I Hate New Music

Well, I don't, but that's the title, I Hate New Music, of music critic Dave Thompson's latest book. The point of the book is simple: the Rock music you are hearing today isn't as good as the Rock music of Classic Rock's heyday from the late 60's to the late 70's. And none of the stuff today would make it on to any Classic Rock playlist some 20 years from now. Thompson is right about the peak years of Classic Rock. Starting in the 80's, the big names of the format went away from their guitar sound and got caught up in the synths and drum machines of the 80's. And the Indie Rock bands that did Rock, like REM or the Replacements, were fronted by vocalists who mumbled their words so bad that Classic Rock fans turned the station.
My local Classic Rock station does play acts that got started in the 80's. You'll hear some Def Leppard, U2, Bon Jovi, Black Crowes, Night Ranger and Guns 'N' Roses But not REM, Replacements or 90's ones like Pearl Jam, Nirvana or Soundgarden. Oasis are too English. Which had me thinking while reading the book, which artists of today have a chance to connect with Classic Rock fans in 10 years or so. I thought of Nickelback and Green Day, and well, that's about it.
I Hate New Music is sure to infuriate music critic's that do love a lot of the Indie Rock that comes out today. But Thompson doesn't think that what we call Rock now is the same as what we did in Classic Rock's peak years. These type of books are mean to stir conversation, and Thompson does right by his essay. Whether you think it's the work of a cranky music critic or
someone telling the truth, probably depends on your reaction to my lead off sentence in this post.