If they were alive.....

[Lion]

If all these dead guys (Jim Morrison, Lennon, Cobain, Hendrix, Ray Vaughn, M. Gaye, etc.) were still alive, do you music would of been better today?

[Tantive7]

They would have improved alot of thing,in music,and at the same time create something so innovated that they would not only set the standard,but at the same time,raise the bar high enough that others would simply follow.. 8)

Funny I'm Listening to Stevie Ray Vaughan right now..

[the wigan warrior]

Music would be a lot different in my opinion. Standards would not have drooped as much, and dump like the Spice Girls, Mika all that crap would have no chance of getting in the charts.

[adam88]

Interesting topic.  I suppose, in order to look at it, you can compare it with musicians that are still going today.  Take Van Halen for example, or The Monkeys.  Do you think that when some of them reunite, they distort their original music, or still go the distance?  It sounds crazy, but sometimes I think that these great musicians are not meant to live to see their legacy.  Its like their aura, and inspiration becomes more powerful, when they are no longer here.  You know, its like when a Jedi passes on, he or she becomes more powerful then you can impossibly imagine  Thats my view on why they are not "alive".

[Lion]

I don't think it would be much different, really, apart from the fact that we'd still have a few more of the greats. For as great musicians as we've had in the past, a lot of crap still got through. Musical tastes change, and there's always some producer or label willing to gamble on something new.

There was garbage being recorded and released when all of them died, and even up until a few years ago, we still had George Harrison. We still have Bob Dylan, Elton John, two Beatles, most of the Stones, half of The Who, three fourths of Led Zeppelin - their talent hasn't waned, but the face of popular music has changed.

Personally, I'm glad a lot of what the world is going through right now wasn't going on when Lennon was alive, or you just know he'd have Cindy Sheehan in the studio to co-record "Give Peace a Chance". I'm not saying I'm glad John Lennon is dead, just that I'm glad the things that are happening now didn't happen when he was alive.

I dig what your saying.  I have always thought (I don't know why) that all these people already mentioned were too cool to be here in this mess of a world.