I was commenting on Antcomic's The Compozerz on how much I love 80's music and being a 90's kid (circa 1990) did raise a bit of talk, Pit_Face commenting on music today etc. So, just how many other people my age have been listening to a bit of Judas Priest, zz top, Iron maiden, hell, even the rolling stones? is the music of yesteryear making a comeback in the kids of today, or is it just me? In this society where music may well govern a person's lifestyle is there anyone else out there who's lidtening to music that's 20 years old regardless?

I like a few old songs but most of the songs I like stay in the 10 year range. It's not that I don't like old songs, it's just that I'm not interested in the general style of the oldies. Other than that, it could be because old music has a harder time getting on the radio and they're a bit harder to find on the Internet.

I haven't seen much of this comeback myself but if it's happening, that's totally cool. I don't like it when people say a song's "too old" because I don't think a song's value should be determined by its age.
Anyway, if the comeback's not now, it'll probably happen sometime in the future. I mean, we can't keep creating new songs forever, can we? There's only so many ways to combine chords, beats, instruments, etc.

I have a great love of music from the 70's. That's mainly because the sound was still quite raw... You'll notice that 80's music tends to have much greater reliance of studio produced electronic effects and people over producing things a bit too much. I still quite like a lot of 80's music though. The obviousness of the electronic effects is lovely in itself because they're not trying to imitate what instruments do better, but create their own unique sounds.

But after that, studio recorded music gets even more "artificial" sounding, especially when real drums almost disappear for good in a lot of it... It's mainly because digital recording and production techniques allow producers too much control, too many loops and snippets of voices and short bits of music constructed into "Photoshoped" tracks. I'm not talking about dance music here, but ordinary rock and pop type music.

There's ALWAYS good music being made though, even over-produced stuff can turn out well, people frequently revert to simpler ways of making music, and all the previous styles are constantly recycled. :)

---------------------------
-One thing that amuses me is when people joke about how the Rolling Stones are too old to still be "rocking" lol!
I'd counter that it's their style of music, they're still doing it because they helped create and define it, it's as old as they are. They're not still hanging around in a young people's pop-rock world, young people are still just creating in a style that is old...

Yeah, I was born in '92, and I love The Beatles, The Who, and a lot of other great "oldies."

Why be constricted to the music from just my time when there is so much great stuff from all times.

Most of the artists I mostly listen to now were either formed in the 90s and less of those are from the 80s (Although a lot of them sound like it). Very few are from 2000 onwards and almost NONE of them are from the UK.

I was born in the 80s and grew up in the 90s. But I sound like an old person. Constantly condemning most late 00s music for not being as good as it used to be.

I mean, Jesus. All we seem to be doing now is jumping bandwagons and cloning each other.

The tenners (10's) don't look very promising if we don't start shaping ourselves up and stop relying on TV talent shows to get our chart-toppers.

Faliat
The tenners (10's) don't look very promising if we don't start shaping ourselves up and stop relying on TV talent shows to get our chart-toppers.

Yeah, no kidding. I hate most Top 40 music because it's all crap. I was born in '89, and as far as my own music tastes go, I have many, many songs from the '60s through the '90s. Most of it is rock, but I also love folk music from the '70s, namely Leonard Cohen and James Taylor. (And in fact, most of my absolute favorite bands are pre-1990.)

I was talking to a friend of mine about this a while back. Kids don't really rebel with music anymore, at least we didn't, and I was born in '81. People seem to have more respect for good music regardless of time it came out nowadays. You're hard pressed to find someone that genuinely hates the Beach Boys or Frank Sinatra. Even people who generally listen to drastically different music like scandenavian metal or screamo or something still can appreciate The Beatles or The Doors. And I still dig alot of newer music. I mean, I gotta try to find stuff I like, because I don't usually like Top 40, but then I've always been like that.

I think part of the reason is that there aren't any drastically different STYLES of music. Stuff is generally a mishmash of existing styles. Back in the day you'd have stuff like rock and roll, and then metal, and then punk come along that was rebellious music. It was played in a way that was never done before and it challenged the status quo.

What I'm really into nowadays is new music that sounds like old music, like Supergrass or The Coral. I'd like to see a few more bands try to capture that 60's rock sound.

"I used to be with it, but then they changed what "it" was. Now, what
I'm with isn't it, and what's "it" seems weird and scary to me. And it'll happen to you!" -Abraham Simpson

They haven't really changed "it" in a while.

I like older music. And it's probably because I hate so much of the current music being played on the radio. I know people are making good music in this day and age, but I don't think the radio is playing it.

I stopped listening to the radio after they took the classic rock station off. bah!

Bittenbymonk
I stopped listening to the radio after they took the classic rock station off. bah!

i stopped listening when they replaced the alternative rock station with a pop/hip-hop one. while we already have one dammit. D:


i love music. it doesn't really matter what generation its from i'll give it a try. PQ me a band you like and i'll give it a try. :D

I was born in the 90's and the 80's are definitely my favorite musical era. I was really into 80's rock and new wave for a while. I wish I could have lived it. :(

A lot of my favorite bands are older bands. Like The Beatles, The Cure, Talking Heads, Oingo Boingo, The Smiths... the list goes on.

I can't say that I dislike newer music though, you just gotta go out of your way to find things worth listening to. I really only listen to one radio station. It's an oddball college station with good alternative music every once in a while. Most of my music is found through friends and browsing mixtape websites. A good amount of it is from other countries and/or in other languages.

I love music though. Finding oddball stuff that no one listens to, has become one of my favorite hobbies.

I think this kinda goes along with the "Older Music, Younger Generation" topic.....

I was playing City of Heroes the other day and I mentioned to my group that I was listening to Mozart while playing. (Try it--it turns video games into a ballet, I swear) ....While the adults in the group thought that was an interesting choice of music, there was a kid in the group who didn't even know who Mozart was. I was horrified and shocked. What the hell are they teaching kids in school these days? Just goes to show what the absence of Music & Art programs will do to kids. I never understood why they decided to cut these two programs out of schools, because music/band classes have proven to make kids better in math & science. And yet, they don't mind pouring money into football and cheerleading. Just really pisses me off sometimes.....

lastcall
Just goes to show what the absence of Music & Art programs will do to kids.

I only had the most basic music classes in primary school that were limited to singing along.

But my mum loved classical, so that's where I got my appreciation for it from. I thought most people got it from their parents.

Heh, I primarily listen to 80's music, although I missed that decade, being born in '89. I think it's just something about the sound of it that strikes a chord with me. But this preference doesn't stop me from trying other music. I never cared much for most of the 70's or 60's (Beatles, not a fan), but there's music from those periods I do like.

I also love classical, and Lascall's little story about the kid who never heard of Mozart really irritated me for some reason. I think the reason is that it doesn't make sense to me to not know of some of these people, even if you don't know their music personally.

Actually, I dislike people who say they hate a whole decade or more of music, because it's usually a load of crap. Think about it, even though I don't like most of today's music, I would hardly say I "hate" it, because then I end up sounding like one of those old-fashioned parents you see in movies like Footloose. lol!

There's the 80s "electro" revival that's been happening now for a while, and of course the current revival of crass 80s kids street fashions. -_-

Bands like Robots is Disguise...

ozoneocean
There's the 80s "electro" revival that's been happening now for a while, and of course the current revival of crass 80s kids street fashions. -_-

Bands like Robots is Disguise...

Ah, revivals are silly things. It's often a vain, somewhat tepid, attempt to recapture something that is already over. What goes around comes around, but that usually happens naturally, and no one bothers with silly terms like revivals when it does happen.

Today's modern culture will be tomorrow's revival. Can you dig it, daddy-o? ;)

I'm only using the term descriptively ;)

I'm actually really into this third revival of ska, although most of it is diluted with blues, I guess we're running out of variety

i'm really happy i stumbled into this thread cuase i really dont come around these parts. but i did want to further the conversation we started. and i really do think younger people are getting into older, better music. a lot of em are probably into the newer stuff too, but it's becuase some of the other music is intersting. as obvious as a statement that is...i know i make the mistake sometimes of grouping young kids in as all having some wall up where they only listen to shitty music. but i remember when i was a kid, i listened to a lot of stuff my parents and siblings did becuase obviously, that's what was there, and of corse, that's gonna carry on down. i was liking some newer stuff that was new at the time when i was a kid like ace of Base and stuff like that. but at the same time i was also listening to boston, black sabbath, and the residents. then when i really started developing my own tastes, i fell into thrash metal, and fell fuckin hard too. that's from the 80's, not that much older then me, but still proof for the argument. and i see things like that happening in other young kids, i forget a lot of em do have their own tastes, and of corse are gonna find the things that are good and get into it.

another thing with music is some people get into it more then other people. some will go out and search, and collect, and really beleive and understand it, while some other people, it's just not so deep for them. you can probably even say that that's what makes music even more so near and deer to those who DO find a passion for it.

and of corse, becuase it IS a music thread and i have to flaunt my fuckin music wherever i go, here's a little THRASH METAL for ya, scare crow!!!

ARTILLERY-TERROR SQUAD!!!!

MEGADETH-PEACE SELLS...BUT WHO'S BUYING?

I like things from various ages. I will say this, though:
When it comes to the music of then versus now, I have a certain appreciation of what's been crafted over what's being manufactured.

Generally speaking, as soon as you grow out of the "everything now is the coolest there's ever been" age, you enter the "everything now is trash, everything within the last five years is cool, everything from the previous decade was bland and everything from the decade before that is interesting and influential" phase.

Then you get really old and realise there's a lot of good stuff and a lot of bad stuff in all eras and, sometimes, even the bland trashy stuff wasn't as bad as you remembered it to be!

DAJB
Generally speaking, as soon as you grow out of the "everything now is the coolest there's ever been" age, you enter the "everything now is trash, everything within the last five years is cool, everything from the previous decade was bland and everything from the decade before that is interesting and influential" phase.

Then you get really old and realise there's a lot of good stuff and a lot of bad stuff in all eras and, sometimes, even the bland trashy stuff wasn't as bad as you remembered it to be!

True, but music from different ages tends to have quite distinct flavours in many regards for obvious reasons. And then there's this:

Chernobog
I will say this, though:
When it comes to the music of then versus now, I have a certain appreciation of what's been crafted over what's being manufactured.

That is extremely pertinent- as recording technology has gotten better and better over the years, the art moves further away from the musician and the vocalist and more into the hands of the producers... That's just a fact of the industry and technology.

That does change the style of things.

ozoneocean

Chernobog
I will say this, though:
When it comes to the music of then versus now, I have a certain appreciation of what's been crafted over what's being manufactured.

That is extremely pertinent- as recording technology has gotten better and better over the years, the art moves further away from the musician and the vocalist and more into the hands of the producers... That's just a fact of the industry and technology.

True, but - at least from a UK perspective - even that's cyclical, not absolute.

The 50's rock and roll records made by Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard etc. were raw and pretty much recorded live. By the late 50's and early 60's, producers had taken over and there was a whole slew of "manufactured" artists (notably from the Larry Parnes stable, such as Tommy Steele, Billy Fury etc). The Beatles and the Stones etc reversed that, taking advantage of new technology but putting the emphasis back on crafting their own songs. By the late 60's the manufactured stars were back again (The Monkees, the Archies) until a new wave of musicians (Hendrix, Cream) once again forced the musician's own creativity to the fore.

In the early 70's glam rock decided to make music visually interesting and opened the door to artists controlled by producers like Chinn and Chapman (Suzi Quatro, Mud, The Sweet), until that in turn gave way to punk rock. Vital, real and rebellious, the heyday of punk inevitably burnt itself out and was replaced by new puppets, this time manufactured by Stock, Aitken and Waterman (Kylie and too many others to mention) which eventually gave way to artists from the Manchester club scene. And so on, through the Spice Girls and the innumerable Boy Bands/Girl Bands vs Oasis, Blur and Britpop; through TV talent shows vs Kaiser Chiefs, Green Day and The Flaming Lips.

I'm afraid I've seen this particular pendulum swing back and forth so many times now, I really can't get as excited as you young 'uns when the producers take over. I just sit back, confident that it will come full circle again!

I know what you mean there DAJB, but I mean the inexorable tendency caused by the opportunity that's presented by the evolving technology, not the cyclical ascendancy of the record producer, that waxes and wanes according to fashion and style. And then most of the time the producer was just as much the true artist as the musicians themselves.

Basically... Because that tech is always improving, becoming easier and cheaper to use, it is and will be used more, regardless of momentary, isolated regressive trends.
That's why studio recorded music sounds quite different today than it did 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago and so on. :)

You might call The Monkey's "manufactured", but that's raw, rough grunge compared to what you'll get from today's studios. The thing is, that most of the vital sounding, exciting, original stuff coming out now will sound smoother, crisper and more perfect than what you'd get 20 or 30 years ago because of the technology and the culture of using it.

Which has always been the case, but: while music is music and fashion just changes, the technology improves.

That's true, too. But advances in technology aren't necessarily to the detriment of the music and my point is that they don't necessarily take the creative process away from the musicians.

Sergeant Pepper's is the obvious example. George Martin's input was doubtless invaluable but does anybody really think that the Beatles weren't in control or that the technology somehow diminishes the value of the music? What about Radiohead's albums? Masterpieces of production and, whether you like them or not, there's no denying they were "crafted" by the band.

The studio technology will advance, you're right, but that's a good thing. Periodically this will make third party producers more important than the musicians but the next generation of bands always manages to master that technology and use it to enhance their music. The issue, I think, is who's in control of the technology - as long as it's the artist, the technology is just another instrument.

Ah-ah, DAJB, I never said at any time in any of these post that music was getting worse, or that the tech is detrimental. ;)

My point is that progressive change is real and not just simply perceived by the listener because of their age and when they were born. :)

And besides, what I've said mainly concerns recorded music. Live music is another matter entirely.

The comment I was referring to, O.O., was this one:

ozoneocean
the art moves further away from the musician and the vocalist and more into the hands of the producers...

And the crux of my response was that, yes, it does - but only temporarily!

Ah, but you see, the techniques that are increasingly available mean that the vocalists and musicians are less central to the music recording and creation process.

That's not temporary, that really does continue more and more to be the case. It's created whole new genres of music :)

I'd say plenty of us young folk like older rock. I certainly like my Metallica, and my Iron Maiden, and my Radiohead, and my Beatles, and my Pink Floyd.

Bittenbymonk
I stopped listening to the radio after they took the classic rock station off. bah!

WHAT!? THOSE BASTARDS!