Today's Mainstream Music Lacks Soul

Thus far in this young century mainstream music has a dearth of soul. By soul, I mean music that is cerebrally sentient with the heart, which captivates our emotions and spirals them into a sense of exploration, opinion and feeling. "Today's music ain't got the same soul." Bob Seger's words in "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll", still ring true to this day. Today's FM music, no matter what the genre is, latches on to one sound and motions it into a monotonous mirage of lameness. The artists of today cling to the catchy tunes and stick to one style. Take away the vocals in today's hit music and it all sounds the same. Whether I'm listening to 70s rock, blues, country or even 70s disco, my perception of earnestly is fulfilled. Each band had a distinct sound back then. The 90s were the last decade in which mainstream bands had their own sound. What does this have to do with soul? Bear with me if you are still reading. Grunge and alternative were synonymous with FM music for much of the 90s. Grunge bands in the 90s such as Soundgarden, Nirvana and Alice in Chains each had a signature sound. Despite playing the same genre of music, within seconds of hearing any song by these three bands you knew the name of the band. Alternative 90s bands such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Depeche Mode or The Breeders had their own sound even though it was the same category of music. The same can be said about country music. Hank Williams III does not sound like his dad or his grandfather. Willie Nelson does not sound like the Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline or Waylon Jennings. Today's FM music is cookie cutter noise processed for the sole intention of making money and nothing more. Ian Davenport, a 2010 sophomore from Dixie State College in St. George, Utah said: "No matter what the genre of today's music is, every band tries to fill the shoes of whatever is the most popular. The feel behind today's music is how much money are we going to make?" Soul is about individuality and art. Does this mean the old school bands and solo artists were not interested in money? Of course not, but the mainstream artists of the past cared about their art. What happened to the days when a group of people fresh out of high school or even younger filled a van with music gear, hit the road and wrote songs and lyrics that wound up on vinyl, FM radio, DVD and now itunes. These types of bands are still around, but you won't hear them on the radio. Personally I recommend getting into the Dusty 45s or Reverend Horton Heat. These two bands are classic examples of how they did it back in the day. What is the percentage of today's biggest music stars who actually formed themselves and wrote their own material? I do not have the patience to research this one. What I do know is that rich white old men formed many of today's biggest music stars. These men recruit some cute people with some singing and dancing skills for mass production to be put on VH1 and the radio. I'll bet dollars to donuts some big name artists from the 90s on down were also formed the same way as today’s mainstream noise, but it was a lot less back then and their music was still much more soulful. To write this article, I subjected myself to hours of listening to KXBN-FM, 92.1, a station that played the latest synthetic hits while I was writing for the Dixie Sun in St. George, Utah in 2010-2011. During the two hours of listening to 92.1, I contemplated things that would have been much more pleasant. Being chained inside a filthy Porta Potty and thrown off a cliff was one thing that came to mind. As I subjected myself to the mental torment of listening to 92.1, I noticed the disc jockeys do not say the names of the songs or the artists. Personally I think it is because this abysmal noise all sounds the same. "Newer stuff is less soulful," said Ryan Chollett, a 2010 DSC sophomore from St. George, Utah. "It's repetitive and catchy." I asked more than four dozen students the burning question. Does today's mainstream music have more or less soul than older music? Not one student said today's main stream music has more. I would like to submit this as evidence your honor! While the shallow sounds of 92.1 were coming through my speakers, I noticed the two main themes of popular lyrics are sex and money. To be honest, even old school music is not practically known for its lyrical prowess. If you want soulful and insightful lyrics, Rush is second to none in the rock ‘n' roll category, if not the universe. Listening to today’s hit music is like drinking sandy water amidst an oil spilled beach front overlooking dead bodies. Listening to real music is like sipping the finest nectar of the gods amid an astonishing waterfall viewing nature at its best. "So much style without substance, so much stuff without style. So much poison in power, the principles get left out. So much mind on the matter, the spirit gets forgotten about," from "Grand Designs" by Rush in 1985. The first sentence of those lyrics fits today's pop to a tee. The music is secondary to the image.