Post by khelswanbe on Nov 12, 2014 20:41:43 GMT 5.5
The loud and heavy rock music has been undergoing a number of metamorphoses over the past several decades. Different varieties of rock music have crept up into existence in course of time. Today it has reached a very interesting and complex stage; it has become increasingly difficult to give a comprehensive definition of rock music. In the sixties and seventies of the last decades there were fewer number of rock bands.
Some of the early rock bands of worldwide fame included the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and so on. Younger bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Manowars etc, followed them. In every decade, new rock bands were born, and some of them have been around for three/four decades. Some worth mentioning veteran rock bands include Rolling stones, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden… With the birth of bands like Iron maiden, Judas priest, Def Leppard, rock music scaled a new height and a new rock genre by the name Heavy Metal was born. These Heavy metal bands were followed by still heavier Thrash metal bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Anthrax, Testament and so on and so forth.
The last decade of the last century saw the birth of yet another rock genre called Alternative rock pioneered by some highly innovative guys like late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. It will definitely be a difficult attempt to try to name all the rock bands that have seen the light of the day in the last four or five decades. It is becoming increasingly difficult to follow the trend of rock music.
But one thing is certain that the music is characterized by loudness and the power to capture the attention of the youth the world over. In other word, rock music has literally succeeded in engulfing the whole planet where youth are found and it can’t simply be dismissed as something insignificant.
Rock music seems to have got all it takes to captivate the attention of millions of youth across the globe with its head-pounding drums, ear-piercing guitars and gut-wrenching vocals. It is the yoking together of noise, rhythm and melody that makes rock music such a formidable force. It is not my intention to pass any judgment on this brand of music; I am only trying to express something that I perceive about it. I, nevertheless, accept the fact that no one can be completely free from subjectivity while saying something about anything.
Rock music is sometimes accused of being the Devil’s music and that its musicians worship the devil to grant them extraordinary musical prowess. Maybe, we should ask Malmsteen and Satriani what they did. But, I’m not sure how far these allegations are true. It certainly needs some verification before jumping to the conclusion, and I don’t want to simply subscribe to such accusations. Rock musicians are, of course, very good at contriving lots of flamboyant gimmicks on stage. They usually indulge in a heavy dose of histrionics during concerts, obviously to entertain and impress the audience. At this point, I would not like to say anything as to whether rock music should be listened or not. Let the choice be solely determined by personal judgment. Anything has got its own merits and shortcomings. It is true that some rock musicians have died of drug addiction and over boozing; and sometimes accidents happen during rock concerts resulting to deaths or injuries among the audience. However, these things do not happen to the rockers alone, it happen to others and other places too where huge crowds gather. Moreover, drug addiction is not something encouraged by all rock musicians. We often hear of a member being fired from rock band for indulging in drugs, and we should not simply indulge in stereotyping rock music as entirely drug-driven.
Entertainment of course is what rock musicians try to sell and for that matter, any form of entertainment is a product for sale. Music has become a highly lucrative industry. Musicians – rock, pop, country, or gospel- make millions of dollars. A very talented musician has a good prospect for earning a lot of money provided his product is appealing to the people. It’s not only the money, but also the fun it provides to both the musicians and the audience, like football or cricket. The legendary rock singer, Ozzy Ozbourne sings, “I’m not the kind of person you think I am… I’m not the antichrist or the ironman…I try to entertain you the best I can”. He also once proclaimed, “But most of all, you the fans have given me literally all that I have today and have made me what I am.” Rock music too is a part of entertainment industry that tries to sell its products. One thing is of course true that excessive obsession with anything is not good, even if the thing is something very wholesome.
Interestingly, rock music seems to have, in the recent time, spilled over even into the domain of gospel music too, notwithstanding the seeming incompatibility. Gone are the days when electric guitars and drums were virtually banned in the church. Today their acceptability seems to be gaining ground rapidly! Today, we see the mushrooming of gospel rock bands, some of which can be conveniently labeled as heavy metal gospel band- extremely loud and heavy, that can be, without any doubt, compared to any heavy metal band say, Iron Maiden or Metallica! The musicians/guitarists of such gospel rock bands have got such an enviable and electrifying talent that watching their stage performance instantly conjure up the image of such metal guitar wizards as Kirk Hammet or Yngwie Malmsteen. Nevertheless, gospel rock, perhaps, still has some more way to go before it finally attains its full maturity and acceptability. Perhaps, some pruning needs to be done before it acquires a spiritually conducive tone. A casual audience or listener may find it hard to distinguish a gospel rock concert from that of a Metallica or Manowar. It’s a million dollar question as to whether the songs performed at such concerts can be regarded as devotional and prayer worthy. How would the angels in heaven react to such heavy metal gospel songs! Opinions and answers may widely vary in this regard; only the Almighty can give the right answer!
Some of the early rock bands of worldwide fame included the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and so on. Younger bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Manowars etc, followed them. In every decade, new rock bands were born, and some of them have been around for three/four decades. Some worth mentioning veteran rock bands include Rolling stones, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden… With the birth of bands like Iron maiden, Judas priest, Def Leppard, rock music scaled a new height and a new rock genre by the name Heavy Metal was born. These Heavy metal bands were followed by still heavier Thrash metal bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Anthrax, Testament and so on and so forth.
The last decade of the last century saw the birth of yet another rock genre called Alternative rock pioneered by some highly innovative guys like late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana and Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. It will definitely be a difficult attempt to try to name all the rock bands that have seen the light of the day in the last four or five decades. It is becoming increasingly difficult to follow the trend of rock music.
But one thing is certain that the music is characterized by loudness and the power to capture the attention of the youth the world over. In other word, rock music has literally succeeded in engulfing the whole planet where youth are found and it can’t simply be dismissed as something insignificant.
Rock music seems to have got all it takes to captivate the attention of millions of youth across the globe with its head-pounding drums, ear-piercing guitars and gut-wrenching vocals. It is the yoking together of noise, rhythm and melody that makes rock music such a formidable force. It is not my intention to pass any judgment on this brand of music; I am only trying to express something that I perceive about it. I, nevertheless, accept the fact that no one can be completely free from subjectivity while saying something about anything.
Rock music is sometimes accused of being the Devil’s music and that its musicians worship the devil to grant them extraordinary musical prowess. Maybe, we should ask Malmsteen and Satriani what they did. But, I’m not sure how far these allegations are true. It certainly needs some verification before jumping to the conclusion, and I don’t want to simply subscribe to such accusations. Rock musicians are, of course, very good at contriving lots of flamboyant gimmicks on stage. They usually indulge in a heavy dose of histrionics during concerts, obviously to entertain and impress the audience. At this point, I would not like to say anything as to whether rock music should be listened or not. Let the choice be solely determined by personal judgment. Anything has got its own merits and shortcomings. It is true that some rock musicians have died of drug addiction and over boozing; and sometimes accidents happen during rock concerts resulting to deaths or injuries among the audience. However, these things do not happen to the rockers alone, it happen to others and other places too where huge crowds gather. Moreover, drug addiction is not something encouraged by all rock musicians. We often hear of a member being fired from rock band for indulging in drugs, and we should not simply indulge in stereotyping rock music as entirely drug-driven.
Entertainment of course is what rock musicians try to sell and for that matter, any form of entertainment is a product for sale. Music has become a highly lucrative industry. Musicians – rock, pop, country, or gospel- make millions of dollars. A very talented musician has a good prospect for earning a lot of money provided his product is appealing to the people. It’s not only the money, but also the fun it provides to both the musicians and the audience, like football or cricket. The legendary rock singer, Ozzy Ozbourne sings, “I’m not the kind of person you think I am… I’m not the antichrist or the ironman…I try to entertain you the best I can”. He also once proclaimed, “But most of all, you the fans have given me literally all that I have today and have made me what I am.” Rock music too is a part of entertainment industry that tries to sell its products. One thing is of course true that excessive obsession with anything is not good, even if the thing is something very wholesome.
Interestingly, rock music seems to have, in the recent time, spilled over even into the domain of gospel music too, notwithstanding the seeming incompatibility. Gone are the days when electric guitars and drums were virtually banned in the church. Today their acceptability seems to be gaining ground rapidly! Today, we see the mushrooming of gospel rock bands, some of which can be conveniently labeled as heavy metal gospel band- extremely loud and heavy, that can be, without any doubt, compared to any heavy metal band say, Iron Maiden or Metallica! The musicians/guitarists of such gospel rock bands have got such an enviable and electrifying talent that watching their stage performance instantly conjure up the image of such metal guitar wizards as Kirk Hammet or Yngwie Malmsteen. Nevertheless, gospel rock, perhaps, still has some more way to go before it finally attains its full maturity and acceptability. Perhaps, some pruning needs to be done before it acquires a spiritually conducive tone. A casual audience or listener may find it hard to distinguish a gospel rock concert from that of a Metallica or Manowar. It’s a million dollar question as to whether the songs performed at such concerts can be regarded as devotional and prayer worthy. How would the angels in heaven react to such heavy metal gospel songs! Opinions and answers may widely vary in this regard; only the Almighty can give the right answer!