Rock Music
Copyright © 2011 by Allison Creutzmann | ISH | • All Rights reserved • E-Mail: allison13@ish.co.cu
The biggest lie in rock music right now is that it is all about the music. Rock music was and will always be about the combination of looks and music: the spectacle. Elvis Presley, the "King of Rock and Roll" is immortalized more through his fashion than his music. Youth of today recognize his hair and white suits but most of the time can not name one of his 30+ hits. So no, rock is not just a music statement, it is a life statement. And fashion is a big part of it.
Glam is a very important part of my life. Even when I was a kid I was dressing up in elaborate outfits, and this love has fallowed me though the years. So its no surprise that once my adolescence began, I was attracted to bands such as KISS, Alice Cooper and Queen. Later my love of extreme looks in bands was taken to new levels. Artists like Marilyn Manson, David Bowie, Slipknot, The Cure, and as of late Motley Crue now dominate my iPod. But what is it that makes these artists so attractive? The answer is complicated.
It comes from a desire to be noticed, to be some kind of alien in a plain world. As glam punk rocker (and personal hero of mine) Richey Edwards stated, "If you're
hopelessly depressed like I was, then dressing up is just the ultimate escape. When I was young I just wanted to be noticed. Nothing could excite me except attention so I'd dress up as much as I could. Outrage and boredom just go hand in hand." This is the life story of so many rock fans. Bored and out of control, they seek to become noticed, to be their own beautiful freak show.
It is no surprise that so many classic albums that bear the Glam label are about alienation. The definitive glam rock album, David Bowie's "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" is about a young man who is told by aliens to be a rock star. Although the album is quite the science fiction mash-up, the main idea behind the story is about a person whose own stunning personality destroys him. Marilyn Manson's album "Mechanical Animals" is a tribute to this story, only withdarker connotations about the music industry. The character is an alien who feels
Glam is a very important part of my life. Even when I was a kid I was dressing up in elaborate outfits, and this love has fallowed me though the years. So its no surprise that once my adolescence began, I was attracted to bands such as KISS, Alice Cooper and Queen. Later my love of extreme looks in bands was taken to new levels. Artists like Marilyn Manson, David Bowie, Slipknot, The Cure, and as of late Motley Crue now dominate my iPod. But what is it that makes these artists so attractive? The answer is complicated.
It comes from a desire to be noticed, to be some kind of alien in a plain world. As glam punk rocker (and personal hero of mine) Richey Edwards stated, "If you're
hopelessly depressed like I was, then dressing up is just the ultimate escape. When I was young I just wanted to be noticed. Nothing could excite me except attention so I'd dress up as much as I could. Outrage and boredom just go hand in hand." This is the life story of so many rock fans. Bored and out of control, they seek to become noticed, to be their own beautiful freak show.
It is no surprise that so many classic albums that bear the Glam label are about alienation. The definitive glam rock album, David Bowie's "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars" is about a young man who is told by aliens to be a rock star. Although the album is quite the science fiction mash-up, the main idea behind the story is about a person whose own stunning personality destroys him. Marilyn Manson's album "Mechanical Animals" is a tribute to this story, only withdarker connotations about the music industry. The character is an alien who feels
March 2011
CULTURE
more than anyone else on Earth, and therefore thinks that all the others are simply "Mechanical Animals". The whole
"The Man Who Fell to Earth" idea is something that teenage and college kid misfits can identify with, feeling as though they have fallen into a threatening world: out of place and lost in a wasteland.
There is also a desire to escape from one's self: to create a character, to roll play, to turn into a rock star. If rock gods look like anyone walking down the street, then there is no magic. But if they are dressed like A-Grade freaks with makeup and dyed hair.then there is an escape. And it gives the fans something to hold on to. The masks that Slipknot wears clearly give their dark and sinister metal music an identity. It also gives their fans a not only music, but something like a story, twisted anti-heroes that they can identify with. As Peter Murphy once said about Bauhaus, "we are just dark glam". And really that is all Goth is, just glamour in dark tones. Black lipstick, torn fishnets, and the obvious dye jobs are all part of the show. And this show is true escapism, to leave a world that seems to have no place for us rock fans.
I remember fondly my friend and I, way back in seventh grade, staring at pictures of Alice Cooper, watching his twisted and
bloody carnival of rock and roll, his black makeup dripping down his face. We had no girlfriends, we were never invited to parties, and Cooper offered a place to belong. This will always be present in rock music; it will always be a costume party. And just like another follower of Cooper said: "We're the low art Gloomanti, and we aim to depress! The Scabret Sacrilegends, this is the Golden Age of Grotesque."
By: Israel Lawton
"The Man Who Fell to Earth" idea is something that teenage and college kid misfits can identify with, feeling as though they have fallen into a threatening world: out of place and lost in a wasteland.
There is also a desire to escape from one's self: to create a character, to roll play, to turn into a rock star. If rock gods look like anyone walking down the street, then there is no magic. But if they are dressed like A-Grade freaks with makeup and dyed hair.then there is an escape. And it gives the fans something to hold on to. The masks that Slipknot wears clearly give their dark and sinister metal music an identity. It also gives their fans a not only music, but something like a story, twisted anti-heroes that they can identify with. As Peter Murphy once said about Bauhaus, "we are just dark glam". And really that is all Goth is, just glamour in dark tones. Black lipstick, torn fishnets, and the obvious dye jobs are all part of the show. And this show is true escapism, to leave a world that seems to have no place for us rock fans.
I remember fondly my friend and I, way back in seventh grade, staring at pictures of Alice Cooper, watching his twisted and
bloody carnival of rock and roll, his black makeup dripping down his face. We had no girlfriends, we were never invited to parties, and Cooper offered a place to belong. This will always be present in rock music; it will always be a costume party. And just like another follower of Cooper said: "We're the low art Gloomanti, and we aim to depress! The Scabret Sacrilegends, this is the Golden Age of Grotesque."
By: Israel Lawton
October 2011
