The Demise of Rock

After 1997, rock 'n' roll took a turn south. There were a few reasons for this. 1) The death of Kurt Cobain I think had a dramatic effect on grunge bands who seemingly weren't prepared to step into his place as the leader (the obvious choice was Pearl Jam, but they were busy fighting a battle with Ticketmaster) 2) Boy bands took over in popular music 3) Rock bands still around took the worst part of grunge music (the stripped down chord-work/lack of guitar solos and ran with it without realizing that the early grunge bands mixed in guitar solos now and then and could play just as well as metal bands at the least. 4) Rap-rock 5) Maybe the most critical part, was the dominance of format radio and conglomerate radio. They didn't know what to do with a new Tom Petty album, he didn't fit in new rock stations and his new music didn't belong on classic rock. This left a lot of awesome bands in a sort of limbo. They still produced new music, but there was nowhere to play it. The best album released in 2001 was Bob Dylan's Love and Theft, but what radio station is going to play it?

1998:Devil Without a Cause: Kid Rock The less said about this garbage the better. The world would be a better place without Kid Rock. That being said, I think this is a good representation of how bad it got.

1999:Mule Variations: Tom Waits 1999 was the first time I had ever heard of Tom Waits. It was also the first time Candy, Nathan and I went to the Bridge School Benefit Concert. It remains the best year I have ever seen. Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Neil Young, Brian Wilson, The Who, Beck, Green Day, and Tom Waits. We thought it was a joke when he first came out on stage, but by the second song, we realized that it wasn't and instead enjoyed it. I went out the day after we got back and started buying his albums. Most people have never heard of Tom Waits, but you ought to look him up. I've never been disappointed in any of his albums.

2000: Silver and Gold: Neil Young Candy and I got married in June of this year. This album reminds me of our first apartment. Red Sun is one of those songs that brings Candy to tears about every time she listens to it. Among Neil fans it is often referred to as Harvest 2. If you like Harvest style Neil, this album is better.

2001:Love and Theft: Bob Dylan This came out the same week that Sept. 11th happened. I think I listened to Bob Dylan for a month straight. When we saw Bridge that year, Neil made a remark, that "a lot of songs have different meaning now." It was exactly what I was thinking about Bob Dylan. Suddenly songs of peace, became something completely different.

2001: Gold: Ryan Adams. There were other years that I could have done a tie, but while at the time, Love and Theft represented 2001, since then, this album by Ryan Adams has probably been played more in my car and house than any other. This is probably the best album to come out since 2000. Bluesy, rocking, country. This guy is awesome and can do it all.

2002:Yankee Hotel Foxtrot: Wilco Everyone I knew was listening to Wilco so I picked this album up. It is awesome. The Mother Hips and Wilco are comparable. They are both sort of Alt-Rock/Country but The Mother Hips play circles around Wilco. Still, Wilco is awesome and I can't wait to see them in August.