Music

NAUGHTY: The death of mainstream rock

by Aaron Brophy

In our annual festive Naughty and Nice feature, AUX compiles the best and worst of the year in music.

Follow this:

1971: The Who Who’s Next, The Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers, Led Zeppelin IV

1981: AC/DC For Those About To Rock We Salute You, Joan Jett I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll, Rush Moving Pictures

1991: Nirvana Nevermind, Pearl Jam Ten, Metallica The Black Album

2001: The Strokes Is This It?, The White Stripes White Blood Cells, Tool Lateralus

2011: Nickelback Here And Now, Daughtry Break The Spell, Hollywood Undead American Tragedy

If this pattern is any indication, mainstream rock is dead. The end of a band being able to a) look cool, b) capture our imagination, and c) rock the hell out of both a bush party and a sold out arena are officially upon us and there may be no coming back.

It’s easy to blame Nickel-Chad and his many familiars (Theory Of A Deadman, Default, My Darkest Days, etc) for this, but really Nickelback’s success is simply the product of diminished expectations. They consistently serve up Big Macs to a world — radio stations, music fans, record companies — that no longer appears to have an appetite for steak.

The new acts like Five Finger Death Punch and James Durbin are pathetic, and the vets, well, all you can do is hope their latest records don’t entirely blow (Red Hot Chili Peppers) and at least approximate their glory days (Foo Fighters).

It’s gotten so bad that The Black Keys would rather make a half-disco album in El Camino than try to rock our balls off.

This is might not seem like such a big deal, but the best of breakout mainstream rock is often like an injection of rebellion into the heartland. Think Green Day, System Of A Down, Rage Against The Machine… not only are they hugely popular, they’re also musically vital, politically abrasive crushers of the Stepford homogeny.

When there’s no acts like them stepping up to rock the WalMart racks we’re in a bad place.

Return to the Naughty and Nice master list.