Every generation of young people have an inherent desire to claim that it is greater than generations that preceded it. But an important measuring stick of every generation is its personality projected through rock music, an area where our generation has fallen short.

With all honesty, what rock groups of our generation will we talk about that would be considered on par with epic artists of the past? Who is our Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix or Van Halen?

I’ve considered this for a long while, and there is simply isn’t one.

One important thing to point out is that epic groups always break the mold in some way. All of the “epic” artists mentioned earlier took the rock genre to completely new places. During their time nobody had ever heard someone play guitar like Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen. They were considered the best.

I challenge anyone to listen to what kind of vocal and instrumental quality the ‘70s consumers demanded in Boston’s “More Than A Feeling” or Kansas’ “Carry On Wayward Son.” There is an endless list of examples showing that most modern-day rock artists aren’t even in the same ballpark with this kind of talent.

That being said, as a musician of almost two decades, I understand that it isn’t easy to reach that level of talent. I am also not suggesting that there is no decent music out there, it just isn’t epic, and we need that.

As consumers we demand the best from professional athletes, politicians and so on. We want constant improvement, progression and new things. We should demand the same of the music industry. There should be at least one group who our children will talk about 20 years from now.

So who’s to blame? Is it our generation because we’re satisfied with the way things are or record labels for only promoting artists that are sure to make them money?
I believe it’s a little bit of both.

There are very few artists now who reach mainstream success through grassroots. Most are scooped up by record labels and given contracts that give most of the power to producers, not the musicians. Then you end up with bands like The Offspring, who began as a legitimate punk-rock group, and later produced songs like “Pretty Fly (For A White Guy).” A far departure from their original sound.

I hope that we are not all satisfied with the current condition of the rock music industry. Really, the only solution is to be more vocal as consumers. There are some great underground bands out there, but the big record labels view them as too different and therefore too risky.

As consumers, our generation needs to go grassroots. Make a lot of noise about the groups you like. Go to their shows, write online about them, buy their music and apparel. The next epic band has to be discovered and promoted by fans. Find something new that could be an influence to rock artists in the future.