Rebirth of Rock

I don't know about any of you out there, but I am only now starting to like rock music again. Let me preface this: I am a rocker. I love the energy and passion rock musicians bring to the table. It all started back with Aerosmith's Cryin', with the wailing guitar sounds of Joe Perry and Tom Hamilton. The oh-so-sexy video with the ever pouty Alicia Silverstone helped too ;) Rock and alternative music continued to evolve and get better through the mid 90s, then something happened. Rock got.....soft. Now, I think the boy band explosion was partially to blame. Don't get me wrong, I own my share of Backstreet Boy and N'SYNC CDs, but they really bastardized the music scene. Come at me all you want, but I know that eventually everyone longed for some bands to break us out of the teeny-bopper era. Bands like Fall Out Boy and All American Rejects called themselves "rock" and "alternative" but were way too sugary sweet and soft for me. Hell, even this new form of rap came out, and I call it crap! 50 Cent can bite me, because he doesn't rap, he talks over a beat. I lost my faith and lived with "Dookie" and "Ten" in my CD player. I thought I was doomed to be one of those ladies in her 40s saying to unsuspecting teenagers "You call that music? Back in my day..." you know the kind I am talking about! Then, in 2005, music was showing a tiny sliver of being respectable again. Green Day released "American Idiot" and a new energy was injected into the music scene. Rock was raw again. Mean, nasty and mad as hell! Bands like Rise Against were drawing attention to those who didn't have voices to tell their stories. Korn released "Twisted Transistor" and "Coming Undone". System of a Down continued to kick ass and gain popularity with infectious guitar solos in "Mesmorize" and "Hypnotize". I know it sounds like I am just listing songs I found on wikipedia (Did not!)..I am just trying to draw attention to how awesome bands stepped out of the shadows and showcased their music. Lately, rock music has been really going back to it's roots. Raw energy and sexy lyrics. I am in love with Framing Hanley's Lollipop. I had no idea a song could set such a sexy mood! And ever since I missed them at 97x's Next Big Thing, I have been rocking out to Avenged Sevenfold. The lead singer Matthew Sanders (M. shadows) is dead sexy and lyrics that speak of the bittersweet sadness of seeing the other side but coming back are as poetic as Poe or Dante. Long story short:Welcome back rock, I missed you :)