I had originally posted this in the culture forum as the beginning of a rant on aspects of culture in general but ended up only touching up on music, so I thought I'd post it here again.
Now the mistake I had previously made was that I posted this under the title "Why are attention whores taking over my culture" and it received a flurry of negative responses. I think the main culprit was that I wasn't clear in the fact that I made the post seem like I'm criticizing the state of music. However, that's not what I'm criticizing here. In fact, I guess my problem is that good bands and music isn't even getting the recognition the artists on MTV and VH-1 are. Now you might say that these are all just people here to sell for money and satisfy the average viewer, but my point is that this was also the case of the people in the days of yore and yet we still had some pretty phenomenal icons. So without further ado here is the post in its original form. Once again please bare in mind this is about iconography, not music (and whether the standards for what a music icon is have dropped).
A rant about our cultural Icons.
Now, I understand the words of this post may allude to a lunatic living in a sea of nostalgia with a glorified conception of the past, but I do believe that anyone who experienced their teenage years within the 80s, 90s or prior may agree with me.
I’ve been noticing a steady decline of our past cultural, artistic and political icons, and they’re quietly being replaced with loud, pale imitations who are obviously in it for a variation of fame or fortune. I am seeing this infiltration in various aspects of culture and I will begin with Music:
Music
Remember the glory days of rock? I mean I remember there was a time when Soundgarden, Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Led Zeppelin, AC DC, Metallica, Ozzy Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, Rage Against The Machine, all reigned supreme. These were our icons, these were the pioneers of our generations. When I turn on MTV or VH1 I realize, it’s not the new generations of artists that are fusing new and exciting forms of rock and giving me the beats to rock out to, it’s still the same old people that were pioneers 10 years ago. Bare in mind, I’m not talking about bad music vs good music, I’m discussing iconography and creativity.
I mean, the last great iconic band with music that I could add to the rock vault of awesome was probably Audioslave (this is my personal choice, I understand that a lot of chewers think they're shit so substitute someone else of your choosing), whom are merely a fusion of two of the bands mentioned in the previous paragraph. Red Hot Chilli Peppers are still the only artists I can rely on for quality. With Green Day, U2, Velvet Revolver (another 90s revival/fusion) and Eddie Vedder, still staying as chart toppers.
The only real band, that has been conceived recently in the past decade, I can honestly say can contend with the rock juggernauts of yore would be the White Stripes and The Raconteurs (To a lesser extent).
Now, I don’t really mind the music of today that much, but I’m pissed at all this talk of Band X being the next Band Y. I just attempted to name some of the bands of today that are attempting to attain some form of iconography and I can’t for the life of me remember a single one. When before we had interesting movements that came and went, for example, Disco, Grunge, Hard Rock, Metal, today we have Emo rock and Nu-Metal? I understand that I may be equating movements with trends here, but still when contemporary music has nothing exciting to show for itself than a variation of 70s, 80s, and 90s revivals and the two trends or movements mentioned above I start to get pissed.
Let’s forget rock, let’s move on to something like pop music. Now I don’t really listen to pop, but there are the occasional artists or songs here and there I could appreciate. I mean, there was literally a point in our lives where the kings, queens and generals of pop were Michael Jackson, Madonna, George Michael, Prince and Mariah Carey. There was literally a point where all those artists would have hit after hit playing within the same year. These were the artists at the top of their game. Who do we have no being heralded as the next Madonna? Britney Spears? Lindsay Lohan? Paris Hilton?
Who’s the next Michael Jackson? I see a lot of people being nominated as contenders but I have yet to see anyone bring the innovation that I felt he did (remember once again I'm talking about the people who have achieved iconic status not musicians in general).
The fact that there even is an obsession with the idea of x is the next y is frustrating and what I honestly believe is the source of this decline in quality. When before we had these pioneers and exciting innovators delivering our entertainment, today we have the kids who grew up wishing they could be them delivering it while aping their style. What depth or value does a song like “Rumors” by Lohan or “Gimmie More” by Spears have in comparison with “Like a Prayer” by Madonna, “Jesus to a Child” by George Michael or “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson? Maybe it’s unfair, and maybe I’m comparing the old artists at their peak with fresh faced pop stars of today who have yet to mature, but I call B.S, I doubt anyone we see singing today will achieve a fraction of what we’ve seen in the past.
Rap is suffering from a similar fate with every rapper longing to be Tupac, aping his style but never analyzing why it is that he worked so well as a rapper (my theory is that it was honestly his love of books and his intellectual outlook on life). I can think of a specific distinct style or iconic movement to associate with every decade from the 70s, 80s and 90s, but now with this decade nearing a close I can think of nothing but a bunch of attention whores aping their heroes and enjoying their fame and fortune while my entertainment quality sits in a rut.
Thank You
EDIT: Also I'm dealing more with the decades that were closest to ours, because I feel this sudden deterioration is very recent (hence the lack of mention of Led Z, Hendrix, Dylan, etc).
Now the mistake I had previously made was that I posted this under the title "Why are attention whores taking over my culture" and it received a flurry of negative responses. I think the main culprit was that I wasn't clear in the fact that I made the post seem like I'm criticizing the state of music. However, that's not what I'm criticizing here. In fact, I guess my problem is that good bands and music isn't even getting the recognition the artists on MTV and VH-1 are. Now you might say that these are all just people here to sell for money and satisfy the average viewer, but my point is that this was also the case of the people in the days of yore and yet we still had some pretty phenomenal icons. So without further ado here is the post in its original form. Once again please bare in mind this is about iconography, not music (and whether the standards for what a music icon is have dropped).
A rant about our cultural Icons.
Now, I understand the words of this post may allude to a lunatic living in a sea of nostalgia with a glorified conception of the past, but I do believe that anyone who experienced their teenage years within the 80s, 90s or prior may agree with me.
I’ve been noticing a steady decline of our past cultural, artistic and political icons, and they’re quietly being replaced with loud, pale imitations who are obviously in it for a variation of fame or fortune. I am seeing this infiltration in various aspects of culture and I will begin with Music:
Music
Remember the glory days of rock? I mean I remember there was a time when Soundgarden, Nirvana, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Led Zeppelin, AC DC, Metallica, Ozzy Aerosmith, Guns N’ Roses, Rage Against The Machine, all reigned supreme. These were our icons, these were the pioneers of our generations. When I turn on MTV or VH1 I realize, it’s not the new generations of artists that are fusing new and exciting forms of rock and giving me the beats to rock out to, it’s still the same old people that were pioneers 10 years ago. Bare in mind, I’m not talking about bad music vs good music, I’m discussing iconography and creativity.
I mean, the last great iconic band with music that I could add to the rock vault of awesome was probably Audioslave (this is my personal choice, I understand that a lot of chewers think they're shit so substitute someone else of your choosing), whom are merely a fusion of two of the bands mentioned in the previous paragraph. Red Hot Chilli Peppers are still the only artists I can rely on for quality. With Green Day, U2, Velvet Revolver (another 90s revival/fusion) and Eddie Vedder, still staying as chart toppers.
The only real band, that has been conceived recently in the past decade, I can honestly say can contend with the rock juggernauts of yore would be the White Stripes and The Raconteurs (To a lesser extent).
Now, I don’t really mind the music of today that much, but I’m pissed at all this talk of Band X being the next Band Y. I just attempted to name some of the bands of today that are attempting to attain some form of iconography and I can’t for the life of me remember a single one. When before we had interesting movements that came and went, for example, Disco, Grunge, Hard Rock, Metal, today we have Emo rock and Nu-Metal? I understand that I may be equating movements with trends here, but still when contemporary music has nothing exciting to show for itself than a variation of 70s, 80s, and 90s revivals and the two trends or movements mentioned above I start to get pissed.
Let’s forget rock, let’s move on to something like pop music. Now I don’t really listen to pop, but there are the occasional artists or songs here and there I could appreciate. I mean, there was literally a point in our lives where the kings, queens and generals of pop were Michael Jackson, Madonna, George Michael, Prince and Mariah Carey. There was literally a point where all those artists would have hit after hit playing within the same year. These were the artists at the top of their game. Who do we have no being heralded as the next Madonna? Britney Spears? Lindsay Lohan? Paris Hilton?
Who’s the next Michael Jackson? I see a lot of people being nominated as contenders but I have yet to see anyone bring the innovation that I felt he did (remember once again I'm talking about the people who have achieved iconic status not musicians in general).
The fact that there even is an obsession with the idea of x is the next y is frustrating and what I honestly believe is the source of this decline in quality. When before we had these pioneers and exciting innovators delivering our entertainment, today we have the kids who grew up wishing they could be them delivering it while aping their style. What depth or value does a song like “Rumors” by Lohan or “Gimmie More” by Spears have in comparison with “Like a Prayer” by Madonna, “Jesus to a Child” by George Michael or “Billie Jean” by Michael Jackson? Maybe it’s unfair, and maybe I’m comparing the old artists at their peak with fresh faced pop stars of today who have yet to mature, but I call B.S, I doubt anyone we see singing today will achieve a fraction of what we’ve seen in the past.
Rap is suffering from a similar fate with every rapper longing to be Tupac, aping his style but never analyzing why it is that he worked so well as a rapper (my theory is that it was honestly his love of books and his intellectual outlook on life). I can think of a specific distinct style or iconic movement to associate with every decade from the 70s, 80s and 90s, but now with this decade nearing a close I can think of nothing but a bunch of attention whores aping their heroes and enjoying their fame and fortune while my entertainment quality sits in a rut.
Thank You
EDIT: Also I'm dealing more with the decades that were closest to ours, because I feel this sudden deterioration is very recent (hence the lack of mention of Led Z, Hendrix, Dylan, etc).
