What happened to the good old music? Yeah, you know what I’m talking about: blues rock. Blues rock was and still is the greatest form of modern music. If you understand anything about the history of modern music, you know it all came from blues. All different rock genres like metal, punk and even grunge all have the same the blues DNA; the 12-bar blues, the three chord progression and pentatonic scale solos.

Today, modern rock bands rarely play in the blues style; in fact, more modern bands are playing in the pop structure of: verse, chorus, verse chorus, bridge, chorus, chorus and more bloody choruses. When people say that rock is dead, they aren’t wrong! Only a handful of bands these days really blow your mind away with ever-lasting riffs and hypnotic lyrics. And when was the last time you heard a finger shredding solo on the radio?

Speaking about the radio, it’s hardly worth listening to these days. When I tune in to listen to some rocking music and all I hear is absolute garbage. Bands like Nickelback just don’t cut it for me. They are a bunch of pop bands, wanna be rockers, that play pop tunes with guitars and drums. Just because they use distortion pedals and strut around in tight leather pants on stage doesn’t mean they are rock stars.

Blues is the forefather of all rock genres. Blues originated in the early 20th century from southern sharecroppers working in the fields and using their songs to cope with the pain and sufferings. When you hear Robert Johnson’s most famous tune “Crossroads”, you can feel his pain as a young black man trying to a hitch a ride home and fearing for his life. But aside from the lyrics, rock bands incorporated the blues structure and basically played it fast and loud still maintaining the same attitude. Rock legends like, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Eric Clapton, The Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Black Sabbath and even AC/DC all played blues rock. Hell, the Stones are really just a blues band. This genre of rock is our version of classics and will be listened to and appreciated hundreds of years from now, just like people these days still listen to Beethoven.

There are a few modern bands like Jet, Wolfmother and even the White Stripes that I admire for trying to bring back blues rock. But still there are no soul-defying, finger shredding guitar solos in their songs. Back in my day when the music industry allowed for creativity bands recorded 15 minute guitar solos. Nowadays, you’re lucky to hear a few notes of a solo because they are no longer in fashion. That’s right folks, fashion. And isn’t that what pop music is: fashion. Pop is short for popular which means the fashion of the time.

So bands go in and out of fashion. Bands are popular one day and not the next. Their popularity depends on how much money they can make for the record industry, which makes and breaks bands everyday. But some of these blues rock bands are classics and regardless of your musical choice you cannot deny their songwriting talent. It is precisely why bands like Led Zeppelin song remains the same.

-Axel