2007: A Rock Eulogy
Yes, rock is dead. Or at least, it has struggled to survive. To see why such an influential musical movement went out of style so quickly, we go back to the last year it was truly alive: 2007.
Written by Adithya Srinivas
Illustrated by Paola Flores
We’ve all been hearing it for ages now: rock is dead. Never again will we see the days of old when dad rock ruled the airwaves, the British invaded with The Beatles, or bands the likes of Nirvana belted out to crowds. And to many listeners, this doesn’t really sound like a bad thing, as it means rock has continued to change and create new sounds and subgenres. Through these many peaks, variations, and low valleys (*ahem* Nickelback), rock has remained one of the most influential musical movements ever. Even now, underground metal and punk scenes are thriving, while electronic, indie, psychedelic, and soul rock maintain their huge followings. Yet so many people feel rock is gone, never to be resurrected because of the distant mists of 2007, rock music’s last hurrah — and last gasp.
The year 2007 is particularly important for rock due to the sheer volume of critically-acclaimed and fan-favorite albums released from the many different corners of the genre’s world, with something available for every rock fan. Radiohead’s ever-popular In Rainbows was the year’s biggest release, joined by records by Arcade Fire, Fall Out Boy, Kings of Leon, and Arctic Monkeys, to name a few. Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters, The White Stripes, and Nine Inch Nails brought a more hard-rock aesthetic with projects of their own, while LCD Soundsystem, Modest Mouse, Animal Collective, and Austin natives Spoon brought their indie sounds to the party.
Photo courtesy of The New York Times
The year even had callbacks to rock’s stars of days past with Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, and even Bon Jovi releasing records. Say what you will about Maroon 5, Linkin Park and Avril Lavigne, but they are still notable figures in 2000s rock, and were also among the artists to release an album in ‘07. Rock music saturated the year, and notably, maintained a fairly high level of quality for the time.
Many of these bands were reaching the peak of their popularity, and many of these albums like LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver and Queens of the Stone Age’s Era Vulgaris have withstood the test of time extremely well. This list of albums only scratches the surface of 2007’s varied and enjoyable rock output that bookends the genre’s reign at the top of music.
Perhaps more telling of 2007’s rock heights are the 12 to 13 years that have followed in the genre. Arctic Monkeys, Fall Out Boy, and Arcade Fire have all generally struggled to capture their magic in subsequent projects, while Linkin Park, the White Stripes, and many other bands from this era are now defunct. Maroon 5 have completely retooled themselves into a pure pop group, while Spoon have embraced more elements of electronic music and diverting from their rock-focused original sound.
Photo courtesy of NME
Meanwhile, Jack White and Dave Grohl continue the fight to keep rock relevant by getting more experimental through their various projects, but they just aren’t charting the way they once did. Modest Mouse, Animal Collective and Queens of the Stone Age have all remained relevant, but they’ve accomplished this by leaning into the parts of their sound that weren’t all that “rock” to begin with. The two former became more indie and synth heavy, while the latter ventured into metal. And there’s the crux of the issue: changing and improving core rock roots is what allowed some bands to continue to succeed, while those who haven’t reached the same level of critical acclaim they experienced before they failed to adapt. Rock isn’t dead because it sucks now — it’s dead because all of the innovations made within it have spawned completely new scenes and aesthetics that have transcended the genre.
Although no single year has matched 2007’s production of as much quantity or quality in “pure” rock, rock’s subgenres are its legacy moving forward. Sure, Black Pumas and Algiers are “rock” bands, but you’d sooner describe them as a soul and punk fusion. Tame Impala is a “rock” band, but its last two projects fall firmly within an electronic or psychedelic sphere. IDLES and Protomartyr are post-punk, black midi are metal, Portugal. The Man are indie, and so on. Yes, it’s a technicality that all these artists aren’t most associated with rock, but each of these genres have their own worlds and have distinguished themselves heavily from the stereotypical rock sound that catches so much flak.
Modern rock is Greta Van Fleet copy-pasting the ‘70s, Muse and Green Day pumping out new but inconsequential projects, and whatever Imagine Dragons are doing. And modern audiences are likely to view them as old, bland or uninteresting. Meanwhile, artists who have innovated in the years since ‘07 have moved so far away from these sounds that most of us don’t even equate them all as being together under a rock umbrella. So yes, rock is dead, but at least 2007 let it go out with a bang.