Bland on Blonde: why the old rock music canon is finished

Music journos must be the most miserable people.

 

This sort of argument about the canon has come up in other disciplines as well. In Art History there is the famous essay "Why Are There No Great Women Artists?" by Linda Nochlin. One of her many interesting points is that 'the canon' has implicit rules that dictate what is even allowed to be considered great art / genius / a masterpiece, based on who is in power (you know who). Instead of just picking a few female artists to add to the canon, she argued we should instead deconstruct what those rules of 'great art' even are, and look at how artists produce art and what barriers there may be to their development, because that is where the problem is. So I think the music canon should be deconstructed, but it has to go beyond sprinkling in a few more 'diverse' albums because that isn't actually changing anything. Also, the author of this article is conflating the rock music canon with popular music in general.

 

I've really not found that to be the case, and I've worked among them for about 30 years. "Enthusiastic" is actually the key word, for the successful ones.

 

I just read the article and I think I agree with some points the writer is making. Its probably just better to stick to making best of particular genre album lists than making all time greatest albums list. Comparing Beatles to Rolling Stones to Zep never made much sense -- the albums and bands are so different.

And I also agree, (note: i am an older person that is a huge fan of everything from Tom Petty to Todd Rundgren to Prince to Rolling Stones to Ry Cooder).. its nuts that well made hip-hop genre albums aren't on greatest lists along with rock oldies. A few records that definataly should be on in are some of Kanye Wests earlier releases as well as Notorious BIG/P Diddy releases. If you are a music lover and never saw the artistry in what hip-hoppers were doing, you have really missed out in quality music releases. The hip-hop genre makes up and has influenced a very large chunk of the last 25 years of music and should be included in a "canon".

 

Successful also the key.

 

It's become the main event. Music is secondary.

 

All I know for sure is sgt pepper is the best album of all time and pet sounds is number 2! Facts are facts.

 

Am I the only old white male who does not like Pet Sounds at all?

 

There's hundreds on here saying the same on numerous threads daily.

 

and I may be the only white guy who actually doesnt like St. Pepper that much. I always fail to see whats so great about it as I thought the Beatles had other much better records. I am going to just assume the great thing about St. Pepper was the timing of when it came out.

 

It's all simple really, you can even look back at an old video of Zappa talking about it all... Back in the day these old dudes with cigars didn't know what would sell, so they took a chance on everything, that's why there's so much great recorded music from years past. These days one of the main factors was a big merger in the late 90's when a corporation or 2 bought all the airwaves. So now you have formulated crap that they know will sell based on algorithms and such. Clubbin' beats and super dumbed-down lyrics about "murda," and "hustling" with gunshot sound effects in the background (Cardi B), sold to the lowest common denominator of people who don't really LISTEN or care about MUSIC. BUT with the internet and youtube we have access to all music in recorded history, so no one should ever be at the mercy of the corporate controlled music industry these days when it comes to finding good music.

 

Y'know, when Beethoven premiered his 9th symphony almost 200 years ago, I thought that there's no way that it'd still be played almost 200 years later. And let me tell you, Beethoven was no fan of auto-tune.

 

I can't stand it. i'm 44 though...is that old?

 

The case for the defence:



The great art of the times we have lived through is always going to be there, waiting to be rediscovered.

 

No, you are definitely not. Though I'm not that old.

 

Joni Mitchell's bare rear end is visible in a shot of Joni in nature far in the distance. The artwork showcases a human being getting back to the primal, natural world (back to the garden) in contrast to the false world of the 'industry' (one of the major themes of the album in question, For the Roses). The album itself is absolutely exceptional, personal art.

If this post was to suggest that Joni tried to use sex to sell, that was 100% not the case. The human form has been utilized in art (not just sleaze) for centuries.

 

What's wrong with scantily clad back up singers?

 

If the rock canon is dead, good riddance. I love rock and roll but I could go the rest of my life not having to hear how great Dark Side of The Moon or Led Zeppelin IV are ever again. Honestly, that narrative was getting tired 30 years ago.

 

Rock is dead they say....

 

People saying Rock is dead was getting tired 30 years ago also

 

I don't understand why the existence of lack thereof of a rock canon should or would affect your own decision whether or not to listen to this or that piece of music.

Btw, are you "tired" of Beethoven? Mozart?

Maybe you never liked that old fashioned stuff.

 

My comment has nothing to do with whether something is old nor with what I listen to. I listen to mostly old music. Some of it may even be in the "canon". I just find the concept of holding up the same old sacred cows as some kind of agreed on pinnacle to be tired and unimaginative.

 

The good will always be good, and the classic will always be classic! That doesn't mean that new music can't be both, but if a song was good decades ago, that same song is still good now!

The Beatles, James Brown, Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, Bad Company, etc will always be good and classic!

It's people who change, taste that change, new classics can be added, but the old classics are still just that! Classic rock isn't dead, it's very much alive in many people's lives! I still hear it in many places, just because it's not on the so called top 10 means nothing, especially these days!

It's not about staying stuck, it's about realizing and appreciating what is really good and worth being called classic!