Earlier this year, Gene Simmons reinforced a mantra he's been repeating for several years: "Rock is dead."
It's understandable:
If today's Kiss Ace Frehley refers to the current Kiss lineup .
But is rock music today simply defined by what Kiss has been doing and releasing?
And note that I think Kiss's last album, Monsters (2012), is pretty cool… But it's been almost 10 years, right? Shouldn't they have released something new by now? Unless they (including Gene) are really dead. In that case, his statement makes sense. Rock is dead.
Aunt Alice, however, thinks differently. Alice Cooper completely disagrees with Gene :
“I guarantee you that somewhere in London there are kids discovering Aerosmith and Guns N' Roses right now. There are a lot of 18-year-olds out there with their guitars and drums learning what hard rock is. And the same thing is happening in the US.”
Regardless of Gene and Alice's personal opinions, if there's one thing that has absolutely changed radically from the 80s to today, it's not the quality of rock, the songs, or the bands, but rather the way rock reaches you. Let's see:
Back in the day, your job was to turn on the TV and let the rock music reach you. Or tune in to a radio station. Or pick up a magazine or newspaper.
Today, rock music isn't on TV. Or on the radio. Or in the newspaper (do those even still exist?). Or anywhere else that will "magically" reach you.
But that doesn't mean rock doesn't exist. It just means that rock doesn't come to you anymore. You have to go to it.
And if you don't go to the rock scene, if you don't move, don't seek it out, don't get out of your inertia... well... you've already guessed how I'm going to end this sentence, right?
Yes, that's right:
Rock isn't dead. It's you who's dead!
Want to break out of your rut? Here's a little help, a start.
Below is a playlist with only songs released in 2021. Yes, only new songs, released in the last 4 months.
From heavier sounds (like Gojira here) to lighter ones (like Noel Gallagher there); It has faster sounds (like Accept ) and slower ones (like Wolf Alice ); It has several up-and-coming bands (like Dirty Honey ) to countless legendary bands (like Helloween , for example);
It features American bands (like the thrash of Flotsam & Jetsam ), German bands (like Primal Fear ), Canadian bands (like the duo Crown Lands ), Scottish bands (like the more rock 'n' roll sound of The Fratellis ), Finnish bands (like Noora Louhimo Experience ), Dutch bands (like Epica ), English bands (like the great Thunder ), Italian bands (like Frozen Crown ), Swedish bands (like Grand Royale ), and much more!
There's even a Paul Stanley from Kiss with his Soul Station , proving that even Kiss isn't really dead!
And in Brazil? Well, if you haven't heard this song by Impavid Colossus or this one by Val Santos , you need to wake up!
All of them are songs from 2021, released now, practically "yesterday." From all styles, from countless places on the planet, from all sides, leaving a trail of evidence that says, or rather, screams:
Rock is more alive than ever!
Is it possible that I have confirmation bias because I'm the founder of Wikimetal? Obviously, yes! But that also fits into the same reasoning that appears at the Dave Grohl 's documentary released this week (hmm… new rock documentaries in 2021 showing classic and new bands? If rock is dead, why bother??? Another clue…) where all the interviewees say: “I will never give up on the life I chose and on rock”.
Me either!
And looking inside Wikimetal , one of the main rock publications in the country, which has practically all its content created by women (yes, women!) in their early twenties, who know a lot about rock and metal. The editorial team with Dude , Erica , Gab , Pétala and Vicky and our Social Media team, Marcela and Nina : They are proof that rock is alive, renewed and pulsating in the new generations!
Everywhere I look, the message is clear: Rock is very much alive.
It is evident that another discussion can be opened, far beyond the purely musical aspect, about whether rock has ceased to be an instrument of change, protest, and a vehicle for building a more just society, as it was in the past.
But given that enjoying rock music is no longer a prerogative purely of youth, as it was in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, I think this discussion is more complex and can be left for another time. For now, let's focus on the music. And in it, rock is alive.
Below is the playlist. There's something for everyone. Don't like a song that's playing? Easy: Next!
That's over 12 hours of SENSATIONAL music (would it have been easy to find this quantity, diversity, and quality of music in years past? Hmm… As Robert Plant , “it makes me wonder” )…
Anyway… I'll keep updating the playlist until the end of the year. Let's see how many fantastic songs we end 2021 with. Right now there are almost 200 tracks in these 12 hours.
Well, that's it. If you like it, follow the playlist and share it with that friend of yours who always says rock is dead! Below are the 2021 and 2022 playlists:
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