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Rock.
Though it was nearly buried after the metal craze died out, it is a genre that spent almost half a century fundamentally reshaping the landscape of popular music.
Born from a fusion of gospel—the hymns of enslaved peoples—the blues of Black Americans, and the country folk traditions of white Americans, rock began its life as the music of the oppressed, the anthem of the weak.
Because of these origins, rock—despite its popularity—was never intended to be 'planned' music, churned out of some factory driven by massive capital.
It emerged as a way for the underclass, those far removed from social privilege, and the working laborers to find a voice in their own way.
Unlike mass-produced factory music, it prioritized an artist's class background, their philosophy, their convictions, and their raw personal experiences. This is why rock was hailed as a legitimate form of art; through these unique traits, it could share a genuine, visceral connection with the public.
Rock marched alongside social criticism and movements seeking to break free from oppression. It was a populist, anti-elitist genre that represented and comforted the common people.
However, as the late 1980s saw the meteoric rise of glam metal, hair metal, pop metal, and LA metal, heavy metal transformed into just another mainstream sound—standard pop songs dressed in leather.
The inherent soul of rock was corrupted under the guise of capital. The result was a rock scene dominated by tracks that felt like grotesque products of capitalism, manufactured with nothing but profit in mind.
Having lost its roots, rock eventually collapsed into a state of stagnant mannerism. Stripped of its power to resonate with human emotion, rock became nothing more than jarring, abrasive noise to the public ear.
Rock was discarded. And I, who dreamed of playing that music, was also discarded by the crushing weight of reality.
I just wanted to start a band...