I want to play classic rock , but it's dead.
 

Hey
I have this dilemma. I'm really into playing Led Zeppelin , ACDC ... etc ... you know the drill. But todays music industry is really about mainstream rock and pushing the rock genre forward. I understand none wants to hear people ripping off old bands from the 70's. I've seen it on alot off Rival sons videos on youtube and stuff. But I really want to play classic rock and get into the industry with it. Is it impossible? Or is rock really dead.

Sorry if you didnt understand.
My native language is swedish and I have dyslexi.

But the simple question I guess is :
Can I get into the industry with some sort of new take on classic rock without ripping of the old bands? I really dont like the new mainstream rock.

Make the music you want.

Take inspiration from it and give it your own twist. Don't just copy them and rip them off. That's what you do.

Do you really care about music industry? It's not pushing many genres, but that doesn't stop musicians.


Oh, understood. So you basically want to earn money with your classic rock music?

IMO, classic rock plus some fresh ideas would be cool. Audioslave did something similar (kinda).

Don't try to sound like a blatant Zeppelin rip off like so many local bands I've heard. People won't really care for that in all honesty.

Make what you want, but do what you can to make it sound unique to you. Add new ideas and not always the same scales/changes/tempos/etc. You don't want to be the new Led Zeppelin, you want to be the only you. Yknow?

The Darkness and Steel Panther do OK with it :D

Play the music you like. If you're only in it for the money, then you don't understand what rock music is about.

Airbourne do it.

4 on the floor rock will never die.
Lots of bands do it.
Wolfmother, Sheepdogs, Airbourne, Monstertruck are a few that come to mind.

Everybody was saying classic rock is dead, and then Pearl Jam released "Ten," so you never know.

Don't think about what "the music industry" wants. It doesn't care about the music. It cares about the number of people who want to buy the music. Focus on making music you love and finding an audience for it that loves it, too.

If you connect with enough people, the music industry will take notice.

anal **** did it lol

If you really want to play straight-up classic rock (no covers I'm assuming), your best bet is to be a gigging musician for local bars and concerts. Sometimes that's the closest you'll come to the music industry, and it still counts! My closest friend's dad plays in a classic rock cover group, but a talent agent was so impressed, the group was signed to a deal contracting them to play a string of shows in the region.

Wow there's some crazy definitions of what "classic rock" is lol. Pearl Jam is classic rock? Geez I must be old. Here I am thinking Chuck Berry and the like were classic rock.

Just play the music you want to play.

Classic rock isn't dead. I still love it, millions of others still love it. It's not the mainstream thing, but many hundreds of non-mainstream bands are doing all kinds of stuff and doing pretty well. It really just boils down to finding people who like your music, and being realistic about what 'getting into the industry' means. Do you want to be one of those 3 people that I'm sure are the only ones the radio ever plays? Or do you want to make a bit of money but ultimately do what you love? The second one you could do with classic rock, techno, really any kind of music you want.

Overall... Do you want to play classic rock to a crowd that loves classic rock? That's the only crowd you'll be able to play it to, but it's still a pretty big crowd. And really, if they love it and that's the music you want to play... well... That's the point, right?

EDIT: And do be original. If your new song happens to sound exactly like this song or that song, everyone will stop listening. (Just don't be a copy artist, there's too many of them already. Similar style is good, same isn't. Try some new ideas, add some twist that no one's heard before.) If classic rock is 'dead', it's because we have enough Led Zeppelin to listen to. If you're original and sound good, people will pay attention even if you don't go huge.

If you picked up the guitar to become famous while you don't like mainstream stuff, it's not going to work out for you.

Listen to the music YOU like, play the music YOU like. Looking at mainstream isn't bad actually, if you do it for the right reasons, to become famous isn't a right reason in my opinion.

oh no................................................ ...........

Yeah that's a bit of a strange thing to say. Not only because it's not "classic rock" but becasuse no one at the time had any basis to claim that rock was dead.

I mean "Ten" was released in August 1991 it didn't gain major traction until late in 1992.

Rock was still huge on the scene prior to the release of Pearl Jam's debut album.

Throughout 1991 before the release of "Ten" and within a couple months after (well before "Ten" had any mainstream traction you had the following rock albums all spend time in the top ten of the Billboard album charts

AC/DC's "The Razor's Edge"
The Black Crowes "Shake Your Money Maker",
REM had "Out of Time",
Queensryche "Empire",
Extreme "Extreme II: Pornograffitti",
Skid Row "Slave to the Grind",
Van Halen "For Unlawful Carnal Kowledge",
Metallica "Metallica" (Black album),
Soundtrack "the Doors" ( from Oliver Stone's "the Doors" movie starring Val Kilmer.)
Soundtrack "The Commitments"
Rush "Roll The Bones",
Guns N Roses "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II",
Motley Crue "Decade of Decadence",
Nirvana "Nevermind",
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble "The Sky is Crying",
Genesis "We Can't Dance",
U2 "Achtung Baby",

These albums were all in the top ten of the Billboard Album charts the same year Pearl Jam released "Ten". Note that "Ten" did not spend any time in the top ten Billboard charts.

Other noteable releases of '91 include
Red Hot Chilli Peppers "Blood Sugar Sex Magik"
Soundgarden's "Badmotofinger"
and Smashing Pumpkins released their debut album "Gish" in '91

in 92 Rage Against the Machine released there awesome debut album and Stone Temple Pilots also released Core in 92.

"Ten" was a bit of a sleeper hit. No doubt it is a huge album and one of the most commercially successful albums released in 1991. But didn't peak until late 1992 at #2. In 91 and 92 it was outsold by many of it's contemporaries but it had staying power and over time became one of the biggest selling albums of the 90s. Don't let hindsight blind you as to it's initial impact upon release. Nirvana's release a month later had a more significant immediate impact on the rock scene.

The "Ten" album received a fair amount of apathetic or even negative criticism with Pearl Jam accused of riding the coat tails of other grunge bands at the time and not really offering anything new.

In conclusion the release of "Ten" was definitely not a bomb dropped on a scene absent of great rock music. It was not an unprecedented game changer. Rock was very much alive and kicking at the time of it's release. In fact rock was so strong at that time it's virility could well be the reason that it took so long for "Ten" to find it's audience and gain mainstream traction.

Rock is always changing, but it looks like its market won't be going anywhere in the foreseeable future. Classic rock like Led Zep is dead in the mainstream, and for good reason - it's played out. Move on if you wanna make it big, but whatever you do, keep on rocking.

Am I only the only one that just sees classic rock as being songs from old bands? Blues is blues, rock is rock, whether it be from the 60s, 80s, or now. It's a style.

Stop labeling things and just play some damn music you like. You'll fall into place somewhere.

For those who seem to be confused about the definition of 'Classic Rock':

"Classic Rock" - What your Dad listens to
"Heavy Metal" - What you listen to
"Awful Noise" - What your kids will listen to

People my age and older will understand this. Teenagers will understand this in 20 years.