What happened to musical icons?

Taurothar

Taurothar

Leothar
Adventurer
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
1,997
Location
Torrington, CT
Website
www.drakeleonarts.com
Nation Banner
Bastok
Main Job
Warrior-Male
Secondary Job
Samurai-Male
Third Job
Paladin-Male
Server
Quetzalcoatl
Linkshell
UnknownSoldiers
FFXI
Leothar
As the title suggests, I've been discussing this with a friend of mine lately and we can't come up with an answer to where's our (the current) generation's musical icon? In the past there was Elvis, the Beatles, Michael Jackson even. So where is ours? Even the really huge bands of last generation are dying out, just look at the Rolling Stones.

So here's the criteria I've come up with:
1. Huge following
2. Started touring in the last 15 years at most
3. Musical diversity, not just one singular sound or genre able to define them
 
jender said:
Nirvana - invented a new genre...
Click to expand...

That's debatable, since they grew off what people like the Clash started. And their success, however grand, was cut short in such a tragic way, they could've been it but we'll never know.
 
Taurothar said:
That's debatable, since they grew off what people like the Clash started. And their success, however grand, was cut short in such a tragic way, they could've been it but we'll never know.
Click to expand...

hmmm....I agree with some of that. I believe thier success and place in musical history to be Iconic, but I see where you are coming from.

I agree, most icons that I can think of are from an older generation - like Elvis Costello or Aerosmith...

That's a good question.
 
Do the beetles and micheal fit the criteria? #3 seems a little rough.
 
IMO, there isn't an "icon" for today's music... Most of the music that's popular sucks, and most of the bands with real talent aren't big (in the US, anyway). And tbh, I'd rather have no icon for today's music than some Britney Spears or Eminem bullshit.
 
I suppose it could be argued that the Beatles went through a change of music diversity:

1950 type love song (If I fell) - Pop love songs (She loves you) - Weirdo music (I am the Walrus) - Spirital/India inspired music (cant think of any examples on the top of my head) - Contemporary/reflective (My life/yesterday)

I'm not sure if this really counts as diversity, but you can't deny that they did go through some changes and in the end compared to when they started. And my examples might be weak for this argument because I haven't really given this much thought. I could be totally wrong in categorizing songs and maybe in the end, all these songs are more like each other than I previously thought.
 
Jackson 5 > Thriller > Current Michael are 3 completely different genres really.

and I think Zeph covered the Beetles.

And part 3 isn't really 100% a requirement, but a commonality I've found.
 
Off topic, but I'm amused that our titles are similar in language. I'm sure Guberhrmiester is from Mission Hill, but it still has some German in it.
 
I'd say Michael's a good choice.

Other options:
U2? (Love them or hate them, they fit all 3 imo)
Prince / Artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as prince
 
neville said:
I'd say Michael's a good choice.

Other options:
U2? (Love them or hate them, they fit all 3 imo)
Prince / Artist formerly known as the artist formerly known as prince
Click to expand...

I consider all 3 to be last generation.

Oh and could Dave Matthews be considered a candidate? He fits all 3, and has an enormous following with the college age population in America. People are following him around on tour almost as fanatically as they did for the Grateful Dead back in the day. I know he doesn't have an almost universal appeal, but there's virtually nobody who does these days.
 
Last edited:
Hate to say this person not a big fan of him but... Justin Timberlake? 'Nsync Love songs and POP > R&B and RAP/ Whatever you would call his others sounds I.E. Bringing Sexy Back.
 
Excalibr said:
Enter me

sayin Tool.
Click to expand...

I'd agree with this if they had a more diversified following. The fans they have are absolutely fanatical (Me, you, XD) but they don't have the huge fanbase that like, Michael had, or the Beetles. Tool has a lot of fans sure, but I don't think(not sure, but guessing) they have that gigantic fanbase that MJ had.
 
Ajs said:
IMO, there isn't an "icon" for today's music... Most of the music that's popular sucks, and most of the bands with real talent aren't big (in the US, anyway). And tbh, I'd rather have no icon for today's music than some Britney Spears or Eminem bullshit.
Click to expand...

WTH is wrong with Eminem?
 
Metallica - plagued by issues, mostly currently resolved. But definitely a midwife for cults, started touring... well more like 20+ years ago. Throughout their 25 years of public releases they've covered some different sounds, all metal or offsprings of metal but their last 4 albums are definitely not your average metal or rock.

Radiohead - I don't know if they can really be called genre-spanners but they fit the other 2 criteria.


Another thing to consider is their devotion to their music rather than their devotion to sales.

The Offspring would almost make a good candidate, but they've shifted their musical style to follow the generation that buys the most CDs. If they made more Smash and Ixnay on the Hombre albums, I'd probably buy back into them.

Korn has remained true to their music, but lacks the genre-spanning and general public recognition (they only really aspire to specific crowds). One thing I like about Korn is that their music on CDs and their music live sounds exactly the same - very little digital mastering is done to alter their sound and make it sound better on disc.
 
Ajs said:
IMO, there isn't an "icon" for today's music... Most of the music that's popular sucks, and most of the bands with real talent aren't big (in the US, anyway). And tbh, I'd rather have no icon for today's music than some Britney Spears or Eminem bullshit.
Click to expand...

QFW. Ajs penis grows by .5 inch. Ajs Penis size now 1 inch.

How did you not include Black Sabbath? Ozzy solo? Led Zeppelin?

As for the person saying Aerosmith is an icon. Just no. They have lasted because they change their music styles to stay popular. That doesn't spell icon to me. Metallica isn't an icon either. I think we all know why too. I do credit them for saving metal/hard rock from ultimate extinction because of monster ballads and hair bands.
 
Last edited:
You, "new generation" all have your 4 icons as you chose it in the 90's!

Britney, Christina, Nsync and BSB...
 
You guys are beginning to see my issue with this topic, there's just nobody that can really fill, say, Elvis' shoes for the current generation.

He united country fans with rock and roll with popular music. Same story really with the Beetles. Bands like Metallica and Tool, while talented in their own right, aren't able to boast that they brought together fans of several genres.

I'm beginning to fear for the future of music. What are we gonna have 30-40 years from now when we want to listen to music from our time? I doubt we'll be in our 60s and still listening to metal or w/e. It must be insanely hard to grow into a unique sound now with everything that has happened already in the music world. There's only so much that can be done with an instrument.

Look at pop culture related to music, piano grew from classical to ragtime, guitar grew from classical to rock and roll, so what's next? What instrument can fill the shoes of the likes of the piano and the guitar to give music a new direction?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top