Punk Rock ??

[RocketRick]

I wanted to ask other players their opinion of this form?

 

Mind you, I believe all forms of expression are valid and am not criticizing it.

 

However, the Punk Rock I've listened to is just a wall of noise that's loud and obnoxious..almost w/o musical dexterity and seemingly w/o much technical thought into its creation.

 

Any others out there have a thought on it?

 

 

[Hardtail]

It's garbage.

[Phil W]

Never meant anything to me.

If I wanted something loud and wild I listened to Ayler, Shepp and late Coltrane.

I'm the right age to be influenced by it but never have been.

The few punk bands I liked: The Ruts, Bad Brains were vary atypical and I probably liked them for that.

I sometimes have to cover Pretty Vacant and I hate it.

 

[Gruupi]

I think punk rock was valid in the late '70s. Popular music needed a kick in the pants. I'm not impressed with much of it though. I can see the appeal of a high energy live show. I can see that kids want to pick up a guitar and learn to play a few chords aggressively. These are all good things. But for the most part I don't listen to it. It just sounds boring after about 2 songs, everything is the same tempo and loudness. Its seems to be all about testosterone, and if I want that I'll watch a hockey game.

[GuitarPlayerFL]

Mind you, I believe all forms of expression are valid and am not criticizing it.

 

I don't. I don't see the Emperor's New Clothes.

It's for non-musicians to think they have talent.

 

However, the Punk Rock I've listened to is just a wall of noise that's loud and obnoxious..almost w/o musical dexterity and seemingly w/o much technical thought into its creation.

 

That is correct. It's kewl to suck today and not have to learn/progress in the field of music. Those guys will always be wankers no matter how much they try and justify that crap.

[Michael Patrick]

However, the Punk Rock I've listened to is just a wall of noise that's loud and obnoxious..almost w/o musical dexterity and seemingly w/o much technical thought into its creation.

 

Some people (myself included) like music that is loud and obnoxious. For me, there's more to music than technical precision. Music can express a lot of different emotions, and the aggression in punk rock is just one of them. Sometimes I get in a mood where all I want to do is plug in, turn it up, and crash through three chords and scream at the top of my lungs... It can be very therapeutic.

 

Ahhh, the Internets are a wonderful thing.... I just found this page about one of the first bands I was ever in, Silver Abuse. My tenure was brief enough that I don't get a mention, but these were just dudes from the neighborhood that I grew up with, who also happened to form the first punk band in Chicago.

[Darcy H]

While I haven't done it in 20 years, slam dancing at a punk concert was one of thee most invigorating things I have ever done, and I have done alot. I used to live in dives from Toronto to Buffalo. It's just a total release of raw energy, quite addictive. Musically, I don't know, and everynow and then I put some Iggy and the Stooges on, but it does grow tiresome in short order. Must be getting older!

[RocketRick]

Pretty much what I think too.

 

I reckon the ease of having a loud amp and a like minded group is therapeutic somehow.

 

Same as rap I reckon. If you cant play, just fake it & never make excuses. Tho Rap does express the desolation of the disenfranchised.

 

'Nuff said i guess!!!

[Zuben]

I am not putting it down. It brought us some interesting and lasting artists but as far I am concerned, punk died years ago.

 

Peace

[mdrs]

The only Punks I ever got into were perhaps the originals....The Who, who somehow managed to put a lot of quality, both musically and lyrically, into their fury.

 

Imagine that!!!

[rw2003]

I wanted to ask other players their opinion of this form?

 

Mind you, I believe all forms of expression are valid and am not criticizing it.

 

However, the Punk Rock I've listened to is just a wall of noise that's loud and obnoxious..almost w/o musical dexterity and seemingly w/o much technical thought into its creation.

 

Any others out there have a thought on it?

 

 

Wall of noise/loud and obnoxious... isn't that what all rock aspires to be???

 

But seriously, which bands are you listening to that give you that opinion?

 

Go back to where punk started, NYC in the 70s, and listen to some of that music and then see if you opinion changes. It really starts with the Ramones... listen to their early stuff. Granted they were just regular guys from Queens,NY but they made a huge impact on the music scene and even Johnny Ramone contributed greatly and left his mark on rock guitar playing - so what if he barely ever soloed - his rhythm playing was amazing!!!

 

Other stuff that I like from that time includes The NY Dolls and then The Heartbreakers.

 

Then go on to the UK and listen to the entire Clash catalog and even the first Sex Pistols album.

 

More contemporary punk bands that I like include Rancid and Social Distortion.

 

Even Green Day has managed to take the raw elements of punk and use them to turn into one of the most popular stadium attractions today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[blitzkrieg bop]

Wall of noise/loud and obnoxious... isn't that what all rock aspires to be??? \:\)

 

But seriously, which bands are you listening to that give you that opinion?

 

Go back to where punk started, NYC in the 70s, and listen to some of that music and then see if you opinion changes. It really starts with the Ramones... listen to their early stuff. Granted they were just regular guys from Queens,NY but they made a huge impact on the music scene and even Johnny Ramone contributed greatly and left his mark on rock guitar playing - so what if he barely ever soloed - his rhythm playing was amazing!!!

 

Other stuff that I like from that time includes The NY Dolls and then The Heartbreakers.

 

Then go on to the UK and listen to the entire Clash catalog and even the first Sex Pistols album.

 

More contemporary punk bands that I like include Rancid and Social Distortion.

 

Even Green Day has managed to take the raw elements of punk and use them to turn into one of the most popular stadium attractions today.

 

I had to chime in here....excellent reply RW...I agree, and you pretty much listed all the punk bands I like as well. I guess you would call this "old school" punk rock. My favorite band is the Ramones. They didn't want to be obnoxious, their image was more cartoonish and funny anyway; they just wanted to play good ol rock and roll. They played great songs, even though very simple musically, which doesn't really matter. Anybody who likes rock and roll from the 50's can get into the Ramones. They were basically a bubblegum band with distorted guitars.

 

Not to mention that Johnny Ramone was a staunch Conservative...very rare in Rock and Roll, especially punk rock. Good punk rock has that 50's/60's Rock feel with beefed up guitars.

 

Now...there is some music that is called "punk rock" that is garbage; it's all about so called "image" and just being loud, with no music behind it. This stuff is dumb.

 

Anyway...yes, listen to the 70's punk rock (Ramones, NY Dolls), Joan Jett, Iggy Pop...to name a few

[b3_john]

Some of the early stuff had potential to shake up how stale a lot of '70's AOR had become to that point. I personally really liked Patti Smith (still do), just the raw energy was inspirational to me at one point. That and she's such the poet.

 

Don, its funny you mention the Who. The original Who had the punk attitude in spades. But the guy who first tried to explain punk to me said when the Who turned into sequencers and synthesizers and piano ballads, then it was time for a new guard.

 

The other thing about punk was that the premise that energy was more important than proficiency with your instrument, so its not surprising that not much has stood the test of time.

 

John

[The Geoff]

One thing about Punk in the UK - it was, to a certain extent, hijacked by Malcolm McLaren (manager Sex Pistols, husband of Vivienne Westwood, punk designer at the time) and turned into a fashion statement.

 

There was plenty of *real* punk going on, but the public was fooled into a lot of exposure of the McLaren phenomenon which made him & his wife of the time, a lot of money.

 

G.

[Guitarzan]

I wanted to ask other players their opinion of this form?

 

Mind you, I believe all forms of expression are valid and am not criticizing it.

 

However, the Punk Rock I've listened to is just a wall of noise that's loud and obnoxious..almost w/o musical dexterity and seemingly w/o much technical thought into its creation.

 

Any others out there have a thought on it?

 

 

Wall of noise/loud and obnoxious... isn't that what all rock aspires to be???

 

But seriously, which bands are you listening to that give you that opinion?

 

Go back to where punk started, NYC in the 70s, and listen to some of that music and then see if you opinion changes. It really starts with the Ramones... listen to their early stuff. Granted they were just regular guys from Queens,NY but they made a huge impact on the music scene and even Johnny Ramone contributed greatly and left his mark on rock guitar playing - so what if he barely ever soloed - his rhythm playing was amazing!!!

 

Other stuff that I like from that time includes The NY Dolls and then The Heartbreakers.

 

Then go on to the UK and listen to the entire Clash catalog and even the first Sex Pistols album.

 

More contemporary punk bands that I like include Rancid and Social Distortion.

 

Even Green Day has managed to take the raw elements of punk and use them to turn into one of the most popular stadium attractions today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

exactly. i am an old Ramones lover. Social distortion is great.

rock can sometimes be limp and a good hard thrashing on a maxed out guitar delivers the viagra that is often needed.

rock and roll isn't about technical playing it is about energy and youth (in my case eternal youth).

if it wasn't for johnny Ramone bands like Metallica would be missing the extra ingrediant that when mixed with Sabbath created a new and brutal sound.

Green Day is OK in my book as is alot of energetic stuff.

i am far from being dead and even though i appreciate technical players i cannot turn my back on raw music.

there are some bands that are just noise but i choose my music on a band to band basis not genre.

[Dr. Ellwood]

The only punks I ever liked some of was the Clash, I did like Strummer, other than that it was and is pretty much junk.

[Trucks]

From a musicality point of view, it is pretty bad. BUT I love some of the Pistols stuff, some Ramones etc... It wasn't about being musically brilliant. It was about the message, making people stop and listen to what you are saying. Of course there was also lots of head butting involved too, but that's just the way it goes.

 

God save the Queen is a classic, its British pent up aggression, sarcasm and a bit of a rant all in one.

 

Modern punk is about selling records, as far as I can tell. I love Green Days Dookie (Maybe only form a nostalgic point of view), but is that really punk? . I dunno, I guess the deal with punk is you do wtf you want anyway, so there aren't really any rules.

[mdrs]

Yo B3 John....The Who played piano ballads? I may have missed them, which ones??? When referencing The Who as the original punks, of course I'm talkin The Who with Moonie. After Moon bought it, it was never the same intensity level.....How could it have been??

 

I did like The Clash a ton....The Clampdown is one of my fav power songs....also liked Train In Vain and All Lost In The Supermarket....and a bunch of other Clash stuff. Great and talented band, who actually could play different styles all well.

 

 

[revolead]

I will agree with everyone that punk is loud, obnoxious, and a poor excuse for the lazy to pack miles on their guitar without having to learn too much, but that's exactly it's appeal. That's its point. Just like, at one point, hard rock was criticized for being "primordial, even tribal" because of its loud drums and distorted guitar tones. Yet, it still has a following as well.

 

I will admit there are A LOT of lousy punk bands out there. But that's no excuse to trash the good ones, provided you like the genre, and as for some recommendations, I would suggest Social Distortion ('Zan mentioned them), Bad Religion, Agent Orange (surf punk), The Offspring and some of the other 80s and early 90s originals. What I avoid whole-heartedly is the modern excuse for "punk," such as Green Day, All-American Rejects, Blink 182, Good Charlotte, etc. It's overproduced and designed to appeal to masses, aka, it entirely neglects and abuses punks origins, its traditions, and its followers.

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

However, the Punk Rock I've listened to is just a wall of noise that's loud and obnoxious..almost w/o musical dexterity and seemingly w/o much technical thought into its creation.

 

Oh, same here. Isn't it wonderful?

 

 

[mdrs]

However, the Punk Rock I've listened to is just a wall of noise that's loud and obnoxious..almost w/o musical dexterity and seemingly w/o much technical thought into its creation.

 

Oh, same here. Isn't it wonderful?

 

 

LOL..... Yea..

[Bejeeber]

When I first became aware of punk I completely despised everything about it and what it stood for, but I was more close minded and curmudgeonly then in my youth than I am now.

 

I've since heard an occasional punk tune I've really liked, such as Bad Religion's Infected (although that's not a stereotypical fast punk tune I guess). I recommend giving it a listen, it's a good tune.

 

 

[The Geoff]

Good music = good music, punk or not, but, over here, at the time, so many saw it as a nod to those with no talent to make some money - and they did!!

 

The only thing that needs less talent is bad rap!!!

 

(Dons fireproof suit & runs like h**l).

 

 

Geoff

[Kramer Ferrington III.]

Good music = good music, punk or not, but, over here, at the time, so many saw it as a nod to those with no talent to make some money - and they did!!

 

Bah... I'm not so sure about that.

 

I don't think that a lot of those bands such as the Exploited, The Anti-Nowhere League, 999, Crass or GBH earned enough to retire in the Bahamas or anything. I'm sure the Clash, the Pistols and (perhaps) the Buzzcocks made some $$$, but who knows. I'm not certain that any of those "2nd tier" bands now playing the nostalgia circuit ever got rich by being punks.

 

I also think that, with punk, there was a need for a certain street-cred that not everybody had. It wasn't a matter of declaring yourself "punk", you really had to walk the walk. Credibility was everything.

 

I suppose you could say the same thing about rap, actually. You need to be believable in a way that other types of music don't normally require.

[Trucks]

I saw Johnny Rotten on TV the other night talking about "My class of people" regarding himself as still being a hard up working class man. Quite funny considering he is now a multi-millionaire property developer.

 

You're not one of us anymore Johnny!! :-)

[The Geoff]

Good music = good music, punk or not, but, over here, at the time, so many saw it as a nod to those with no talent to make some money - and they did!!

 

Bah... I'm not so sure about that.

 

I don't think that a lot of those bands such as the Exploited, The Anti-Nowhere League, 999, Crass or GBH earned enough to retire in the Bahamas or anything. I'm sure the Clash, the Pistols and (perhaps) the Buzzcocks made some $$$, but who knows. I'm not certain that any of those "2nd tier" bands now playing the nostalgia circuit ever got rich by being punks.

 

I also think that, with punk, there was a need for a certain street-cred that not everybody had. It wasn't a matter of declaring yourself "punk", you really had to walk the walk. Credibility was everything.

 

I suppose you could say the same thing about rap, actually. You need to be believable in a way that other types of music don't normally require.

 

I didn't mean that the 'artists' made a lot of money - but somebody did!! McLaren

 

G.

[Griffinator]

Occasionally, a punk band pops up on my radar that impresses me from a musical standpoint: Dropkick Murphys and The Living End are recent examples - guitarists who actually have a clue how to play their instruments, interesting arrangements, songs that actually move instead of being a solid wall of 3 or 4 chord banging.

 

It doesn't happen very often...

[Greg B.]

There's alot of punk that I really like, but there is also alot that I can't stand-pretty much the same as all other genres of music. I absolutely love the blues, metal, pop, hard rock, etc, but again, there is some of each of them that I don't like. As Geoff said, good music=good music.

[miroslav]

There's good punk and bad punk music (just like any music).

 

I think punk contributed to the evolvement of R&R...and while some bands WERE nothing more than obnoxious noisemakers, there were others that managed to chisel out a very enjoyable niche.

 

Heck...it got us the hell out of the disco craze on the dance floors!!!

Good punk beats where always a lot of fun to boogie to...IMO.

 

[Greg B.]

Heck...it got us the hell out of the disco craze on the dance floors!!!

 

And for that I will be forever grateful!