New York, NY (Top40 Charts) With Kim Kardashian on the Cover of Rolling Stones, people argue that "Rock'n'Roll is dead." And a closer look to the Grammys will reveal, that Rock in fact might not be dead, but sure looks old. With Grammy ballots being sent out this week to over 20,000 members of the Recording Academy, the category for Best Rock Album usually goes to bands that either have split up 30 years ago or could have been nominated easily for a Grammy in 1995. Then you also have The
Foo Fighters who kept winning in this category pretty much for the last 15 years. Rock is starting to move into the same "In Loving Memory" state that classical and orchestral music has. Rock 'n' Roll, although a lifestyle much what Hip-Hop is to Rap, can still be rejuvenated. But today's Rock anthems, as Huffington Post editor Jerry A. Coyne points it out, sound just like any other songs on the air, which leads to the conclusion that oldies rock stations in 20 years will be pretty much what they are now: The Beatles, the Stones, the great soul music of the '60s and early '70s, Ray Charles,
Little Richard,
Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson. Walser says "In the end, attempts to cover up gives you bubble gum cursing or girl-on-girl kissing! Welcome to Rock 'n' Roll in the year 2015."
It's fair to say that every music genre has its expiration date and will degenerate and that's why Rock will never come back in its original form. So in order to resurrect it, it's critical that this includes a new, more modern form reflecting this day and age. New progressive blood will be much needed in this genre. With acts like Ringo Starr, Neil Young, Van Halen, Jeff Beck,
AC/DC and other seasoned performers all striving for the 2016 "Best Rock Album" category at the 58th Grammys, one artist to stand out on the ballot for "Best Rock Album" this year is Grammy® Nominated Artist, Producer and US TOP 20.FM host Al Walser. Most likely the biggest underdog in the history of the Grammys, Walser, a Liechtenstein native based in Los Angeles, was Nominated in 2012 for Best Dance Recording and inspired thousands of indie artists around the world while having Grammy executives Neil Portnow and Bill Freimuth reconfirm the academy's willingness to embrace indie artists in major categories, and a lot of things have happened since then. Today, Walser's got a full length album which fans and critics alike agree is very progressive.
Music Historian Alan Cross has said "I like this. I'm going to have to give this guy a closer look."
The album "Al Walser Comes 2 Life! " is what Walser calls a long needed bridge into modern day Rock 'n' Roll. In an interview with the AP, Producer Diplo says of Walser, "I love
Everything about him!" L.A. Reid's son,
Aaron Reid, is reaching out to Walser in a Blazetrak video post, suggesting to record the next record with him.
Listening to his new album, one hears that Al Walser embraces everything new but gets inspired by 50's Rock 'n' Roll. His sound is defined as MDR,
Modern Day Rock 'n' Roll, which embraces Drum & Bass with splashes of traditional rock. In the new social media world of Periscope, his amount of "Hearts," equivalent to Facebook "Likes," is already larger than all the aforementioned Rockers combined.
So is Rock 'n' Roll dead? Some believe that it's just sleeping and that this is the most important time in the history of the genre because it has plateaued, and in order to continue rising it must evolve. Rock music is rooted in the spirit of rebellion against the status quo, if anything, Walser's history shows plenty of that. In a genre that is desperately looking for injection of new blood, "A
Little Engine That Could" might just be what it's so desperately craving for.
