Do the essential hard rock/metal groups appeal to the younger generation

Back when I was cutting my teeth on hard rock/metal I got into groups like Led Zeppelin. At the time (later 1980's) they were technically a band my parents listened to. But if you are going to listen to hard rock,  it's pretty much automatic that you like Zeppelin.

So my question is this. Does this same sort of appeal for the foundational groups of the genre happen for the younger generation of hard music listeners? What I mean is, technically these are bands that grandpa listens to. Is it still cool for a young metal head to get into these bands?

I think it depends on what you are in to.  I know several hard rock loving 20-somethings that really like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Cream, Blue Cheer...  A lot of them are also into the 80s bands like Boston, Foreigner, Motley Crue, and Guns 'n Roses.  There are also a lot of new metalheads that think anything before Metallica sucks.

Hey thanks for asking me  

I myself have really got into older bands, even though modern "core" is still my main genre I buy from

I like anything 80s glam, Im into Fear Not, Bon Jovi, Journey, Holy Soldier, Lion, Stryper, Bloodgood, etc.

I am also really into 90s thrash Deliverance, Mortification, Vengeance, Tourniquet, Devastation, etc.

There are some kids in my youth group who listen to older 80s type stuff, but of course its the obvious songs like Livin On A Prayer, Don't Stop Believin, Welcome To The Jungle, etc.

But honestly most the kids I know who would give "metal" a chance, automatically think modern music, if I ever tried to play them older metal I don't really know what their reaction would be

Often times I prefer the production of older music, because it sounds more rustic. ...like there's more atmosphere to it and artistry in the production. New music nowadays is so clean, its sterile and because of that... it has that "quarantined" feel to it, which I do not like.

The gym I go to CONSTANTLY jams 80's hard rock / metal. That's what the owner likes, so that's what plays... and I'm probably one of the 10% that go there without earbuds to jam those tunes.

My gripes about the "essential" hard rock / heavy metal groups is no fault of theirs and simply because I've cut my teeth on something harder, faster, darker... Its still good music, but left to my own preferences, not my first pick.

Well, except Ozzy/Sabbath. He can't sing, he sounds horrible and I'd prefer not to listen to that at all, even though the music is awesome.

What about newer bands that sound like older bands..here are a few examples...Do younger fans go for these bands?

I don't see why age makes a difference as to what kind of music you like anyway - whether you try something new or new to you.

ThomasEversole wrote:I don't see why age makes a difference as to what kind of music you like anyway - whether you try something new or new to you.

I ask because I wasn't sure if there was a stigma with younger listeners listening to music that is "so old".

From the responses so far I see mention of 80's music, what I haven't seen so much (with the exception of your mentioning Ozzy/Sabbath) is the older 60's and 70's stuff that started it all off. Interesting.

The first sign for me of "Getting older" is when I used to work for FYE and the store manager opened a Motley Crue CD and blasted it (after hours) All but myself, my boss and the senior Sales Associate knew who Motley Crue was. Which was followed by alot of complaints it was too loud, in which I was like Its not loud enough! hehe

The first sign for me of "Getting older" is when I used to work for FYE and the store manager opened a Motley Crue CD and blasted it (after hours) All but myself, my boss and the senior Sales Associate knew who Motley Crue was. Which was followed by alot of complaints it was too loud, in which I was like Its not loud enough! hehe

I recently went into an FYE to look for some Pat Benatar and not one employee had heard of her.. A few days later I went into a Barnes and Noble to look for some Elvis on vinyl and the clerk had never heard of him (or the Beach Boys for that matter)

I can't speak for the "younger generation"......but even though I'm from the appropriate era, I DESPISE a lot of the "essential bands".  Don't enjoy a lot of it, and Zeppelin generally gets an automatic channel change from me, as do The Beatles.  Sabbath is about the only "original era" band I like, to be honest.  80's era stuff is a different matter entirely......

My daughter is now 4,5 years and she absolutely loves Led Zeppelin. She´s always asking "daddy, lets play Led Zep" and then we listen "Rock and roll". I have a just beatiful video of her dancing that song and it´s juts awesome.

What happens when she gets older, don´t know. But for now, she loves rock and roll and man I´m happy daddy.

I think that due to the popularity of  the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games that many kids have been exposed to classic rock.  They like some of it, but deep down they know it is the music of their dads.  It isn't their era of music.  However, because of streaming audio, kids today don't seem to adhere to any particular generation of music unless they are really into modern country, pop, or rap.

Even in the 80's I barely knew any kids my age that were into NWOBHM type of music.  Top 40 has always ruled the heart of a teen and the only metal the other teens knew was pop metal hits from Poison or the first Skid Row album otherwise it was Bobby Brown and the like.  It was a niche thing then and it is now, especially American power metal style (metal church, vicious rumors, savatage).

Heck, I didn't get into the "classics" until midway through college when I heard Boston, Yes, and The Who on classic rock radio.

Even in the 80's I barely knew any kids my age that were into NWOBHM type of music.  Top 40 has always ruled the heart of a teen and the only metal the other teens knew was pop metal hits from Poison or the first Skid Row album otherwise it was Bobby Brown and the like.

That probably explains my tastes in metal.  Top 40 was the biggest way to hear any hard rock/metal bands.  I lived out in the boonies and didn't have cable tv until after I was married.  There was one radio show that I could listen to called "Metal Shop" that came on very late on Sunday nights that you could hear other stuff.  However, I was married and working nights when I finally got to hear this program.  So, bands like Poison, Night Ranger, Motley Crue, Ratt, GnR, etc. was what I had the most exposure to.

When I finally made the jump to Christian metal, I had more exposure.  There was a show on a local station here called "Stainless Steel".  You'd hear everything from Idle Cure up to Mortification on there.  I could pick out whatever I liked and turn the volume down of what I did not.  Because of my early exposure to metal, I tend to be attracted to the same styles of metal.  It took a while to start liking Die Happy and Saint but I was taken by Stryper, Guardian, Whitecross, etc.

alldatndensum wrote:

 Top 40 has always ruled the heart of a teen 

That probably explains my tastes in metal.  Top 40 was the biggest way to hear any hard rock/metal bands.  I lived out in the boonies and didn't have cable tv until after I was married.  There was one radio show that I could listen to called "Metal Shop" that came on very late on Sunday nights that you could hear other stuff. 

That's the other thing: there were very few "real" metal stations on in the 80's.  I lived in Chicago and there was 1 station that came on about 7 at night and ran through til like 5 am.  It barely came in since it had a weak signal and there were many a' metal head that would get on their roof at night to tune into the station.  This is where I first heard Savatage, Badlands, Testament, and non-Ozzy/Dio Sabbath. 

West coast probably had more of a luxury though.  I remember my friend's brother came from California with this recording of a radio show in Cali and it was a smoke show of hard rock/metal.

It had this song on it:

I actually see quite a few younger kids (13 to 25yo) wearing doors, hendrix, pink floyd and grateful dead tshirts... i assume its because they like those bands..

I had another thought on this. Back a decade or two ago the "Oldies station" was a format that consisted of 50's and 60's rock and roll. Now "Oldies station" is a format that describes 60's, 70's and some of the 80's.

So what of all those artists from the 50's like Elvis and Chuck Berry? Do we just forget about them. To some degree yes we do forget about them, but we do listen to artists who built their style with a foundation of Elvis and Chuck Berry and added on to it.

It's the same thing with hard rock and metal. The younger listener may not go all the way back to the groups that started the ball rolling, but the bands they do listen to built their foundations on those early artists.

I guess I was pretty lucky...from the late 70s forward where I grew up we had 3 stations that played metal 24/7...we had metal shop from the beginning and in the late 80s on Sunday nights one station had a 2 hour christian metal show...on Saturday nights from about 1982 to present the college station had a 5 hour show where they play just metal released in the last year...They even play demo's...I remember hearing bands like Motley Crue, Helix and Stryper before they were famous...What city is this? Amarillo TEXAS!

Actually, even classic rock is slowly phasing out the 60s stuff, at least the station where i live is. I've even heard songs from the 2000s like Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes and Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day. Those songs are admittedly more than 10 years old, but its weird hearing them next to stuff like Bob Seger and ZZ Top.

I dont base ny tastes on the age of said music. If I like it I like it regardless of era or genre for that matter.

^ even saying that though, there are classic albums and classic bands. But I wont like something simply because its classic. I gotta have a genuine like for it.

I recently saw Black Sabbath in concert and there was very few people under 35 years old. I was very surprised!

I recently saw THIRD DAY and there were very few people there under 35!!!

Savage Amusement wrote:I actually see quite a few younger kids (13 to 25yo) wearing doors, hendrix, pink floyd and grateful dead tshirts... i assume its because they like those bands..

Not so sure about that.  A few years ago they were selling classic rock tour shirts in Sears, so it may just be a trendy thing to do.

WildWorld wrote:Actually, even classic rock is slowly phasing out the 60s stuff, at least the station where i live is. I've even heard songs from the 2000s like Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes and Boulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day. Those songs are admittedly more than 10 years old, but its weird hearing them next to stuff like Bob Seger and ZZ Top.

Yeah, I remember the first time I heard "Welcome to the Jungle" in between songs by The Beatles and The Doors.