Well, maybe because new music suxx

[truand85]

You're skipping a couple generations there. That's acceptable.

Ever since the first beginnings of a "pop youth culture" - usually associated with the mid 1920s in the cities, as middle class young people embraced jazz, nightclubs, dancing, etc. - the pattern has been:

Your music is the real stuff.
Your parents' music is horrible cheesy and square.
Your grandparents' music is quaint and interesting.
Your great-grandparents' music is the real stuff, from a different era.

The current day is the first since then where a significant fraction of younguns are listening and actively seeking out the music of their parents' youth.

Of course there have always been outliers and musicologists; witness my high school friend who in 1978 was a HUGE Johnny Mathis fan. But he was one in a thousand, I assure you.

To be fair, my folks were born in the 50s and listened to classic rock, I can probably find all my dad's CDs I stole from him in my music collection still, from The Police to Keith Jarrett solo albums, the Bee Gees to Mama Cass Elliot and Motown for my mom, etc etc.

My generation is a special case though, our parents' generation in my opinion was the most prolific for amazing, immortal popular music.

 

[TyBo]

You're skipping a couple generations there. That's acceptable.

Ever since the first beginnings of a "pop youth culture" - usually associated with the mid 1920s in the cities, as middle class young people embraced jazz, nightclubs, dancing, etc. - the pattern has been:

Your music is the real stuff.
Your parents' music is horrible cheesy and square.
Your grandparents' music is quaint and interesting.
Your great-grandparents' music is the real stuff, from a different era.

The current day is the first since then where a significant fraction of younguns are listening and actively seeking out the music of their parents' youth.

Of course there have always been outliers and musicologists; witness my high school friend who in 1978 was a HUGE Johnny Mathis fan. But he was one in a thousand, I assure you.

I earlier posted this one in the "First recording you remember hearing" thread. Yeah, I was listening to Dad's music, as well as the the 60's stuff (which was great in its own right).

 

[two fingers]

It's an interesting article, I'm on Ted's email/blog list and read it when it showed up. Ted is a pianist as well as writer. Rick Beato already has a video discussing it (he pretty much agrees with Ted).

Good news for classic rock dad bands

The downside for classic rock dad bands (COVID notwithstanding) is that vlassic rock fans are going out less and less. In the past two weeks I've been to a local pub to see two pretty good classic rock bands staffed by mostly older people. The front row of each band had "the look". The set list included both the first 15 pages of the bar band hymnal and some nice surprises. But the attendance in the room where the band played each night was 35 and 39 people. (Yes, I counted.)

And I live in an area where COVID concerns have basically been tossed out the window. That's not an opinion about COVID. I'm simply saying that folks 'round here are "over it" and going about their business. So that isn't affecting attendance as much as one might think.

Back on topic: There's lots of great music out there. My daughters are 10 and 12. They keep me tuned into new stuff. I like maybe 75% of their favorites.

I dig a TON of the newer Americana/Indie stuff.

If yoy can't find good new music, you're too busy looking for the "new Rush" or the "new Yes" or the "new Stones" or the "new CSN" or whatever. You may have to branch put a little. There ain't no new classic rock. Get over it.

 

[dcbluesbass]

 

[arbiterusa]

God, this thread - mostly the responses to it - is so depressing.

World full of awesome new music being released out there every day and most of the people who're posting here have NO IDEA.

 

[TyBo]

God, this thread - mostly the responses to it - is so depressing.

World full of awesome new music being released out there every day and most of the people who're posting here have NO IDEA.

I dunno, seems kinda split down the middle to me. But why not post something new that you're digging?

 

[Stan_da_man]

Every generation says their music is best.

 

[jwoiton]

Rock and Roll has always been a hybrid music form. From the earliest days it was a mixture of R&B with Country music. In the 60s it was fused with the British Invasion and Psychedelia. In the 70s Rock splintered up in styles from Prog, Metal, Glam, Punk, and Southern Rock came aboard. Forty years later it seems to still be finding new directions.

My final point: YOUNG PEOPLE OWN ROCK AN ROLL!, they are the ones that continue to make the innovations that make the genre fresh. I'm in my 60s now and not much makes me happier than to see a group of teenagers playing in a rock band, especially if they are playing new music.

 

[BarqsBitMe]

There has always been mainstream, garbage music that is made in boardrooms; purely for profit. The difference is today that music is digital, and prior to the digital era even pop music had to be made with ACTUAL INSTRUMENTS. Listening to any modern pop, or rap music on the radio makes me want to keg-stand a giant bottle of Clorox. If you have "lil" in your name, chances are you probably suck, and I'm going to laugh my ass off when you inevitably overdose on cough syrup.

I can respect pretty much all types of music, as long as it was made with effort and love for the craft. I know people like to trash rap music for being full of talentless hacks, but listen to the album Illmatic by Nas and tell me that there is not SERIOUS talent there. An absolute masterpiece of 90's music. Maroon 5's breakout album Songs about Jane is still an absolutely stellar record, despite being a part of the pop-rock genre that I shagING DESPISE. I recognize the immense talent that it took to make that music, even though it is not my type of music.

Although, I cannot stress enough how important it is to respect REAL music, even when you don't like it. You "boomers" may not like deathcore, (I'm generalizing here) but it is undoubtedly real music. It takes some serious ingenuity and creativity to use instruments tuned down a full octave and make them sound good. It's nuts what guys are doing in extreme metal, today.

That is a point that would be greatly beneficial for people to understand. That is, not liking a song or artist or genre does not equate to that song/artist/genre being bad. There is a lot of music I don't like. Anything that I would describe as "screamo" metal is one example. But that doesn't mean I think that music is bad... it just doesn't sound good to me because of my ears and my brain. There are of course objectively terrible pieces of music out there, but that represents a tiny portion of what people would call bad music. For all the old timers who think classic rock is the pinnacle of music (and yes, I agree that there is a ton of good stuff out there in that genre), you would have been burned at the stake for playing something like that 200 years ago (yes I know electric instruments did not exist then). It's no different than the people who were in their 50's in the 50's when rock and roll started showing up. To them it was devil music, or at least just noise.

 

[Thumpin6string]

All I can say is that if a so called "musician" has to synthesize their vocals because they can't sing in key and use nothing but computer generated music to back them, it ain't worth listening to IMHO. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of that out there currently. Hopefully it will change.

 

[EddiePlaysBass]

Music does not exist in a vacuum. What exists now comes out of what came before, either directly or indirectly. Sometimes as an extension of it, sometimes as a reaction against it, and so on. It's kinda useful to have some understanding of that history to have an informed opinion. Of course, there's no requirement that opinions be well informed.

To be aware of music is different from having to like said music. I can be aware of the Beatles, Sinatra and Duke Ellington and not like any of them. That was the point I was making.

 

[bigthemat]

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers."

― Socrates

 

[Sixgunn]

The younger generation (fill in their latest offense). Ok, but who raised that generation?

Social media?

 

[Wfrance3]

I think some of the new music that's out there is as good as music has ever been. I'm not "versed" like I was in HS and College. Back then and to some extent even now (on "vintage" music), I could tell you what track, what side of the album, who was on the track, probably key liner-not info...
So, what I found is that it's not that new music is bad, it's that what mainstream media programs is bad. To me anyway, what I hear on commercial radio stations and other traditional sponsored/paid media outlets is what sux or at least can be what sux. It definitely feels like when you tune into a local radio station that has syndicated programming, the majority of what you hear is ok, but not great.
Thing is, independent artist are putting out some very good stuff! It's not getting thru to syndicated playlists, but that's ok. If you listen to your local college radio station, look thru the tunes being independently put up on spotify and the like, you will find that there's quite a bit of good music out there. Not saying it's all good, but then music has never been all good...
I kinda like the notion that you don't have to go hat in hand so much anymore. Radio air-play and a "record deal" doesn't have the make you or break you that it used to.
I am turning into my parents tho. I try to make note of what I like but band names and such don't stick with me like they used to. Thank goodness for my shazam track list...

 

[Sixgunn]

Only if you let it. The music I was listening to in my teens and early 20s seems so prosaic and boring now. I try every year or so to reengage with some of it, but precious little of it stands up. Meanwhile there is all kinds of amazing music being made from 2012 or so until present, everything from indie stuff to the best pop music since the 80s to boundary pushing stuff to (personal favorite) a cottage industry of young guns reimagining Grateful Dead classics.

I'm 34 and the day I stop seeking new music is the day I'm old. Not there yet, hope never to lose the curiosity to see what folks are up to currently. My 65 year old dad spends 95% of his music listening hearing the same stuff he's been listening to since he graduated high school. Plenty of good stuff to be sure, but he's missed out on so much to listen to Wishbone Ash or whatever for the 100000x time.

I agree. I'm always on the hunt for good, new stuff but just like old stuff, you have to sort through the good and bad to find stuff you like. There always was, is and will be good and bad music.

 

[BadSanta1281]

So to break it down...

Good music = stuff I like that you don't.

Bad music = stuff you like that I don't.

 

[InhumanResource]

View attachment 4560314

Seriously. I'm one page into this thread and it's already kind of toxic. Bailing out as I have no wish to observe the inevitable dumpster fire of cross generation snark.

 

[lermgalieu]

Copying something their elders did in the 1980s hardly qualifies as "original", I think.

Kinda like Led Zeppelin did?

 

[Matt R.]

God, this thread - mostly the responses to it - is so depressing.

World full of awesome new music being released out there every day and most of the people who're posting here have NO IDEA.

Exactly! Saying garbage like "there's no good music anymore" is just plain lazy. We have access to anything we want at our fingertips, so stop whining and search it out. It's actually pretty fun and inspiring.

 

[TyBo]

To be aware of music is different from having to like said music. I can be aware of the Beatles, Sinatra and Duke Ellington and not like any of them. That was the point I was making.

Yeah, that might be true up to a point ... but I think that being truly aware of such landmark artists means at least having an appreciation of what they did, even if it's not your "cup of tea". For example, I have an appreciation of Mozart, I can hear why people like him ... but I much prefer Bach or Beethoven in the classical realm (love me some Bach!) But to outright dislike such artists implies a lack of understanding. I might not like Barry Bonds, but if I say he ... suxx ... then I would just be lacking understanding of baseball.