Have song melody structures changed since 2000?

[RJDG14]

As I've probably mentioned before, I like a lot of rock/alternative/indie music from the late 1980s through to the mid 2000s. But for some reason, I've liked very little released since about 2009. A lot of pop-rock/alternative songs from the late 1990s and early 2000s had fairly predictable structures and memorable melodies, such as:

*Untitled by Interpol (2002)
*You Held The World In Your Arms by Idlewild (2002)
*Overdrive by Foo Fighters (2002)
*Clocks by Coldplay (2002)
*Warning by Green Day (2000)
*Shining Light by Ash (2001)
*Bionic by Placebo (1996)

Starting around 2006, a lot of music, including new stuff by these bands, started sounding less tuneful and memorable. I gradually came across music like this less and less, and virtually never hear anything that I like anymore - I can only think of one song from the past year that I like (Sean by Foo Fighters). There are a handful of artists still creating music similar to the songs I mentioned but their members are typically in their 50s, rather than their 20s or 30s. Am I just unaware of young bands that do write songs like the examples I gave, or did these songs utilise a style of melody that 's since gone out of fashion?

I was born in 2000 and heard a lot of 90s/early 2000s stuff when I was a toddler/small child - I immediately grew accustomed to it (and most other stuff from that era; it's a natural trate of Asperger's Syndrome to dislike change) and when music began to change (I was 5-10 at this stage) I continued listening to the old stuff. Why am I still stuck (culturally) in the era I was born when others my age have stayed up to date with the times?

What do you think as to the reason why very few songs are still released that are melodically similar to songs like the ones I mentioned? It almost seems as if songs peaked in terms of tunefulness around 2002.

[Shadou Dan]

Pretty much everything has transitioned to a more electronic sound. Not just dubstep and EDM, I've noticed nearly all genres incorporating that sound (even country). If you watch the MTV music awards, a lot of the artists nominated under rock/alternative categories sound nothing like that type of music did in the 80's thru the 00's.

It all sounds clean and polished with a noticeable absence of distorted guitars or anything we generally associate with rock (I think Lorde was placed in the "new rock" category last time, lol). There are still bands with younger people in them who make music which resembles the sounds of the past. It's pretty much gone underground and requires a bit of effort to discover.

I don't have aspergers (that I'm aware of), but I also have some trouble getting on board with a lot of contemporary artists and tend to gravitate toward 80's and 90's alternative, new wave, post punk, and nu metal (it's not all I listen to, but most of my favorite bands fall within those lines).

I think a lot of it just has to do with how our brains process music and associates the "good stuff" with music we became familiar with at a certain age. But also, I was born in 1987 and maybe I'm like Danny Glover in this situation and I'm to old for this shît...

[RJDG14]

That was what I thought. If you were born in 1987 (making you 28 or 29) then when do you consider the "good stuff" to be from? Could be anywhere up to the early 2000s.

[Shadou Dan]

Well you know, it's all good stuff to somebody lol. I discovered Metallica when I was 9. From that point on I developed a taste for all the metal and hard rock from the 80's starting with The Big 4 (Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth, in case you weren't familiar with the term). I never gave two sh*ts about stuff like motley crue or poison, but the classic metal and thrash that expanded my horizon (past the country music that was shoved down my throat as a kid) opened up a whole new world for me.

Eventually, as I got a bit older I started getting into more alternative music... This was when MTV still had music; Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Collective Soul, Live, as well as Korn, Marilyn Manson, etc.

Then somewhere at some point, I discovered 80's post punk and new wave which made me realize how my taste in music was just all over the place. Bands like New Order, Joy Division, Morrissey, The Smiths, The Cure (I saw The Cure live last month which really reinforced my love for them), etcetera and so forth...

So basically to sum up my long ass answer, 80's - 90's era is like my chocolatey center of a Tootsie Pop. So many other bands and subgenres I could mention, but my post would be way too long...

[RJDG14]

Would this transition to an electronic sound be more comparable to the musical revolution in the mid 1960s (at the time of the British Invasion) or the punk revolution of the late 1970s? I'd like to say the punk one, but really don't know. And what caused bands to take up a more electronic sound? I don't mind a lot of the semi electronic pop-rock from 15 years ago, which might have consisted of a keyboard and a minimal amount of Auto-Tune on the vocals alongside traditional instruments, but it seems to have gone a step further since. It's like when I see a DNCE or 2010s Coldplay music video, they are playing a keyboard, drum kit, electric guitar and bass, but then on the studio track I hear only the keyboard and bass.

Metal is actually still pretty common, as well as electronic music. What I'm not seeing anymore is the middle-ground indie/pop-rock/alternative that was popular 20 years ago. I've done an extensive search for underground music, and most of it seems to be metal. As I said earlier, the only groups/people I can think of that do music comparable to what a lot of younger people were doing at the time are those that started in the 1980s or early 1990s - Bob Mould or Dinosaur Jr for example.

[Shadou Dan]

I honestly don't know what other era I would compare it to, or if I should even be optimistic about it. Only time will tell if there will be another Bob Mould, or J Mascis. It won't sound like them, and it may take a new generation to appreciate it.

[RJDG14]

I guess that's probably the case. Back in the 2000s, were the people who bought Interpol, Ash, Idlewild etc mostly of Generation X, Y, or both? X would have been around 30 at the time and would have grown up with new wave/metal (born in the 60s/70s); Y in their teenage years (born 80s/90s). I've known people of both who were into this stuff, but few, if any, of Z. I'm borderline between Y and Z, depending on what scale you use.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by RJDG14

I guess that's probably the case. Back in the 2000s, were the people who bought Interpol, Ash, Idlewild etc mostly of Generation X, Y, or both? X would have been around 30 at the time and would have grown up with new wave/metal (born in the 60s/70s); Y in their teenage years (born 80s/90s). I've known people of both who were into this stuff, but few, if any, of Z. I'm borderline between Y and Z, depending on what scale you use.

I'm from the younger end of Generation X (born in 1977) and I listened to Interpol in the early to mid 00s, but have never even heard of Ash or Idlewild if that answers your question.

[RJDG14]

Ash and Idlewild are British, Interpol is American - so it's likely they never made it big where you live.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by RJDG14

Ash and Idlewild are British, Interpol is American - so it's likely they never made it big where you live.

Yeah, British bands never get popular in the US.