Gene Simmons- "Rock is finally dead"

[fdrjk]

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/culture/gene-simmons-future-of-rock

GS: Elvis, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the numerous classic Motown artists, Madonna, U2, Prince, Pink Floyd... The list goes on. Individuals, all unanimously considered classic, timeless, revolutionary. Now from '84 until today, name some. Just give me a few — artists that, even after their passing, are or will be inescapable. Artists on the same level as the ones I just mentioned. Even if you don't like them, they will be impossible to avoid, or deny, even after they've stopped making music and maybe passed on. In fact, they become bigger when they stop. Name artists that even compare with the ones I just named.

NS: Nirvana?

GS: Nirvana. That's about it. [...]

Ignoring the fact that Madonna, Prince, and Michael Jackson aren't even rock, I'd like to know what people think about this.

[|iR|Focalor]

I think he's full of shit.

Soundgarden in my opinion brought many elements of what made “classic rock” great to the table when the grunge/alternative scene arose.
Alice In Chains... kinda the same but with a heavy dose of harmonized vocals that sounded amazing.
Mastodon... is awesome. They've revived everything that was so great about the 70's prog movement and infused it with metal and subtle hints of several other styles.
Rage Against The Machine were the definition of revolutionary. Lots of other bands have attempted to fuse metal/rock and rap styles, but all the rest of them sounded completely retarded and awkward. Elements of punk and funk and whatever the hell else they felt like throwing into the stew. The sound was without rules or limits, and it complemented the bands lyrics, message, and overall image perfectly.

If anything, I say that the CURRENT state of rock is nothing but pure suck. I see very few bands that haven't pigeonholed themselves into the “metal” category that make music which truly rocks and has any balls to it's sound. Nothing is angry, mean, or pissed off anymore. None of it has any fucking soul to it. I guess maybe kids got fed up looking for such things in music for so long only to be presented with this “emo” bullshit. For the longest time, teens were pissed that the world sucks so much and enjoyed how rock and roll tended to express that. This emo garbage just says “the world sucks... life is hopeless and painful and inescapable oh woe is me” and that's about as soulful as the crap was willing to get. And after a while most people just get sick of hearing someone whine like a pussy.

I also hold the theory that most kids tend to be instutionalized into this modern day politically correct mindset and just wanna hear nothing but this safe and predictable light-rock doofus music because its all about “I'm okay, you're okay” and it doesn't hurt anyones delicate feelers and includes everyone. Fuck that shit. They even LOOK like total homos. And I now long for the days when you could call someone or something “homo” without 100 people within earshot of you shooting you looks of total shock and disgust for using that oh so insensitive word. GET SOME FUCKING BALLS, PEOPLE. The world is a harsh and inhospitable place, always was, even before we human-people-thingies showed up and started being mean to each other. Just ask the dinosaurs. This fucking place done went and KILLT they asses deader than hell! So just roll with it.

Or whatever. What the hell do I know. I'm just “old”. Radio just basically doesn't hold the same sway anymore maybe. From my perspective, that's kind precipitated how bands have lost the ability to work together as seperate bands to still formulate new and interesting genres and trends in the music world.

But speaking to the point of Gene Simmons knowing a damn thing about music since 1984... apparently he's clueless. Because Madonna is a fucking HOMO.

[yahoo]

I think he's full of shit.

Nope. Its a fact.

Never liked Kiss and Never will.
There music is kinda cheesy and they even have a Disco song.

[Arm0r]

Gene Simmons, pfft. Only thing that's been dead is his career for the past 10 years. Easy to say rock and roll is dead when your last resort to any spotlight is reality television.

[quadz]

GS: Elvis, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the numerous classic Motown artists, Madonna, U2, Prince, Pink Floyd... The list goes on. Individuals, all unanimously considered classic, timeless, revolutionary. Now from '84 until today, name some. Just give me a few — artists that, even after their passing, are or will be inescapable. Artists on the same level as the ones I just mentioned.

Simmons' notion of "on the same level" seems in some sense structured as a popularity contest.

So long as rock bands exist who are still making good songs, it seems largely irrelevant whether the band is so popular with the general public that they can fill stadiums and arenas.

As such, I'd reject the notion that if they're not mega-stars then rock is dead...

Anyway: Pixies, Primus, Kyuss, Living Colour, Faith No More, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, System Of A Down, Garbage, Cake, Tool, Weezer, Korn, Pomplamoose, St. Vincent, Puscifer, The Dead Weather, Rose Kemp, Apocalyptica, Animals As Leaders, etc.

[[BTF]DeathStalker]

Read the whole article in its entirety. He's not saying Rock is dead from lack of talent. He's saying Rock is dead because file sharing murdered opportunity, support, and financial backing for the new talent. Although I don't agree with his time table. I feel the entire 80s was the absolute greatest rock era of any and all decades and continued the the early 90s. I may be wrong but file sharing didn't effect record companies until the napster/Kasaa era.

[Whirlingdervish]

My mix tapes killed rock. 

[|iR|Focalor]

Meh, I say the record companies are just being greedy pricks pinpointing MP3 piracy/filesharing as the villain. Around the time Napster and Kazaa became widely used, the average cost of a CD was anywhere from $12 to $17. Let's be generous and say the retailers made 20% markup on that price tag (a very high estimate, probably closer to 5-10%). Consider the fact that per copy, the artists themselves only make somewhere between .5¢ and 4¢, and the high end of that is really depending on how enormously popular they are. The record company literally makes 1000+% more than than the artist per album. And it wasn't always like that. As time has gone on, little by little the record companies have taken bigger and bigger chunks out of the pie while driving up the cost of albums.

While it's true that robbing the record companies by illegally downloading MP3's effects how record companies deal with larger name artists, filesharing has also given smaller artists more opportunities by giving more people worldwide a way to hear them, kinda like how radio used to work when artists would hit the road dropping off demos at radio stations across the country.

There's pro's and con's to it across the board. But considering that in the modern era, artists always make the overwhelming majority of their profits from concert ticket sales and merchandising, it seems to be a complete lie to say that MP3 piracy hurts the wallet of the artist. Buying a CD to “support” an artist these days basically equates to dropping one penny in a homeless guys panhandling cup when what he really needs is about 15 bucks for a bottle of gin. If all he's getting is one penny from everyone, it's gonna be a looooong time before he's gonna get himself some gin.

[yahoo]

File sharing is just one example of evolution. Record companies and some money conscious bands (ugh Metallica) complained that they had taken the hit. But letme see, going back to the roots, weren't these so called music artist ,when they started making music, main aspiration is to share their songs to the world as to inspire people, give hope, send message etc etc?

Record companies, they should adapt to progress. innovate and not be static.

[Sgt. Dick]

This is part of what killed rock -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0

[quadz]

This is part of what killed rock -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0

Haha, one of the youtube responses:

"I see all the comments about how bad this band is, but honestly they are pretty good for a deaf band. Seriously, none of them can hear. That's the only explanation."

[yahoo]

This is part of what killed rock -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj7pDNDuoJ0

Fuck that shit!

[yahoo]

In a different perspective, Gene Simmons just wanna feel to be still relevant. I remembered some episodes of Family Jewel, and boy all that he (or the show) is trying to project is how great kiss is and they are still a big thing and Gene is still like a rock god w/e.

[adz1La]

fuck outta here Gene.

[haunted]

Here I was thinking gene Simmons killed rock and roll...