How Far Can I Get?

Yesterday, I checked the mail. Bills, bills, catalogs, magazine. I ignored it all and tossed it on the dining room table. This afternoon, I was bored, so I checked through it. That magazine turns out to be Rolling Stone, addressed to me, so either I have a subscription or Rolling Stone is stalking me. Whatever, it's a music magazine (give or take), so I start looking through. Interviews, alcohol ads, naked women covering their bare breasts, it's all there. I get to the end, and they have their charts. Top ten iTunes downloads, top 40 albums, etc. There are 80 names on the page. Some I recognize, some I don't. Out of curiosity, I look through to see how many of those songs I've heard and how many artists on the page have a CD in my collection. Answer? One album, by the guy who did the 39th of the top 40 albums, Michael Buble (I'd accent that "e," but I don't honestly know how). I bought that album out of amusement at his name; one of my friends has the nickname of Michael Bumble, and it was too close to pass up. I listened to it one time, and then tossed it aside for Straylight Run. Oh, wait, that's not the only thing I've got. From their "From the Vault" section, I have 2 CDs by the #7 artist, Chuck Berry. So I'm kinda hip in 1972, I guess.

What's that say for a wannabe musician? I'm 19, and I hate what the kids like. I don't like to hear it, I don't like to play it, I don't like it. There's somebody on here named "Soulja Boy," and just the name annoys me. How can I hope to make something that anybody'll want to listen to? Well, that's actually the easy part. Everyone wants to say they listen to "everything," which is what I hear most often. I usually drop John Coltrane's name at that point and people retract their statement. That's not the point, though.

In this technological age, music has shifted. Rap and country are having a major surge in popularity, with an easy to define reason. Some people want to look ahead, and rap often does that, with social minded words and a rhythm that's easy to dance to. Some want to hold back, and country is the medium of choice, giving a simple musical style lyrics that sound like those of everyday people instead of superstars. Rock is in a slump, mainly because there's very little new happening in the genre, much to my dismay. Jazz is dying quickly, again because where can you go from John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, and Dizzy Gillespie? Rap and country don't need to expand further, as the style is established and hasn't had any major changes in recent history.

What does this mean for rock, though? Is it to die in a screamo metal orgy, as is the appearance of modern rock? I think not. Classic rock is coming back a bit, with teenagers playing Guitar Hero and realizing that there was music before Avenged Sevenfold that still would blow you away. Some bands attempt to lay down this nostalgic feel and bring old and young together to enjoy their music. The Black Keys bring back a sound similar to much of Led Zeppelin's catalog, and astonishing success has resulted. Death Cab for Cutie recalls Bob Dylan's songs, simple vehicles for poetic messages. Bruce Springsteen shows no signs of slowing, and he's certainly been around longer than most modern artists. There is, even, innovation in rock's simple boundaries; Bang Camaro pulls out sounds like an 80s hair metal band in a modern rock scene to great results (of course, 20 people doing anything loud and powerful usually gets decent reception). Gogol Bordello pulls in gypsy influences and puts out "gypsy punk," as it has been called. These bands, though, don't achieve the success that Lynyrd Skynyrd or Black Sabbath reached (though Death Cab has gotten some decent press). They don't come near Fergie, nor to Gwen Stefani. Rock is on its death bed, and the public seems alright with letting it die.

What needs to happen is a break from what we've got. I don't mean cutting out anything that rock has become; emo, metal, hardcore, and the like all need to make this jump. Right now, CDs are released, and that's the main form of musical output for any group. iTunes and similar systems are overtaking CD sales, but it's really the same exact system with a different look. This system limits artists. That's alright if you want a 4 minute rap or country song, but bands like Rush, with songs up to around 20 minutes, can't thrive with the current system. How to break? I can't say. What we have is a standard, and cutting off from a standard with which everyone is cool is hard, if not near impossible. I can't begin to outline a plan of attack. All I know is that this path will lead to nowhere, and I really don't want that.