The core of rock is the beat. Lyrics, mainly, take a back seat. Often, real musicianship does also. The frosting on that cake has come to be distortion, volume, pyrotechnics, choreography and stagecraft. As for vocalists, "American Idol" disease seems to have become dominant.

For an example of one musician's transitiion, I remember when Lightfoot went from nearly pure acoustic (upright bass and acoustic guitars, with Red Shea) to having percussion and amplification, eventually incorporating pedal steel, driving electric bass and distortion, etc. He was, no doubt, trying to find ways to be relevant as tastes rapidly changed. He was not alone. When I listen to his earlier work now, I find I still prefer it, for the most part. The focus is on the lyrics, the melody line is clear - you hear a song without the overlay of noise.

An audiologist friend reminded me that a huge proportion of our young folks have some degree of hearing loss by the time they are in their late teens or early 20's. They have grown up with high-volume, high energy performances and most would probably find straight acoustic music boring - and hard to hear. On occasion, however, I have been pleasantly surprised to see my son's band and others gaining wider acceptance doing "unplugged" pieces. Maybe there is hope. I'd like to see a return to a certain level of simplicity in music.