's bands) is not "dead". It's the kind of music that lays in waiting.
I suppose it has to do with art over industry. Thats the problem with a lot of bands these days. Even the supposed rock bands are just releasing a 12-song 8-page booklet album. The entire Alt. rock is much the same as it was in the late 80's: Not an alternative. It's been diluted far to much by bands like Creed, who have just created mediocre-to-shit rock music (not to mention Linkin' Park, Limp etc.) But then, you have bands like Radiohead, who are true Alternative. They are progressive, and they have not catered to the masses yet at the same time have simply gained the respect of a large enough musical audience to warrant worldwide fame. |
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02-06-2002, 04:31 PM | #9 | |
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Though I'm not a fan, I don't understand the amount of shit they get from people... unless you're basing it all on scott stapp's ego.... then again, you shouldn't be judging their music based upon the attitude of the front man. linkin park would be good if they got a better lyricist and dropped the rapping. ------------------ http://raversaregay.homestead.com/files/USA.gif "I can always count on you" "That's true, up to 21" |
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02-06-2002, 04:46 PM | #10 |
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No it isnt dead, becuase you wouldnt have bands around like Jimmy Eat World, Rival Schools, Thursday, ect ect... To me those are alternative bands. Alternative may not be as mainstream as it once was but it isnt dead..
Rock On.. ------------------ - I use music as some kind of weird salvation to get away from life... - -We will miss you!! The Smashing Pumpkins (1988-2000) - Sad Machines Audio Archive Glued On Wings FTP |
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02-06-2002, 04:47 PM | #11 | |
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Because to me both bands cut across the grain of what makes a great band great. Creed are shit, I'm not going to say "they're playing old music" because thats stupid, noone can play new music without at least supporting themselves on old music. But they're content to just write the same similar sounding stuff (both musically and lyrically). There is a dynamic and a laziness in the new breed of rock bands thats frustrating: Creed are not trying. They're just content to be a band, and to continue to just be a band. If they were to continually attack both their own values and their audience, then they would be alternative, because they would be changing into consistently new yet quality trends. As it is, they've found a niche and now they're just getting fat in it. I think thats a good word to describe it, fat. The general impression is one of an industry today that just make some songs and release them on some CD's and play some shows and do some interviews. Everything is so similar and so matter-of-fact for these bands that they're boring. And because they don't try to remain fresh, they can't be a truly great band. They're just a band. As for Linkin' Park (LP, cos I can't be bothered to type it out), that's even worse. The greatest thing I've ever heard about Linkin' Park is this from their record company spokesman: "They're fantastic. They embody every aspect of alternative rock and originality. They are so fresh" That's not a direct quote, but you get the idea. But what he is saying contradicts itself. How can you be the pinnacle of something which has no strict conventions? For example. Nirvana weren't a better Soundgarden. SP weren't a better Nirvana. Each band was individual, had an individual stance and an individual place in the culture of the time. LP are just the opposite, they're just the cream of the crop. They're the better P.O.D, the better whatever. Just the same way Incubus are the better Hoobastank. There are these strict genre borders and all bands are doing is putting themselves in one and seeing how far up it they can get. So I guess what I'm saying is bands like Creed are not interesting. It's not even totally the music's fault, it's the way they're content to just be a band, and the same sounding band, and the same looking band, and the same band on tour, and the same band in the studio etc. There is nothing about them that defines them, just that they are supposedly the best at what they do, which is really undisputable, but thats the bad thing. If we live in a time when bands are just bands, and the best band is the best, then there is nothing special about the individual bands. You have alright bands and the rest of them. |
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02-06-2002, 04:52 PM | #12 |
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My understanding of alternative rock is that it was used to define bands in the mid 80's (Sonic Youth, Replacements, Husker Du, REM, etc.) who were relatively outside of the mainstream up to when Nevermind hit. After that, the term was used incorrectly to define most rock from that point up until now. I won't pretend to know everything about time periods I wasn't a part of so I don't really know but in my view the term is meaningless applied to any new band. But then again it doesn't really matter how you label a band.
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02-06-2002, 05:04 PM | #13 | |
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some songs were good (no.1, 3, 10); most were mediocre. but what spoiled it all in my opinion was stapp's voice. it's so cliche, it occurred to me he just wanted to be rock with his singing style, instead of actually being it. why is it so popular to sing like Eddie Vedder and Scott Weiland did ages ago? because Vedder defined their kind of rock? damn. Aaron Lewis from Staind sings a bit in the same 'dialect', but at least his voice is...nice. and Stapp's ego is revolting as well. in their commercials someone says "Weathered, the new album by the best rock band in the world!!1". and in an interview Stapp mentioned Weathered musically was the most diverse album he could think of. well there were maybe 1 or 2 exceptions, but most of the music sounded exactly the same. 8 or so of the 11 songs had the same worn-out soft-loud scale style. and their subtle guitar playing style is just borrowed from the SD-era Pumpkins. it seems like they based their whole style upon songs like Mayonnaise or Spaceboy. but I guess I'm not very original by flaming Creed on this board. let's quit. ------------------ Mallow http://www.director-file.com/cunningham/5226.jpg |
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02-06-2002, 05:57 PM | #14 | |
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02-06-2002, 06:09 PM | #15 |
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The alternative rock movement is over, yes. I wish people would stop trying to either re-create it or have a funeral for it.
When you label music from a certain period of time pertaining to a certain group by a certain name, the sentiment and style of that music, not counting universal sentiments of music, are not going to live on forever as a movement. That doesn't mean elements of it aren't going to pop up in various places, and that it didn't mean anything, it just means that we should be looking ahead instead of back. That kind of movement comes from looking around, above and beyond the current music scene and using recycled materials from the past to create something new and appropriate. To me, that's the primary definition of alternative music, but the fact that we have a movement named after it makes it difficult to distinguish between the two. ------------------ Boot the grime of this world in the crotch, dear. |
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02-06-2002, 07:07 PM | #16 | |
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02-06-2002, 07:22 PM | #17 |
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it was dead when every city in the country got 3 "todays alternative" radio stations...
alternative to what!?!?! |
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02-06-2002, 07:40 PM | #18 | |
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that was weird. roCk oN.. |
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02-06-2002, 08:04 PM | #19 | |
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But Alt. Rock isn't really a 90's thing. I mean, although that was the Alt. Rock era, or the grunge era or whatever, I think Alt. Rock has always been around. Blues was Alt. Rock, Zeppelin was Alt. Rock. I think it's like this, and I've been thinking about this the last few years really. Lets take grunge as an example. Grunge and the early 90's movement arose out of a basic frustration thats evident in todays music: Hair metal had parodied itself. What Van Halen and Aerosmith had originally done, to make that big anthemic arena rock, had gone full circle, and by 88/89 nearly all the hair metal bands were just comedy copies of what had happened before. Grunge (and I'm applying grunge to every early 90's rock band for ease not accuracy) arose out of the frustrations of that parody. It had become so bloated, so uninteresting, that it wasn't fun no more. I mean, grunge wasn't the opposite, the antithesis of hair metal. Look at Billy Corgan's soloing on Gish and SD, it's pretty Van Halen. Rather, it wasn't destroying the genre but offering an alternative look on music with some of the genuine qualities of the era. Then Grunge became a label, and the label became a set of conventions: Angst Screaming Loud/Quiet Verse/Chorus etc etc. And that was grunge, and if you did that you became popular. So the Alternative became the Norm, much like Aerosmith became Danzig and Van Halen became Malmsteem: It just imploded and became so analysed it lost all meaning. And grunge turned to post-grunge, with bands like bush. And post-grunge slowly became nu-metal. And now, bands like Staind are comedy grunge. They sing the lyrics we expect from depressed grunge stars to the music we'd expect: 4 chords for the verse, and then a distorted version for the chorus. So, as far as I can see, just like Corgan and Billie Joe say, and how I interpret it is that what was Alt. Rock became mainstream pap. They're not saying it's dead or it was never real, but that everything that is alternative and popular eventually just becomes popular. And what happened to grunge with bands like Bush is happening to nu-metal with bands like Puddle of Mudd or whatever shit you wanna take an example from. So, I'm not saying we're going to have NU-GRUNGE!!!111!! or anything, but what's evident really is the cycle coming full circle again, like the late 80's metal. A handful of original bands become labeled, figured out, and every industry insider wants his own profitable version. The scene becomes diluted and boring and eventually a parody of itself, and a new breed of bands come along, for a few years they reign, and then they'll become a parody over a decade, just depends whether you're an innovator or a clone I guess. Like I said, I'm not saying we're going to have some new musical movement, but you'd probably be naieve to think rock music isn't going to go any further and that it's just going to decline. |
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02-06-2002, 09:00 PM | #20 |
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to me you cant really define alternative after only one album. my view on it is that its rock that progresses and explores different elements and grows and doesn't just stay that same cd after cd.
------------------ "Robert Smith of Terrytown said he has been renting erotic movies almost every week for the past 20 years." |
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02-06-2002, 09:02 PM | #21 |
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but where is it going?
compare 1984 and 1992...rock sounded really different right? well take 1994 and 2002...rock still sounds the fucking same as it did in 1994! sure there are a few bands here and there that progress and change the way things sound, but they are getting zero attention by mtv, radio, etc. this is why ALT rock is dead...people that make money off of it won't let it happen, it's too risky of an investment |
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02-06-2002, 09:03 PM | #22 |
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02-06-2002, 09:22 PM | #23 | |
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02-06-2002, 10:30 PM | #24 | |
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But that's the beauty. Every now and again an album or a band come out that people are drawn to, with or without record company marketing. Nirvana never mean't to be huge, in fact I read somewhere the company estimates for Nevermind were about 20,000 copies, which is nothing really. And, to take your example of the 1984-1992. Think about it logically. The music didn't really evolve within the industry, Nirvana exploded and so did the grunge scene. Really, 1984-1991, in terms of market success, music didn't change. To that extent, a band could come out this year with an album that was innovative, and explode, much like grunge. I doubt it will happen like that, but there is evolution and there is revolution, and grunge was a revolution. |
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02-06-2002, 10:47 PM | #25 |
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Its has a lot to do with the fact that a lot of big music mergers happened in the 90's Time Warner is now the king of the world as far as distribution goes.......its this lack of compitition and the new styles of marketing that have really changed things....kids today are sold rebelion and in most cases they know it and just dont care...its like the young have just become apathetic and I think this is reflected by the bands because they are the same way....the entire musical climate has changed.....back in the 60' 70's it was all "lets try this and see what happens"...nowadys its already been test maketed and their is and earning projection.....so in essence musicians lack balls these days......they only see as far as their food dish.and are content to do so....I hope this made a little sense at least
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02-06-2002, 10:52 PM | #26 |
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YES what more is there to say? |
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02-06-2002, 10:59 PM | #27 | |
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Well said. |
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02-06-2002, 11:00 PM | #28 | |
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I certainly agree with that to an extent, they are definitely being sold angst (I mean, look at Staind) and don't really care. But then, look at Radiohead, or the Strokes. Huge bands who seem to arise out of nowhere, and now we already have The Hives, as a sort of answer to The Strokes. Markets change, in 1998 we probably would have been saying we'd never see rock as popular as it is now, but it's certainly popular (albeit shit). I guess what I'm saying is however many forecasts and predictions have been made, you just cannot anticipate what will be popular. It won't be long before we have a bunch of Strokes clones and the industry is harking on about 70's garage rock and The Ramones. It's comforting, but also true to realise, like bono said, nothing will change the spontaneity and unpredictability of the industry. Napster was going to rule the industry 3 years back, and it was posing a serious threat to the market: But it didn't change anything. And in just the same way, The Strokes, The White Stripes, bands like these, pretty old fashioned "grassroots" rock bands are suddenly making a comeback. People are getting bored of nu-metal, and I think the industry is gearing up for a revisit to the art-music phase. |
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02-06-2002, 11:20 PM | #29 |
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Go listen to Mudhoney-now!
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02-06-2002, 11:31 PM | #30 |
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i agree with darkagency's points on the mergers forcing things in a certain way, and musicians dont have balls anymore. Nobody out there I see understands how to push the cultural edge, let alone are willing to.
I dont think the new war on terrorism, the internet, the general evolution of technology in these times can be overlooked when considering Rock (Alt. Rock) as 'dead or alive'. Billy has said that the rules have changed, the way bands became successful in the past may not apply in the future...Napster was poised to have a real influence in these matters but the industry closed quickly once they got off their collective duff and moved into action. I wonder if Billy still thinks the labels are trying to convince the artist that the industry and the mergers are forces to not even try to fight...that's sort of the context. errrr. close enough. We have limited free speech if what you speak against controls the very distribution so that you can be heard. Can the internet, mp3's, SHN's, etc. really change that aspect of the music industry? Is this the real Synthetic Army? I've wondered. |
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