Eras

[heyrabbit]

Is the current Era of music better or worse than in the early/mid nineties. A decade ago.

 

Everyone knows that people generally tend to like the music that was popular in their formative years ( puberty and teens etc).Parents generally don't like their kids taste in music, and their parents didn't like their taste etc.

 

My opinion isn't objective at all because I grew up in that mid ninties grunge/alternative era. I obviously think that Era of music was way better than today. People could argue that I'm just getting older and that's a reasonable argument, one that I used to believe. But I was talking to a 14 year old the other day. They agreed with me that the grunge era was better. So I asked a couple more people and they also agreed.

 

What do you think? include your age.

 

Discuss.

[no yu begin wher i end]

If you mean was the popular music better, then I'd agree with you. I don't think that music is declining overall, just people aren't looking hard enough for the musicians with talent. They are out there, and the optimist in me says that they're even more numerous than the drivel we're fed through the likes of MTV and Muchmusic. Just go to an indie music site like Pitchfork or Epitonic and see what I mean. I like plenty of older music, hell, a lot of what I listen to comes from the 1940s. But there are still plenty of excellent artists nowadays, and many could probably give some of the big names of the early to mid 90s a run for their money.

[saturnine]

all i can say is that probably 78% of the cds i own are from 1990-1997.

[mrs jesus]

all i can say is that probably 78% of the cds i own are from 1990-1997.

same.

 

i think that says it all, really.

[Dan #2]

the era is no longer as relative as it once was. A kid today has easy access to older music, with downloading and such, so anyone can find what appeals to them. Personally, i'm enjoying a lot of newer music. I like a few emo and screamo and new-school 'punk' bands, and that seems to be relatively popular right now. I also like a lot of the hardcore and metal being produced right now, but you know what? A lot of my favourite bands are from different places in the world.

 

Today, i have the technology to find, for example, an African indie industrial band called The Awakening. Ten years ago, unless i knew someone in Africa, i probably would not know Africa even had a rock music scene.

 

i'm half asleep, so i may have missed the point.

[5ilent Narcotic]

This era is not better musically, however it is more interesting and exciting right now because during that time 10 years ago, good music was on a decline, and right now it is increasing or at least on the potiental of the up.

 

Something big will happen again soon.

[borntohula]

the quality of music hasnt changed, but the means of finding music has (like insober said).

 

like i've said 1000000000000001 times before on this board...you can't really compare previous music styles to the current, because the current ones have evolved from the past and therefore have changed. if you continue to compare todays music by the standards of the past, you will constantly come up dissapointed. not only that, but music isn't really something that you can measure with time... sounds didn't suddenly change from 1999-2000.... changes are gradual and have nothing to do with what decade you're in.

[mrs jesus]

the quality of music hasnt changed, but the means of finding music has (like insober said).

 

like i've said 1000000000000001 times before on this board...you can't really compare previous music styles to the current, because the current ones have evolved from the past and therefore have changed. if you continue to compare todays music by the standards of the past, you will constantly come up dissapointed. not only that, but music isn't really something that you can measure with time... sounds didn't suddenly change from 1999-2000.... changes are gradual and have nothing to do with what decade you're in.

i like you

[borntohula]

the quality of music hasnt changed, but the means of finding music has (like insober said).

 

like i've said 1000000000000001 times before on this board...you can't really compare previous music styles to the current, because the current ones have evolved from the past and therefore have changed. if you continue to compare todays music by the standards of the past, you will constantly come up dissapointed. not only that, but music isn't really something that you can measure with time... sounds didn't suddenly change from 1999-2000.... changes are gradual and have nothing to do with what decade you're in.

i like you

yaaaaay, approval!!!!

[shenanigans87]

As far as pop-culture is concerned, I think we live in a bizzare era. We spend more time reminiscing about and trying to recreate past eras than we do on trying to create something new. Just look at the current fashion trends, they aren't anything new. They're basically the same as what you would have found in the 70's and 80's. Upon seeing a kid wearing aviator sunglasses the other, my mom commented that she felt as though she was in a time warp of her youth. What is odd is that what is popular for my generation, was also popular for my parent's generation. And that whole pattern of parents hating their children's music and vise versa is dissolving because, if you're like me, a lot of the music that youth listen to is the exact same music their parents listened to.

 

I used to hate living in this day in age due to the shortage of anythig new or orignal, but I have come to realize that maybe we have the best of both worlds now. If you think about it, we now have access to all of the greatest music ever created. You don't like the music being produced right now? Fine, you still have the ability to listen to all the fantastic bands from other music eras. All the crappy music they pump out of MTV today won't erase all of the other years of amazing music. I mean, sure it would be cool to live back in the 60's or 70's when some of the world's best rock and roll was being created, but if you lived back then, you would not have access to all of the other musical movements and eras that came after such as the grunge or even new wave era. I think today's lack of really good popular music has forced people to revisit other eras in music that may have otherwise been forgotten and resulted in people having more eclectic tastes in music which can be a good thing because it allows people to make up their own mind about what they enjoy music-wise instead of having the radio or MTV dictate it to them. Looking at my CD collection, one would think I'm living in the early to mid 90's, not the 21st century which is perfectly okay with me. It's nice to go back and discover some of the bands that I hadn't had the chance to when they were popular, because now they are new to me. The bottom line is even if all the greatest music has already been written, we shouldn't complain because we are living in an era where we are lucky enough to have access to all of it.

 

On a different note, I was wondering the other day about what my generation's children will think of my generation's music, when I began to wonder what even is considered my generation's music. Because to me, the music they play on MuchMusic and MTV is very forgettable, and I wonder how much of it will be remembered 10, 20 years from now? Will my children know all of the words to a Good Charlotte or 50 Cent song, the way I know all the words to many Led Zeppelin or Beatles songs? Just something to think about.

[static]

Is Grunge the defining music of the 90's? I was born in '87 so i got into the following decade early on in life. I've always considered the 90's to be the time of boyband type music. My estimations:

40s - Swing & Jazz

50s - Doowop

60s - Classic rock

70s - Disco

80s - (gets hazy here but i think) old school rap

90s - Pop

00s - either pop-punk or gangsta rap.

 

Anyway if we're talking about ALLLLLLL the types of music in ALLLLLL of the decades, then overall the 60s is my favorite musical era (40s a close second.) The 90s kind of sucked in my opinion. I think each era spits out its own legends and if we ignore all of them, then the 90s had the shittiest remainder. The 80s sucked crap too but at least they had some weird style going for them.

[no yu begin wher i end]

On a different note, I was wondering the other day about what my generation's children will think of my generation's music, when I began to wonder what even is considered my generation's music. Because to me, the music they play on MuchMusic and MTV is very forgettable, and I wonder how much of it will be remembered 10, 20 years from now? Will my children know all of the words to a Good Charlotte or 50 Cent song, the way I know all the words to many Led Zeppelin or Beatles songs? Just something to think about.

It's an interesting point, and one that I've thought of a few times while my sister blares her Good Charlotte.

 

I think that one possible outcome of all this disposable music filling the airwaves is that later on down the line, few people will have actually taken these songs to heart the way a song like "My Generation" or "Smells Like Teen Spirit" have been. There is nothing to musically represent our generation because:

• The popular music is so disposable that people tend to forget about it within 6 months
  
• There are so many different subcultures within this generation thanks to the great music of preceding years that not one type of music can accurately embody the present
  

Because of this, more people are looking back, to underground/independent scenes, and to different genres entirely, e.g. jazz and blues (like myself and several friends). What then happens is that so many people are taking so many different styles of music to heart that there's barely anything for the generation to define itself by. 20 years down the line, we'll know the words to songs that we love, but the chances are pretty good that those songs will be ones that aren't very well known. Hope that made sense.

[shenanigans87]

Is Grunge the defining music of the 90's? I was born in '87 so i got into the following decade early on in life. I've always considered the 90's to be the time of boyband type music.

 

The 90s kind of sucked in my opinion. I think each era spits out its own legends and if we ignore all of them, then the 90s had the shittiest remainder. The 80s sucked crap too but at least they had some weird style going for them.

Wow. I'm embarrassed to be born the same year as you. You really need to broaden your musical horizons.

 

 

  There is nothing to musically represent our generation because:

 

The popular music is so disposable that people tend to forget about it within 6 months

There are so many different subcultures within this generation thanks to the great music of preceding years that not one type of music can accurately embody the present

 

Because of this, more people are looking back, to underground/independent scenes, and to different genres entirely, e.g. jazz and blues (like myself and several friends). What then happens is that so many people are taking so many different styles of music to heart that there's barely anything for the generation to define itself by. 20 years down the line, we'll know the words to songs that we love, but the chances are pretty good that those songs will be ones that aren't very well known. Hope that made sense.

 

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, and to me, an outcome like that is bittersweet. One the one hand, as I've said in my earlier post, people now have a wider range of music to enjoy and are not just listening to what is considered "hot" at this very moment. However, on the other hand, unlike previous generations, my generation doesn't really have any type of unified voice that defines and speaks out about my generation. And believe me, there is a lot to be said about this generation. Did you know that my generation is the first generation in history projected to have a shorter life span than our parents? And what about the millions of kids who are put on medications (ie: anti-depresents, ritalin, etc) because everyone else is too lazy to deal with the problem head on?

Sorry to get a little negative and off-topic, but my point is that there is a lot to be said about my generation and many artists just aren't saying it, and the few who do, aren't saying it well. It would be nice to have someone come along that really tried to represent my generation the way someone like Cobain represented Generation X.

Edited August 6, 2005 by shenanigans87

[static]

Wow. I'm embarrassed to be born the same year as you. You really need to broaden your musical horizons.

Trust me. My musical horizons can't get much broader. You can name almost any type of music and i'm gauranteed to like at least some of it. With that said "broad musical horizons" doesn't make the 90s suck any less. Up to that point record companies had (in comparison) relativly little influence. They may have wanted their musicians to project a certain image or to wear a certain product. But musicians had more room to do their own thing. Sure The Monkees and Milli Vanilli popped in here and there but they were rarities back then, whereas in the 90s (and even now) they were the norm. We'll always remember the 60s for The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin etc... The legacy from the 90s is Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls and N*Sync. That's not to say that there weren't good bands in the 90s that avoided the mainstream machine. But the concentration of bands that managed to retain artistic dignity in the 90s, is far less than in any other decade (save perhaps the 80s).

[running4home]

the mainstream rock radio was way better in the 90s. there was no nickelback sound-a-likes.

[no yu begin wher i end]

Only Pearl Jam sound-alikes ;) .

[shenanigans87]

The legacy from the 90s is Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls and N*Sync.

 

 

I would hardly consider Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls and N*Sync the most distinguishing bands of the 90's. During the late 90's, maybe, but the 90's as an entire decade cannot be defined by boybands alone.

 

That's not to say that there weren't good bands in the 90s that avoided the mainstream machine. But the concentration of bands that managed to retain artistic dignity

Edited August 6, 2005 by shenanigans87