Voice Of Reason 9.12.02: Crossover Appeal
Posted by Nuri Feder on 09.12.2002
No Doubt, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and other "former" rock bands have changed their sound to remain current and relevant to the pop music masses. Is it selling out? Or coming to grips with the reality of rock radio.
After listening to Def Leppard's new CD X, I found myself disappointed at first. Here was one of my favorite hard rock bands, reduced to singing Goo Goo Dolls-tempoed adult contemporary. The CD wasn't a stylist change, like the underrated Slang CD, rather a mellowing of the trademark sound of the band.
As I gave the CD more listens, I slowly grew to enjoy it as I have all other Def Leppard CDs (except RetroActive) and began to consider why Def Leppard would "sell out" to top 40 radio.
In thinking about it, most other successful rock bands from the 80s have gone the same route as the Leps. Bon Jovi, U2 and Aerosmith have all taken some of the rock out of their classic rock sound, and all have seen their careers rejuvenated. Some hardcore, longtime fans of these bands feel as if the band has "sold out" and doesn’t "believe in rock" anymore. But are these fans being fair?
Rock radio is a very fickle entity. There are three main varieties of rock radio: Modern Rock, which is mainly newer bands playing whatever style of rock has the street cred at the time. Mainstream rock plays the new songs by established rock bands playing, well, a mainstream variety of rock. And Active Rock bridges the gap between the two, playing a mix of modern and mainstream bands.
With those options, bands like Def Leppard and Aerosmith have almost no chance of being played on major modern rock stations like K-Rock in New York or KROQ in LA. Even active rock is a tough sell for bands like Bon Jovi. That leaves mainstream rock radio stations, which are the least profitable of the rock radio stations. There are classic rock stations that play new songs by heritage artists, but the impact there is not as far reaching as other kinds of radio.
In addition to the reality of radio, these bands also realize that their fans have grown up. The fans who loved "Livin on a Prayer" and "Pour Some Sugar On Me" are largely in their 30s now, and despite what hardcore 80s metal fans like to believe, most of these older fans aren't exactly into hard rock music anymore. That audience wants to here something lighter, and catchy. The hair bands gained fame by bringing accessible pop sensibility to the harder rock of metal and punk, and the ones that are still successful today have taken the same formula that worked in 1986, toned it down for the same crowds who are 15 years older, and are raking in the money.
Is it selling out to adjust a band's style to adapt to changing market and audience trends? Probably it is, because it's changing to follow the money and the fame. But bands that are huge mainstream acts are rarely the same ones that gain critical praise, and often have sounds that were already a sellout to make it big in the first place. Fans of Def Leppard in their early days cried fowl at Pyromania and especially Hysteria for selling out the early, raw sound of On Through the Night and High and Dry. Even the new Red Hot Chili Peppers CD is a far cry from the raw sound of their first few CDs.
Music fans are a strange entity, because the fans of a band early in its career are always spurned if that band makes it big and plays their mainstream hits to larger crowds. Then the fans of the band in their middle stage feel betrayed if the band changes its style, to stay relevant and successful. Fans have to remember that a major driving for behind a band is gaining money and fame, and they will often do what it takes to gain and then maintain their rock and roll lifestyle. To paraphrase Bobby Dall of Poison, "it was all about the pussy". I'm sure the money was nice too.
