Monday, December 1st, 2008

Lerman: Classic rock icons sell out

Artists who used to represent rebellion are now part of the establishment.

By Jake Lerman (Contact)

Tuesday, February 5th, 2008

If you’ve ever spent a lazy weekend in Lawrence, it’s likely you’ve heard the unmistakable tapping that will forever be coupled with the game Guitar Hero. It’s more than likely that you’ve strapped on the plastic axe and clicked along to a couple of tunes yourself.

I’m not alone when I say that there’s something extremely off about seeing a rock icon who once stood as a symbol of rebellion for millions on stage next to a sweater-clad Bill Gates.

Nonetheless, Bill and the gang recently unveiled the next chapter in musical fakery, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Gates ushered in the occasion by parading guitar legend Slash from Guns and Roses, out on stage.

Slash appears in the video game in all of his high-resolution, longhaired glory, but when he emerged from the smoke in front of a 10-yard-wide Microsoft logo there was a noticeable absence of mystique.

I love classic rock as much as the next guy, and I know that the world doesn’t even turn unless you feed it a buck, but I can’t stand to see the men who once appeared so godly on stage pushing products that represent the very establishments they fought against in their music. The hypocrisy is just too great to bear.

Honestly, what have we come to when Bob Dylan is making cameos in Cadillac commercials? When stars prostitute their image to the highest bidder, they are robbing the very image they are trying to sell of its integrity. Rock star rebellion and corporate slogans don’t go hand in hand.

But the commercialization doesn’t stop there.

Anyone with an eye on the music world for the past few years is well aware of the resurgence of classic rock.

Bands such as The Who, Cream, The Police and the original paragons of rock, Led Zeppelin, have all decided to reunite and have another go. But seeing all of these big names lit up on a marquee begs a simple question: Why are these bands going back on tour?

Pardon the idealistic binge, but could they be reassembling to rescue music from the rut of repetitious pop dribble that’s currently swarming the radio?

Or could it be that they simply need another suck off the cash cow that is rock ‘n’ roll nostalgia?

As much as I’d like to believe it a noble cause, the reality is that marketers finally realized that when the members of young rebel generation grew up, their pockets may have grown with them.

Some of them are willing to pay a high price to revisit the soundtrack of their youth.

That’s not to mention the hoards of new listeners that have been cultivated since the bands originally split up.

To get true perspective on the issue, consider who we think of when we reflect on the great names of Rock n’ Roll Past.

Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia and John Lennon seem to all ring a bell.

The alliterated greats of the era were all burnt into our memories, not by big name reunion tours but because the music they made was honest, and it was good.

It was motivated by a desire to play and to play well. Money mattered, but that wasn’t what they were playing for.

Maybe it was seeing John Paul Jones with a buzz cut, or maybe it was a gray-topped Jimmy Page who enlightened me to the artificial nature of resurrected music.

Either way, despite the fact that the new wave of reunion shows may lack the spirit of the originals, when I put my headphones on, Plant can still wail, and the songs are as great as ever.

For that reason, I know that the day Zep decides to tour the States, I’ll be first in line for a ticket.

Lerman is a Highland Park, Ill., sophomore in journalism.

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