30-05-2009, 13:24
In terms of influence, punk was an important genre, but it should never have anointed itself the savior of rock, because rock didn't need to be saved at that point.
By the mid-70s, rock had evolved to a nice place, yet punk rejected it outright. Most of the punk of the late 70s/early 80s was too generic, and put attitude, politics, image, and cliques ahead of the music. It was in no position to replace what the Beatles, The Stones, The Who, Zeppelin, etc. had built.
To me, the grunge era was when some the promises of the punk influence were delivered. By that time, there was indeed a lot of gloss and excess which needed to be stripped away and replaced with something listenable, yet authentic and true to the raw, simple spirit of rock.
By the mid-70s, rock had evolved to a nice place, yet punk rejected it outright. Most of the punk of the late 70s/early 80s was too generic, and put attitude, politics, image, and cliques ahead of the music. It was in no position to replace what the Beatles, The Stones, The Who, Zeppelin, etc. had built.
To me, the grunge era was when some the promises of the punk influence were delivered. By that time, there was indeed a lot of gloss and excess which needed to be stripped away and replaced with something listenable, yet authentic and true to the raw, simple spirit of rock.