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View Full Version : Has main stream music passed away this generation?



RedTruck
12-17-2012, 03:34 AM
I can't help but feel it has. Turning on the radio, and just listening to your standard music station you will hear nothing but mindless garbage. Very few songs have deep meaningful lyrics, or music and songs with serious "meat" on there bones.

Nirvana, Queen, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Who and so on and so forth. Music you would hear constantly on radio stations, day in and day out. Music that was popular by everyone's standards (more or less).

Today music feels like nothing more than mindless "junk food" music. With nothing but lyrics about how to screw men/women and bring them home to get laid. What happened to the day's of music like Bohemian Rhapsody, Stairway to Heaven, Lithium, Something in the Way, etc...music with lyrics that have meaning, that have soul and true, true, genuine "feeling" to them.

Where has that all disappeared? Obviously, there's an indie scene, and obviously good music is still being produced, you just have dig a bit harder and farther..but what happened to the days when you could hear great music, beautiful music, music with soul and passion in every note, being played on the radio nearly 24/7?

It's a sad state of affairs, when Justin Beiber and Flo Rida is being eclipsed by the standards of yesterday by today's youth. :(

Larry Schuler
12-17-2012, 04:01 AM
I'm pretty sure every song ever is about how to screw men/women, in all varieties of the word. The difference I've noticed is that music has shifted to digital instruments and digital interface sequencing. Things sound more cookie cutter because they are literally cookie cutter sequences being dragged across a digital editing program. If you hear the acoustic or live piano versions of some of these awful pop songs they actually start out with decent music at their core. Problem is they then digitalize them into the most sugary, ADD, hip hop/pop/rock hybrid Lego songs. Just my opinion though based on the non-rock radio I've heard lately.

camisadelgolf
12-17-2012, 04:19 AM
Welcome to Corporate America. There's as much good music as ever, but you have to find it.

RedTruck
12-17-2012, 04:51 AM
I'm pretty sure every song ever is about how to screw men/women, in all varieties of the word. The difference I've noticed is that music has shifted to digital instruments and digital interface sequencing. Things sound more cookie cutter because they are literally cookie cutter sequences being dragged across a digital editing program. If you hear the acoustic or live piano versions of some of these awful pop songs they actually start out with decent music at their core. Problem is they then digitalize them into the most sugary, ADD, hip hop/pop/rock hybrid Lego songs. Just my opinion though based on the non-rock radio I've heard lately.

Not every song is about screwing...

Nirvana-Lithium Lyrics


I'm so happy 'cause today
I found my friends
They're in my head
I'm so ugly, that's okay
'Cause so are you
Broke our mirrors
Sunday morning is everyday
For all I care
And I'm not scared
Light my candles, in a daze
'Cause I've found God

Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah

I'm so lonely, that's ok
I shaved my head
And I'm not sad
And just maybe
I'm to blame for all I've heard
I'm not sure
I'm so excited
I can't wait to meet you there
And I don't care
I'm so horny, that's okay
My will is good

Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah

I like it I'm not gonna crack
I miss you I'm not gonna crack
I love you I'm not gonna crack
I killed you I'm not gonna crack

I like it I'm not gonna crack
I miss you I'm not gonna crack
I love you I'm not gonna crack
I killed you I'm not gonna crack

I'm so happy 'cause today
I found my friends
They're in my head
I'm so ugly, but that's okay
'Cause so are you
Broke our mirrors
Sunday morning is everyday
For all I care
And I'm not scared
Light my candles in a daze
'Cause I've found god

Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah

I like it I'm not gonna crack
I miss you I'm not gonna crack
I love you I'm not gonna crack
I killed you I'm not gonna crack

I like it I'm not gonna crack
I miss you I'm not gonna crack
I love you I'm not gonna crack
I killed you I'm not gonna crack


Circa 1990

2012

Katy Perry-Last Friday Night



There's a stranger in my bed,
There's a pounding my head
Glitter all over the room
Pink flamingos in the pool
I smell like a minibar
DJ's passed out in the yard
Barbie's on the barbeque

There's a hickie or a bruise
Pictures of last night
Eended up online
I'm screwed
Oh well
It's a black top blur
But I'm pretty sure it ruled

Last Friday night
Yeah we danced on tabletops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot

Last Friday night
Yeah we maxed our credit cards
And got kicked out of the bar
So we hit the boulevard

Last Friday night
We went streaking in the park
Skinny dipping in the dark
Then had a menage a trois
Last Friday night
Yeah I think we broke the law
Always say we're gonna stop-op
Whoa-oh-oah

This Friday night
Do it all again
This Friday night
Do it all again

Trying to connect the dots
Don't know what to tell my boss
Think the city towed my car
Chandelier is on the floor
With my favorite party dress
Warrants out for my arrest
Think I need a ginger ale
That was such an epic fail

Pictures of last night
Ended up online
I'm screwed
Oh well
It's a blacked out blur
But I'm pretty sure it ruled
Damn

Last Friday night
Yeah we danced on table tops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot

Last Friday night
Yeah we maxed our credits card
And got kicked out of the bars
So we hit the boulevards

Last Friday night
We went streaking in the park
Skinny dipping int he dark
Then had a menage a trois
Yeah I think we broke the law
Always say we're gonna stop-op
Oh whoa oh

This Friday night
Do it all again
Do it all again
This Friday night
Do it all again
Do it all again
This Friday night

T.G.I.F.
T.G.I.F.
T.G.I.F.
T.G.I.F.
T.G.I.F.
T.G.I.F.

Last Friday night
Yeah we danced on table tops
And we took too many shots
Think we kissed but I forgot

Last Friday night
Yeah we maxed our credit cards
And got kicked out of the bar
So we hit the boulevard

Last Friday night
We went streaking in the park
Skinny dipping in the dark
Then had a menage a trois

Last Friday night
Yeah I think we broke the law
Always say we're gonna stop
Oh-whoa-oh
This Friday night
Do it all again

There definitely more blatantly put into today's lyrics. Last Friday night, I have a stranger in my bed, I had a threesome? I mean, sure songs have always been to some degree sexual in some nature..but today's lyrics just go full frontal with no shame at all..and honestly that's all I ever feel like I hear..songs about love, or songs about banging..What happened to music like Bob Dylan, or Johnny Cash, music where there was more variety than just singing about some hot guy/hot girl that they met at the bar and want to screw?

IslandRed
12-17-2012, 10:11 AM
Point taken, but you're crossing genres as well as eras when you're comparing today's mainstream pop songs to artists who weren't really pop in their own time. By and large, the kids who listen to Katy Perry or Justin Bieber today, their predecessors weren't into Nirvana or Zeppelin or Cash.

On the Billboard singles charts, Pink Floyd had one #1 hit and one other top-20 song. The Monkees had three #1s and three other top-fives. Apples and oranges.

Razor Shines
12-17-2012, 10:21 AM
The only addition to this thread that I have is that this thread title made me realize I honestly cannot remember the last time I listened to a music station. That's no exaggeration it has literally been years, I'm kind of shocked by that and I love music, so maybe it kind of proves the OP's point.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ravenlord
12-17-2012, 11:10 AM
"We all just wanna be big rock stars
Living in hilltop mansions driving fifteen cars
The girls come easy and the drugs are cheap
We'll all stay skinny cause we just won't eat"

or

"Never gonna give up my rugged life
Never gonna sell my fertile soil
Never gonna give up this simple style
So let's drink and enjoy"


one of these is far more authentic than the other to me.

westofyou
12-17-2012, 11:29 AM
1976 - Disco Duck hits Number One in September, let's not believe that only good music was in the past, in case we need reminders of the dreck we had to stomach to hear the "classic" (and lord I wish some of them would go away today) check out these songs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1970s_one-hit_wonders_in_the_United_States

919191
12-17-2012, 01:07 PM
1976 - Disco Duck hits Number One in September, let's not believe that only good music was in the past, in case we need reminders of the dreck we had to stomach to hear the "classic" (and lord I wish some of them would go away today) check out these songs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_1970s_one-hit_wonders_in_the_United_States

Yep, and remember how big trucker music was for a short time?

westofyou
12-17-2012, 01:26 PM
Yep, and remember how big trucker music was for a short time?

Pedro's 4th grade class voted to sing a song at the Christmas Pageant and the song that won was Convoy

dougdirt
12-17-2012, 01:27 PM
Welcome to Corporate America. There's as much good music as ever, but you have to find it.

Yep. Look around. TV, movies, music..... very little is original anymore. It is just a copied formula from something else that was successful before it. But taken, or attempted to be taken, to the next level.

Hotter girls. More sex. More money. More explosions. More judges. More singers.

But to camis last point, there is probably more good music than ever before. Today you can record a song from your bedroom with the quality that you used to only be able to get in professional studios. And you can do it with an $800 laptop and a $100 mic.

Slyder
12-17-2012, 01:41 PM
Yep. Look around. TV, movies, music..... very little is original anymore. It is just a copied formula from something else that was successful before it. But taken, or attempted to be taken, to the next level.

Hotter girls. More sex. More money. More explosions. More judges. More singers.

But to camis last point, there is probably more good music than ever before. Today you can record a song from your bedroom with the quality that you used to only be able to get in professional studios. And you can do it with an $800 laptop and a $100 mic.

I've spent so much time finding the old classic cartoons for my nieces and nephews. Children's programming is in the same drek the music industry is. They are complete garbage IMO, there is more entertainment value and educational value in a single Bugs Bunny cartoon than whole days of Nick Jr.

Captain13
12-17-2012, 01:48 PM
Pop music has always been about getting laid, or not getting laid anymore. Robert Johnson wrote about sex with double entendres that were "borrowed" by Led Zeppelin and many others.

I like the way Nick Hornby wrote it in High Fidelity "What came first, the music or the misery? ...Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"

I left a sentence out, but the meaning is still there. Pop music is often, and has always often been, about love, lust and parties. If I'm not mistaken the term rock and roll was a euphamism for sex before it was a type of music.

*BaseClogger*
12-17-2012, 01:55 PM
I've spent so much time finding the old classic cartoons for my nieces and nephews. Children's programming is in the same drek the music industry is. They are complete garbage IMO, there is more entertainment value and educational value in a single Bugs Bunny cartoon than whole days of Nick Jr.

I'm raising my kids on The Simpsons...

dougdirt
12-17-2012, 02:03 PM
Pop music has always been about getting laid, or not getting laid anymore. Robert Johnson wrote about sex with double entendres that were "borrowed" by Led Zeppelin and many others.

I like the way Nick Hornby wrote it in High Fidelity "What came first, the music or the misery? ...Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands of songs about heartbreak, rejection, pain, misery and loss. Did I listen to pop music because I was miserable? Or was I miserable because I listened to pop music?"

I left a sentence out, but the meaning is still there. Pop music is often, and has always often been, about love, lust and parties. If I'm not mistaken the term rock and roll was a euphamism for sex before it was a type of music.

The difference is, pop music used to at least attempt to hide what it was saying. Now they are just coming out and saying it. To adults, there is no difference. For kids, there is a huge difference.

Captain13
12-17-2012, 02:41 PM
The difference is, pop music used to at least attempt to hide what it was saying. Now they are just coming out and saying it. To adults, there is no difference. For kids, there is a huge difference.

I think the bigger difference is adults get it now. I think in the past teenagers and young adults were the only ones that got it (I don't think Grandma knew what Shake, Rattle and Roll really meant). I just thank God my five year old doesn't know what she's singing about when she sings "You can blow whistle baby". That, and she prefers Taylor Swift to Katy Perry (for all the abuse Swift has taken on RZ she's pretty kid friendly).

bucksfan2
12-17-2012, 04:12 PM
Each generation says the current "mainstream music" is awful.

Caveat Emperor
12-17-2012, 04:28 PM
If anything, it's probably the best time alive if you enjoy music.

I'm not even close to the oldest poster on here, but even as recently as 15 years ago, if you wanted to hear new music you had to either wait for something to be played on the radio, trade a physical mixtape with someone, or go to a Sam Goody/Tower Records and hope they had one of those "barcode scan to preview" machines available for the CDs being sold there.

I can buy music directly on my phone now. I can listen to 90 seconds of every song on the iTunes store to preview before I buy. I can download a program like Spotify and listen to any song I want on my computer (or my phone, for a monthly fee).

If anything, mainstream music has lost it's stranglehold on the market. It's bad (or perceived as bad) because it's become completely irrelevant.

SunDeck
12-17-2012, 04:36 PM
I've spent so much time finding the old classic cartoons for my nieces and nephews. Children's programming is in the same drek the music industry is. They are complete garbage IMO, there is more entertainment value and educational value in a single Bugs Bunny cartoon than whole days of Nick Jr.

Call me dim, but I find Phineas and Ferb and Spongebob to be some pretty good stuff. Then again, I kind of dug that trucker music back in fourth grade, too.

Dom Heffner
12-17-2012, 04:42 PM
I can't help but feel it has. Turning on the radio, and just listening to your standard music station you will hear nothing but mindless garbage. Very few songs have deep meaningful lyrics, or music and songs with serious "meat" on there bones.

Nirvana, Queen, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, The Who and so on and so forth. Music you would hear constantly on radio stations, day in and day out. Music that was popular by everyone's standards (more or less).

Today music feels like nothing more than mindless "junk food" music. With nothing but lyrics about how to screw men/women and bring them home to get laid. What happened to the day's of music like Bohemian Rhapsody, Stairway to Heaven, Lithium, Something in the Way, etc...music with lyrics that have meaning, that have soul and true, true, genuine "feeling" to them.

Where has that all disappeared? Obviously, there's an indie scene, and obviously good music is still being produced, you just have dig a bit harder and farther..but what happened to the days when you could hear great music, beautiful music, music with soul and passion in every note, being played on the radio nearly 24/7?

It's a sad state of affairs, when Justin Beiber and Flo Rida is being eclipsed by the standards of yesterday by today's youth. :(

Music has several worlds going on at once- country, bubble gum, etc. are all here to stay and none have really left. That stuff always has a market.

There are simply no rock and roll bands anymore- well, there are some. Staind and some other make a go on alternative radio. But the classic rock sound thing has passed. Just as 1950s doo-wop passed.

It may come back. the Foos give me hope. Their peak is gone, but just the fact that they existed in a time when they were going it alone (it seemed anyway) is a good thing.

Perhaps Jimmy Page was a once in a two or three generation genius....but yeah, I find myself going back rather than forward.

OldRightHander
12-17-2012, 04:48 PM
What I find interesting is how many young people are getting into older music. I think when I was a teenager I didn't know anyone my age who was into our parents' music much, but now you have teenagers listening to 60s and 70s music. That should say something about what's out there today and the quality of some of the older music.

westofyou
12-17-2012, 04:58 PM
What I find interesting is how many young people are getting into older music. I think when I was a teenager I didn't know anyone my age who was into our parents' music much, but now you have teenagers listening to 60s and 70s music. That should say something about what's out there today and the quality of some of the older music.

Actually it says that rock n roll changes less than the swing/standards/doo wop that prevailed 50 years ago.

When bands like Danny and the Juniors and The Penguins are considered rock n roll there really wasn't much to go back to when the Stones and the like were on the airwaves.

If I had to choose between FUN and some of the other twee infused bands out there I'd chase Ziggy Stardust too

SunDeck
12-17-2012, 06:29 PM
What I find interesting is how many young people are getting into older music. I think when I was a teenager I didn't know anyone my age who was into our parents' music much, but now you have teenagers listening to 60s and 70s music. That should say something about what's out there today and the quality of some of the older music.


Duke Ellington said, "If it sounds good, it is good."

Perhaps the thing that makes the kids interested in music from the 60s and 70s is that there is some really good stuff to be heard from those decades. And really, should it be surprising that a kid would hear the Beatles and not like them? Millions of fainting girls can't be that wrong.

dougdirt
12-17-2012, 06:34 PM
The Beatles music sucks. It doesn't sound good. I don't like it. I have never liked it. I have never understood the appeal to my generation.

RedTruck
12-17-2012, 06:38 PM
The Beatles music sucks. It doesn't sound good. I don't like it. I have never liked it. I have never understood the appeal to my generation.

I personally enjoy the beetles. There one of those rare bands that have a timeless sound to them, and the only band in my opinion that has the most hits and good quality song out of any band in history to date.

westofyou
12-17-2012, 06:39 PM
The Beatles suck as much as chocolate and beer

SunDeck
12-17-2012, 06:41 PM
The Beatles music sucks. It doesn't sound good. I don't like it. I have never liked it. I have never understood the appeal to my generation.

It's your opinion that it sucks, but in terms of musicianship, it most certainly does not suck.

dougdirt
12-17-2012, 06:52 PM
The Beatles suck as much as chocolate and beer

Chocolate rules. Beer does suck. More than The Beatles.

dougdirt
12-17-2012, 06:53 PM
It's your opinion that it sucks, but in terms of musicianship, it most certainly does not suck.

Certainly my opinion. I simply don't get it. Never have, never will.

marcshoe
12-17-2012, 07:04 PM
Chocolate rules. Beer does suck. More than The Beatles.

Maybe you're just listening to too much Budweiser. There are better LPs out there.

dougdirt
12-17-2012, 07:07 PM
Maybe you're just listening to too much Budweiser. There are better LPs out there.

Never had any beer, so that isn't the problem.

Ravenlord
12-17-2012, 07:19 PM
Never had any beer, so that isn't the problem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEGAdEGnqKA

dougdirt
12-17-2012, 07:21 PM
If we are posting beer videos, this one trumps all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATBl4qH9I54

Ravenlord
12-17-2012, 07:28 PM
that makes me happy in so odd ways. :):beerme:

although i posted the wrong video :( i meant to do "Bring Me Pints of Beer (If You Don't Drink Visku Jehud)"

Dom Heffner
12-17-2012, 09:26 PM
I don't really like the Beatles but I can say they are a top three band of all time. At some point, the masses win out.

919191
12-18-2012, 02:17 AM
Where dos Tom T Hall fall in this thread?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcIJew-ePOQ

marcshoe
12-18-2012, 08:58 AM
I actually have no idea what my comment meant. I didn't when I typed it either.

As for the topic, I think it's interestin that echoes of what used to be found in mainstream music can still be heard in so much indy music. Some of it creeps into radio play occasionally as well. Fun. is basically a Queen tribute band. btw, I notice they're nominated for a best new artist Grammy, even though my favorite song of theirs is "All the Pretty Grils" from an older album. Oh well, last year Bon Iver won for their second album.

The Black Keys are nominated all over the place, and their music clearlly hearkens back to previous generations. I'm not sure where Mumford and Sons fit into the conversation, but their stuff is quality.

fwiw, I've talked to a lot of kids lately and discovered that while middle-schoolers tend to be completely into the hip-hop artist of the week, older teens are branching out and often seem to be developing more sophisticated tastes.

OldRightHander
12-18-2012, 09:00 AM
Yeah, some of the newer successful artists are incorporating elements of older styles in their music. You hear some of that with Adele as well, and she's kind of up there as far as popularity goes at the moment.

mdccclxix
12-18-2012, 09:27 AM
When I listen to the R&B station now a days I am transported to a stripper bar for each song. Lovely.

Aside from that, I really do enjoy hearing some of the new sounds coming from the digitized productions, especially on R&B channels. I think most of the songs are produced to really sound great cranked up in a car. The lyrics are jarring, but the sounds are often really amazing. That goes for all top 40 as well. Try it out in your car and really loud. Then listen for what the producer is trying to do with the song. The producer is most certainly the one responsible for any creative aspect of top 40 stuff. Their puppets get all the credit and rarely have a smidgeon of input. Ignore the puppets.

Not so much for Johnny Cash. Put Johnny Cash on your record player and start finishing off some beers.

Yachtzee
12-18-2012, 07:36 PM
Not every song is about screwing...

Nirvana-Lithium Lyrics



Circa 1990

2012

Katy Perry-Last Friday Night




There definitely more blatantly put into today's lyrics. Last Friday night, I have a stranger in my bed, I had a threesome? I mean, sure songs have always been to some degree sexual in some nature..but today's lyrics just go full frontal with no shame at all..and honestly that's all I ever feel like I hear..songs about love, or songs about banging..What happened to music like Bob Dylan, or Johnny Cash, music where there was more variety than just singing about some hot guy/hot girl that they met at the bar and want to screw?


I could post the lyrics to 2 Live Crew's 1989 hit "Me So Horny" but then I'd get banned.

redsfanmia
12-18-2012, 08:20 PM
I am sure I am wrong but there has to be some kid who will get into Led Zepplin, Thin Lizzy, Nirvarna, Soundgarden, MC5, the Beatles, the Who, Neil Young and The Clash and he/she will form a band and record an album that takes all of his/her influences and regurgitates it into some form of rock that hits and becomes popular. The Hip-hop, auto tune, drum machine music will become tired and a rock sound will be the in thing again. Musical genre's come and go and hopefully rock becomes cool again.

paintmered
12-18-2012, 09:37 PM
I am sure I am wrong but there has to be some kid who will get into Led Zepplin, Thin Lizzy, Nirvarna, Soundgarden, MC5, the Beatles, the Who, Neil Young and The Clash and he/she will form a band and record an album that takes all of his/her influences and regurgitates it into some form of rock that hits and becomes popular. The Hip-hop, auto tune, drum machine music will become tired and a rock sound will be the in thing again. Musical genre's come and go and hopefully rock becomes cool again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtOlU_R8TFo

Slyder
12-18-2012, 11:35 PM
Call me dim, but I find Phineas and Ferb and Spongebob to be some pretty good stuff. Then again, I kind of dug that trucker music back in fourth grade, too.

To be honest, thats the one show I actually don't mind watching. Because it's actually feels the closest to the old style of "slightly educational" but still entertaining as the older cartoons.

Ravenlord
12-19-2012, 02:07 AM
Where dos Tom T Hall fall in this thread?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcIJew-ePOQ

that's a damn good question, 'cause for 20+ years i've heard "Old Dogs, and Children, and Watermelon Wine" and i still have trouble not breaking down and crying when i hear it; and it's gotten worse since i've become a (relatively) new father.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm36X3ZapLg

Wonderful Monds
12-19-2012, 02:18 AM
I am sure I am wrong but there has to be some kid who will get into Led Zepplin, Thin Lizzy, Nirvarna, Soundgarden, MC5, the Beatles, the Who, Neil Young and The Clash and he/she will form a band and record an album that takes all of his/her influences and regurgitates it into some form of rock that hits and becomes popular. The Hip-hop, auto tune, drum machine music will become tired and a rock sound will be the in thing again. Musical genre's come and go and hopefully rock becomes cool again.

There's nothing wrong with hip hop or drum machines. They have their place in music.

It's not a genre problem, it's a quality problem. Though honestly, I don't think traditional sounding rock music will ever take the mainstream back over (as long as that idea continues to last, which won't be long.)

gilpdawg
12-19-2012, 02:41 AM
If anything, it's probably the best time alive if you enjoy music.

I'm not even close to the oldest poster on here, but even as recently as 15 years ago, if you wanted to hear new music you had to either wait for something to be played on the radio, trade a physical mixtape with someone, or go to a Sam Goody/Tower Records and hope they had one of those "barcode scan to preview" machines available for the CDs being sold there.

I can buy music directly on my phone now. I can listen to 90 seconds of every song on the iTunes store to preview before I buy. I can download a program like Spotify and listen to any song I want on my computer (or my phone, for a monthly fee).

If anything, mainstream music has lost it's stranglehold on the market. It's bad (or perceived as bad) because it's become completely irrelevant.

Absolutely. If you are willing to actually work at it, this is a golden age for music, while the music business is in the turlet. Now if you just go by what the media feeds you then yeah, sure, there's nothing out there. Even rock oriented radio is garbage nowadays.

The DARK
12-19-2012, 02:52 AM
Speaking as a member of this generation, it's just a very odd time and place for music. There's something for everybody, but you'd be hard-pressed to find artists from this year that will be called "significant" twenty or thirty years from now. Frank Ocean might be the only one I can think of.

That's not to say all the music out there right now is bad (quite the opposite), but there's nothing out there to really define our generation, and just about everybody who tries to fails miserably. It's mostly because we're more able to find a niche and stick with it. You've got nostalgia bands for lovers of any era or genre, endless remixes for hipsters to get lost in, and an endless archive of everything that was ever great about music. Mainstream radio is more vapid than ever just because everyone who cares enough to find good music simply can and will use the internet instead. There's no point in marketing to them; the good stuff that finds its way onto the radio is more or less for fashion purposes.

Make no mistake, the Foo Fighters and Black Keys are nice and all, but they aren't the rebellion that rock and roll once was. That's not going to come back until the frustration with the society that we've got reaches another boiling point.

Wonderful Monds
12-19-2012, 03:33 AM
Speaking as a member of this generation, it's just a very odd time and place for music. There's something for everybody, but you'd be hard-pressed to find artists from this year that will be called "significant" twenty or thirty years from now. Frank Ocean might be the only one I can think of.

That's not to say all the music out there right now is bad (quite the opposite), but there's nothing out there to really define our generation, and just about everybody who tries to fails miserably. It's mostly because we're more able to find a niche and stick with it. You've got nostalgia bands for lovers of any era or genre, endless remixes for hipsters to get lost in, and an endless archive of everything that was ever great about music. Mainstream radio is more vapid than ever just because everyone who cares enough to find good music simply can and will use the internet instead. There's no point in marketing to them; the good stuff that finds its way onto the radio is more or less for fashion purposes.

Make no mistake, the Foo Fighters and Black Keys are nice and all, but they aren't the rebellion that rock and roll once was. That's not going to come back until the frustration with the society that we've got reaches another boiling point.

Respectfully, if you really think that, you aren't looking.

The only reason that might possibly be true is because there is *so much* good music out there now that it will be hard to single any artist out.

camisadelgolf
12-19-2012, 03:46 AM
The classics and legends don't usually start out that way.

The DARK
12-19-2012, 03:47 AM
Respectfully, if you really think that, you aren't looking.

The only reason that might possibly be true is because there is *so much* good music out there now that it will be hard to single any artist out.

I agree, there's plenty of it. I've got thousands of new songs that I love to listen to, and thousands more that I bet I'd like if I had time to get into them.

The music itself is as good as ever, it's just that the culture behind it isn't there. Ask how somebody found out about a new artist these days, and chances are it either doesn't involve other people or involves people with the exact same tastes and preferences.

Wonderful Monds
12-19-2012, 04:05 AM
I agree, there's plenty of it. I've got thousands of new songs that I love to listen to, and thousands more that I bet I'd like if I had time to get into them.

The music itself is as good as ever, it's just that the culture behind it isn't there. Ask how somebody found out about a new artist these days, and chances are it either doesn't involve other people or involves people with the exact same tastes and preferences.

The culture is definitely there. You just don't know where it is.

People definitely still very much share music with each other. But yes, often people are increasingly finding new music they like on websites or services like Last.FM. Why is that supposed to be a bad thing though?

The DARK
12-19-2012, 04:28 AM
The culture is definitely there. You just don't know where it is.

People definitely still very much share music with each other. But yes, often people are increasingly finding new music they like on websites or services like Last.FM. Why is that supposed to be a bad thing though?

Where do you see the culture? I see message boards and threads like the ones here where pretty excellent music can be found. I see concerts where you can occasionally meet up and enjoy a good show. That's about it.

Maybe this is the way I should put it: music as an art form is alive and better than ever. Music as a real social force is more or less dead. When was the last time you heard a credible protest song that people actually rallied behind? Or heck, any real social commentary that makes an impact? That's just not the kind of thing that happens much anymore.

gilpdawg
12-19-2012, 06:30 AM
Is it odd that I'm so out of touch with mainstream music that I have no clue who Frank Ocean is, other then seeing him mentioned in this thread? Or is that the norm for people like me? People like me being a 34 year old dude who likes metal and hard rock and classic rock.

I mean, back in the 80s I would imagine that thrashers who were cranking Anthrax at least knew who someone like, let's say Tina Turner is, even if they didn't like her stuff they knew of it. I know I did.

I don't know if that's the case anymore. I rarely watch SNL anymore but I watched the one where Louis C.K. hosted because I'm a fan. Had no clue about the musical guest. 20 years ago that wouldn't have been the case, and it's not a matter of my tastes being different, because I've never liked poppy style music, it's a matter of exposure. That's why I say you can't let music find you anymore, you have to go find it yourself.

marcshoe
12-19-2012, 07:24 AM
Hey, I just assumed that Frank Ocean was either the son of that Caribou Queen guy or a really honest large body of water. Seriously, I've heard the name, but that's about it.

texasdave
12-19-2012, 08:26 AM
Same here. I have no idea who Frank Ocean is. If it is a person or a group. What genre of music he (they?) play. Youtube to the rescue.

westofyou
12-19-2012, 08:45 AM
The afghan Whigs covered a frank ocean song recently

mdccclxix
12-19-2012, 08:55 AM
I spun Frank Ocean briefly on Spotify when it came out and did not feel it at all. It was pitchy and small. I'll go try again as it often takes more than one listen...

oneupper
12-20-2012, 05:33 PM
Just heard some Frank Ocean. I don't like it.

That said, my kids have shown me stuff that's fine. Even some of the Pop, Katy Perry, Gaga, etc. It's OK. Hey, we had the Archies, Tommy James, and Ohio Express (chewy , chewy...anyone?). That was some BAD pop.

Then there's stuff like Death Cab, Owl City, Killers, etc. Pretty good.
However, my kids also tell me their generation has no music, as they listen to Zeppelin, the Who, the Stones and of course The Beatles.

I never listened to the music of the previous generation. Please. Booring...(in retrospect, probably my loss).

Maybe its just there are so many choices nowadays and so much is available on demand. Nothing stands out much now, but as some pointed out, eventually some of it will (and will be this generation's classics).

*BaseClogger*
12-20-2012, 05:42 PM
I still don't understand how Frank Ocean got mixed in with Odd Future...

Superdude
12-20-2012, 10:43 PM
Maybe this is the way I should put it: music as an art form is alive and better than ever. Music as a real social force is more or less dead. When was the last time you heard a credible protest song that people actually rallied behind? Or heck, any real social commentary that makes an impact? That's just not the kind of thing that happens much anymore.

I agree with this completely. I love having access to a practically infinite amount of music, but it really has just factionalized the whole thing to the point where nothing has any real social impact and fails to shape the cultural identity at all. I listen to new albums that blow me away as much as any classic album, but nothing has any weight to it outside of the music itself. It does nothing but strike up debates in obscure forum threads and fill up space on a couple thousand kid's harddrives.

*BaseClogger*
12-21-2012, 10:39 AM
I agree with this completely. I love having access to a practically infinite amount of music, but it really has just factionalized the whole thing to the point where nothing has any real social impact and fails to shape the cultural identity at all. I listen to new albums that blow me away as much as any classic album, but nothing has any weight to it outside of the music itself. It does nothing but strike up debates in obscure forum threads and fill up space on a couple thousand kid's harddrives.

If you've got a group of friends with a similar taste in music then I think music can still be pretty influential at least within that subset of people. I know Kendrick Lamar's new album was the talk amongst me and my friends for several weeks...

vaticanplum
12-21-2012, 10:43 AM
Hey, I just assumed that Frank Ocean was either the son of that Caribou Queen guy or a really honest large body of water. Seriously, I've heard the name, but that's about it.

I keep mixing him up with Billy Ocean. Not the same person at all.

Revering4Blue
12-21-2012, 09:49 PM
It's really difficult to discern what constitutes Mainstream (insert format here) music today for two reasons:

* More sub-genres of musical formats than ever. In years past, there were not as many specialized sub-formated (again, insert format here) radio stations, online or over the air.

* As others have pointed out, it is much easier to access music today, so music that would've been considered Underground/Indie years ago may not be today.