Rediscovering Rock and Roll

by Vanessa Ague

Classic rock doesn’t have much to say anymore. It’s not unique. It’s not new. It’s that music your dad blares on his surround sound system that is cultivated to perfectly balance bass and treble, because music is terrible when it’s low quality, isn’t it? Who even listens to classic rock on Spotify? It’s music that’s stuck forever in the ’70s.

We have new music. We have a new culture. We have a new definition of cool. We need more appreciation and less concern over what’s in and what’s out. We need to hold on to the music that’s worth holding on to. Classic rock will always be around, regardless of its subjective ranking in culture. It will always be a genre that gave birth to many other genres. It will always be important.

It is useful to look at what the term classic means when applied to art. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary offers three different definitions of the term classic in this context. The first two imply superiority: a classic novel might be one of the greatest of all time, the example for which all other novels should be compared, and an example of excellence within its genre. The third way to think about the term classic is as “something that has been popular for a long time.”

Most nostalgia-ridden fans (young people probably think of them as dads) would call classic rock the “best music there ever was.” Some fans faithfully comment on every pop music video posted on Youtube asking why music isn’t good anymore. They look back to classic rock and hold all other music to its standard— even if there’s no comparison
(a pop power ballad is not meant to sound like classic rock or be performed like classic rock).

It may be more logical to think about classic rock as a combination of all of the definitions of classic. Classic rock has come to define an era. It was typical of an era. It has been popular for decades–we all have heard the famous songs at some point. It is an excellent example of what rock and roll can achieve.

The early ’80s ushered in “classic rock” radio stations that played hit music from the ’60s and ’70s, centering on the hard rock of the ’70s, and created nostalgia. Over time, the stations began to play music from the ’80s, and even some punk rock from later years. But the focus is always on the hard rock of the ’70s. Ultimately, by dedicating whole stations to this one niche, classic rock was solidified as classic.

These stations still exist today, of course. They tend to cycle the same 25 songs all day and night, and these 25 songs together make up what we know to be the heart of classic rock. They include “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion,” “All Along the Watchtower,” and many more. The artists that are played on this station are all male and mostly white. The top songs combine acoustic guitar with electric guitar, singing that’s more about emotion than about perfection, and lyrics that tend to either focus on love or hope.

One of the most defining characteristics of these popular classic rock songs is the buildup. Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” the most played song on classic rock stations in the US, opens with a simple, minor, electric guitar solo that alternates between only a few different notes. The voice enters slowly and there is a gradual crescendo, adding drums and more complex melodies in the electric guitar. The tempo is moderate—not too fast and not too slow. It doesn’t fit the stereotype of rock as loud and abrasive.

I remember the first time I heard Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” This song, too, starts out with a questioning, simplistic, minor acoustic guitar solo—the shock value was there on the first listen. Again, it was far from what you’d think a loud rock song would sound like. A recorder sustains long notes above the guitar. The recorder is most known for its medieval sound, not its edginess. It’s certainly not known for its rock and roll. An electric guitar creeps into the background and the acoustic guitar slowly melts away as drums begin to play louder. The song continues to crescendo into a repetition of four strong electric guitar chords and drum beats. The tempo is moderate. Then, the electric guitar goes wild on a solo, shrieking, and the voice howls in head-banging exaltation. This trajectory is quite clearly similar to “Dream On.”

Most music is cathartic, but classic rock does it perfectly. Its formula for buildup, as exhibited in both “Dream On” and “Stairway to Heaven” is made to give listeners cathar- sis, and freedom. The songs make you shiver with anticipation for the bursting chorus near the end that releases all your angst (or at least some of it). You feel free, and don’t we all crave that feeling of freedom? I love the anticipation for the epic chorus’ near the end of the songs. I need the freedom and release that the raw, yet simple, music brings. You listen to classic rock and hear the music of another era, but it’s the music you will need to reach the emotional release that you crave.

Classic rock is and always has been mainstream, popular music. It isn’t pop music in the sense that it is not visibly produced, isn’t made by pop queens, and focuses much more on the live show than the music video. It seems to be natural, born of the talent of the artists. In reality, the vibe was cultivated like any other music’s— even disco. Yet it never gave off the aura that it was produced music. R

Rock took musical ideas from blues and jazz, like the I—IV—V—I progression, and the song “Hound Dog.” There was no recognition that the music was stolen. Rock became famous using musical concepts that had previously existed in African American culture, while the music of African Americans, like disco and R&B, was not cool. Classic rock celebrated powerful men and forgot about powerful women, and took without asking. The culture was never cool.

So maybe it’s time to forget about rock and roll. It’s not cool to like pop music. At this point, classic rock is so parallel to pop that it’s almost impossible to see a difference. It’s not cool to celebrate a culture that wasn’t inclusive. But the culture is gone, now. All that’s left is pop music that comes in the form of “classic rock.”

I wonder: why can’t we enjoy this music for pleasure? Why does listening have to be an experience in which we are elevated? Why do we have to like music that others haven’t heard; why do we have to know more than our peers?
Art is a public good. It can be enjoyed by anyone at any time and it will never lose its value. It is not shameful to still appreciate and actively listen to classic rock after all of these years. That’s what music is meant to be doing.

Sometimes I’m sick of classic rock, too. It’s easy to get caught up in all the new music coming out. It’s easy to like that new music more because you’ve never heard it before. It’s easy to grow distasteful of rock culture. But then I’ll be in some sort of mood and my hand instinctively searches for Led Zeppelin in iTunes and Houses of the Holy starts blaring on my speakers.