Is it just because I'm getting older...

[9-10ths_Penguin]

...or has music (especially rock) really turned to **** over the past decade?

It was always ****. Or at least most of it was.

There's a ton of crap on the radio now and only a few gems. Same as ten years ago. Same as when I was growing up. Same as the 70s, 60s, 50, 40s, 30s, etc.

The difference is that the music of, say, the 80s and 90s has had a few decades for the crap to settle out and be left behind. The music of today hasn't had that luxury yet.

When I think back to being a kid in the 80s, I remember most of the music being so awful it would set my teeth on edge. What gets played on the radio now as "80s retro" was, at the time, the rare diamond in the huge pile of crap that was mainstream radio. The 80s was more the Pointer Sisters, bad hair metal and "the Captain of Her Heart" than it was the Cure and the Smiths.

If I try to compare the music of today to a non-nostalgically-biased memory of the music when I was a kid, I think that today's music comes out looking pretty good in comparison.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Every once in awhile, very rarely, a new song may come out that I like, but not often. I am mostly oldies. I listen to a lot of old music from as early as the 50's all the way up to the 90's. That's the majority of my music.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Every once in awhile, very rarely, a new song may come out that I like, but not often. I am mostly oldies. I listen to a lot of old music from as early as the 50's all the way up to the 90's. That's the majority of my music.

Music's been going downhill since 1938. Popular music will never again reach the high point it acheived when Benny Goodman played Carnegie Hall.

 

[doppelganger]

Right. Name me the decade you think pop music was so much better than it is today and then we can take a look at all the songs that were popular. You're just remembering the cream that rose to the top and kept a place in popular consciousness.

 

[England my lionheart]

I think there are some good bands around at the moment like the Arctic Monkeys,i think theres a lot of crap around at the moment too though that sounds very samey,you take take heart though,the Monkeys are making a comeback so cheer up sleepy Jean

 

[Rainbow Mage]

We need to have a second movement like you older guys had back in the 60's and 70's that put out great music. Like the peace and love movements.

 

[YmirGF]

It was always ****. Or at least most of it was.

There's a ton of crap on the radio now and only a few gems. Same as ten years ago. Same as when I was growing up. Same as the 70s, 60s, 50, 40s, 30s, etc.

The difference is that the music of, say, the 80s and 90s has had a few decades for the crap to settle out and be left behind. The music of today hasn't had that luxury yet.

When I think back to being a kid in the 80s, I remember most of the music being so awful it would set my teeth on edge. What gets played on the radio now as "80s retro" was, at the time, the rare diamond in the huge pile of crap that was mainstream radio. The 80s was more the Pointer Sisters, bad hair metal and "the Captain of Her Heart" than it was the Cure and the Smiths.

If I try to compare the music of today to a non-nostalgically-biased memory of the music when I was a kid, I think that today's music comes out looking pretty good in comparison.

I think this is a very good analysis. That said, I find it very difficult to imagine that we will all be subjected to an evening of hits by Lady Gaga in 40 years, somewhat like Cher's performances now. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a huge Cher fan, but the lady has had hits through several decades, as has Barbra Streisand, and to a lesser extent Madonna. Will be really sitting in rapt awe watching Mili Cyrus in 40 years reprising her esteemed tunes? My guess is, "Not likely." Marshal Mathers is another thing altogether. At the rate he is going, I can see this doddering old coot running through a long repertoire of hits made over the decades. Let's face it folks. Some people "have it" and others, even though momentarily popular, don't.

 

[Songbird]

It was always ****. Or at least most of it was.

There's a ton of crap on the radio now and only a few gems. Same as ten years ago. Same as when I was growing up. Same as the 70s, 60s, 50, 40s, 30s, etc.

The difference is that the music of, say, the 80s and 90s has had a few decades for the crap to settle out and be left behind. The music of today hasn't had that luxury yet.

When I think back to being a kid in the 80s, I remember most of the music being so awful it would set my teeth on edge. What gets played on the radio now as "80s retro" was, at the time, the rare diamond in the huge pile of crap that was mainstream radio. The 80s was more the Pointer Sisters, bad hair metal and "the Captain of Her Heart" than it was the Cure and the Smiths.

If I try to compare the music of today to a non-nostalgically-biased memory of the music when I was a kid, I think that today's music comes out looking pretty good in comparison.

What Penguin said.

I may make that my signature.....

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

We need to have a second movement like you older guys had back in the 60's and 70's that put out great music. Like the peace and love movements.

But that's the thing: you've already got every musical movement you could ever want! Just google it!

When I was a kid, if it wasn't played on the radio or available at the record (yes, record) store, I would never hear it. Now, with the internet, all you need to connect with artists anywhere in the world producing quality music of the sort that you want to listen to is the knowledge that they're there.

I remember having to pay $30 (and back in the days when $30 was real money! ) and waiting for a month on a special order at the music store for some import CD just to get one song. Now, all I have to do is find the artist on iTunes and I can get the song instantly for a buck.

BTW - I may be biased from living through it, but I thought that grunge was a pretty good musical movement.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Music is a reflection of the youth culture of the time. Current youth culture is so watered-down, derivative, and bland, that the music reflects this. I suppose a generation of kids who have always been coddled and told how wonderful they are, have nothing to rebel against.

 

[Dezzie]

...or has music (especially rock) really turned to **** over the past decade?

Most of the bands I listen to, started a while back. Nine Inch Nails basically started up in 1988 and Tool in 1990. Most of my favorite bands started in the late 80's, early 90's. I'm not big on Classic Rock like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. It's just not my type of music.

I will admit, bands that formed in the late 90's (A Perfect Circle is an exception) early 2000's are just not any good. I guess it depends though.

*Edit*

Also... I love big band swing and jazz. Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, and Mozart as well.

 

[Jacksnyte]

...or has music (especially rock) really turned to **** over the past decade?

Everything that was innovative in the 80s and 90s has been co-opted and emasculated. For instance, in the 80s, we still had punk rock. What is touted as punk rock now is just pop with spiky hair.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Everything that was innovative in the 80s and 90s has been co-opted and emasculated. For instance, in the 80s, we still had punk rock. What is touted as punk rock now is just pop with spiky hair.

There's still good punk rock... it's just underground, same as the original punk rock.

 

[doppelganger]

There's still good punk rock... it's just underground, same as the original punk rock.

Yes, the "underground" section at iTunes.

 

[Jacksnyte]

There's still good punk rock... it's just underground, same as the original punk rock.

Not really. It has become very formulaic. I was around for the original punk rock circa 1976. Back then punk rock was anything from Blondie to the Ramones. Now you get crap like Blink 183, or the thousands of NOFX clones out there. I think they should all be forced to listen to Pull My Strings from the Dead Kennedys continuously for a couple of years until they start to get it.

 

[YmirGF]

Yes, the "underground" section at iTunes.

I tend to agree, although I don't frequent Apple. "Underground" music is simply where it is at. The contrived bands offered by the record companies have nothing on them.

 

[Klaufi_Wodensson]

You have to do some serious searching to find some really good bands that are actually original nowadays. I can't stand the mainstream of today. That's why I only listen to metal (The extreme underground stuff), some post-rock stuff from France, and Traditional or Neo- Folk music from Europe.

 

[Mathematician]

Here's my theory on how music genres progress:

The forefathers of any new style must be at their best if they wish to publicize their art in a familiar market. Many people complain that both mainstream rock and rap, once beautiful, are but shadows of their former selves. Yet for these genres to emerge there couldn't have been a huge market of artists. Only strong artists who had a deep enthusiasm for their work and who knew the direction they wanted to take could influence the industry enough that they stayed alive, even prospered. As more people get accustomed to this genre more artists "chase the fame." This naturally produces more crap, but the fan network has likewise increased and so the crap becomes popular.

 

[Twilight Hue]

I think it got a little better since the 90s. At least the late 90s anyways. I wish the songwriting quality would be as good as 70s rock was. I always wonder how much better those bands would sound if they had the production quality of todays rock.

I agree. The late 90's has a more of a quality akin to the 70's.

For the most part (with some exception) dump the repetitive voice masking, computer generated music formulas based on popular statistics, and canned synth and your there. Real heart made music with honest to goodness gump.

Wolfman Jack was right.

 

[denodram]

Really I think there just needs to be a mass revival of ska