Music Today...

[Digo]

Just me or is todays modern music not getting such memorable tunes anymore, i mean you look at old classics like Layla, Hotel California, Free Bird, when the song started to play the crowd went wild because it was sooo famous and so well known, you dont get these memorable tunes anymore, too much popular bands just sound the same.

[welsher]

People always complain that music isn't as good as it used to be. Most bands, in any era, have sucked. a few stand out from the crowd and continue to have careers while the rest fade away.

Some new rock bands I've been enjoying are Wolfmother and The Raconteurs.

[superbassman2000]

i think Digo's statement is very subjective...i will even venture to say there are as many people who like today's pop music as there were people in the 70's who liked 70's pop music...and you want to talk classic? those songs came out in the 70s...thats only 30 years ago. look further...how come we never hear glen miller on the oldies radio station? that was pop from the 40s and thats almost gone from the radio and cover bands, but he was as pop music as lynrd skynrd was in the 70s...

i will even go so far as to say that most of the classic rock you hear today will be gone in 50 years

[BassChuck]

"Things ain't what they used to be". A time honored statement.

Treat yourself to some fun. Get the Billboard chart books and see what tunes were popular the week your favorite song was #1. You probably see a bunch of songs that you've forgotten about.... and maybe one or two you've never heard of. Time is an interesting filter.

What is a pain too is learning that a really kick butt song never made it #1. Public taste is a fickle animal.

Anybody doing any of "The Archies" songs as covers?

[Bluez Dawg]

Originally Posted by Digo

Just me or is todays modern music not getting such memorable tunes anymore, i mean you look at old classics like Layla, Hotel California, Free Bird, when the song started to play the crowd went wild because it was sooo famous and so well known, you dont get these memorable tunes anymore, too much popular bands just sound the same.

Don't forget shake your tail fether by Ray charlies.

[ludwig109]

i think the majority of todays music is terrible, im not a crusty old guy stuck in my ways or anything. the bane of todays music imo: dance music with everysong sounding(drums being the worst part) the same and ruining another song that they sample that might have been good, and all metal ive heard recently with annoying screaming vocals like trivium who have decent music then its ruined by the sh###y singing. need more panteras, led zeppelins, jimi hendix, primus and the like.

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Originally Posted by BassChuck

Anybody doing any of "The Archies" songs as covers?

A mexican band called Magneto covered "Sugar Sugar" in '95.

I agree that I don't find popular music as interesting as before, specially because most productions now are based on drum loops or hyper-processed percussion. The human factor is less prominent now and it has taken away most of the "magic". That's why I appreciate unplugged shows so much.

But I also agree that it's a very subjective perception. The "heaviness" of music is a good comparison point. What used to be considered as "heavy" in my younger days, like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, AC/DC or Kiss, sounds like a lullaby compared with the heavy music that is being released nowadays. Likewise, maybe many young people find the sound of an acoustic drum kit boring. To each his/her own, I think.

[jeff_bass28]

In MY day...

[cliff_fan]

that is like so true man. There just aren't any classics anymore the old music still rules.... I'd like to see Simple Plan write a song like stairway, but they can't cuz they suck... denied.

[cliff_fan]

Originally Posted by ludwig109

i think the majority of todays music is terrible, im not a crusty old guy stuck in my ways or anything. the bane of todays music imo: dance music with everysong sounding(drums being the worst part) the same and ruining another song that they sample that might have been good, and all metal ive heard recently with annoying screaming vocals like trivium who have decent music then its ruined by the sh###y singing. need more panteras, led zeppelins, jimi hendix, primus and the like.

ggha

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

And this can be applied to many things, not only music. Do you like modern cartoons? Most kids from this generation dig'em for sure, but to me, things like "Powerpuff Girls", "Johnny Bravo", "Cow And Chicken", "Ed, Edd n' Eddy" or "My Gym Partner's A Monkey" are pure crap compared with the magnificent "Tom & Jerry", "The Flintstones", "The Pink Panther" or "Road Runner".

[jenderfazz]

Sorry, but it's way too early to make any assumption like that. Let's get back to it in 20 years .

Seriously, who knows? In 20 years we probably will look at some songs the way we do the old ones today. Well, maybe not all of us, but people who grew up on today's music will. Not everyone can relate, for sure... a lot of people listen to little or no modern radio music. However it's unfair to say that the average MTV listener whon't feel a similar reminiscence when hearing Seven Nation Army's intro when he's 40. Just my 0.02$.

PS I'm not saying modern music is as good or better than the old stuff. The old stuff is amazing, but there is some good stuff out there.

[FaithNoMan]

Originally Posted by welsher

People always complain that music isn't as good as it used to be. Most bands, in any era, have sucked. a few stand out from the crowd and continue to have careers while the rest fade away.

+1


I just discovered King Crimson's late '03 album, "The Power to Believe", and I'm blown away..

....and I think Tool's new album is their best yet....and I'm a tough tough critic(I loved Lateralus) - I actually bashed it a bit after hearing only the first song....

Originally Posted by Digo

Just me or is todays modern music not getting such memorable tunes anymore, i mean you look at old classics like Layla, Hotel California, Free Bird, when the song started to play the crowd went wild because it was sooo famous and so well known, you dont get these memorable tunes anymore, too much popular bands just sound the same.

I used to feel the same way, but music has seasons, like anything else..


Search, search, search, and you may find something that will turn you upside down.......

[Precious]

I have noticed a lot more covers making it big in the last few years (like those over-produced artists have run out of ideas) and much more sampling. Personally, I can't stand old songs getting ripped off, or old riffs being borrowed. I know different arrangements, etc, have always existed and that sometimes new ones are better - but it just seems lazy to me, not original. I suppose it's a fast way to a quick buck.

[thekyle]

The main problem is that everyone is just trying to get a hit, and a hit today is a heavy guitar riff played over a drum loop with either horrible rapping or lyrics about how daddy beat me when I was 12. In the last five years, there have been many, many bands that have come (and gone), and they were all just trying to get that big hit. There is very little originality in popular music of today.

There are a few bands that are doing something different. Tool (10,000 Days is great). The Darkness (It may be campy and silly, but at least it is fun). There may be others, but since I got Sirius a couple of years ago, I have paid absolutely no attention to popular music, cause now I ain't gotta.

[syciprider]

If you went back to the time of the "classics", you'll see that they too, had a bunch of crap bands/music to sift through to find the good ones. Just like today.

We're hearing tomorrow's classics today as we speak. But there's a lot of chaff mixed with the wheat.

[mjolnir]

You know, it could be argued that many of us who post on this forum could very well be considered the minority in the world's opinion of "good music." I don't know if this is just because I grew up in kind of a ghetto neighborhood, but I can tell you that there's near-rioting whenever certain rap music comes on. If I was standing in a room filled with 200 people and suddenly heard the words, "Shake that laffy taffy..." there's a ridiculously good chance I would be the only person to object in the entire room. The great music of an era is not chosen by artistic value or integrity.

It's chosen by popular opinion.

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by syciprider

If you went back to the time of the "classics", you'll see that they too, had a bunch of crap bands/music to sift through to find the good ones. Just like today.

We're hearing tomorrow's classics today as we speak. But there's a lot of chaff mixed with the wheat.

+1

think about how they had to fill the airwaves back then too. they needed more than just the "classic" songs we know and love today. there was a lot of music that hasn't stood the test of time from every era.

-jimbo

[StarMountainKid]

I think the major problem with today's music is that there are now only five major record companies, and they're run by suits who know nothing about music and don't care that they don't. It's just aother business selling another product. There are no nurturing of bands, and they're not looking for anything new.

Music today is fragmented into specific genres, and every band in that genre sounds like every other band there. In the cover band I play in, we do some Stained, Matchbox 20 and Three Doors Down. All three songs we play of these bands have the same chord progressions--really it's the same song, just different lyrics. We can't put them all in one set because they sound so similar, we get confused about which is which.

Heavy metal is the same. Any song could be played by any band and sound the same. Where are the memorable songs?

Listen to Tom Petty, Allman Brothers, Zep, Bob Seeger, Bad Company, The Who, The Kinks, The Beatles, David Bowie, Cream, AC/DC, Van Halen, Creedence, The Doors, Tull, King Crimson, Skynyrd, Pink Floyd, Steely Dan, ZZ Top...on and on...they all sound different and they all have great songs in various styles.

Now, listen to today's music.

[nad]

Most modern popular music sucks balls, if you want the really good stuff you have to dig for it. With the internet there's no excuse other than laziness, it's a lot easier than the tape trading days of 20 years ago.