There was terrible music in the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's but you don't hear about it because it was crap.
I find it rather sad, all of the people in this thread calling all modern chart music rubbish and everyone who buys or listens to it idiots, morons or both who know nothing about music. Music like most things is about taste and if someone likes Lady Gaga or Justin Whatshisface then that's their choice, it doesn't make them an idiot at all. Me personally, I can't stand metal of any kind but I don't go around calling all Metal fans morons who know nothing about music and that their taste in music is rubbish and they should listen to something I like. No, I just get on with my life and enjoy the music I like and let people live their life anyway they want it.
It's hard to say because there's always going to be good and bad music. People's judgement of music is always based on what is popular which is unfortunate for modern music because pop sucks.
@Supernaut: Oh OK :) If you thought they were good live I honestly see no reason why you wouldn't like their first album Funeral. I'm not a crazy fan that thinks everyone should listen to them but there is a reason why they were on lots of critics best end of decade lists :)
@Buck_Sexington: That's true, but objectively speaking there is a difference between the level of musical ability required to make a metal album and the ability required to make a pop album. Most metal bands at least stick to the band formula, whereas pop musicians have an army of writers and studio musicians behind them, as well as corporate fatcats pulling the strings. Metal can be quite a technical genre, and a lot of them understand music on that technical level; they know their arpeggio from their ostinato. There is a respect for music in a lot of those bands, of which there is none in most pop music. It's like how the WWE doesn't call themselves wrestling anymore - they're "sports entertainment". Music, like wrestling, is just used as a basis of media from which to create content and make money, and there is a huge difference between a good musician and a good entertainer. Ideally, you should be both; most pop musicians are just entertainers.
It's like comparing a childish drawing to a proper landscape painting; yes they're both art in that they both technically qualify as part of visual art, and sometimes even crude drawings have something to say, but there is a greater respect for the mastery of the art form of the "proper" painting. That's why people judge pop music so harshly, because it requires no discernable musical talent. It's not easy being famous, and it does take charisma and confidence to perform, but plenty of artists have all these qualities and are actual fucking musicians.
" No, people are idiots and need to think. The only reason older music seems better is because only the good music is remembered and still played. The Justin Bieber of the 70's isn't played anymore and is forgotten, but it did exist. The difference is that we hear Justin Bieber now days and think it sucks, but we only hear the classics from the past. "
"
this is pretty true, and now with information being so widely available they get even more time in the spotlight.
@Atlas: I think you're not giving Pop artists the credit that they deserve. The best Pop artists, and by that I mean the ones that survive more than 1 album, do have a lot of talent and are involved with the song writing and production of the song. Artists like Take That, Kylie and Madonna are all very good singers, pretty good songwriters and excellent live performers.
Your opinion of Pop music in general is stopping you from giving an unbiased opinion. To me Metal music is nothing but shouting and playing guitars really fast and hitting the drums really hard, but I'm not a fan nor do I listen to Metal music so I can't give my critique on it and I won't use my opinion of it to for an argument.
@Buck_Sexington: Yes, there are some "decent" pop musicians - although I wouldn't necessarily call Kylie Minogue a "good singer" - but I was more focusing on the likes of Bieber, Cyrus, Perry, Gaga etc. It also depends on how broad you approach pop music as a genre - Bjork can be classified as pop to a certain extent, and she's one of my musical icons. Emiliana Torrini, Emilie Simon, Fiona Apple, all pop artists and all excellent musicians. But most people won't give them the time of day. Britney Spears is on the radio, and that is a fucking travesty. Aguilera is decent enough, but Spears, ugh. And also to clarify I'm not a metal head; I despise the likes of Killswitch Engage and Avenged Sevenfold just as much as any pop artist because they too are celebrated for their mediocrity - they play pop music, but really loudly. Opeth, Tool, Deftones and Isis on the other hand are fucking amazing musicians, but no one has heard of them.
Also, let's not forget that music isn't the only media form that is currently suffering from oversaturation and general lack of quality. Look at all the shitty rom-coms and half-baked action films that Hollywood pumps out on an annual basis. It's god awful. Same with television; Big Brother still exists goddamit. Think about how many people watch 30 Rock compared to how many people watch Leno fail every weeknight. It's just the age we live in.
The moral of the story is that people suck. You're either an idiot or an elitist. And I listen to Shostakovich, so I guess I'm an elitist.
I have a theory, modern popular music built and sold to the masses is just as bad as 10 years, Justin Bieber as bad as any boy band, Katy Perry just as bad as Britney Spears both use their bodies to sell their music. My point Music that gets the number one sales position is as bad as it's ever been no drop in quality there. Just like ten years ago there is good music out there it just takes more of an effort to hear it.
Is there really more garbage than good music out there? Or is it that the 5% that is garbage tends to get 99% of the marketing?
I know that in my favoured genre – punk – for every one Green Day* there's about 4 or 5 Riverdales or Lillingtons. Bands who, in my opinion, rank among the very best ever. They might not be trail blazers like The Ramones or The Sex Pistols. But they do own their own piece of rock and roll history.
And I'm willing to bet it's the same with other genres as well. I'm sure for every 50 Cent or Slim Shady there's a whole army of talented Rappers and Hip Hop artists that aren't getting their due for actually being among the best ever.
It's all marketing, people.
If you really consider yourself a fan of music you need to put away the mainstream radio and do your own research into music you actually like. Music is no longer a passive experience where you can just turn on the radio and be fed anything of quality. It just doesn't work that way anymore. The Johnny Cash's, Led Zepplin's and Jon Coltrane's of today don't have any place on corporate radio anymore. It's not "cost effective" or some other bullshit.
Just do some research, and I'm sure that within minutes you will find something that grabs you. It is the internet isn't it?
A good place to start is KEXP internet radio. They play a pretty wide variety of styles and genre's from Hip Hop to Indie Rock.
*I actually hate to use the Green Day argument because they were once a very respected punk band back in the day (and really, American Idiot is a pretty ballsy record for a band as categorically "mainstream" as them). Problem is, most people these days only have 90 minute attention spans and/or don't have the proper perspective. So Green Day becomes an easy target for public ire because of recent sins rather than appreciated for contributions past. But maybe it's just me.
Music is really no different. People have created this mystique of all the Classic Rock when it came out in the 60's and 70's. And people don't realize that there was just as much crappy music back then as there is now, It just doesn't get remembered. If anything you should be wondering if music this past 100 years has been trash compared to the last 100. And unfortunately it as been.
It's just that it's easier for people to become "artist" now, then you had to actually learn how to play music or learn to scratch records and make beats from the ground up.
Since it's a lower point of entry you have more people trying to do it and with a lot of volume, you're gonna have a lot of bad, mixed with the okay and good, but like always the greatest will always rise to the top.
"Worse, far worse. The majority of modern music is trash. There are a few half decent songs out there, but they're still nothing compared to music of the 70s and 80s. "
" It's a mix. There is definitely some terrible music out there that is super popular, but it's not like that's never been the case in the past. Good bands still get recognised, though sometimes not on the level they maybe should be. Record stores have been replaced by the internet... "
@MostlyHeadless: I don't think so. You're right that there is plenty of talent that goes unnoticed, but there are way more people out there who copy the style they hear on the radio. The problem is that very few people put forth the effort to bring something new and creative to the table. When ever something different comes along, everyone hops on the bandwagon and follow suit.
I'm reminded of Paul Barnett's rant about the Wii during the recent E3 podcast. He talked about the deal with the Devil we gamers made which led to games becoming successful and popular with the mainstream, and "casual gamer" became a term. But even though these people were playing games, the games they were playing were the games that people who actually play games say "but that's not a game!". And it's the same with music. I don't consider Katy Perry music. That's not what I understand and identify as music. Yes, it is technically music, but spiritually there is absolutely nothing musical going on. Music is so much about soul, and so much modern music has absolutely none. People who really like films like Citizen Kane, Apocalypse Now and Dr. Strangelove, and these people don't consider films like Grown Ups and Cats vs. Dogs as being in the same realm of existence, although they totally are because they're all movies.
I was going to say yes but then I thought of bands like Brand New, Say Anything, The Gaslight Anthem, Thursday, Manchester Orchestra, Thrice, and mewithoutYou who are all modern bands that are critically acclaimed because there fantastic so id say music today is about the same as the past, the only difference is today you have the resources to find new great music and not just settle for whatever they play on radios.
There is a tendency for newer generations to bow down to the touted supremacy of music from previous generations. There is much more oppertunity for people to express their musical creativity, and more of an audience to listen so there is a wider range of diversity and more bands to satisfy. But like comedy, when music doesn't strike a person correctly it's often taken offensively. If something isn't funny, that person is shit. A similar theme with music, despite it being ridiculously rude. Music isn't like technology though, it doesn't develop in a linear and progression manner. It diversifies and while not please some ears it will please others.
Comparing modern music to music from 30 years ago is ridiculous. Different tastes, different people, different audiences that are trying to be reached, different meaning in the sounds and lyrics. Everything is so different, and there is so much music there is really no reason to focus on what you don't like. Just let other people be and enjoy your own music. Things gain in popularity through support, not slagging off the competition or tastes of others.
People have different opinions, what you dislike now other people like. What you like other people dislike. If you dislike some type of music don't listen to it and just go about your business.
Oh my god it's so much worse. I can't listen to ANYTHING that plays regularly on the radio these days without fucking puking. At least in the 90's the whole grunge scene made things fairly interesting, and in the 80's there were obviously tons of metal and rock music around (although the shittiest 80's pop was arguably worse than anything ever recorded).
@Axxol: Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you're right. Maybe vise-versa. Perhaps there's some truth to each argument. All I know is I routinely find new music. I can't go 2 or 3 days without finding some totally excellent band that I didn't know of the week before.
It makes me sad (and sometimes angry) that acts like Bieber and Gaga get as famous as they do. But it's easy to turn off. And even easier to forget.
There are just SOOOO many people out there putting out SOOOOO much great music. I just can't be as pessimistic about it as some.
The reason it seems like music is so bad right now is because there are many more artists out there than in the past, but if you really do some digging past mtv, and past whats on the radio, modern music is much much better.
the mainstream standard has taken a nose dive but most of my favorite bands were formed in the last ten years. There is amazing music still being made you just have to look a little harder for it.
it all depends on what kind of music you like. i think most music from 20-30 years ago is crap. where as some one might think thats the golden age of music.
Remember when music was about people singing and playing instruments? Now people use TECHNOLOGY to "fix" their voices, and play those voices over generic sounding beats. Forget the business.
This sums it all up nicely. There is still tons and tons of great music out, but it's buried under even more bullshit. "
truth
@TomA said:
" most modern music is absolute trash. Jack Johnson, City and Color, Coldplay, all complete shit. And I don't understand why people like newer Green Day, it's effing terrible. "
No, not at all. Yes, most mainstream is shit, but hasn't it always been? I would say that there is so much good music out there, that we really can't complain.
This topic is kind fo pointless. Music is art, and art is based on personal preference. You might not like music but that does not make it garbage. A lot of peoples posts in here can basically be summed up as 'back in my day when we had to walk up hill in the snow for 15 miles just to get to school the music wasn't the garbage that you young whipper snappers listen to'.
There are more people playing music now, and it is easier to be exposed to all this music, so of course their is going to be more stuff that does not strike your particular taste, but there will always be a bunch that do.
Also it's not cool to hate stuff just because it's cool anymore. That stopped being cool when....well when you stopped being 14.
I'm a big instrumental kind of guy. If the band can't play their instruments, then they might as well give up. Right now, metal and prog are about the only 2 genres that can do their jobs. Of course there is alot of crap and generic fluff getting played, but for someone who actually likes the genre, it is easy to find and pick out the good stuff.
yes. music is better and worse. Better because, it is infinitely more accessible for the consumer to find obscure/new bands that they like. Worse because you get hit by all the BS that you don't want to hear, because 'someone' out there likes it enough to make it 'popular' even though many people really dislike it.
I think modern music can get out faster to everyone, and because so many are pushing to make money of of whatever happens to be the current fad, sometimes we get annoying shit pushed on us until the next big thing comes along to freshen things up.
All in all, we are better off today, because we can still listen to the older stuff, and, we get to hear some people that learned from what older groups did right.
" Remember when music was about people singing and playing instruments? Now people use TECHNOLOGY to "fix" their voices, and play those voices over generic sounding beats. Forget the business. "
I've looked into this a lot since I'm going to be majoring in audio engineering. Generally, a bad singer is a bad singer. No recording studio can fix a harsh or weak voice.
As for the topic, modern electro is some of the best music produced in a long time, in my opinion. Classic rock and rap will always be classic, but you have to move on sometime, and there's plenty of good music coming out nowadays.
" People's standards have seriously fallen in the last 10 years. That is all. "
you are getting older that is all "
You're right, if "watch eut far romanhc!" is considered to be a smash hit or even pop music, then I'm seriously getting old. Do you know what I am saying? :P
@TomA: I think Green Day was okay in the nineties, although their newer albums seem to be getting worse.
Everyone's opinion is subjective when it comes to things like this.
Personally I like/listen to a lot of modern music; however I don't listen to anything that is considered mainstream.
When asked who I would consider to be one of my favourite bands usually I answer Bon Iver; most people stare at me blankly as soon as that leaves my lips.
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