Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford and Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French have voiced of their concerns over the future of rock.
Nine months after KISS bassist Gene Simmons rattled the industry with his claim that rock is dead, Halford continues to champion new acts and questions whether the genre will need big names to sustain itself moving forward.
Halford tells 1290 KOIL Radio, “We were pondering about this the other day in the van driving back from a gig. You know, will there be another great, big rock star giant like Ozzy Osbourne? Will there be another great, big rock star giant like Axl Rose, for example.
Does that really matter? I don’t know. But it’s shifted, it’s changed. The good news is there’s an extraordinary display of talent coming from all different quarters in all different genres of rock and roll.”
He adds, “Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment, Royal Blood. There’s a ton of bands… Rival Sons… I can keep going and going.”
French feels the situation is much more dire, questioning arena and stadium rock’s future while suggesting fans better catch ageing acts now before the genre disappears for good. uestioning arena and stadium rock’s future while suggesting fans better catch ageing acts now before the genre disappears for good.
He tells iradiousa.com, “It’s an ageing genre. Name me any rock bands that are 25 and younger who are blowing up the charts. That’s the scary part – the replenishment of the genre.
Rock itself is an ageing medium and it hasn’t replenished its ranks, and the kids aren’t dreaming about being rock stars and playing air guitar and thinking they’re Jimi Hendrix and all that stuff like they were in my generation.”
With Twisted Sister set to play its farewell shows next year, French feels the clock is ticking on the whole thing.
He adds, “What will happen when the Twisted Sisters and the Whitesnakes and the Def Leppards and the Motorheads and the Black Sabbaths finally call it a day. Who’s coming up and replacing us? I don’t even know the answer to that. So you’ve gotta go see it while you can.”
source: classicrock.teamrock.com
21 Responses
True, probably won’t ever see another Zeppelin or anywhere near that level. It’s really sad in a way because music can open up many doors in our lives. This electronic, distracted, and over privileged generation are more concerned about staring at their cell phone than taking the time to learn an instrument. I’d rather have carpel tunnel from drumming or playing guitar and day of the week than getting if from punching video game buttons or from texting.
I don’t know, there are lots of kids out there ripping it up on guitar. The landscape for music has vastly changed, for sure.
Personally I more blame the advent of HD video, home theater systems, massive T.V.’s, and internet that streams or downloads anything your heart desires, not to mention people people chronically attached to their devices, not just new generations. It’s bigger than that.
I certainly rarely hear kids rehearsing in bands anymore. Growing up, you could hear people in garages or basements banging it out and sounding shitty, but that’s what’s supposed to happen.
We lost something, for sure. Rap and Country are king in the US. At least other parts of the globe still appreciate rock and metal.
Grunge gets blamed, but the real culprit is rap. Walk down the street in any large North American city on a Friday night and listen to what a young guy is blaring in his car’s sound system.
Twenty-five years ago, that angry young white male was blaring Priest and Metallica.
Today, the angry young white male is blaring rap.
Why?
Some people embraced as a break from metal’s excesses. Rap pretty much ignores metal, so why are young guys consciously choosing it over metal?
Grunge gets blamed, but the real culprit is rap. Walk down the street in any large North American city on a Friday night and listen to what a young guy is blaring in his car’s sound system.
Twenty-five years ago, that angry young white male was blaring Priest and Metallica.
Today, the angry young white male is blaring rap.
Why?
Some people embraced *grunge* as a break from metal’s excesses. Rap pretty much ignores metal, so why are young guys consciously choosing it over metal?
I kind of feel like Jay Jay French does… it feels like once the last of the legendary/really big bands hangs it up there will be a void left unfilled. Maybe it’s because I’m of an age where I don’t know the newer, younger bands as much (which is my own fault), but rock in general is not the commercial force it once was. I blame the current state of the music industry and pop culture for the lack of a younger generation dreaming of becoming big rock stars. For one thing, rap and “pop tart” acts are getting the lion’s share of attention and support these days. Instead of forming a band and growing a following, singers try to get on American Idol and try to become corporate hit machines. It seems like the payoff for a rock band working their asses off to “make it big” is only a fraction of what it once was. Forget about becoming a huge draw worldwide, you’re lucky if you can make a decent living – and that will probably only happen if you tour yourself into the ground because people don’t buy music like they used to. Even established artists today forming new bands (or in some cases the same band they’ve always been) seem to struggle to grow beyond clubs or small theaters. It’s always been a “long way to the top if you want to rock and roll”, but at the moment it kind of feels like the climb has gotten steeper and the summit is further out of reach.
How is this any different than when rock and roll first came on the scene in the 50’s? It was specific to an age and demographic group, and reflected the thoughts, feelings and energies of that group. Bill Haley, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley were as shocking and foreign to the time as N.W.A and Public Enemy are today. I’m not sure who the current Beatles are (the fuel that brought a low simmer to an explosive boil) but maybe Jay-Z or Eminem or Nikki Minaj will be seen to have filled that role.
No generation wants to use the tools and terminology of the previous generation, because every generation feels like the one before “doesn’t get us” and “doesn’t understand”. Rap is filling that void. That we (the mid-40’s fans of NWOBHM and the like) don’t understand it is exactly the express point.
People said that Buckcherry were going to help carry the torch. But here’s thing, it’s bands like them and others who claim to be influenced by the greats, but these guys just don’t have any songs. And it seems to be fashionable now to NOT write a hooky tune. All these shredders, no real melody. It isn’t hard, people, write a catchy song! Something you can tap your foot to, remember and sing along with. Back to basics!