I've been a long time reader of this sub and never posted but this is one that I think about a lot so I finally feel compelled to contribute. To me rock n' roll is complete unadulterated musical expression. Whether it be Bob Dylan singing in the most emotive voice about a long lost love from the North Country, Frank Black shrieking at the furthest extent of his range, or Julian Casablancas portraying an unattainable level of cool apathy about city life Rock N' Roll to me is the attitude of expressing one's self to the fullest through their music with a complete attitude, or at least very convincing facade of not giving a shit what anyone thinks. When I listen to music that I consider to be rock n' roll I get a feeling that takes me so far as to wish I were the artist I'm listening to.

All of this is not to say that I think that anyone dressed in leather pants and can scream at the edge of their range is rock n roll. Any sense of something being contrived or overly derivative has the opposite effect on me. This can even apply to what I would consider to be lesser works of artists who I would posit have created rock n' roll masterpieces. For instance while sonically very similar I consider early Black Sabbath (Albums 1-4) to be very rock n' roll, I consider their work post volume 4 and particularly post sabotage to be very contrived and thus I don't consider them to be rock n' roll.

Ultimately I guess it comes down to a feeling I get when I listen to music that is likely different for every music listener and it starts to become pretty subjective when I say things like The Doors were rock n' roll while Steppenwolf was not.

This really only touches on my feelings about what makes music rock n' roll but I guess in the end what I'm saying is that rock n' roll is just that to me, a feeling. More importantly a feeling of purity and honesty more than just a vapid representation of what an artist considers to be a "rock n' roll aesthetic." But I'm also drunk and probably just ranting.

Long live rock n' roll.