The prominence of particular genres is very much tied to the prominence of particular subcultures, and the rise and fall of subcultures is very much tied to historical events. Listening to the most significant and successful albums of an era often feels like a bit of a history lesson, whether the music is directly addressing the events of the times or the mood simply reflects the general paradigm of the era, it acts as a sort of window into the overall mentality of that time.
I think approaching old music with this in mind really enriches the experience. Don't compare it to modern music or some standard you have built up listening to other genres, listen to it for what it is and what it's trying to say. Listen to the tone of the instruments and the production quality and realize that those sounds were the limits of what was possible at the time. Imagine what it must have it must have been like in the 60's to hear distorted amplifiers for the first time, how powerful and visceral it must have been to hear even a single note ring out with that edge to it. Or how mind boggling and sinister the first Black Sabbath album must have been, seeming to come out of nowhere with this atmosphere never touched before in popular music. Chuck Berry was revolutionary for youth music, Jerry Lee Lewis was a ****ing demon, Duke Ellington was a wizard.
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Originally Posted by Bobbycob
There's 3 reason why the Rolling Stones are better. I'm going to list them here. 1. Jimi Hendrix from Rolling Stones was a better guitarist then Jimmy Page 2. The bassist from Rolling Stones isn't dead 3. Rolling Stobes wrote Stairway to Heaven and The Ocean so we all know they are superior here.
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