If you've actively listened to and sought out Rock music long enough, chances are you've encountered the nebulous term of derision called "Butt Rock". It originates from braindead radio station DJs plugging their programs with the catchphrase, "Nothing BUT Rock!" Overtime, listeners would refer to these dreadful playlists of popular Hard Rock music at the time as Butt Rock.
So what is Butt Rock exactly? The term continues to be contested as tastes differ from person to person, but genres almost universally included are commercially-oriented Hard Rock and Hard Alternative, especially Post-Grunge and Nü-Metal. No one knows for sure who to blame, but the quintessential Butt Rock bands are Nickelback, Creed and 3 Doors Down along with has-beens like Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and Staind. Some listeners even include overindulgent '70s Glam bands and '80s Hair Metal, but those guys were capable of making mindblowing music. If you ask me, the problem started with Alice in Chains (as much as I like them, they inspired scores of bad imitators), Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots along with wannabes like Silverchair, Bush and Candlebox. It also become the predominant form of Christian Alternative, featuring content that could give the churchgoing youth something to listen to without upsetting the local pastor.
Common themes among Butt Rock bands include, but are in no ways limited to, generic "heavy" sounding guitar tones, simple verse/chorus song structure, overwrought emotionalism, ostentatious yet inauthentic machismo, strained attempts at being philosophical / poetic / introspective, dreadful yarling, harmonized vocals and more. Perhaps the heaviest critique levied at Butt Rock is the lack of originality. Butt Rock makes no such pretenses of originality and proudly plays formulaic Rock music. That said, you don't need to proverbially reinvent the wheel to make compelling music.
So tell me, what do you think of Butt Rock? Are there any bands you like in spite of their association with the term?
If you've actively listened to and sought out Rock music long enough, chances are you've encountered the nebulous term of derision called "Butt Rock". It originates from braindead radio station DJs plugging their programs with the catchphrase, "Nothing BUT Rock!" Overtime, listeners would refer to these dreadful playlists of popular Hard Rock music at the time as Butt Rock.
So what is Butt Rock exactly? The term continues to be contested as tastes differ from person to person, but genres almost universally included are commercially-oriented Hard Rock and Hard Alternative, especially Post-Grunge and Nü-Metal. No one knows for sure who to blame, but the quintessential Butt Rock bands are Nickelback, Creed and 3 Doors Down along with has-beens like Limp Bizkit, Mudvayne and Staind. Some listeners even include overindulgent '70s Glam bands and '80s Hair Metal, but those guys were capable of making mindblowing music. If you ask me, the problem started with Alice in Chains (as much as I like them, they inspired scores of bad imitators), Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots along with wannabes like Silverchair, Bush and Candlebox. It also become the predominant form of Christian Alternative, featuring content that could give the churchgoing youth something to listen to without upsetting the local pastor.
Common themes among Butt Rock bands include, but are in no ways limited to, generic "heavy" sounding guitar tones, simple verse/chorus song structure, overwrought emotionalism, ostentatious yet inauthentic machismo, strained attempts at being philosophical / poetic / introspective, dreadful yarling, harmonized vocals and more. Perhaps the heaviest critique levied at Butt Rock is the lack of originality. Butt Rock makes no such pretenses of originality and proudly plays formulaic Rock music. That said, you don't need to proverbially reinvent the wheel to make compelling music.
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