Classic Rock Think of electric guitars belting out infinite variations on five chord structures, with little or no pretense to high art, a spirit of simplicity tinged with debauchery, a strange hippie-redneck hybrid that draws tie-dye t-shirt-wearers together with truckdrivers and... [more]

Classic Rock Think of electric guitars belting out infinite variations on five chord structures, with little or no pretense to high art, a spirit of simplicity tinged with debauchery, a strange hippie-redneck hybrid that draws tie-dye t-shirt-wearers together with truckdrivers and finds commonality amongst differences in a mutual love of beer, bombast, freedom, and the grinding noise of the American soul. This is Classic Rock. Can we leave it at that? Perhaps not. We must at least mention Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird", the ultimate Classic Rock song. Consider the nature of this song: it begins slowly, almost contemplatively, plaintive and drawn-out. The guitar cries with bending strings. It speaks of the insatiable need to travel, to move on, to be free. This is its repeated refrain, which builds until the song eventually turns into a frenzied, never-ending guitar solo. Here we have the formula for good Classic Rock: the catchy arrangement of chords, the affirmation of freedom tinged with the pathos of love, the orgiastic culmination. A certain essence of America is as if distilled, purified in this simple yet relentlessly repeated formula. Classic Rock need do more than repeat this formula; and if it does endeavor to do more, it is no longer Classic Rock - it aspires to Art, and is exiled from the kingdom of the Classic. That, of course, is an overstatement. Bands like Led Zeppelin certainly produced nuanced, arty songs. And Jimi Hendrix, above all, played and composed with a rare virtuosity - beyond his love of basic blues, he composed odd chromatic arrangements, intensely lyrical guitar solos, and otherworldly lyrics. Thus, Classic Rock offers some room to move; it is not always completely comfortable within its own formula. And when it comes down to it, the formula itself must always be animated by the appropriate Classic Rock pathos - which cannot, of course, be derived from the bare and simple formula, but must infuse it with fresh blood. [show less]