Shock-rock legend Alice Cooper has opened up on the current state of the rockstar in a recent interview with Billboard, sounding off on the idea that young bands are now simply too timid to elicit any excitement.

The theatrical rocker noted that modern female pop stars are the artists who are currently taking on “big productions” that provide audiences with pulsating live music experiences, much like the show he became famous for in the 70s. He mentioned the likes of Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Shakira amongst those who are embracing brash performance styles, whilst male-centric rock bands have become too “introverted”.

“Isn’t it interesting that the girls are the ones doing all the big productions? Lady Gaga does an amazing production, and she really knows what she’s doing up there – same with Shakira, same with Rihanna.

“It’s amazing that the girls are taking over the big productions and the guys have become very introverted. I don’t quite understand why a young rock band would be introverted rather than, ‘I’m a rock star. Let me loose! Get me up there and let me rock that place!”

While it is awesome to see Cooper celebrating the artistry and impeccable stage presence of pop acts like Lady Gaga and Rihanna, he’s clearly not looking hard enough for exciting modern rock bands. In the meantime, here are new rock bands (featuring both men, and women) with an epic live show that deserve some cred – WAAX, Code Orange, West Thebarton, Dream Wife, just to name a few.

He went on to describe that young rock bands don’t actually want to be “rock stars”, adding that they’re in fact “anti-rockstar” in their behaviour. “I see young rock bands being introverted; they don’t want to be rock stars, almost. They’re anti-rockstar” siad Cooper.

“I think Gaga, in particular, is very similar to Alice Cooper. When I met her and got her autograph – I brought my daughter to see her – and it said, ‘Dear Alice, Thank you for letting me steal your show.”

He also noted that there needs to be a revival of the attitude prevalent amongst 80s hair metal bands because of how fun it was, noting that it would encourage more young people to want to join bands.

“I think there’s gonna be a resurgence of the ’80s, where you’re going to see young bands trying to be Motley Crue, and young bands trying to be Bon Jovi. That was a fun period. They call them the hair bands, but think of it – the songs were great, the records were great, the videos were great, the stage show was great, and they had personality.

“All of these bands, you look at them, and you go, ‘Wow, these guys really knew what they were doing.’ And then it went away. So I think there’s going to be a resurgence of that.”

The article was originally published on Tone Deaf