80’s Arena Rock…..Don’t Like It? That’s Because You Suck.

[youtube BXG0q0qesRw]We all know my taste in Rock music is all over the board. Everything from old punk, classic rock, metal, glam, alt, some singer/songwriter stuff….blah blah. I love it all equally for the most part. Watch this classic by Motley Crue and read the rest.

But growing up in the 80’s I obviously have an affinity for 80’s arena rock. You know, Motley Crue, Ratt, Guns n Roses, LA Guns etc. A lot of people younger than myself look at it like a joke and can’t get past the clothes and hair. Most should look in the mirror for a second before making that statement but whatever. I may be crazy but I believe rock n roll since its inception was supposed to be different, loud, obnoxious, sleazy and a bit shocking. Have you seen a lot of 80’s music videos? In particular the live concert ones? Always a arena with 15-25 thousand people freaking out and having a kick ass time. It’s called fun…try it. I have been to a bunch of these shows over the years and I have also been to a variety of more “serious” type shows. Alt rock shows, and even punk shows where you are supposed to take it all so serious. Example: At at Social Distortion show I went to Mike Ness said to the crowd “Motley Crue…Gun’s n Roses, who’s into that shit anyway?” I cheered while all the wanna be punks and trendy kids booed. I love Social D, one of my fav bands. But fuck that dumb shit. Guns would blow them off the stage in 5 seconds. What’s wrong with liking all kinds of bands? It gets so fucking boring listening to only one genre of music. I mean I can be a bit of a music snob but only in regards to hip hop and pop music, 95% of it is awful.

Let’s look at what has happened these days. The kids are fucked up to say the least. You have white kids all over the place acting like gangsters and thugs. “Acting” is the key word there. The music the love is just plain fucking terrible. I can’t get over how this shitty stuff has taken over the scene. 10 years from now the arenas are going to be empty because most bands worth anything will be retired and most hip hop groups don’t tour. There is a reason they don’t tour…..they suck. Ever been to a rap concert? I have……awful. There has been a couple good ones but most are terrible. Too much bass….20 guys waving towels on stage screaming over each other so you don’t understand a word. The crowd is mostly dumb white kids that think they are black. People want to make fun of the way rock bands looked? Um…have you seen how ridiculous white kids look these days? Not to mention the way they act and talk? If I ever had a son like that I would kick him out and never speak to him again. No joke.

Then there is the musician factor. I am sorry but none of these rappers are musicians and neither are DJ’s. Not saying it’s all easy or I could do it but talented musicians, I think not. Go to a arena rock show and watch 4 or 5 talented guys plugged into Marshall stacks playing the shit out of their intruments. That is a good time. Loud as shit and pure energy. Then you have the booze, the girls the drugs and all the other fun surrounding this scene. Hello?

Look at my man Steve here. When he met me he was pure Jack Johnson, John Mayer guy. All great music made by very talented guys but he looked at me funny when I told him I was going to the Motley Crue show one night and took the typical hair and clothes shots at them. A year later after giving it all a chance I can’t hop in his truck without some 80’s rock blasting out of the speakers. Loves it and regrets not going to that show. Tell em Steve…….

Steve: Oh, I see what this is… you don’t really want my opinion so much as you want me to validate all of your claims. Well, I’ll partially do both. Firstly, I agree that music, especially good music as we know it, is in trouble. I sincerely despise the rap and hip-hop movement as much as everyone, and, being a musician myself since the age of 5, think there’s hardly any musicality in shouting into a microphone to a computer-generated beat. It’s all programmed; no even sense of tempo is needed. That’s why SNL and Leno and Letterman won’t let people play unless they provide their own live beat – they want it musical, and more than just the “black guys waving towels.” Secondly, regarding 80’s music – all I had really heard growing up (in the 90s) was the new wave type stuff they’d play during lunch hour on LA’s modern rock station, and most of it I thought was pretty damn awful. I’m still not a big fan. As far as Motley and all the other 80s metal bands go, I had never heard that stuff because it had such a short run in the mainstream it was never played anywhere after new wave and grunge took over, and still isn’t played on any public outlet.  So I had never heard it. It’s alright, it has its times, and the only reason it’s playing in the Tremor when Mark gets in is because I don’t want to hear him bitch about Banana Pancakes or Your Body is a “Wondahleau.” It’s usually on the way to drinking, too, which provides a nice pre-game stoke because of the faster beats and party themes of that music.  Well, I do actually really like it too, because it’s a nice change, and mostly new to me, and a lot better than Sum 41 or Good Charlotte. But the thing I like most is the solos. I had never even realized until hearing all those that that was what’s missing from modern rock music. I’m huge into jazz, and jazz is about 95% solos, which is freaking awesome, and shows true musicianship. And yeah, I will still make fun of how they dressed and looked, and, aside from Halloween of ‘08 will never be caught dead wearing things like that, and, for the record, I would have gone to that show. Tommy’s Titty Cam? Why not?

Okay Mark, back to you…

Mark: Nothing like an arena full of people with a kick ass, loud as fuck band on stage playing music that is all about one thing. Fun. Sorry the lyrics are about women and booze, drugs and cars. Sorry it’s not serious enough for you. You can go have a serious time at the alt rock show. The wiggers can sit home and listen to shitty rap on their iPod because their heros suck too much to even tour. I will be at the arena show freaking out. Unless you have been to the amount of shows I have and the variety shows of I have don’t try to argue with me….you won’t win. It’s like a white chick eating onion rings and drinking beer trying to convince me that Japanese girls are only petite because of genetics and it’s not fair. I will destroy your logic in 2 seconds.