by Jared Garrett

Created on: January 27, 2007   Last Updated: June 01, 2010

With something over 6 billion people populating this planet, it's no wonder that there are people who feel like contemporary rock music doesn't measure up to rock music of some decade or decades ago. Assuming that we, the writer and reader, agree with the position that there are indeed problems with contemporary trends in rock music, let's take a few minutes to discuss what those problems are. 

1. Quite a lot of mainstream. You have bands like Nickelback that on the surface look like hard rockers, and indeed on their first album they sounded like such, but they are really quite mainstream. How about Seether? These folks are dependable hard-rockers, but then they did a song called Broken, with Amy Lee. A despondent little love song that actually emotes remarkably well. So it appears that one trend in rock music is for artists to try to keep their fan bases very, very broad. So the immediate problem that springs to mind is a question: Does the need to maintain a broad fanbase compromise the integrity of the true art? The answer? Tough to say. 

Truth is, art can be perfectly good and still be popular. Just think of La Joconde, or the Mona Lisa. This is the single most famous painting in the world- and it's also pretty good art.

2. The downloadable song as opposed to purchasing full, complete hard albums. Clearly the age of the mp3 and other digital music portability is here in full swing. Most computer software bundles include a media player or two, all of which seem to have the "rip" capacity with them.

So how does this affect modern rock music? Hard to say, but it can be seen, with some effort, that quite a few modern rock albums really only have a few choice numbers on them, while the other songs tend to weakness. Therefore, we are almost back to the time when putting out singles was how you got radiotime and albums sold. In this author's mind, this is worrying.

Perhaps bands aren't gelling the way they need to in order to put out a complete, coherent album of excellent songs. This trend also may be influencing bands to develop and maintain a certain 'sound.' If you want a band that breaks that mold and consistently puts out unique, versatile and moving rock music, see all of Collective Soul's work. An example of this maintenance of a 'sound' is Linkin Park. So many of their songs, while quite enjoyable, truly sound very similar.

Another noticeable trend is the arrival of bands like The Killers, who write sexual songs and try for original sounds, but really end up wallowing in mediocrity that sounds the same with every song. Of course, this is a personal position, but it is very true that there are many bands that seem to simply fit a mold and churn out mediocre to catchy music, which then begs the question, "Are they artists?"

This leads us to the final question which illuminates a sad contemporary trend in rock music.:What has happened to lyrics? To songs that tell stories? They don't happen much anymore, but see Marc Cohn's debut album for incredibly beautiful lyrics. For that matter, see Toto, Kansas, Metallica, Mark Knopfler, Big Country and again Collective Soul for a wonderful melding of word and sound.

But whatever you do, don't depend on the radio to provide quality music. Find your own music!

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