The Official "Music Was So Much Better in the Glorious Days of Yore" Thread

[Paedantic Basterd]

What it comes down to is that there are multiple applications of the word "pop", and it comes down to context as to which one is which. Think of it like a homophone. The fact that it has multiple meanings doesn't make it a redundant word, it just means that it may apply in one instance, but not in another depending on context.

"Indie" is another word with multiple meanings which may or may not describe the sound of an artist depending on the context.

[blastingas10]

I see what youre saying. I just dont like calling The Beatles a pop band, that somewhat puts them in the same category as Madonna. Haha

[Ska Lagos Jew Sun Ra]

Michael Jackson is a pop act because he helped sponsor Coke!

[Paedantic Basterd]

Originally Posted by blastingas10

I see what youre saying. I just dont like calling The Beatles a pop band, that somewhat puts them in the same category as Madonna. Haha

Haha, then think of it as putting them in the same category as Elvis Costello and David Bowie instead.

[Howard the Duck]

Originally Posted by blastingas10

You can call it whatever you want. Pop is not a type of music, im sure you all will disagree. If im going to sit down with my guitar and play some music, im not going to play pop because its not a type of music. Im going to play rock, blues, jazz or classical, just to name a few.

i sit down and write rock, jazz, blues and country

i try to make them as catchy and listener-friendly as possible

that's what makes them "pop"

[blastingas10]

Originally Posted by Il Duce

i sit down and write rock, jazz, blues and country

i try to make them as catchy and listener-friendly as possible

that's what makes them "pop"

But its primarily rock, jazz and country. Whether its easy to listen to, thats a matter of preference. Some people might find "pop" hard to listen to. But I see what youre saying.

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

Haha, then think of it as putting them in the same category as Elvis Costello and David Bowie instead.

That works a little better for me.

[fractalign]

I spend a lot of time on youtube looking at old music videos and listening to old school mixes. The nineties in particular is an era that I really like. Old school house, trance, breakbeat, jungle, rave, you name it. This was the time I started going out to clubs and raves so in a way this music is a sound track to my life.
When I am listening to these mixes or watching these old rave videos I will always read the comments. And there is a common theme amongst many of them.

One that goes something like this " This (insert genre) music is awesome,
They don't make music like this any more " often the comments will be overly negative (insert genre) music is the best they have not made any good music since (insert year of reference). They will go onto to give examples of why the state of todays music sucks compared with how it was 10, 15, 20 years ago by citing the most crass over rated artists of today with the most artistic, creative ones of years gone by.

I will admit that when listening to an old school mix I will become fiercely proud of the music and the era that it represents knowing full well that I was part of that culture and scene. I will also be inclined to think that it was the best era for music based on that knowledge and memories. I will then remember that there is a reason why modern music does not sound the same as old music and its very simple one.

Music is an ever evolving culture, shaped by and at the same time shaping popular fashion and social behaviour. One thing I should ad is that I first started going out to raves and clubs in 1995 but i do not regard myself as old school at all. One thing I was constantly told when I first started going to raves back then was that I had missed the boat. " oh the scene is dying you don't don't know what you missed, I have been going to raves since 89, 90, 91 and raves now are ****. I heard this so much that I became disillusioned, I was made to feel that because I had not experienced the original wave of acid house or rave that i am some how lesser for the fact.

I will admit that that feeling has stuck with me ever since. Since those heady days I have stopped going out to raves and clubs. I am 42 now and I guess you can call that middle age. The funny thing is that even though no longer go out to raves or clubs I have not stopped going out.

I was around for the birth of psy trance and I have seen that culture evolve into a global phenomenon with multi day festivals the likes of which I could never have imagined when I first started going out to parties. I have seen almost everyone I knew from the old days give up the scene for what ever reason. At the same time
while my taste in music may have changed over the years, my love of it has not.

While most of my old friends from the era are long gone, a few remain. I will run into them from time to time at what ever party or festival I am at and we will often rem inis. When I get online I will often share conversation with others from my era about a particular mix or style from back in the nineties. I will often read something like "the nineties were the bast decade for music" or the eighties or what ever decade and it usually corresponds with what ever decade the person grew up in.

I often read something like this " I wish I was around in the nineties I was not born until 1997 so I missed out on all the good music. This is a surprisingly common attitude. I have a friend who says that there was no good music made after 1973. The funny thing is that he was born in 1972 so he has been chilling to music from his parents generation. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with intergenerational music appreciation but don't do so at the expense of your own generation's music.

Its easy to become disillusioned by the state of popular music these days but i have a news flash for you. It is no worse now than it ever was. I was around in the 70's and 80's and I can tell you right now there was some truly awful music back then too!

Another argument I hear is that its really hard to find decent music these days. I find the opposite rings true. The internet has changed everything, it has never been so easy to find good music as it is these days. Back in the 70s, 80s and most of the 90s the only way you would be able to hear good music was through radio or television.

If you wanted to discover an artist it was usually through these two mediums or perhaps through word of mouth or in a live setting. The internet has made these traditional was of hearing new music almost redundant. Now you can get online and actively seek out your preferred style of music. Back in the 90s you had to find a specialist radio program and hope that the DJ or host would play the stuff you liked. Sometime if you were lucky you might get to put a request in. If the program was late at night you had to stay up and tape it. Yes cassette, these days you have podcasts that you can subscribe to and listen to whenever you want.

Another thing I really like about music these days is the stronger influence and presence of females in traditional male dominated genres like metal. Now days you have genres of metal such as Goth, Doom and Symphonic metal, melodic death metal and even metal core that don't just tolerate females artists but actually encourage them. This carries through other styles like E.B.M and Industrial music as well. While there have always been female artists in these genres their presence was far less common back then.

There will always be those who say music these days does not compare with music back then. And they are right, they are different eras with different styles but that does not make one better than the other, just different. I would not trade what I experienced back then with what I am experiencing now, they are both good eras for music. Anyone who says music now sucks needs to listen to some witch house, chill wave, aggro tech, glitch hop or trap to realise that there are a plethora of styles beyond the usual dub step or stadium trance that really push the boundaries.

There is really no excuse for nor being able to experience new music at the same time as the old school.

[Jade_City]

I'm glad you're not one of those silly 13 year olds that goes around thinking older music is better. I can't stand those annoying pictures all over Facebook with 2pac captioned "If I was still alive, Lil Wayne would be working at Mcdonalds" . I think the problem is that when people say stupid **** like older music is better, they're simply looking at the mainstream and taking it at face value, and essentially just thinking that chart music is the only music that exists. Mainstream music has always been primarily terrible, 70's, 80's, 90's whatever. There's always good music out there, and people who say otherwise frankly just don't know anything about music at all really.

[The Ascension]

I don't pay attention to the release date of a song/album compared to the content. I like what I like, regardless of when it was released.

[Wpnfire]

Originally Posted by Jade_City

I'm glad you're not one of those silly 13 year olds that goes around thinking older music is better. I can't stand those annoying pictures all over Facebook with 2pac captioned "If I was still alive, Lil Wayne would be working at Mcdonalds" . I think the problem is that when people say stupid **** like older music is better, they're simply looking at the mainstream and taking it at face value, and essentially just thinking that chart music is the only music that exists. Mainstream music has always been primarily terrible, 70's, 80's, 90's whatever. There's always good music out there, and people who say otherwise frankly just don't know anything about music at all really.

Mainstream music is not terrible. Saying that it is is almost as insane as saying today's music is terrible. Unless you mean to say JT, Eminem, and Pharrel Williams are terrible musicians, it's not possible to say mainstream music is terrible.

Also, from my experience, people my age think completely the other way around about music: it's all about today's music and not older music.