The question is: 'Is modern music worse than music from the 60's, 70's and 80's?'
This is something that has been a fiery debate in my social circles for quite some time now. I think that for all the people that are fans of the golden years, there are just as many fans that think music has evolved into something better. I cannot speak for everyone, but in my opinion there is something missing from modern music. That missing ingredient is responsible for me continuously relapsing in the sea of familiar tunes. Older music stirs up emotions, stops time and lets the imagination run free. Modern music just makes me tap my feet and nod my head to the rhythm. Why does modern music contain such a void and how can it be filled? I think the answer to that is the same as the answer to 'Why is it that the white man can never master the blues?'. The white man can never experience what the African man went through during times of slavery and post-Civil War America. Therefore, the emotion that the white man sings about in the blues are (generally) made up. The relevance of this to the topic at hand is because I see modern music as the blues' white man. The man that enjoys blues but doesn't really understand them and is unaware of the emotions from which the whole genre spawned. He is there because that's where he wants to be; he wants to make blues. The black man was thrown there. He didn't want to be miserable or melancholic, blues music was his way out. I think that is what modern music lacks. It lacks the emotions, the hardships and the bitter fight to survive that musicians back in the day experienced. Go search wikipedia for 'Pink Floyd' and you will come across quite a novel. I think since times have changed so did people's perspective on music. Back in the day music was the messenger, the amber for that rebellious fire burning inside the people's hearts, the judge and the saviour. Today music stands for fame, business and of course money. I know that there is exceptions to everything that I am saying, but I think that in rock'n'roll, this is generally the case.
So are we doomed to forever listen to music from bands that are either dead or too old to make a concert that we would give anything to attend? I don't think so. I think that musicians are slowly realising that they can not aspire to do what the greats did because they will never be nearly as good, that's why they are called the greats. They need to draw lessons from them and use those as a foundation to build something new, something that they can pioneer. I think we are in the transition phase; where bad music with even worse video clips is made. But I think there will be a musical revolution that will bring back eargasms.
But until then, I'll go back to listening to lyrics like:
Stand under my umbrella
ella
ella
e
e
e
How does one come up with such lyrics? That's what I want to know
There are two angles that I think you missed here.
ReplyDeleteOne is that, although bands like Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd were (and are) popular, they were never complete mainstream. For instance soundtracks for Grease and Saturday Night Fever than Animals and Wall in the same period. Also you have musicians like Cher and Donna Summer who were like Rihanna or someone similar we have today.
Also to your list or newer bands I would like to add bands like Mando Diao, The Hives, Franz Ferdinand, Gogol Bordello (and more) that perhaps don't have such great lyrics, but still have massive rock n roll energy live and in that way they carry on the spirit of great bands.
You have to be outside an era to fully understand it. During the 90's on tv and radio you could always hear idiots like Britney Spears, Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys. But now, when you think of that musical decade you think of Nick Cave at his peak, Tool, Jeff Buckley and Massive Attack. Can you see my point here? :)
And to end this long comment, in a way it was easier to make rock n roll in days when youth thought they can change the world, stop wars and unite. They had those ideals and it was easy to believe in them. Now it's much harder, and you have to be extra talented to find ideas for lyrics that can shape a generation
I definitely agree that it was somewhat easier to make rock and roll back in the day, however they still had the tenacity to come up with those ideals they followed so hard. That's where my comment towards the end comes in; bands today have to find their own ideal, shape their beliefs and try and find their way out of the jungle of fat white businessmen, promises of fame and aspirations to one hit wonders.To accomplish this they will have to really switch on the creativity gene in order to come up with something new that will bring music to it's former glory. We could call that the 'diamond era' ahah.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, I do agree that Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull were not complete mainstream back then. But look at the differences in quality between non-mainstream music bac then and now. What is non-mainstream music now? Freaking crappy Norwegian virgins living in their parents' basement screaming about Satan.
But thanks for the constructive comments Gejomire, always appreciated :D
I believe that the 80's and 90's were shit too in terms of music. Its true that when i look back i see the beastie boys, tool and other spectacular bands, but in the majority those decades musically are shit. Compared to lets say the 60's and 70's were eventhough the music we listen to from that era (Pink Floyd, Camel, The Who, ...) were not mainstream they were certainly almost as popular as mainstream. Though i must say the late 60's and early 70's saw a massive rise on popularity for psychedelic and progressive rock. It was mainly psychedelic which was extremely popular thanks to The Beatles who were full on mainstream and the most popular band of all times, they came up with Sgt. Peppers and that was a turning point for psychedelic.
ReplyDeleteEven if this bands were not mainstream they were almost treated as mainstream and royalty, there were gigs everywhere, massive amounts of radio time even for bands like The Who and Big Brother and The Holding Company.
Back then they had the movement and the spirit for it beacuse the world around them was crumbling and was in trouble, but the world today is not so different, if not even worst. Music did chage the world back then and still does (though less now), the potential for ideals of stopping wars and uniting people are still there.
Even if you look at the 80's and 90's now one cannot find as many bands as before and with the quality they had back then. I look back at all the decades and the one that i keep coming back to is the period from '65 to say '79, the deeper i look the more bands i find that blow my mind away. However, if i do the same looking back at the past 30 years, it doesnt have the same effect, not even close.
In addition, they had the drugs.... which did help create the psychedelic sound which gave way to much of what i listen to. Just look at Woodstock, drug paradise, some of te most memorable and impressive performances came from there. Santanas 'Soul Sacrifice', Santana shredded it like crazy and the drummer gave us one of the best drum solos in rock history. What has the past 30 years given us? Im sure lots, but i cant really remember.
However, i also got to say that it was 'easier' then because they came up with new sounds all the time, but now its hard to come up with something new that is going to rock as hard as what they came up with back then. Times change and move forward and new sounds need to be explored, new ways of rock and music. Idnie is the new sound together with others, but as much as i want to open my ears to it and appreaciate it, i just can't. There are a few bands these days that i love but i always come back to the old days.
Will a new rocking sound ever come up or will human kind recycle the old and mix it up with the new? Will the new music be a poop or a rocking hit?
i dont mind if music goes back to the roots, i dont care if we dont get 'new' sounds, all i care about is good music. I have shown you some new music and ill continue to as i discover it, i just hope that my search is rewarded with a rocking slap of awesome new music.
Cheerso, i apologise if the writing is all over the place, im not an awesome writer like youse twos (lol).
We need talented muscicians, not template ones.
Though i must mention a good album from an old band, Camel. Its interesting how they were amazing then a bit of pop and then came back with this powerful and impressive 1999 album, 'Rajaz'. Still not as impressive at times with the 70's albums, the song 'Three Wishes' blows your mind away.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of the things you said Vaisero, I'd just like to add something. Even though all the bands you mentioned were almost as popular as mainstream and received a lot of radio time, if you look at bands such as ABBA, Bee Gees, Cher and Donna Summers, those bands were faaar more popular. So in that sense Stefan was right that the shitty bands had a monopoly on the market over the good bands.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the issue with the drugs, remember my comment recently? I told you that you really have to master the instrument before you're able to play under the influence of drugs. All those guys that you mentioned were already brilliant on their instrument, and then the drugs just opened up a new horizon for them to play in.
As far as promoting the blog, I'll do my best hehe. Before I do that I have to get into writing more regularly. Thanks for the suggestions though!
Yeah, i never said the awesome band were mainstream but they were far more popular then that any non-mainstream bands are these days. Look at the weekly charts and gig schedules. I agree that popular/mainstream music will always dominate, that is why is the mainstream, but in these times the mainstream dominates and destroys everything that is not mainstream, back then it wasnt that brutal.
ReplyDeleteYou can see charts from all over the world were rocking tunes that were not considered 'mainstream' on the top for weeks, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, and heaps more of course. Now bands similar to this (or what we are talking about) dont even get close. They may not have gotten much radio time, but they were still very much influential and powerful icons of the people. Icons as a result of their good music not their good promoting and ridiculous amounts of money, the world should learn from Janis Joplin's love for music and hate for selling out.
Fuck i had another bit written here, thats shit it just went away :(
About the substances, i agree that those guys were masters of their instruments but the drugs did play a great part in coming up with the new sounds. Just ask Bob Dylan and The Beatles, Jazz and refeers, psychedelic and LSD, ... But now there is no talent and the substances are fucked and back then too, many many died from rocking to hard. I guess you can only live so much when you live life completely at full speed.
Oh yeah, the non-mainstream music today is neither popular, nor worth being popular (well most of it anyway). Furthermore, the machine doesn't allow for anything to excel that doesn't have money making potential. As far as the charts go I think that Dark Side of the Moon is one of the best selling albums of all time and it was in the top 200 charts for 741 weeks!
ReplyDeleteYeah the comment that you said about the drugs helping them come up with new sounds is what I said too except in a different way heh. However, then you have to ask yourselves if those guys that died from rocking too hard, didn't go to such lengths, would they have been around for longer and therefore possibly shaped a different path for music than the one we have now? I guess it comes to the 'short and sweet vs long and steady' argument.
trotz allem, was wir lernen, mit den alten Pfannen kochen! wichtig ist, um eine Chance, die neue Bands geben, da sonst die Musik bleibt irgendwo stecken.
ReplyDeletesorry, mein schreiben ist nicht so gut, ich hoffe das sie verstehen konnen. ich gebe die neue bands eine chance aber sie konnen nicht liefern. aber wer weis, vielleicht etwas verandert sich. ich hoffe es wird
ReplyDeleteI apologize. I wrote all in english, but my new laptop doesn`t want it so. because my english is bad.they can't hold a candle to the old bands. I don`t know what for changes you expect.I think the music will change continuously, but it will never be the same again, as before. i know, my thoughs are sad.
ReplyDeleteand, your German is perfect.