You may recall awhile back the shitstorm Kiss vocalist/bassist Gene Simmons created when he proclaimed rock was dead a few years back. Well he’s ready to stir the pot again, this time expressing his distaste for rap and pop music. Rollingstone.com have quoted the following from him on the matter:
“I am looking forward to the death of rap. I’m looking forward to music coming back to lyrics and melody, instead of just talking. A song, as far as I’m concerned, is by definition lyric and melody … or just melody.”
“Rap will die, next year, 10 years from now, at some point, and then something else will come along. And all that is good and healthy.”
“I don’t have the cultural background to appreciate being a gangster. Of course that’s not what it’s all about, but that’s where it comes from. That’s the heart and soul of it. It came from the streets.”
On EDM:
“EDM is honest… ‘Here’s a guy onstage who does fuck-all, he does nothing. He presses a button and puts his hands up in the air. He doesn’t pretend to be lip-syncing to a track.’ He has a light show and it’s an honest relationship.”
Simmons also continues to not be a fan of the internet’s impact on the music industry:
“I hate the Internet. I make a living, but to be a new band now and just give out your music for free, it’s the crime of the century.”
He later again reasserted his opinion that rock is still dead:
“As far as I’m concerned, rock is dead. There ain’t no new bands. Foo Fighters, I love ’em, but they’re a 20-year-old band. These are long-in-the-tooth bands: Nirvana, Pearl Jam. They’re old bands.”
“That doesn’t mean there’s not new bands out there. As far as I’m concerned, if Lady Gaga dropped the disco and the pole dancing and all that stuff and put together a rock band, that would be legitimate, because she’s got the musical goods. She can write songs, play instruments and can actually sing. And she understands the fearless quality of spectacle. I’d love to see her do Queen-style music. She can do it. Madonna cannot.”
There’s more on his distaste for pop music and such over at Rollingstone.com.
