I want to be a rock star

[T-MAN]

The age of the (popular) rock star may very well be gone. I would even suggest that the age of guitar hero is gone. It is highly likely that guitar based rock music as we know it will be overshadowed by a "new" kind of music. The early rock music of Little Richard and Elvis Presley overshadowed the western swing,skiffle and rockabilly bands. Now- things are moving into a bizarre realm where there are dozens of different sub-genres (of other rock sub-genres)...many which incorporate electronic instruments and the mixing of genre elements. This leads to unfocussed sense of songwriting...at least that is what I have found.

Hair-metal is dead...it's not coming back into popularity no matter how good the next Steel Panther album is. Edguy got off course a couple of albums ago...if any band had the chance of reviving "The 80s Rock" sound on a large scale it was Edguy. There is just too much stuff out there and some is good and some is just crap. I've had more than one person recommend The Kings of Leon...when I finally heard it,it was very disappointing. Chorus sections  going "whoa-oh,whoa-oh,whoa-oh" over C and G chords and songs about "hot sex"- just moronic sonic dogshit compared to a more refined bands such as King's X. It's just not my thing...sorry and please don't be offended. If it's any consolation- I actually like Styx and Meatloaf (more than any confessed "rocker" actually should.)  

There are good bands out there...finding them is the difficult thing.    

  

[guitarrednfeathered]

well, I usually blame George Bush and the current nato secretary. Hate that guy !
When my windows based pc´s crashes it´s Bill Gates I blame for everything too.

 
...me too!

[maybeyes]

The age of the (popular) rock star may very well be gone. I would even suggest that the age of guitar hero is gone. It is highly likely that guitar based rock music as we know it will be overshadowed by a "new" kind of music. The early rock music of Little Richard and Elvis Presley overshadowed the western swing,skiffle and rockabilly bands. Now- things are moving into a bizarre realm where there are dozens of different sub-genres (of other rock sub-genres)...many which incorporate electronic instruments and the mixing of genre elements. This leads to unfocussed sense of songwriting...at least that is what I have found.

Hair-metal is dead...it's not coming back into popularity no matter how good the next Steel Panther album is. Edguy got off course a couple of albums ago...if any band had the chance of reviving "The 80s Rock" sound on a large scale it was Edguy. There is just too much stuff out there and some is good and some is just crap. I've had more than one person recommend The Kings of Leon...when I finally heard it,it was very disappointing. Chorus sections  going "whoa-oh,whoa-oh,whoa-oh" over C and G chords and songs about "hot sex"- just moronic sonic dogshit compared to a more refined bands such as King's X. It's just not my thing...sorry and please don't be offended. If it's any consolation- I actually like Styx and Meatloaf (more than any confessed "rocker" actually should.)  

There are good bands out there...finding them is the difficult thing.    
  

Agreed 100% T-Man.  I think it may come back, but more in snippets rather than full blown like in the 80's.  I like the sound and music Steel Panther plays, but not fussy about the lyrics (can't win them all).  Kings of Leon has not impressed me.   Still not sure if I will even give their album a full listen.  There are a few bands I have found that are pretty good, but the lead guitar is not what I would be writing home about.  Songwise they write well, but lead wise it is like they took a break.  We have some youth on the board that may have a shot.  For someone that never used to pay attention to the lyrics, over the last few years lyrics can make or break a good song.

Nothing wrong with Styx or Meatloaf.   The big guy is actually pretty good in concert and he always has great guitarists playing with him.  Styx always has some nice melodic leads to go along with those songs.  Liking them is nothing to be ashamed of my friend.

[otcconan]

It's harder to be a STAR nowadays, but I put forth the position that it's easier to make a living at music than any time in our past.

The internet has put artists in control of the product, and as a result, you have local bands making enough money to keep going.  In the past, most of the money spent on music entertainment was generated by the bigger bands.

Specifically, take the '70's and '80's.  90% of the revenue was generated by 1% of the acts.  Now, it's probably 50/50.  I see that as a good thing.  I studied economics in college and I know that the freer a market is, the better.  I have friends who are in bands, who are not signed to any label, who self-publish through CD Baby and they don't need a day job.

So the era of the rock star is over, but I posit that it has been replaced by the era of the musician.  How can that be a bad thing?

[Super Avianti]

I completely disagree... and so would many artists I know that have been at this for over 30 years.

[Sancho]

Same here. As much as we all like to rant at the establishment, and blame the record companies for everything, including famine in Africa and the bubonic plague, they were a framework that allowed musicians to live off their music.
From what I hear and see, living from your music is getting nigh on impossible for any but the biggest names.

[Haffner]

I check out MTV from time to time, and I smile at how, despite the different faces,  the same song structures and auto-tuned voices get played over and over. As long as there are alot of scantily clad teenyboppers parading themselves in time to the hilariously recycled progressions, young people deem it "good music" and buy it.

I understand and accept it. I believe that this pop phenomenon has always been around: the Coliseum, Singspiel, Cabaret, Broadway, the "bread and circuses". And there's nothing wrong with it. Practically everybody sees music as a type of fashion: even genres like Black Metal and Metalcore/Rap Metal certainly qualify.

I do believe there are a very small faction of people who really love the kind of music that I do. But I don't think for one second I'll make a living off of my music. I do know that I love it, and it feels terrific writing and playing it. I am one of those people that keeps himself really good company, so that's plenty for me. So I'm grateful for that: that I don't have any pretensions to "rock stardom", nothing that would disappoint me. I'm fantastically happy just doing what I'm doing, and I make my fiancee happy. I know that's not enough for most, but most aren't me, are they ?