Will guitar rock ever come back?

I'm OK with it, Devil. Your aunt sounds nice, so I'll go with her word.

 

The short answer to the question is yes, for one very simple reason: Guitar Hero. My 10 year old is now into Ozzy and wants to learn to play a real guitar. One of his friends is already learning to play.

The longer answer is that it never really completely went away, and the current top 40 isn't a reflection of what good bands are doing right now.

(An aside: someone mentioned that there are two good guitar bands right now and Jack White's in both of them. For fans of the Raconteurs, the other band members are singer/guitarist Brendan Benson and the bassist and drummer from the Greenhornes. Both are definitely worth checking out on their own. I'm a big Greenhornes fan - they sound a lot like The Kinks or The Animals.)

 

I was getting into Velvet Revolver, but the singer left. Supposedly, they'll find a new one.

 

I'm glad to hear that. John Mayer lamented in Rolling Stone this week that "Guitar Hero" might have the opposite effect - giving the masses the experience of "playing guitar," without having to actually put any work into it. Of course, he said, really playing is 1,000 times better. But if kids can experience something somewhat like the real thing, why go through the trouble of learning scales and chords?

 

Interesting. I got through 3 minutes and was ready to hurl. I probably would have liked the song with no visual aids.

 

Twoback, I agree. I love the song. I think it should be remembered as a flagship of a fantastic band. The video is a matter of taste, and I do not like debating that with people. I posted the video so you could hear the song.

 

god, if we're resting our hopes for a guitar rock renaissance on my morning jacket, we're all fucked

 

Well, I personally don;t care for the huge, bloated guitar solo for the most part.

But, there are plenty of great guiltar bands out there. Not the traditional 'let's smoke a joint while this dude plays a 20 minute solo guitar bands' as much, but still great bands.

Try listening to: Ted Leo, Wilco, Green Day, Death Cab, Drive by Truckers, My Morning Jacket, White Stripes, The Shins, Raconteurs, Ben Kweller, Black Crowes, Black Keys, R.E.M., Pernice Brothers, Old 97s, The Broken West, Decemberists, Shout out Louds, Pearl Jam, Queens of the Stone Age, U2, Superdrag, Fountain of Wayne, Spoon, Son Volt, Sonic Youth, Snow Patrol, The Smithereens — just to name a few.

It's tough to find new music that isn't pre-packaged cheesy pro tunes-sounding crap or awful mall punk.

 

Bob - Again, most of those bands are from the '90s (And U2 and REM??? You serious?). Wilco, the Black Crowes, Son Volt - all favorites of mine. The new Black Crowes album is the best thing I've heard this year. But in a way, that kind of pisses me off - I want to discover some new bands.

I recently started listening to XMU Channel 43 on the satellite, and that's helped, along with XM Channel 12 ("Cross Country").

I do like Death Cab - they sound a lot like the Ben Folds Five to me.

 

U2 and R.E.M., still making good music with guitars. R.E.M.'s new album, while not great is still pretty good, and they are still a great live act.

Even if they have been around for about 10-15 years that doesn't mean they aren't still making good guitar music.


Try readnig music blogs liek stereogum, aquarium drunkard, I am Fuel, You are Friends, My Old Kentucky Blog.

I coud have listed a TON of new bands, but I just don't have that much time, Shout Out Louds.

Pernice Brothers and Broken West are 2000s bands, Ted Leo, Decemberists, The Shins,

 

There was one I heard the other day called The Black Box Revelation that I thought was good, too.

And you're right - REM's new album was really good. Reminiscent of Life's Rich Pageant.