As the influence of melody is altered every single year, which genre of music owns the crown? Pop seems to flood the gates of the 21 century with its heavy support of the modern day generation. Even though many individuals may be listening to what is just released, what about the older genres of music? The main influence for what we hear today is rock. Rock has been around for decades and still manages to dominate over any other style of sound.  

One thing that many current songs have lost is the story to music. Today’s music is more about bragging and expressing money, drugs, etc. A big reason for why rock is sought to still be more skillful/meaningful is the indication of a story behind the lyrics and song itself. One iconic band that is known for their hidden stories is Soundgarden. Soundgarden is notorious for the depressing, dark lyrics that express the feelings and thoughts of the lead singer, Chris Cornell. It was recorded that “The title ‘Rusty Cage’ is akin to a feeling of imprisonment that defines the vocalist’s life.” (Song meanings and facts) As the song proceeds to scream the discomforts of the band, the song indicates that the band felt rushed, claustrophobic, and stressed during their tours. As this song has a very deep meaning, this is only one of the thousands of songs of rock that convey a story. The amount you could learn about someone or something from a single song is truly remarkable and only helps prove the superiority of rock.

As the first ever form of rock can date all the way back to the 1940s, rock has had a lot of time to create and expand into new and different forms of style and music. The earliest creation of rock from the early ’40s was called the “blues”. It was a freestyle, smooth, country sounding type of rock that would be the main influencer for what we have today. After decades of growth, it has come to create popular genres such as classic rock, metal, alternative rock, progressive rock, and many more. It was discovered that “The rock genre has developed more than 240 new genres, creating a huge world of its own. Some of those genres, like heavy metal, have their own subgenres.”  As it was shown how rock is influenced, each genre has its own unique sounds. For example, the famous band “Queen” was scandalous for their song “Bohemian Rhapsody” which would fall under the genre of progressive rock and several other genres. The creativity of bands like Queen shows how far rock can go.. While for “Metallica”, they were known for the song “Enter Sandman”, which falls under metal rock. As they are both styles of rock, each band has completely different melodies, sounds, lyrics, and expressions, which helps the conclusion of how distinctive rock is from other types of music. 

As rock can date back to one of the oldest genres of modern day music, it seems the style and influence has worked itself onto many younger generations today.  Bands like Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, and Metallica have seemed to make a major comeback and grow in popularity once again among millennials. A main cause for the growth is social media. Apps such as Instagram and Tik Tok allow individuals to express their music taste to others which allows others to discover said music. It was shown by a studied chart that 56.8 percent of Americans still listened to rock, making it the most popular genre. As pop music is very close to rock with 56.6 percent, rock music still shows primacy once again. With how old rock music really is, it’s remarkable to still see it thriving above everyday modern music. 

As pop has definitely had its moments and fame, rock music still succeeds to take the throne of music. The deep meaning and story of rock gives each and every song its own feeling and depth.  Combined with the story, the various genres of rock give many choices and sounds to whatever an individual sees fit. With the old age of music, it still seems to have the same spirit and influence it has always had. As different forms of melody are influenced by modern day generations, the originality and uniqueness of rock will allow it to always be above any other type of music.