How did we let it happen? The Great American Rock Song is over. Do you remember when you could sing along to "Hot For Teacher"or the chorus of "Hell's Bells"? It was easy to sing along, because hard rock through the late 70s and a majority of the 80s just felt good...damn good.

It was great to see that big hair, the funny looking guitars, those trendy wristbands, the big boots, the spandex clad maniacs on the mike. It was just great. Great music, great memories, all destroyed before our very eyes. "Over the top and out of control" got dropped for "under the rug and out of touch". Rapcore, Grunge, and baggy pants--there you have it, a perfect world we made of rock and roll and this is all we have left now. Absolutely pathetic.

Can you sing along to Godsmack? Can you relate to Stone Sour or Linkin Park. Yeah, maybe, but not the way you did to "Rockin Like A Hurricane" or "Round And Round". That was different stuff, good stuff, that was about attitude, sex, living life on the edge, summer winds and sweet dreams. The things that really mattered and really had a place in our hearts.

Hard Rock is dead. Rock N Roll is dead. Heavy metal still carries on the torch in some way, via Death, Power, Black, Thrash, or Nu-Metal but Hard Rock is gone folks. Dead as it could ever be. There is no Exhibit A to introduce to the jury. Its a done deal. We've let Grunge and Rap crush the very fabric of what makes rock and roll music what it is. We've lost George Lynch's skull guitar. We've abandoned our Modern Day Cowboy. We no longer Shout At The Devil. Jamie isn't crying anymore. White Lion lost the Fight To Survive. Its Too Late For Love. Gone are those Big City Nights where we gave Love A Bad Name. We put our Balls To The Wall and we lost. Hard Rock lost and with it, all of our faith in American music was lost. No more Winger, no more Warrant, no more Skid Row, no more White Lion, no more Roth with Halen, no more Lynch with Dokken, no more Halford with Priest. The music died. The big guitars are gone. The "women-chasing, booze-drinking songs" to stand up and fight for--they are all gone now. The connection has ended. What a loss.

We now have hard rock heroes like Fred Durst, Dave Grohl, Corey Taylor and Scott Stapp telling us how to live life in the fast lane. They are the ones telling us how to Rock And Roll All Night. Who the hell are these guys? Remember when Bon Scott, Sebastian Bach, Dee Snider, and Kevin Dubrow ruled the stage? Those were hard rock heroes, people who made a career by living and breathing rock and roll. They lived by the sword...and died by it. This is their story. The beginning and the end of the Great American Dream.

Finally there is Parole From Rock 'N Roll, and its a goddamn tragedy.

--EC


Next Time: "The State of Hard Rock in the Late 80's". Our tri-editoral begins with the opinions from 1EVIL1, EC, and Nailer.