Let's Talk Rock and Roll

One of the reasons I wrote Time to Rock was my lament over the death of real rock and roll. I shouldn’t say death. There are bands out there trying to revive the artform, but they haven’t caught on enough to actually bring it back.

A day or so ago I heard three old rock songs that really demonstrate the value of real instruments in music. The first was War Pigs by Black Sabbath. Everyone knows this was hard driving music, but, if you listen to it, it was also very complex music played by highly skilled musicians. The second was You’ve Made Me So Very Happy by Blood, Sweat, and Tears. The horns moved this song and gave its emotion. You cannot synthesize that. The third was Devil Went Down to Georgia by the Charlie Daniels Band. No one can deny the role that amazing fiddle playing played in the popularity of that song.

These are three very different songs from the rock era. The common thread in their varied music was what made the songs, and that music was played by human beings on real instruments.

The synthesizer has been a useful tool in the studio for many years. But when it is used to replace the core music of a song, it takes out its soul. The people playing the instruments, feeling the sound move through them is what made the artform so great.

My opinion for a song that defines real rock and roll is Magic Power by Triumph. It does so many things that I like in music. The twelve string and six string guitars, the change of tempo, and a fantastic singer. Also, it was about the magic power of music. To me it personifies rock and roll.

There is hope. The disco era pushed rock and roll out for a few years, but the fad died. Hopefully that will happen again. What we need is Freddie MacArthur and Barracuda Rising to rock our world.

Now it looks like this takeover of music by synthesizers is just the vanguard for the takeover of all creativity by AI platforms. Social media is now being bombarded by ads for AI platforms that will write all kinds of things for you. That is not just a shame. In my opinion, that is a disaster.