So, we had this conversation last week on the way to our annual lab float trip (which was lovely, by the way…), but I was wondering about the quality of certain decades of music… As in, personally, I’ve never cared for music from the 80s, but I really like music from the 90s. I can listen to the LAUNCHcast “90s Rock” station and consistently find great stuff from Live, Bush, Nirvana, Chili Peppers (you know, back when they didn’t suck…), Pearl Jam, and more…but if I listen to the “80s Rock” station, it’s all generally terrible.
My question, thus, is whether a). music in the 1980s was actually worse than music in the 1990s, or b). because I grew up in the 1990s, is my perception of 1990s music more favorable?
I kinda lean toward answer (a). myself, largely because it seems to me that people can listen to music from the 60s, 70s and 90s with little or no problem, but you have to have a “special taste” for music from the 80s… But then again, perhaps it’s just because I have a softer spot in my heart (yes, I have one, dammit…) for music of the 90s…
Of course, there are exceptions to these rules…there are plenty of bad songs from the 1990s and there are some decent songs from the 1980s… I’m just speaking on a broad basis here…
Thoughts?
I think it’s probably a little bit of both. The music of the 80’s as a whole is probably a little “worse” than the 90’s. But if you grew up in the 80’s, you might not think so because you liked it.
Also, why in the heck did you list Bush under great music of the 90’s?
Andy, Andy, Andy, you can’t find good music on the radio these days. On any station. I know, because I just spent 3 hours in a u-haul, where my only choice was the radio. All garbage (“classic rock” my ass. “Hot for teacher” and that AC/DC “balls” song are not classics.) Also, Live? Bush? Seriously? Absolute garbage. Younger people will look back in 10-20 years, listen to those bands, and think “christ this is awful.”
Of _course_ the 80’s radio station sucks. They’re going to play Cindy Lauper, bad MJ songs, hair metal, godawful synth-heavy garbage, all the other stuff that was horribly, horribly wrong with 80’s music.
There was a ton of good music in the 80’s, just like in the 90’s, and the 00’s, and so on and so forth, it’s just not, and never was, on the radio. It was a freaking golden age of punk, hardcore, and metal albums back then (like fucking Atheist, Death, Cryptic Slaughter, Faith No More, etc. jesus christ man), as well as great albums from people I don’t care about, like R.E.M, Yaz, Public Enemy, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, They Might Be Giants, etc.
There is no way _any_ decade is ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than any other: They all just had different styles. (and, of course, each decade bled into the next)
I’ll second Stu on this one. I personally like 80’s music, in general, even though I grew up in the 90’s.
First of all, Paige, don’t even tell me that Bush’s “Sixteen Stone” won’t be found on any sane person’s list of “good 1990s music”… Granted, there’s better, but it’s generally considered to be a “classic 1990s album”… Note than Anberlin is on no one’s 1990s lists… 😛
But yeah, Stuart, I agree on the radio point. Radio, in general, seems to get worse and worse. The Point, here in St. Louis, has gotten better about not playing the same damned song all the time, but still isn’t perfect. Stations like Y98 here seem to play Daughtry’s “Home” and The Fray’s “How To Save A Life” at least once every half hour…
And Live’s “Throwing Copper,” Stu, is a great album… Deal with it… 😛
this is so very entertaining
I’m sorry man, you’re just gonna have to accept the fact that Bush and Live suck. Especially Bush.
You have too much time to think.
I feel like I might be late to the party here, but i’m going to throw Andy for a loop and actually support something he said. I actually do think there are about 4 good songs on Sixteen Stone and one (Lightning Crashes) on Throwing Copper. Therefore, while I do in theory mostly agree with Stu that Bush and Live on the whole mostly make crap (especially Live), I do think they are better than a lot of the bands Andy listens to (sorry Andy).
But yeah, I would say this is absolutely a “radio” phenomena. Well known “good” bands 80s – The Smiths, Clash, Pixies, Joy Division, Talking Heads, My Bloody Valentine (80s/90s), even the Cure (although not my favorite).
I think you COULD very objectively assess the eras though. Even if the 80s had good music, the 90s could still in theory be much better. I’m not going to try, but I think its an interesting idea.