Posted on 05/04/2025 7:01:31 PM PDT by DoodleBob
… By its peak in 1983, rock music dominated radio play and accounted for over 60% of the Billboard Top 100.
… In many ways, the rise of pop, rap, and hip-hop can be seen as a market correction to mainstream rock's lack of cultural innovation, aesthetic appeal, and musical experimentation.
In the years leading up to the stylistic shifts of the 1980s, there was a significant disconnect between critical acclaim and consumer music preferences. However, when rock began its descent from the mainstream in the mid-1980s, the association between critic and consumer music preference rebounded and stayed aligned for the next 30 years.
Researchers attribute the critical-commercial disconnect of the late 1970s and early 1980s to widespread "rockism," an era of rock hubris that assumed perpetual relevance and dismissed other genres. During this period, critics maligned the stale output of hair metal bands and the shallow theatrics of acts like Def Leppard, Twisted Sister, and Kiss. The rise of pop, hip-hop, and rap realigned critical and commercial preferences, infusing mainstream music with new-fangled stylings and technical innovation.
The grunge movement of the 1990s, characterized by its low-fi production and anti-capitalist sentiments, is often seen as rock's last gasp at mainstream relevance. Yet there was an inherent contradiction to grunge's ascension. Artists like Nirvana's Kurt Cobain and Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder struggled with their newfound success, which directly conflicted with their rejection of commercialism and rock stardom. The grunge movement effectively ended with Kurt Cobain's 1994 suicide, marking the decline of this ascendent subgenre and rock's best chance at a mainstream comeback.
(Excerpt) Read more at statsignificant.com ...
For early Rock and Soul? that LP by Laura Nyro, backed by Patti Labelle and the Bluebells.
I now find myself listening to a lot of “Sunshine Pop”, groups like The Association, and The Fifth Dimension, who did the best covers of Nyro’s songs.
AI is pretty much the death knell of being able to make a living as a musician.
This is a great video, that features Alice In Chains’ Jerry Cantrell
Dad Band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31PrzVpMktE
No argument. I could listen to that continuously until I die and I won't get tired of it.
Around 1990 both MTV AND Rolling Stone magazine dropped Rock & Roll for Rap/HipHop at nearly the same time with no explanation or apologies. In a few more years MTV devolved into bad reality shows and other trash while Rolling Stone somehow kept on - just with ever more leftist articles that made Mother Jones envious.
I've always found bands carrying Rock onward with newer variations and styles. Since MTV crapped out I've enjoyed Korn, System of a Down, Black Label Society, Rammstein, Ghost and others. You just have to keep an open ear.
Yeah that’s true...but MC were the four horsemen of the apocalypse...their success heralded the end.
Do I need to remind you about Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds? Drugs? Hello?
I pretty much like all the albums, right up to Gaudi.
Eric Woolfson never has gotten the credit he deserved for all the great songs he wrote.
Possibly the most under-appreciated album in history. Beefheart and his band were other-worldly geniuses.
When comparing musical tastes with other musicians, I always use TMR as a litmus - if they liked it, cool; if they didn't like it, okay why; and if they didn't know about it, then clearly they haven't had their ears turned on.
Cherish, by The Association is a beautiful song and performance by that group.
Now that I think of it, much of the refrain sounds like Catholic songs my family and I sang on Sundays. This was the sound, back when much of the Mass was conducted in Latin.
“It died after the release of Abbey Road and the dissolution of the Beatles”
Yes, The Beatles splitting was a huge hit. A lot of acts imitated them or were inspired by them. I’d say 1974 was the last good year. Taking corporate sponsorships was another death blow.
Ooooh, you may be onto something there. I'm still going with DSotM, but yeah, it's 51/49 with the Fillmore.
I wore out multiple vinyl copies of both of those, back in the day. Fortunately, MP3s don't suffer from that degradation.
Punk rock was the kick in the butt music needed at the time. Bands went back to basics.
I thought Nirvana ended the hair band era.
“My choice - Allman Brothers Live at the Fillmore.”
You beat me to it. The original, not the deluxe is it. Doesn’t waste a note, from ‘Statesboro Blues’ to the fade out of “Mountain Jam”. I will never get tired of the first guitar solo from “Whipping post”.
‘94.
“Punk rock was the kick in the butt music needed at the time. Bands went back to basics.”
Somewhat, but it wasn’t enough. And it had all been done before. The MC5 and others were there before the ‘70s punks.
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