What the hell happened to Rock 'n Roll?

I've noticed a lot of teeth gnashing of late over the perceived demise of Rock 'n Roll music. You know, the stuff we listened to growing up; lots of loud overdriven and distorted guitars, bass, drums, possibly keys, and a strutting frontman with flowing locks and a high pitched wail.

Think Foghat.

Now, in truth, if you were to peruse the artists at say CD Baby or on Soundcloud (I assume some are there), or any other bands sites and looked for such artists, you'd find them along with all their mutant brothers and sisters, for R&R had morphed into a thousand different genres and a thousand different variants. Like Jazz and Classical before it, R&R has grown old, or if you prefer, mature. And if the kids are digging the scene, then as far as new stuff goes, they're on their own because Radio, land of the dinosaurs, continues the time honored custom of regurgitating the 60's, 70's, and 80's, and parts of the 90's, such as Grunge. New bands? Come on?

Is some of this is the fault of the speedsters; the fleet fingered types who arpeggiate the fretboard at blinding speeds as well as those that tune down and jackhammer metal, in all its sub-genres? Is metal even R&R? Maybe. Like BeBop before it, the very virtuosity that draws some, deters others who find it mind-numbingly pedantic. Pentatonic Blues rifters are also plying their wares, as they have for as long as the Blues has existed, but like Jazz it has it's adherents and the rest ignore it. Wannabe guitar heroes play to the stereotypes they grew up with; some costumed; some not, but as with the rest of the R&R lexicon, much of it is been there, done that.

So is Rock dead?

A bit of this teeth gnashing is by the the very lions of Rock; Gene Simmons of Kiss comes to mind, who lament their lack of recognizable offspring, yet again; what will they do that you have not already done? And if you're a binder or alchemist of sounds that have R&R elements but are not exactly R&R, then are you R&R, or are you merely an appropriator? Will it be a hip new sound or an abomination to the heart of our R&R nation? Is there a ECM/Rock amalgamation that will stir the nation, a blend of Hip-hop-rock? Again, maybe. Of course, there's always New Country if you're pining for a kind of R&R nostalgia.

The truth is times change- don't you hate hearing that! What was once new is now old, and while R&R has had a very long run, it's foolish to think it won't fade as its predecessors have. That doesn't mean that people won't be rocking away, it just means it ain't no big thang.

If, however, you're longing for the next Zeppelin....