Mount Rushmore - 80s rock bands

1980s GnR or all GnR?

 

Making a point. I like Guns 'n' Roses, by and large.

But they're no more "rock" than U2 is "rock" ... they're something but is that something rock? What the fuck is rock?

I believe the first post stated Guitars and drums. Guitars and drums.

Here's '80s "guitars and drums" without the glam and makeup and screech. He's not on the mountain though.

 

John Cougar was a face of '80s "rock" ...

 

I know Rush was mentioned but they're instantly disqualified.

You should be able to fuck to rock music and you can't fuck to Rush.

 

This thread is a good reminder that people have developed an incredibly narrow view of what rock is. It's been whittled down to "if you heard it coming out of a stoner's Camaro at lunch in high school, it's rock."

It used to be that rock was this great, varied thing that included all kinds of sounds. Then FM radio determined that rock was 3 to 5 white guys with guitars trying to sound like Led Zeppelin and anything else was just weird and foreign. Goddamn, that's boring.

 

Hey, I tend to agree.

If Welcome to the Jungle is "rock" then Allentown is "rock" then Sweat (by Oingo Boingo) is "rock" ...

If you ever need motivation at the gym ...

 

"Beat It" is rock, but 98% of Michael Jackson's catalog isn't.

 

Not a single mention of Springsteen?

 

He's boring.

 

1970s Bruce >>>>>>> 1980s Bruce.

1980s Bruce isn't the best of the best when it comes to rock, so he doesn't belong either.

 

I sort of agree with this.

'Rock' is a slightly smaller umbrella under the big umbrella of 'pop.'

But we were having these categorical arguments among ourselves in the 70s and 80s, too.

The result of which is the nearly infinite/nonsensical sub-categorization of popular music we suffer today.

 

I've heard the argument The Beatles were pop, not rock.