Is Hard Rock Still Too Controversial?
I was asked by a reader who read my article on coming out of the closet (the hard rock music closet that is) if being a hard rock fan is still controversial these days. It was felt that perhaps I really didn’t have to wait so many years before coming out in public and in my corporate business life that I was a loyal fan of hard rock and heavy metal guitar.
It is true that rock and roll has come a long way through the years. Many of the acts that were big during the 70s, 80s and 90s like Bon Jovi, Kiss, Aerosmith and Def Leppard are still touring. Most of the audiences at these concerts are like me who have grown up with them.
I’ve been to quite a few of these concerts where the core fans are now parents and even grandparents. Some even brought along their kids as I’ve seen entire families getting into the music by bands like Lynard Skynard, ZZ Top, Cheap Trick and Boston. Who would have ever thought that Kiss would become a family affair?
So rock, even hard rock, has become mainstream in many cases. In that respect, I probably didn’t have to wait so many years before publicly declaring that I was a proud hard rocker.
Hard Rock In The Corporate Sector
At the same time, many communities including the corporate sector has become more diversified over the years with many new immigrants. I know that many of these new immigrants come from countries where they have not been exposed to hard rock that much. To many of these folks, loud rock and roll is still considered the music of evil, sex and drugs.
So some images still are considered taboo. This could have been a bit tricky in some circles if I was to promote my rocker side of me too much. If I was a big fan of pop, dance, blues or jazz music, people out there wouldn’t have blinked. But I’m a true to heart rocker.
Overall, I think this reader had a good point. Especially while in North America, I probably could have come out of the closet quite a few years sooner and any negative impact on my corporate career and business in my post corporate life would have been minimal.
Of course these days, I couldn’t care less if somebody was to have any negative opinion of me just because I play a raunchy loud guitar. Heck, I’m not even going to take time to defend it. If they don’t like it, too bad. Real rockers don’t care about people who don’t like their music!
