Apologies to where I picked up that quote for not attributing it properly. It's been a few years since I first came across it and it has stuck with me ever since. The quote is true in a way, if the definition of rock is loud guitars, crashing drums, and yelling vocals (i.e. "rawk"). Coldplay is primarily guitar driven and they have drums, so hey! To the casual listener, they're rock. But it's not real rock: the guitars aren't turned up to 11 and Chris Martin isn't too hoarse to have a conversation by the end of the show. No drum solo: fail. So says the rawk listener.
I've been reminded of this definition of rock over the past few weeks, as the Foo Fighters released a new album today. Having an obsessive fan in the family, I've heard a lot about how this is the Foos' rockiest album in years. They aren't a heavy metal band and don't scream all the time. Yet they invoke the rawk definition with a lot of their mannerisms - particularly front man Dave Grohl. Watch the first minute of this clip for an example of what I mean:
The truth is rock is one of the most versatile music genres. Wikipedia lists over 200 children genres. Yes, it includes rawk: things like blackened doom metal, sure to be filled with unintelligible lyrics and guitars that will cause damage the first time they come in contact with eardrums.
But outside of that extreme, rock in general is accessible to the vast majority of people. It encompasses everything from:
- The Beatles' simplest pop songs to Pearl Jam's tidal wave of emotion
- Elvis' mashup of rock's roots to Interpol's moody atmosphere
- And yes: Coldplay's "wuss rock" to Foo Fighters' propulsion.
Rock is more of a sensibility than anything else. Mainly, its an exploration of sounds on a journey where the destination is unknown. Rock is wide-ranging, open to new colors and feelings, and has a sense of discovery. Everything rawk isn't.
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