Has music become stagnant (stopped moving/evolving)?

**Janszoon** · 12-08-2012, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

Maybe it's cause I've come of age around this time, but there does seem to be less genre invention/innovation than there has been in the past. Not necessarily a negative, and not indicative of the quality of music as a whole, just something I've observed firsthand.

I totally disagree with this. There's plenty of innovation going on currently. The problem is that the present is murky and hard to define because you're living in it. Some time needs to elapse before you're able to look back and discern what was innovation and what was just novelty.

midnight rain · 12-08-2012, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

I totally disagree with this. There's plenty of innovation going on currently. The problem is that the present is murky and hard to define because you're living in it. Some time needs to elapse before you're able to look back and discern what was innovation and what was just novelty.

Well I acknowledged that I lacked the perspective of witnessing a decade firsthand, and then seeing it's influence bloom in the future. But even looking back at the early 2000's, I saw a lot less genres being developed than decades of previous.

Out of curiosity, do you honestly think all decades were made equal? It just seems kind of counter-intuitive to me to look at every decade as being just as much the 'golden age' as the last. I can still appreciate releases at all times, but I also recognize slumps.

**Janszoon** · 12-08-2012, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

Well I acknowledged that I lacked the perspective of witnessing a decade firsthand, and then seeing it's influence bloom in the future. But even looking back at the early 2000's, I saw a lot less genres being developed than decades of previous.

That's because the early 2000s still weren't very long ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

Out of curiosity, do you honestly think all decades were made equal? It just seems kind of counter-intuitive to me to look at every decade as being just as much the 'golden age' as the last. I can still appreciate releases at all times, but I also recognize slumps.

I guess it depends what you mean by equal. I mean, for example, there was material rationing in the 1940s that limited the production of records for a while. So that's a decade that you could point to and say that music was hampered by war, but at the same time it was the decade that gave us bebop, which in my opinion is one of the most interesting forms of music of the 20th century. So I'm not so sure I'd be comfortable labeling the decade a slump. Honestly I can't say I'd describe any decade of the mass media era as a musical slump and I feel that the kind of thinking that leads people to label them as such is the same of thinking that leads one to become a grumpy old person who thinks nobody makes real music anymore.

midnight rain · 12-08-2012, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

That's because the early 2000s still weren't very long ago.

The genres established in the early 90s were pretty clearly defined in the early 2000's.

Quote:

I guess it depends what you mean by equal. I mean, for example, there was material rationing in the 1940s that limited the production of records for a while. So that's a decade that you could point to and say that music was hampered by war, but at the same time it was the decade that gave us bebop, which in my opinion is one of the most interesting forms of music of the 20th century. So I'm not so sure I'd be comfortable labeling the decade a slump. Honestly I can't say I'd describe any decade of the mass media era as a musical slump and I feel that the kind of thinking that leads people to label them as such is the same of thinking that leads one to become a grumpy old person who thinks nobody makes real music anymore.

Does that sound like how I'm approaching it? I'm not intentionally avoiding listening to new music.

I can think of hardly any classic r&b, blues, and jazz albums that were released in the last decade.

**Janszoon** · 12-08-2012, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

The genres established in the early 90s were pretty clearly defined in the early 2000's.

What genres would those be?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

Does that sound like how I'm approaching it? I'm not intentionally avoiding listening to new music.

I'm not saying you are. I'm just saying that having the mindset that all the creative times are behind us is the first step to being the kind of person who disregards all new music as you get older.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tuna

I can think of hardly any classic r&b, blues, and jazz albums that were released in the last decade.

Not sure what you mean by this—and I think generally you need more than a decade to go by before you can determine if something is a classic or not—but I can certainly think of a few jazz albums from the past decade that are fantastic.

Pursuingchange · 12-08-2012, 08:34 PM

Whoa whoa. Ok! Looks like I've got a lot to go back and read here

There seems to be a very active community here of music lovers who have many different opinions. I think that's a good thing. So since there's been so much interest in my question, I'd like to share more of my opinion and see what people's takes on it are.

This is coming from someone who is a guitarist and aspiring rock musician. Lately I've been spending most of my time in pursuit of the next big thing. The new rock'n'roll I guess. I find my inspiration in the people/artists who I think "broke the mold" and were responsible for finding that one key sound and style that sparked revolutions. To me, there were a handful of these people. I might name The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, and Eddie Van Halen as pioneers of styles and sounds that made real changes in popular music (you could also say Kurt Cobain, but I don't really like him so that's why I didn't list him).

So in essence, I believe that if anyone were to make such a revolution, to cause real change and spark a new wave of music, they would have to break away from most of the stuff that is still in vogue now that has been in vogue for half a century. Mainly in rock music. As much as I love the electric guitar, its hard to deny the statement that the electric guitar has pretty much reahed the end of its creative possibilities. Sure, there are still technically new things that could be done with the guitar, but at this point anything more extreme or amazing than what has already been done would just be overkill and would lose all its appeal. Do you kind of undertand what I mean? I think its time a new instrument took over.

The other day I was driving to work and I turned on the radio. It was on tye local rock station that played everything from modern to classic rock. I remember Shinedown came on, and then after that it was Judas Priest. And for the first few seconds of Judas Priest's intro I was thinking "is this still Shinedown? Is this a new song from them?" and then the singing came in and I realized it was an old song by Judas Priest. But even after I ha realized it was Priest, I sat there thinking of how there is virtually no difference between today's rock and the rock of the yesteryear. It uses that same formula. Distorted guitars, riffs, powerful vocals etc... Then Seether came on, and AC/DC after that, and I began to realize just how little variation there really is between different brands of rock and how it is delivered and performed, and also the instrumentation. The only thing I will say on the flip side of this is that for the most part, older rock bands seemed to all have their own distinct sound, whereas its sometimes hard to distinguish between newer bands.

So what I'm getting at is that I believe that nothing TRULY new has been created in a long time. To me, the last guitar innovation came from Eddie Van Halen. Since then the guitar has kind of stagnated. Once grunge came around, the guitar kind of went downhill. Then we started getting all these watered-down alternative bands and artists and kickass/dynamic music kind of fell to the side, and thus, we have the uninspiring popular music world we have today.

That's just my opinion.

Pursuingchange · 12-08-2012, 09:22 PM

To the people who were arguing about the word 'evolve', please quit. The important thing is that you understood what I meant.

**Janszoon** · 12-08-2012, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pursuingchange

To the people who were arguing about the word 'evolve', please quit. The important thing is that you understood what I meant.

What did you mean?

Pursuingchange · 12-08-2012, 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Janszoon

What did you mean?

Lol

**Janszoon** · 12-08-2012, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pursuingchange

Lol

It was a serious question. I'm still unclear what you mean.

12-08-2012, 08:34 PM	#6 (permalink)
Pursuingchange Music Addict Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 139	Whoa whoa. Ok! Looks like I've got a lot to go back and read here There seems to be a very active community here of music lovers who have many different opinions. I think that's a good thing. So since there's been so much interest in my question, I'd like to share more of my opinion and see what people's takes on it are. This is coming from someone who is a guitarist and aspiring rock musician. Lately I've been spending most of my time in pursuit of the next big thing. The new rock'n'roll I guess. I find my inspiration in the people/artists who I think "broke the mold" and were responsible for finding that one key sound and style that sparked revolutions. To me, there were a handful of these people. I might name The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin, and Eddie Van Halen as pioneers of styles and sounds that made real changes in popular music (you could also say Kurt Cobain, but I don't really like him so that's why I didn't list him). So in essence, I believe that if anyone were to make such a revolution, to cause real change and spark a new wave of music, they would have to break away from most of the stuff that is still in vogue now that has been in vogue for half a century. Mainly in rock music. As much as I love the electric guitar, its hard to deny the statement that the electric guitar has pretty much reahed the end of its creative possibilities. Sure, there are still technically new things that could be done with the guitar, but at this point anything more extreme or amazing than what has already been done would just be overkill and would lose all its appeal. Do you kind of undertand what I mean? I think its time a new instrument took over. The other day I was driving to work and I turned on the radio. It was on tye local rock station that played everything from modern to classic rock. I remember Shinedown came on, and then after that it was Judas Priest. And for the first few seconds of Judas Priest's intro I was thinking "is this still Shinedown? Is this a new song from them?" and then the singing came in and I realized it was an old song by Judas Priest. But even after I ha realized it was Priest, I sat there thinking of how there is virtually no difference between today's rock and the rock of the yesteryear. It uses that same formula. Distorted guitars, riffs, powerful vocals etc... Then Seether came on, and AC/DC after that, and I began to realize just how little variation there really is between different brands of rock and how it is delivered and performed, and also the instrumentation. The only thing I will say on the flip side of this is that for the most part, older rock bands seemed to all have their own distinct sound, whereas its sometimes hard to distinguish between newer bands. So what I'm getting at is that I believe that nothing TRULY new has been created in a long time. To me, the last guitar innovation came from Eddie Van Halen. Since then the guitar has kind of stagnated. Once grunge came around, the guitar kind of went downhill. Then we started getting all these watered-down alternative bands and artists and kickass/dynamic music kind of fell to the side, and thus, we have the uninspiring popular music world we have today. That's just my opinion.

12-08-2012, 09:22 PM	#7 (permalink)
Pursuingchange Music Addict Join Date: Oct 2012 Posts: 139	To the people who were arguing about the word 'evolve', please quit. The important thing is that you understood what I meant.