Does Music Today Suck Now, Or Am I Finally 'Old'?

[keniakittykat]

Yeah, because it was a completely different story the past 40 years! Music used to mean some- Yeah, no. Pop music always aimed for the largest appeal.

And everyone keeps complaining about all the electro/house music nowadays. Have these people completely forgotten what was actually popular in the 90's? Or how everyone thinks of the 70's as this perfect era of rock... It wasn't. Just remember that the biggest hit of all time is "You light up my life". Musical sludge about absolutely nothing. The 70's didn't want rock, they wanted slow middle of the road ballads. Less Van Halen, more Simon & Garfunkel.

It just seems worse now because we have to deal with the bad. We don't remember the bad, that's why the past seems so much better in retrospect.

 

[deleted+75193]

DELETED

 

[EHKOS]

I can say rap has gotten worse, but then again the genre, while in it's basic form is poetry, hasn't been around that long. But unleashing Lil' Wayne on the world was in retrospect a terrible decision. Yeah, he was good up until Tha Carter II, and so we allowed him to thrive. Then he built Young Money, brought Rick Ross, Drake, and Nicki into the picture, and it's been skewing the lines between rap and pop.

At least I'll always have my old Texas rap, which is WAY BETTER than southern rap today. >.> T.I.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

I suppose the point is not how much bad popular stuff is (the answer is always: lots), but how much good popular stuff there is? Today? Anything that seeks to shatter expectations and drastically change ways of thinking? Nope, not really.

Eh, I think it's too soon to tell - distance/time gives us more objectivity. I mean, I looked at that 1992 list that someone posted upthread, and there were songs on there that I probably liked at the time (hey, I was young) but that I think are terrible now, and on the flip side, music that I didn't listen to then that I came to appreciate later.

To look at anything new and decide whether it's actually good in any way beyond "I enjoy listening to (or dancing to) this song" or "I don't" is probably lacking whatever context is going to give it staying power later (or make it even worse, and so on).

I think you're understating the power and significance that music has had at various times in history. Renaissance music with its sweeping holy melodies which were thought to come direct from god, the romantic tradition which swept away centuries of rigid formality, some of the music during the Vietnam war in which people felt they could feel their consciousness was being changed. Imagine hearing jazz with its shockingly free structure and sense of melody for the first time, or 12-tone music which broke all the rules of melody that you knew before. These might not have had such an impact in your life but for many people they did.

Saying "I like this" is only a fraction of the potential of art and it shouldn't be regarded as success if someone happens to like a song 30 years later. A part of every piece of music is timeless, but music usually has the most power when its own cultural and temporal context is current and relevant. We should look to that time to see its real significance.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Yes, yes, modern music sucks. Rock is dead, what do you expect? We used to songs like dust in the wind, stairway to heaven, and the sound of silence. Thise songs were pure poetry. I cannot name a single song in the last 14 years that approached that level of quality. I'm sure things must improve in the future, but for now I avoid modern music. If anyone wants to disagree, feel free, I've never wanted to be more wrong.

Modern music, or modern music that's played on the radio?

 

[Illesdan]

I generally am one of the first ones to defend music, but, yeah, I haven't heard anything particularly good/catchy/interesting in probably a couple of years. I'm just waiting for Muse, Billy Talent or the Kaiser Chiefs to release something new soon. Lately, I've been on a 60's and 80's kick, and that's keeping me happy until something good/different comes along

 

[Musette]

Maybe it's because I'm a massive nerd when it comes to modern percussion music, and maybe it's because I don't really listen to popular genres of music much, but the current landscape for (percussion) music fascinates me. Most of the solo literature I perform is stuff written by composers who are still living, and a lot of composers I know love making friends with percussionists because they like having us around to play their percussion works. Most major composers in the percussion world also tend to be educators, and I personally have had some incredible experiences learning from the people whose music profoundly impacted my life.

Still, learning music theory kinda makes pop music even more annoying because it draws your attention to the obnoxiously repetitive and predictable harmonic progressions that are recycled time and time again. On the opposite end of the spectrum though, some postmodern music can be very difficult to listen to because of how experimental and abstract they can be. (Pro tip: if you EVER see a song titled "Workers Union" by Louis Andreissen on a concert program, just walk out and don't look back. Seriously, that piece actually broke me on a psychological level and not in a deep and meaningful way, but in a "I wonder if this has been used as a form of torture" kind of way.) I can respect pushing boundaries, and I'm actually more open minded about postmodern music than most of my peers, but it's not exactly the kind of stuff you would listen to while you're sitting at a bus stop or something.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I would say that there is less risk for companies when producing music and now its a throwaway commodity, only goal is to get to Number 1 and then its forgettable. Thus the charts is the same crap - kinda like the talent the Xfactor shows look for. You have to look towards else where for good music and talent.

 

[Nouw]

you naive fools, Music peaked in the baroque period and may (as long as money is the deciding factor) never reach that point again.

I'm pretty sure most of the musicians we know from the Baroque period were commissioned a hefty sum or at the very least enjoyed high social status in exchange for their talent. If you ask me, the problem is we aren't paying them enough (;

 

[lechat]

you naive fools, Music peaked in the baroque period and may (as long as money is the deciding factor) never reach that point again.

I'm pretty sure most of the musicians we know from the Baroque period were commissioned a hefty sum or at the very least enjoyed high social status in exchange for their talent. If you ask me, the problem is we aren't paying them enough (;

Ouch good point.
maybe Bach was just that period's justin beiber and it was all about the bitches and greenbacks

 

[FLSH_BNG]

No, pop music now is bad.

Its mathematically formulated to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

I wish I was joking.

Sadly true... the similarities between pop "songs" these days is so close that computers can barely tell the differences between them. They're almost spectrographically identical.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

when someone mentions Iggy Azalea, they'll be saying who dat?, who dat?

haha I see what you did there. I'm sure that will go over most old farts heads in this thread.


OT: Meh, I listen to just about everything besides country so it's not hard for me to find average/decent music, youtube and many other music websites are your friend in this case. That said, yes you are old if you can't remember how shitty pop music was at some times or another, seriously it's like a rollercoaster varying from "meh, not bleeding from the ears" to "oh my god, is someone using sand paper to grate out my ear drums?!?"

 

[Fishyash]

"Modern music sucks" translates to me as "my tastes are too narrow". It is impossible to make such a statement without betraying ignorance or laziness.

 

[Scars Unseen]

I generally am one of the first ones to defend music, but, yeah, I haven't heard anything particularly good/catchy/interesting in probably a couple of years. I'm just waiting for Muse, Billy Talent or the Kaiser Chiefs to release something new soon. Lately, I've been on a 60's and 80's kick, and that's keeping me happy until something good/different comes along

Steven Wilson's The Raven that Refused to Sing(And Other Stories) -2013

Spoiler

Devin Townsend's Epicloud -2012 (and he has a new album coming out next week)

Spoiler

The Reign of Kindo's Play with Fire - 2013

Spoiler

Blackfield's Blackfield IV -2013

Spoiler

Opeth's Pale Communion -2014

Spoiler

There's lots of good stuff out there(though I can't guarantee all will be to your tastes)

 

[Illesdan]

To Scars Unseen: Kind of a little out of my taste range, but not the worst stuff I've ever heard. Opeth I have heard of; they have an early Black Sabbath/Radiohead type influence to their music, so its interesting to listen to.

To insaninater: You make a good point. I used to have an iMesh account and used to love looking for new music on there. Too bad one of their patches screwed up my account and I could never make iMesh run properly on my computer again afterwards. But, yes, the internet is the place to go for new music. If you have the time and money to invest in it, Sirius XM used to be good back in the day for globally hearing new music. I'll admit I don't know if that is still true; haven't listened to it since 2004.

And, really, maybe this is the problem. Sometimes we get so stuck in ourselves that we fail to look to other countries for new music. I personally make a point to look internationally for music instead of just relying on the American music scene. Check out Emily Loizeau; she is a talented French folk rock artist. Kaiser Chiefs should be much more popular over here than they are, a British rock band that has been around a long time. Billy Talent is a Canadian punk band that now has four very solid albums to their credit. They take their time, and release a new recording every three years. In the 'Honorable Mentions' bucket, I would have to say check out AwolNation, The French Band AIR, even though I don't like much of their new stuff, 'Moon Safari', 'Talkie Walkie', and 'The Virgin Suicides Soundtrack' is some very stirring electronica. Nero's female singer is impressive, and more often than not saves the day on most of their songs. Zero 7 is classified as 'acid jazz', and has some very good guest singers work with them. I don't like everything by Snog, but the songs 'Last Days of Rome' and 'Vaguely Melancholic' are very good.

 

[MorganL4]

your getting old, happens to all of us. Pop music by enlarge is never good no matter the era.

Tell that to these guys:

I mean when you have bands like The Beatles, Elvis, and The Beach Boys as the three main "pop" acts you can't really argue that pop was bad in the 60's.

Granted the 60's had its knock off acts that weren't all that good. But even The Monkees had a couple good songs.

 

[Timmaaaah]

Nope. Music today is fucking awesome, you just have to look somewhere other than the mainstream media. Rock is not dead. Musicians are more inventive than ever. What country are you living in? I'm currently in Sydney where magazines are prattling on about how Australian music is circling the drain, but the truth is that all it takes is to explore the live music scene. There are sooo many bands out there. Even if one 1% of them are great then that's still 1% of thousands of bands... Which is enough to fill your music void for a decent amount of time. All this pessimism concerning music annoys me. Music is art and you're not going to see the masterpieces unless you look. It's also incredibly personal. Don't look for the next "big hit" and expect it to resonate with you. Find something new that gives YOU chills.

Who cares if pop music today is a stagnant cesspool of shock marketing and tween crap? Record execs have figured out the formula to make a shitload of money and they're going to do just that. Turn off the TV and start exploring soundcloud or something.

Anyway, if you want something new and pretty much genreless, check out Alt J's album An Awesome Wave. They've got a new one out too but it's not quite as exiting as the first. Goes best on amazing headphones. The only negative thing I've heard about them is that some people aren't particularly into the timbre of the lead singers' voice, but I recommend that you give them a chance.

 

[Timmaaaah]

I think people always forget that for every 'classic' song that came out decades ago and that we still listen to today, there were 1000 other songs that people have completely forgotten about.

Whenever people point out how people had "so much better taste back then", I always like to remind them that "Disco Duck" was the #1 song in America for a while.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irgJPqkuakM

Everyone seems to have already forgotten about Crazy Frog too

 

[Funyahns]

There is bad music in every era. The problem with getting older is that you have found a decent amount of music that you really enjoy. So why go through the headache of digging through new music when you already have tons of stuff you love. the other part of being older is a smaller social circle, which means less friends listening to and finding new music. I don't know about you but from late 80s till early 00s I didn't find any band I loved on the radio. Friends showed me music, or siblings found music mostly. Go back through any era and most pop music is crap, you will get a handful of good bands on the radio true. But that is after they are already pretty popular.

 

[Conner42]

It depends if you use to really get into popular music. I've always hated modern day pop music and have usually just listened to older rock songs. Now that I'm older, I haven't really expanded much on taste, but even some of the older songs I used to like are...well, there are bands I used to think were good but now I just fucking hate them. Especially Guns n' Roses...like, seriously, fuck those guys! I can't believe I ever liked any of their songs.

So, I guess my point is that I didn't stop listening to what was current in music, but I think me getting older gave me a bit of a change in taste and I am now shaking my head at some of the stuff I used to listen to...I mean, shaking my head in disapproval, I'm not shaking my head to the beat or anything...

So, did you use to listen to what was popular during the time?