I have to say that this music blog thing us fun but I just can't seem to find the time to keep it going. I love reading all the blogs in my blog roll and wonder how everyone seems to keep up with it. When I started this blog I actually thought I could make a few bucks doing this and realize I do not have the time to put in to do that. So I am now going to post when I can, respond to other blogs when I can and just have fun with this thing. So I hope everyone else will come along with me as I have made some good connections via the blogosphere and would like to continue to do so.
So with that in mind, let's have some fun. I loved doing the “I just don't get it” and I want to do another one.
Punk Rock
I hate it. Punk Rock was supposedly the antidote for the excesses of prog rock. To me I just say that is a bunch of crap. OK, so let me get this straight, two chords and yelling about how being put down is cool is better than Rush, Yes, Jethro Tull etc., etc. I don't think so. Those guys actually KNOW how to play their instruments and formulate coherent lyrics (although deep at times). To me, punk rock was the beginning of the end for rock and roll in the sense that after that, everything in rock went so simple that musicality became a thing of the past. Can you say – The 80's, Grunge Rock, Rap . All those are based on the premise of simplicity. I am not a huge fan of the 80's hair metal but at least they knew how to play and had songs with guitar leads in them and for that I guess I miss that a bit (not the songs but the format).
To give you an example, I am a huge fan of Anthony Bourdain but he has in numerous episodes of his show “No Reservations” expressed his love for The Ramones. He even said he wanted to find Jethro Tull and punch him (he obviously does not realize that there is no one in the band named Jethro Tull). That type of simple mindedness is exactly what I get tired of. I understand music is one of the ultimate forms of expression and opinions run rampant, but that type of one-sided “write-offs” to prove a point drives me nuts. Although I love prog, I still listen to a lot of other things (except rap, but I will save that for another episode of “I Just Don't Get It”). I played in a prog rock band, blues band, southern rock band, and (gasp!), a wedding band so I know music fairly well from the 50's to today. I have opinions like everyone else but at least mine founded in years of exploring the rock genre in general.
I hear every summer of all the amazing music festivals being held in Europe and I get jealous. For those of you old enough to remember Monsters of Rock, that type of thing happens in almost every country in Europe. What do we get: Ozzfest cool but too much death metal, Lollapalooza has lost its foundations, Van's Warped Tour, no thanks, too close to punk (emo sucks too).
To bring this all back around, I blame punk (along with rap) for the crappy state that music is in today. Most of what is played on the radio toady is either classic rock, (which is great but you can only listen to so many times), crappy dance tunes, rap/hip-hop which makes my skin crawl and “alternative”, most of which is just lame. Music in general is so watered down that good rock is hard to find. It's out there, and what ever it is, is in the eye of the beholder, but maybe there is still a glimmer of hope. Unfortunately the record executives and radio managers still want to force feed us the same old crap like Blitzkrieg Bop and Anarchy in the UK. Just crap.
I hope you know where I am coming from. Thanks for letting me vent and let me know what you think.
