It’s been over a decade since I heard a new song I actually liked. The last “rock” band whose stuff I really liked was The Rosewood Thieves and they disbanded around 2010 or so.
I would definitely say that the Rock I knew in my youth is dead and probably never coming back. The demographics just don’t support it.
Luckily, there is enough good music made from the 1950s to the 2000s that I will never lack for it. If I had to put a year on rock’s decline, it would be 1987, when the song “I want your sex” (by George Michael) was a hit. When I heard that, I knew rock was in trouble.
Then you’re just not looking in the right places. Rock is still kicking butt.
Thanks for the referral of The Rosewood Thieves. I had somehow missed them in my musical exploration. I like them quite a bit. (So much so that I have purchased and downloaded three of their albums.) I would probably characterize their style more as Americana than Rock, though. There is a tremendous amount of excellent music in their style still being made, but one has to go looking for it.
80s rock seems to have just hit Hawaii ;-)