Is classic rock now obsolete?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition of ‘classic’ is as such: “Judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind”. For this reason, the word has been used to describe favourites from movies by auteurs like Alfred Hitchcock to artwork by masters like Edward Hopper. However, its use in music is by far the most pronounced.
Famously, there is the entire Classical Period – also known as Antiquity – in history, but nowhere else in the human timeline is there an era that uses the word classic in its name. That is, of course, apart from classic rock. The age of sex, drugs, rock and roll, frontmen, guitar heroes, groupies and Lincoln Continentals in swimming pools, with rockstars reigning supreme, this span is generally considered to have started in the mid-1960s and lasted until the mid-1990s, although that is debatable. I’d posit that the classic rock period died with Nirvana’s 1991 album, Nevermind, given that it reset the course of rock.
The classic rock period is undoubtedly the most prominent chapter in the form’s history, spawning the world’s most famous and influential acts. These include The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, and many, many more. It says everything about the tremendous cultural tsunami of this period that these acts are only the tip of the iceberg, as even the likes of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen emerged during this time. However, their ties to classic rock as a genre are obscured by their tendency to experiment with a potpourri of styles.
Considering the aforementioned acts, all can be awarded the pioneer badge for various reasons. For instance, The Beatles are the most significant band of all time, with their impact extending far outside the confines of music to the extent that many university courses are now examining their consequence. Elsewhere, Jimi Hendrix took the guitar and rock ‘n’ roll in a more searing direction, with Black Sabbath laying the foundations for heavy metal and Led Zeppelin making rock more expansive than it had been before they appeared.
If we are to follow the definition of the word classic, for some time, the term classic rock was perfect to describe these artists and the era in which they emerged. They were indeed the finest in their field, representing rock’s highest quality and most outstanding sounds. Yet, thanks to the passage of time, the development of technology, and the change in trending tastes, I’d argue that this is no longer the case. Whilst the best efforts by the likes of The Beatles and Black Sabbath remain excellent, and even more so given the period in which they were released, it seems that we’ve got to the point in which we move ever further into the postmodern musical melting pot of the future, that both the classic rock tag and on increasing levels the music are becoming obsolete.
That’s not to label it as invaluable, given that there are many lessons to be learned, but I mean obsolete in the sense that their cultural relevance is waning. Adding a dash of substance to the assertion is that recent comments from the likes of Santana and Alice Cooper on modern issues, such as transgender rights, only seem to affirm that they are from a past so long ago that it is very alien to our own time. It’s an ironic point, given rock’s importance as an instrument of raging against outdated social mores in their heyday.
Whether it be the blues-based music, which now appears so elementary and dull given how far music has developed – despite the skill of those playing it – the production, clothes, or general rock ‘n’ roll hijinx, the more time wares on, the more classic rock fades into the past. Like with the big band era and other older forms that are now essentially relics of the past, I can’t help but think that this will naturally happen to classic rock, despite how significant it once was.
Let’s get it straight: classic rock is not yet obsolete, but it is fast becoming so. As the world metamorphoses and those once deemed as the genre’s essence are now firmly into old age, new heroes and forms are arising, capturing the hearts of generations far removed from the baby boomers who once lapped up classic rock. Whilst not everyone will agree with me, for now, I’ll leave you with the immortal words of Refused’s Dennis Lyxzén as we observe time do its thing: “They told me that the classics never go out of style, but they do.”
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