What Rock/Rock-Metal Band was the Last one to even Matter?

[StingRay85]

In the general "rock" or blues rock category Joe Bonamassa will keep things alive for at least another few decades

 

[Deftone]

IMHO Ebb and Flow. People will grow weary of phony assholes like Justin Bieber and the fake music industry and will look for real music again. It will start underground like it did with Metallica.

The "Music Industry" is to blame. They created this mess to make more money and it worked. They took over radio, gave us phony shit like Milli Vanilli, Auto tuners, etc....

When big money gets involved it ruins everything.

 

[GregM]

Yup, real rock is out there, I think the problem is more us and not the music.
In your teens/early adulthood music speaks to you in a way that is very hard to capture once you age, for me and Rock ( not alternative, lots of alt stuff I like still out there) I'd say King Gizzard and the lizard wizard is pretty ballsy without being death metal stuff.

 

[lespaul339]

The last rock/metal band that came out that I actually liked was Mastodon. And that was 20 something years ago. I honestly don't hardly listen to any newer bands that come out because I find most of it is recycled radio friendly garbage. And if it's in the metal genre, most of it is radio friendly lame stuff, or so heavy that you can't understand the vocals. Not my cup of tea.


I honestly find a lot more unsigned bands that I dig on bandcamp. There's great music that's still being made, it just isn't in the mainstream.

 

[WellBurnTheSky]

Dunno, my 16yo daughter is a big Halestorm and ArchEnemy fan, that's about as current and as rock as you get. Not too into ArchEnemy myself (anything heavier than Mötörhead and Megadeth is too much for me), but I really like Halestorm, they're definitely part of the 70s/80s rock legacy but sound fresh and current.
Also there's lots of active bands that keep the legacy up. Like Inglorious, they're pretty cool.

Rock might not be at the forefront of media attention right now, but it is far from dead (as it also was during disco and punk eras). It just takes a tad more effort to find out about new bands (and then again, it's soooooo easy now compared to what it was pre-Internet).

 

[joe_cpwe]

8 yrs ago this video was my introduction to Rival Sons. What they put out has every element many rock fans appreciate; good lyrics & great vocals, heavy Bonham-like drumming, creative & nasty guitar riffs and a sold bass. Great band carrying the torch.



..and they toured with Sabbath on their final tour. Asked to do their tribute at grammys here..



Rival Sons aren't as heavy as Skid Row, et al. In that vein of music I don't know any new/young bands, but I don't look for it either. I do like Last in Line.....those geezers can bring it

 

[Biff Maloy]

I was always pretty diverse in what i listen to so bands coming and going had very little effect on me.

Iron Maiden still puts on a great show. I've seen them 5 times with 2 lately. Felt like the 80s.

 

[DaDoc]

Not my cup of tea, but these cats are still going strong. This video has nearly 3 million hits in less than 6 months.

Greta Van Fleet is a good case in point of how, whenever a new band comes out with a classic sound, they get slammed as being posers and rip-off's of some great classic rock band. In their case Led Zeppelin.

It's nothing new, when Robin Trower came on the scene in the 70's he got lambasted for sounding too much like Hendrix. In the '90's the same thing happened to Lenny Kravitz when people said he was ripping off the great old R&B acts. It seems the latest band for it to be trendy to hate on is Greta van Fleet.

Personally, I don't get it. People whine about "rock being dead" but then slam any promising new band or artist they perceive as sounding too much like someone else..Rock music fans can be silly as hell sometimes.

By the way, I like all the aforementioned bands, and there's still a lot of great rock music out there..You just have to dig deep to find it. You're just not going to hear about it in the mainstream, because the media machine is too busy pushing the latest disney/nickelodean kid act or crap like Cardi B's or Kanye West's foulmouthed rap/hip hop drivel.

Add to this the current social situation in which musical mediocrity is ultimately celebrated over talent or substance if the act in question is in the correct state of "wokefulness", and it's easy to fall into the mindset that rock is dead..

 

[StingRay85]

Good 70s style rock music is still being made today, no doubt about that:

 

[joe_cpwe]

Not my cup of tea, but these cats are still going strong. This video has nearly 3 million hits in less than 6 months.

GVF have built a following and are making it happen. I struggle with the tone of the singer's voice and the lyrics are not interesting to me so I take a pass on them. I like the band...drums/bass/guitar. The guitarist is all good, his tone and playing. PAF into a Marshall, go figure.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Not my cup of tea, but these cats are still going strong. This video has nearly 3 million hits in less than 6 months.

I originally liked them. Then I realized that singer has GOT to go!
.

 

[Sapient]

I dunno...Skid Row man??

I don't buy the rock is dead notion...

there's still bands doing it, that are worth seeing & buying their music, if available.

I do ...by general consensus. I'm sure people could still catch a Ragtime show somewhere, or hit a Renaissance festival and feel like they live in medieval times. Not really where my point was though.

 

[Sapient]

I originally liked them. Then I realized that singer has GOT to go!
.

Lol. Let his voice mature a bit. He might just be perfect at 30.

 

[Ray Baker]

What one, when they passed by and away, gave full validity to: Rock is Dead

To me, my defining moment was always on Skid Row. I see them (even being not that great and with only about 2 hits) as the final curtain of real rock with the real attitude to boot.

Yous?

No "Alternative" welcome.

For many of us in the US rock as we know/knew it will never be as it was in the late 70's thru mid to late 80's. Nothing for me has touched what we experienced back then, so yes, my vision of what rock is has died. I am currently a big fan of Rammstein. Their music and their show is just amazing. They are the only band that makes me want to pull the top out of the Vette, crank up the volume and drive fast.

 

[Sapient]

My fine MF brothers: Rock is dead. Quit trying to play the devil's advocate and split all these hairs into it somehow still being culturally relevant. It's not.



I'll stand by my claims.
https://www.nme.com/en_asia/news/mu...-doubles-down-on-rock-is-dead-remarks-2847735

Not my cup of tea, but these cats are still going strong. This video has nearly 3 million hits in less than 6 months.

It's still a blast from the past. They are not culturally relevant and their shows are mostly old f's like us trying to get a glimps of a young Zeppelin.

For many of us in the US rock as we know/knew it will never be as it was in the late 70's thru mid to late 80's. Nothing for me has touched what we experienced back then, so yes, my vision of what rock is has died. I am currently a big fan of Rammstein. Their music and their show is just amazing. They are the only band that makes me want to pull the top out of the Vette, crank up the volume and drive fast.

Thank God you get it. Exactly what I'm vibing on.

 

[Maggot Brain]

Some great points of been touched upon in here.

I will whole heartedly attest that the last great rock bands were some of the "Grunge" labeled groups. Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mad Season etc etc... If you don't agree then just learn some of their songs and realize it's structured almost identically to what most consider "rock". They played heavier, with more distortion and volume, they are part of the evolution of rock. I'm sure guys in '69/'70 would not consider Sabbath true rock because of the heavy sound they had... Idk look at the evolution with Hendrix, Zepplin, Black Sabbath etc etc and as it moves forward it his heavy, ruthless and intense.


Now I personally agree that Rock is dead, I mean yeah people still play and listen to it but it's nothing of relevance like it used to be amd with that, I believe rock is dead. It's no longer the voice of a generation, it's no longer the messager of the people. It's just an underground scene just like Jazz or any other genre, it still exsist but not in it's former glory.

I also doubt it will return, the way corporations and capitalism has a hold on manufactured media, it's a lost cause.

Acts like Greta Van Fleet make a blip in the radar but as mentioned before, their fan base is mostly an older demographic missing the old days... Thats their niche ya know? I personally wanted to get into them but find their lyrics lack substance and the singer sounds like he is trying too hard to sound like Plant. I can dig the influence but he could just sing in q Zepp coverband. If he tried to take his Plant influence and hone it into something unique and his own then he could really have something.

 

[Michael Roe]

Last rock/metal bands that matter?
My guess would be any of those bands that could fill an arena by themselves with an unknown opening act....................................Yeah, it's been a while.
I think those days are gone until bands can start playing and recording without using a click track...... I have been saying this for over 20 years...The computer click track has more to do with ruining good music then anything else. No Groove= Blah Blah.

 

[TXOldRedRocker]

For me, there are some "last ones" still rocking', minus COVID. Before COVID I saw Bad Company, Frampton and The Doobie Brothers, and they still rock! Saw ZZ Top too. Billy can still play, but he has no voice left.

Frankly, I don't listen to any music from any band or artist that wasn't making music prior to 1980. A lot of the bands you guys are mentioning, I can't name a single song or member of the band. The ones that matter to me, are all from my era.

So it's a matter of perspective of your reality. Not criticizing anyone else's taste in music. Just stating mine, and what matters to me. So I don't believe there can't be a definitive answer that applies to everyone.

 

[Crikey]

I think the problem is, the industry shot it's self in the foot, in the early '90s.

I was in it, w/ the neverending almost famous, working on a contract bunch, when the rug was pulled out from under us...

They didn't want bands to write their own music. The club scene in LA went to crap. Pay-to-play & all that.

It took the A&R guys to scout out the Seattle area.

LA, turned from Glam to Sleaze overnight. For some reason, all the bass players thought they had to play funk, punk turned into SKA doing fast reggae w/ horn sections. Glam went vulgar. Too vulgar for radio & commercial use, so the industry left...

They never liked rock/metal anyway.

The moguls, were all these 70-80 year old men, who had a whole lot of money, but hardly any musical sense, nor knew what the youth really liked, but, they learned that if they forced crap down someone's throat enough, it would be a hit.

So that's what they did...

Also, the whole Napster thing, while understandable, the way it came out, made for an "us vs them" thing between bands & fans, but, especially, fans vs record companies...

Look at the record companies. Back in the '80s, they'd pump out hundreds of new albums a month. Do they pump out 100 a year now?

In what miniscule amount, the industry pumps out now, how much of it is good/listenable?

Most music is independently released. There are a few companies releasing rock, like Frontiers, who distribute the music, from the video above. There's a couple more I think Nuclear Assault (label)? Kind of like the Metal Blade of today...

Great post. I”ll add, we once were told you need to get signed, sell records and tour. Now bands dont want radio cayse radio is dead. Record labels have designed their own demise And what can they actually do forbands? Unless you are an a lister you better do it yo self. Reverbnation is trying to scam bands by offering access to record labels and radio play. Please dont fall for that crap

 

[ricksdisconnected]

they all matter to some degree. if anything they all help carry the torch
in different ways and to new listeners growing up.