Helix have released a video for "(Gene Simmons Says) Rock Is Dead", the new single from their new compilation CD, Rock It Science. Rock It Science is a compilation CD spanning the band's career, beginning with their first album Breaking Loose in 1979 and continuing up until the present.

The song, "(Gene Simmons Says) Rock Is Dead”, was produced by Aaron Murray, who just won Producer Of The Year at the Jack Richardson Music Awards in London, Ontario, and the video was filmed and edited by former Helix guitarist Brent Doerner.

The video features Moe Maurizio (Demon Moe) and Michael Moodry from the KISS clone band, Destroyer, as well as Laura Nielsen (an aspiring London singer) and Chelsea Zimmerman. Written by Helix leader Brian Vollmer and guitarist Sean Kelly, the song was in response to an interview Gene Simmons did a while ago with his son Nick, in which he stated that "Rock is Dead” (see article below and Helix’ lyrical response from the song).

In the interview with Esquire conducted by his son, Nick, Simmons said that - thanks to a crumbling business model, including "file-sharing and downloading" by fans who believe they "were entitled to have something for free" - "rock is finally dead."

"I am so sad that the next 15-year-old kid in a garage someplace in St. Paul, that plugs into his Marshall and wants to turn it up to 10, will not have anywhere near the same opportunity that I did," Simmons said. "He will most likely, no matter what he does, fail miserably."

Simmons blamed a lack of industry support, piracy and a lack of appreciation for "the creators”. "It's very sad for new bands... They just don't have a chance," he said. "You're better off not even learning how to play guitar or write songs."

“Today's songwriters and creators are more likely to work behind the scenes than practicing and testing their material out on stage”, he added. "The death of rock was not a natural death. Rock did not die of old age. It was murdered.”

Simmons, of course, is far from the first to lament the decline of rock. In 1972, The Who sang "Rock is dead, they say" in "Long Live Rock”, a finger in the eye to those who believed the music wasn't what it was a few years earlier. In 2009, guitarist and "Underground Garage" host Steven Van Zandt gave a speech at SXSW, "A Crisis Of Craft," that observed that one reason nobody's buying records is "because they suck”.

In blogs and on Twitter, reaction was largely negative to Simmons' statements.

"Business models for the music industry will come and go. But rock will never die," wrote Bill Brenner.

"So What's This About Rock Finally Being Dead? I Beg To Disagree, Gene Simmons," was the headline of a column by Alan Cross on A Journal Of Musical Things.

And the Foo Fighters were probably the pithiest. "Not so fast, Mr. God of Thunder," the Dave Grohl-led band tweeted.

Simmons, however, doesn't think there's much future in the genre.

“(Gene Simmons Says) Rock Is Dead” lyrics (Kelly/Vollmer):

I’m a man of practicality
I know that Rock N Roll money isn’t what it used to be
The local record store is hanging by a thread
We mainline stolen music through a cell phone to the head

I see it in the streets, I feel it everywhere
A crowd of people gather with their fists up in the air

We want it heavy, rough and ready
So don’t believe it when Gene Simmons says

ROCK IS DEAD (gang vocal)

You can’t replace it, techno-erase it
So don’t believe it when Gene Simmons says

ROCK IS DEAD (gang)

ROCK IS DEAD

If rockin’ is your business, then business ain’t too good
But tell that to the longhaired kid in any neighborhood
With a second hand guitar, some sweat and blood and luck
He’ll bring it to the people, he ain’t in it for the buck

He sees it in the sparkle of a pretty young girl’s eye
Those power chords work magic as her hand moves up his thigh (oh my!)

We want it heavy
Rock steady
So don’t believe it when Gene Simmons says

ROCK IS DEAD (gang vocal)

You can’t replace it, techno-erase it
So don’t believe it when Gene Simmons says

ROCK IS DEAD (gang vocal)
Rock Is Dead
Rock Is Dead (gang vocal)

Deader than a doornail
Deader than a post
Deader than old Jim Morrison’s ghost
Rock ain ‘t dead
It’s never going down
From D-Rock City to your-home-town

If Rock is a religion
You don’t need to pass the plate
We don’t need no God of Thunder
To tell us what is great
A million dollars might be nice
But it doesn’t drive this song
We just want electric licks to keep the power on

Like this:

We want it heavy
Hot and sweaty
So don’t believe it when Gene Simmons says
Rock Is Dead
You can’t replace it
Techno erase it
So don’t believe it when Gene Simmons says
Rock Is Dead
We want it heavy
Ruff and Ready
So don’t believe it when Gene Simmons says
Rock Is Dead
You can’t replace it
Techno erase it
So don’t believe it when Gene Simmons says
Rock Is Dead
Rock Is Dead
Rock Is Dead

Rock It Science tracklisting:

"Billy Oxygen"
"You're A Woman Now"
"Heavy Metal Love"
"Rock You"
"Deep Cuts The Knife"
"Wild In The Streets"
"Good To The Last Drop"
"Shock City Psycho Rock"
"Get Up!"
"Make 'Em Dance"
"Even Jesus (Wasn't Loved In His Home Town)"
“(Gene Simmons Says) Rock Is Dead”

Catch Helix live in concert:

June
30 - The Brass Monkey - Ottawa, Ontario

July
22 - Fourth Annual Rock & Roar - Kitchener, Ontario
23 - Mattawa Voyageur Days - Mattawa, Ontario

August
2 - Canna Fest - Grand Forks, BC
27 - Great Canadian Kayak Challenge & Festival - Timmins, Ontario

November
4 - Club Regent Event Centre - Winnipeg, Manitoba