Born to be Wild: The Golden Age of American Rock
Episode 3 of 3.
Welcome to the Jungle
The final part explores the 1980s and the eventual demise
of the golden era of American rock.
The beginning of the decade saw the meteoric rise of MTV
which completely changed the landscape of rock music.
From Los Angeles, a new rock scene emerged of party-anthem pop-metal,
tailor-made for the visual medium of TV. Bands like Van Halen,
Motley Crue and Poison sported heavy make-up, flashy clothes
and huge hair while singing songs of sex, partying, drinking and drugs.
The other side of American mainstream rock attempted to tackle
the social and political issues of the time.
John Mellencamp, Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen all produced
a stadium rock that appealed to the nation's blue-collar workers.
Their music filled arenas, but was anybody really listening to the message?
As the decade moved on, MTV exposure directly translated
to commercial profit and soon the hugely popular pop-metal
- dubbed Hair Metal by its critics - was saturating the market.
Power ballads, big choruses and even bigger hair were the order of the day,
with the highly marketable Bon Jovi leading the pack.
Guns N' Roses saw themselves as the antithesis
to what they considered fake rebellion, soft-rock drivel.
But, as we discover, even they became neutralised
by the commercialisation of the rock industry.
The documentary ends in the early 90s with the emergence of Nirvana
and grunge, which wiped away the narcissistic, sexist and pompous music form
American rock had grown into. However, it was ultimately another genre
of pop music that really replaced the golden age of rock,
producing the big personalities the rock scene could no longer provide.
The 80s is my least favourite decade for music.
I found myself constantly buying LPs by new bands
on the strength of a promising single I'd heard
only to find it was the only good song on the album.
Prog was in the doldrums and even Zappa was below par.
Some better stuff began to appear by the late 80s
and the advent of home recording/self released music
eventually loosened the corporate grip.
However...Desmond Child is a songwriting hero of mine
and I was both surprised and delighted to see him featured in this episode.
regards
Titus
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