Music Monday: Rock Is Dieing A Slow And Painful Death

After the Grammys aired, a friend mused that he thought that Rock music is dead. "Look at the nominees," he said, "almost all of them are ancient or near-dead themselves." So I looked at the nominees, and the winners, and I have come to a conclusion: he's right. Rock is a dieing art.

"But Dickie," you say, "Arcade Fire won Album of the Year. How can Rock be dead?" Fair point. We'll get to that in a minute.

Let's take a look at just the Rock and Metal categories. Out of those 7 categories, there were 35 nominations. Only 2 categories featured more than 1 nomination for an artist that has been around less than 10 years. The remaining nominations were for old acts. And yes, even groups like STP, one of my favorite bands, is an old act: they've been around nearly 20 years now. Swallow that pill, 30-somethings.

Pual McCartney, Jeff Beck, Iron Maiden, and Neil Young all won awards this year. So more than half the awards were handed out to artists that are well over 50 years-old, some over 60. For a music form that revolves on the credo of "Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll," I'm starting to wonder if they are referring more to Viagra than to rebellion.

And Neil Young… a man best known by today's generation as a line in that annoying Southern anthem Sweet Home Alabama. Yeah, it's the same Neil Young kids. He's that old.

Let's not get this message twisted. I am a Rock fan. Some of the newer artists that took home awards are in constant rotation on my iPhone, such as Arcade Fire and Muse. And I do love me some revived 90's rock. But without much fresh blood being pumped in to the system, can we honestly hope for a bright future for Rock?

I certainly hope so. But just as certainly I can't say that they are. If the old guard is really the best we have to offer, it stands to reason that Rock is being minimized to a niche market.

Groups like Kings of Leon, Muse and Arcade Fire bring me some hope that the future of Rock isn't completely dismal. And there are certainly a plethora of other lesser known and indie Rock acts that just haven't hit it big yet. But that fact confirms the niche status rather than deflecting it.

In any case, I'm still here. I'm still supporting new Rockers. Even if I'm in the minority for doing so. And it's not that I'm not appreciative of the old guard of Rock, but the energy and power of rock lies in the young and the powerless, not the old and jaded. Let's get some more of those hungry, angry, virile rockers out on the scene and shake things up a bit.

Is Rock dead? Not yet, but it is slowly getting there. And that scares me.