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When I turn on a rock/metal station, it seems like the exact same songs and bands I listened to when I graduated high school in the 90s. The same bands are going on tour, the same songs are being played. Hell...Testament is back on tour, Guns and roses are back on tour. Disturbed, Manson, Korn, etc, etc...The list goes on and on.
The real question is why? Why hasn't there been any metal music created since generation X?
I've heard it said that Gen-x was the last generation of rock/metal music and nothing has existed since. We have discovered that as a band of mature men, people are MUCH more receptive to what we have to say then we expected would be. A producer I met once told me that 40somethings automatically command a little respect in the industry because it's our generation (and those before) that wrote the music they still listen to.
This still brings me back to my original question......Why?
Many theorize that it's a generational difference. After gen-x, auto=tune (pitch correction) hit the scene when recording was computer based and no longer reliant on reel-to-reel recording. This paved the way for record labels to be less stringent on a singer's ability and rely more on pitch correction. Britney Spears was a famous example and it continues with artists like Selena Gomez who, lovely as she is, is pretty well known for not being able to sing. Due to this, performers are more of a product of the industry than pioneers of it. They are no longer shaping music, they instead perform the music that the industry deems profitable.
Secondly, it's been said that people are less patient and more reliant on instant gratification. The idea of joining a band and spending 5 years grinding to MAYBE get discovered by a record label is absolutely ludicrous by today's standards. Now, aspiring singers go join the thousands of people who audition for a reality singing competition and find out within 90 days if they're going to make it. If they don't make it, then obviously it wasn't in the cards.
(I personally auditioned for one of these reality shows and I'll tell you all about it in a future blog.)
So what has changed?
Is is the fact that pitch correction and computer-driven musical perfection is the norm? Is it the theory that people today don't have the work ethic of generations before them? Feel free to comment and leave your take on this subject. Look forward to hearing from all of you.
