The Emperor Has No Clothes

Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock – Steven Hyden – (Dey St.)

The concept: the mortal demise of classic rock due to the steady, inexorable drip, drip, drip of the of the passing of aging classic rock artists. That is the focus of Steven Hyden in his latest outing, Twilight of the Gods: A Journey to the End of Classic Rock.

Hyden writes with just the right amount of fanboy laced into his dynamic prose. The guy clearly has a love for classic rock and it shows. While the concept is certainly interesting and writing entertaining, I will posit that the bigger concern is not so much the death of classic rock, but maybe something even larger to consider; the death of rock…period.

Here’s the problem, everything that made classic rock great, the impact that it had on changing and inspiring folks lives is missing from most of today’s music. Music has moved from being utterly inspiring to become utterly disposable. Can anyone name even one band that in the future will live up to the moniker “classic rock!? Hyden talks lovingly about how fans flock to see these aging classic rock artists and pack huge arenas; could the real reason we as music fans, cling to these classic rock legends be because there is nothing viable to take their place?

The Emperor Has No Clothes

I’m sorry, but music critics who heap praise on rap music are mostly full of shit. This stuff is pure noise and will never fill the void left by the demise of rock music. Critics who walk this path are like the fable of the emperor with no clothes; they lack the testicular fortitude to say this stuff flat out sucks.

There is also something to be said about the fans who cling to classic rock being a case of nostalgia over reality, because if you’re being honest the aging incarnation of the Rolling Stones are a shitty live band. If you saw Mick mince about in his 30s do you really need to see him again in his 70s? The fifty percent remaining of the Who are a shadow of their former selves, while Townsend can still be fiery, Roger Daltrey flat out cannot sing anymore. Hyden writes lovingly of Black Sabbath, but let’s face it Ozzy is utterly incoherent and decades of head banging has probably given him a case of CTE.

While we will certainly continue to experience the loss of more and more of our musical favorites as time continues to pass, be safe in the knowledge that we can continue to enjoy their music via vinyl, CD, digital file or whatever comes next. With technological advances maybe even the hologram live shows will become a little less creepy.