I used to really like the band Hardnox they were from my area in n the early 2k’s and had a dope mixtape called I go dumb. But like that was it. They may have put out one album but it wasn’t of the same level of quality and skill as I go dumb was. Why do some bands just fall off so hard. They have one to three good maybe even great albums then poof they’re basically gone. I know Hardnox started DJing a club idk if they bought the club or what but at some point they were always at that club and the music quality went through the floor.

i saw a post here a few days ago about how people "want rock music back in the mainstream", and while that may be true, it seems that today's rock audience doesn't want modern rock the way it is today.

to people I know who aren't big music listeners, specifically modern rock listeners, when it comes to modern rock, their tastes are often not all that modern. I'll hear they listen to newer bands like "Linkin Park" or "Foo Fighters", very evidently not the most "modern".

when it comes to actual new rock, the indie rock zeitgeist bands like Geese or Fontaines D.C. or whoever is getting today's indie love are barely heard of by anyone I know in real life. But there's almost always one band that comes up as the one band they know and like, which is Greta Van Fleet.

most who know of the band will know what will appeal to listeners most, and that's that GVF sounds a lot like Led Zeppelin. and while the band is talented, more than just watered down Zeppelin, there's little interest it would seem from people who complain about the lack of modern rock music to actually engage with modern rock.

many rock bands who are pushed on social media are pushed not for their actual musical talent or the songs themselves, but often as "band x sounds like (old band)".

from what I've observed, when people say "I want to hear modern rock again", seldom does it actually mean wanting to engage with modern rock, but to hear modern rock that sounds like classic rock.

to people who lambast the lack of rock music in the mainstream, which is a valid point, the idea from many who say that is less about wanting to play the rock music that is popular and enjoyable, but rock that sounds like "the good old days". people don't want rock to be Geese or MJ Lenderman or BC;NR, whoever you want to throw out as "new rock", they want the next 'Rolling Stones', the next 'Led Zeppelin'.

it's no wonder that breakout bands like Greta Van Fleet are labeled as "the new Led Zeppelin' or Yungblud as "the next Ozzy". Rock can only exist in the mainstream acceptance as a form of nostalgia. any trending early 20's rock band will go ignored by the same people asking "where did all the rock go", but if you take a Stones cover band and ask AI to "generate a song that sounds like the Rolling Stones" and you'll have every person who can't name more than a handful of 21st century rock artists calling them "the last real rock band".

perhaps there's something to be said about the fact that "where have the rock bands gone" is almost always revolved around radio, which has become an increasingly older demographic of listeners, but if the public is wanting the return of rock music, they're doing a poor effort to find it themselves, and they don't seem to want to, because they want the nostalgia of classic rock to feel new again, for them to feel young.

I will note that from the LTM t head that OP however mentioned Spotify as a platform where rock is clearly popular, but that it's from pre-2000's bands such as Radiohead and Coldplay. Do the rock listeners even know that every music outlet has turned Cameron Winter into indie Jesus, or that big thief is supposed to be the coolest band of today.

even today the divide is so wide between the RYM/AOTY crowd that has declared Radiohead as the most genius band to ever live to the people making Radiohead trend on Spotify as 'oh, the band that made creep?" (do "rock fans" even know of 'The Smile'? their less than 500k monthly listeners answers that).

it's not that the indie crowd knows what is popular either. Geese has 1.9 monthly listeners. how many of these very cool hipsters have heard a single Sombr song, an artist who has 57M monthly listeners (and in all honestly isn't all that bad).

if people want to pay for new rock music, that doesn't track either with the billboard rock charts, where Queen's 'Greatest Hits', Nirvana's 'Nevermind', and Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' all lands in the top five, decades later. maybe the next big rock band is whichever classic rock band signs off their rights to become eternal AI slop.

constantly asking for "the return of rock bands" back, people don't actually want modern rock. what they want is a cover band with original songs.

There have been periodic threads on electronic music more recently and I will see comments turning into "Americans are ignorant of electronic music/didn't evolve electronic music/are behind their European counterparts." Something about the statement feels reductive to me. I think there's different levels of observation between genre development and wider popularity, and other criteria.

To be clear, the development of electronic music in the UK and Europe is amazing and influential. No one can take that away. But it can often feel like this dichotomy of "rockist America" and forward-thinking Europe (a thread could be dedicated to this perception and how much weight does it hold). And I wanted to dig a little bit deeper on what is actually the case.

I think there is a grain of truth in electronic music not necessarily being appreciated in the same way in the US as in the UK and Europe. Some of it relating to what is valued in music, some of it relating to niche: a few different British electronic genres have been described as "British answers to Hip-Hop". So one might wonder if Hip-Hop occupies the niche that could've been taken by an electronic genre. I think there is an issue with some genres being mainstream in the UK and Europe while being niche in the US.

In the first place, I understand that electronic music is a huge umbrella category; someone once compared it to calling music with acoustic instruments "acoustica". There's a variety of approaches and people who are fans of one type of electronic music wouldn't necessarily be a fan of another.

Obviously music radio was huge from the 60s-00s. People could call in and request songs, people’s first listen of an album would come from the radio, and artists would come in and talk about their new releases. The ability to stream the music you wanna hear kinda ended all of that. Theres no reason to click through radio stations if you have the ability to listen to the music you like. But is there a next level for radio? People donate to live streamers to hear their songs, song wars are popular and djs still exist. Could radio have a resurgence, or does it live on through segmented areas like it does now

We all have that mental list where we were blown away by a live performance of our favorite song. What is one of your favorite live song performances of all time? And why? Was it the energy or were you moved to tears?

There is such magic in a live performance and in the old days artists felt their words when they sang. It's more rare nowadays. Sometimes I will see an older live on youtube, and it's a bittersweet experience. It makes me feel such joy and hope but also can give me the blues because those days are over.

Gen X and boomers. Were you ever present at any of these live shows and if so describe the feeling of being there. I saw a live on youtube by Peter Gabriel the song IN YOUR EYES (Secret World Live).. it's on youtube channel Peter Gabriel ... their happiness is real, their smiles, and the happy dancing. It's a really amazing performance and I saw a comment where someone wrote "this isn't a performance this is a celebration of life" Amen to that! Long live older music.

I also love Foreigner I Want to Know What Love is Live in Japan, Aug 1985 on youtube channel MTVArchives. It's a brilliant performance and it gets better and better as it progresses with gorgeous chanting at the end. The emotion Lou Gramm has in the vocals is very unforgettable. 

Another one I saw was Goo Goo Dolls - Iris (Live in Buffalo, NY, 7/4/2004) It started to pour rain and everyone decided to keep going.. not one single person was hurt and you can see the fans twirling their umbrella and enjoying the moment. The singer even told the cameraman don't film us film them and the front row was dancing and smiling.. and he too was smiling. It was so beautiful and I bet the crowd was on cloud 9. Reminds me of the quote "some people run and hide when it pours while others embrace the moment and dance in the rain."

Name one of your favorite live songs and why you love it so much. Thanks

Hi, this is my first post in this group, and I guess it's fairly basic, but I'm just curious on people's reactions to my music taste.

I'm not looking to feel special because of my choices, or any sort of attention, I'm just a big fan of creating a top ten for mostly everything I interact with. That being said, I'm all for being called basic too, either for my artist choices, or my favoruite tracks amongst their discography.

1. Fall Out Boy

Favourite Tracks:

Carpal Tunnel of Love

American Suitehearts

Dance Dance

I'm Like A Lawyer, With The Way I'm Trying To Get You Off

Grand Theft Autumn

2. KALEO

Favourite Tracks:

Hey Gringo

Break My Baby

No Good

Save Yourself

All The Pretty Girls

3. Michael Jackson

Favourite Tracks:

Dirty Diana

You Rock My World

Billie Jean

Blood On The Dancefloor

Unbreakable

4. Gary Clark Jr.

Favourite Tracks:

The Healing

Feelin Like A Million

This Is Who We Are

Can't Sleep

This Land

5. Kanye West

Favoruite Tracks:

All Of The Lights

Stronger

Power

Touch The Sky

Runaway

6. Hozier

Favourite Tracks:

Be

Someone Else

Dinner & Diatribres

Angel of Small Death

Movement

7. B.B. King

Favourite Tracks:

Thrill Is Gone (New York 1971)

Ghetto Woman

All Over Again

Hummingbird

How Blue Can You Get (Cook County Jail 1970)

8. Eminem

Favourite Tracks:

8 Mile

Beautiful

Sing For The Moment

Lose Yourself

Space Bound

9. The Weeknd

Favourite Tracks:

Lonely Night

The Hills

Six Feet Under

Call Out My Name

Sidewalks

10. 2Pac

Favoruite Tracks:

Can't C Me

Me Against The World

How Long Will They Mourn Me

Nothing To Lose

Changes

Honourable Mentions:

Ray Charles

3 Doors Down

J Cole

Good Charlotte

Arctic Monkeys

Hi everyone,

I am from 2003, and recently I have really been getting into "older" music; from the 60s-90s, very diverse and different but mostly inspired by my dad, who grew up in Toronto in the 60s/70s.

I notice that I often feel a certain 'nostalgia' towards some of the songs, such as The Way It Is & The Show Goes On-Bruce Hornsby and the Range, Learning To Fly-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Goodbye Stranger & Take The Long Way Home-Supertramp.

Does anyone know these songs have that make me feel this way? They were released such a long time before I was even born, but they give me this sad but also happy longing to a life I never had, driving around somewhere with friends, social media not being around, life being good; just a very specific nostalgic feeling that brings me almost to tears every time I listen to these, even though I have no further connection with these songs than just listening to them. It really is some sort of magic sound.

I think with BH& the Range it's mostly the piano sound/riffs that give me the feeling, with the other songs I don't know. Does anyone else know what I'm talking about?

I’ve been thinking about how often music discussion gets reduced to one question: what does the song mean?

That’s a valid question, but I’m starting to think it can be too narrow on its own. So I tried something different with “Hurt” by Nine Inch Nails and asked what happens if you look at the song through 9 different lenses instead.

Here’s what I came up with:

Action

This song doesn’t really drive outward action in the normal sense. If anything, it creates the feeling of being trapped with the consequences of action already taken. The movement is inward and terminal rather than forward.

Identity

A lot of the song’s force comes from a fractured sense of self. The speaker feels damaged, hollowed out, and unable to maintain a stable image of who he is. It feels like identity under collapse.

Regulation

This is one of the strongest layers of the song to me. The whole thing feels dysregulated in a very controlled way. It creates numbness, pain, tension, and emotional depletion all at once without ever needing to shout.

Narrative

The song gives you just enough story to orient yourself. There’s a past, there’s self-destruction, there’s regret, there’s some kind of relational loss or distance, and there’s a present moment of reckoning. It’s not a detailed story, but it’s enough to make the emotional state legible.

Simulation

What stands out here is that the song opens a kind of dark imaginative space. It doesn’t just describe pain, it lets you inhabit an alternative internal reality where self-harm, alienation, and collapse feel like the governing frame. It simulates a mental world more than it argues a point.

Systems

Musically, the song feels engineered to narrow and intensify attention. The sparse opening, the restraint, and then the growth in weight all work together with the lyrics to create a system where emotional pressure builds without release. The arrangement is doing a lot of the psychological work.

Alignment

This is one of the weakest layers in the song, but in an interesting way. The song is almost defined by relational breakdown. The listener can feel the absence of connection, which makes the little traces of other people in the song hit even harder.

Observation

This may be the song’s deepest layer. A lot of “Hurt” feels like self-observation at the point where observation no longer brings relief. The speaker is not lost in pure emotion. He is watching himself with terrible clarity, and that clarity is part of what makes the song so brutal.

Purpose

The song doesn’t offer meaning in a comforting sense, but it does leave behind a larger human question. What remains when pain, memory, and self-destruction have stripped everything else down? That is part of why the song stays with people. It turns private suffering into something existential.

For me, this kind of reading ends up feeling richer than just asking what the song is “about.” It takes a bit of time to get adjusted to listening for all of these facets within a song, but it turned into a fun game once I got the practice down.

I hope this doesn't come across as "promoting a playlist" because this about my personal song above others. Feel free to discuss your own experiences.

I don't understand a lick of Japanese. However, I remember watching Samurai X when I was a child, and I was particularly fond of the first opening theme called "Sobakasu" I didn't know much about music theory then, but as I grew older I remember always coming back to that song.

I could always pick up on the "nostalgic" feel to the song, and I was pleasantly surprised when I eventually looked up the lyrics and found that the hook of the chorus says:

All the memories, I've had with you are are beautiful in my mind.

But they don't fill the chasm deep within my soul

As soon as I read it, it was like, I already knew that was what the chorus said. The way the singer says the first line fondly, and then the way she says the next line more forcefully... I could tell that the first line of the chorus was a sweet memory, and then the next line was something more bitter.

I also think it's the I, iii, vi, IV progression used throughout the song so often that makes the nostalgic feel.

In the case of getting a visual from a song, I remember the first time I heard Everybody wants to rule the World by Tears for Fears- from the opening lick alone, I got a very strong visual of a person driving lazily down a highway... and then I saw the music video and I thought Eurika! I knew it

I have a thought:

Sometimes the same track sounds completely different depending on how I got to it.

Not the genre, not the mix, but the "entry point".

For example:

- hearing a track randomly vs. being told “pay attention to this part”

- discovering something alone vs. being introduced to it by someone you trust

- or even reading a certain description before listening

It feels like I’m not just hearing the music itself, but also inheriting a kind of “framing” of it.

So it's almost like the perception is pre-shaped before the sound even starts.

And once that framing is there, it’s hard to “unhear” it.

I’m curious how universal this is.

Do you feel like context changes the structure of what you hear, or is the music itself always the dominant factor for you?

I’ve always loved songs that are so beautiful and well made they hit you in a way you can’t really explain.

The kind where you just sit there for a second and feel everything, like time slows down and nothing else matters for a moment.

For me, it’s usually something about the vocals, the atmosphere, or even just the timing of when I hear it that makes it hit differently. Sometimes it’s not even a sad song, just something that feels almost perfect in a weird way.

Curious what songs give other people that same feeling, or what makes a song feel like that to you.