Rock and Roll: Simplicity vs. Complexity

Hello!

In today’s blog post I’m going to be talking about simplicity versus complexity of rock and roll. Rock and roll became big from the simplicity of each tune because the beat or riffs caught everyone’s attention easily. Although, when groups such as, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, and the Grateful Dead came into play, rock and roll started to get complex. There has been talk of arguments whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing, and I’m going to be explaining my view on this situation.

My view on this topic is that I think it’s a good thing that rock and roll is getting more complex because it really shows what the musicians can do and how they can be creative with their music. I’m a drummer like I’ve said before, so you can easily turn me on to a song that’s really complex because I have a huge passion for music. The thing that I really love about the complexity of songs is I never know what could be coming next in a song. I don’t want to be able to predict what’s coming because that just makes it simple and boring. The complexity of songs always has me wondering what’s going to happen next, and most of time I am blown away from what I heard. My favorite band is Dream Theater, and it’s pretty difficult to get more complex than a band like them. Basically every song they’ve ever created is so complex with odd time signature changes, ridiculous guitar riffs, insane drum fills, high singing, and even choice of lyrics. Every time I hear a new song them, I can never tell what’s going to be coming because of how crazy their music is instrumentally. Complexity is what makes this band stand out to me and to many other people who have a passion for music. I can understand that some people just want to hear the catchy riff a band can put out in a song, but after awhile to me, it gets annoying because it is just the same thing over and over again, which leads me to my next topic…pop music.

Pop music nowadays is just terrible in my opinion. The reasoning behind my opinion is because there is barely any talent involved in pop music. The beats are created on a computer and nobody is playing any instruments. It’s all computerized and I can’t stand that, being a drummer. The singing is just about as fake as it can possibly be because it’s basically all auto-tuned so it sounds good on the record. Even live, pop artists lip-sync everything and it just hurts the world of real musicians. One pop group that really stands out is the Chainsmokers. I’m not being biased, but they have no talent. All of their songs sound the same and are written the same way. All their songs start out soft and have a build-up and a bass drop and it just repeats itself. Not to mention that all they do is make computerized beats and hit the play button on a laptop when they’re “performing live.”

I think complexity is a great thing for music because it can really show off the skill a band has and how creative they can be. Music isn’t supposed to be boring. It’s supposed to be fun, creative, and mind-blowing to the listeners.

 

 

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