Every decade or so the debate arises again. Is rock music dead? If Rolling Stone magazine is a barometer, and it's not, The Black Keys on the cover would contradict the statement. Remember, The Sheepdogs (a rock band) were on the cover in August. There's the power of Rolling Stone these days.
But back to the question, is rock dead, which is being bandied around once more these days. It is certainly in a lull commercially. And quite frankly, the genre is so old now that it's hard to think of a way to come at it from a new direction. Everything's been done. That's why we're seeing more creative work in hip hop and electronic music. There's still new territory to be explored.
Rock isn't dead though. I'm hard pressed to think of any form of music that is dead. Gregorian chants made a come back in the 1980s. It just may be that we'll never see the kind of mass appeal for rock and roll that we once did. That's ok, I don't listen to music because it's popular. In fact, most of what passes for the hits of today, the popular stuff, is lousy. As always, the better music lies just below the surface.
Don't fret you rock and rollers. Kids will still be picking up a guitar and banging out chords. Rock and roll is primal. I'm not sure the same can be said for electronic music.
Playing the guitar or drums is physical, especially if you truly rock. Playing with software on a computer is not physical. True, the end result of the electronic piece you create may be visceral. It may make you move your body but it doesn't really happen in the creative process.
The same debate is happening in the blues world. Here's a story from the Chicago Tribune, Is this the twilight of blues music? Again, the blues will never die but it may be relegated to a much lesser stage. And someday it may see a resurgence.
All this fretting over the loss of ones favorite music is just so much nonsense. We have what's been recorded, and everyday, somewhere in the world, someone will be rocking out or singing the blues.
Packy Malley's Wedding DJs