Rock Culture's Last Gasp

As the time of rock 'n roll and the culture it supported comes to a close ~ the whole era of albums, favorite players, thoughtful & innovative record covers, moments in songs that made us utter 'Right here, listen, this part is great...', the reverence had for all things rock fades into history ~ do we grieve our losses and bid farewell to heroes who mastered their instruments and voices in an all-too-human way?

Icons of music are dying with increasing frequency and even the act of listening to an 'album' is old-school; nostalgia tours by geriatric rock 'n roll conquerors are everywhere; and "Keep the memory alive" is Billy Joel's catchphrase.   Does the sparse, aging rock community fade quietly into legend or does it hold tight, fight back, and hang on for rock's unlikely but inevitable comeback?   Or does it even matter that rock in all its forms and the intentional, focused act of listening to it is coming to a close?

Yeah, what's gone is the cultural hegemony of rock music - now it's more or less a niche interest, and adventurous rock music a niche within a niche. But just as the internet has contributed to this by enabling cultural fragmentation, it also means everyone inside the mini-niches can connect. 

Edited by Mascodagama - November 24 2017 at 05:27

Mascodagama wrote: I reckon there are as many young musicians making progressive and experimental music of various kinds, certainly not all 'rock', as there ever were. Maybe more. They will never go large, they are doing it because it's what they want to do, the music they enjoy playing. Quite a healthy situation IMO.