Major sweeping generalization, I know..Not all of it. But things are slowly improving from what I've been seeing very recently.

So why does it suck? One reason is because so few current "artists" seem to want to raise the bar of groundbreaking output anymore.

Lemme use history as a guide. I'll take the rock era because that's what's most familiar to most...

1950s- Rock is born. Groundbreakers like Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly & yes, Elvis. (not a huge fan of his, but the guy deserves big credit) The nay sayers (mainly Bible thumping, redneck southerners is my guess) said rock was "negro's/devil's music" that would corrupt youth. 40+ years on, we revere those names & we see now the nay sayers were wrong....Really wrong.


60s- This decade is too easy to praise.
So much experimentation & adventurousness in rock songwriting as it began to mature. There was a movement to further rock as a genre & The Beatles were the ones who singlehandedly made it a legit music form for everyone to enjoy. Immeasurable influence on music to this day. Of course, their contemporaries of the time also produced countless gems that people not even born until 20, 25 years on still listen to.
Soul & r&b comes into its own as well & perfectly reflected the period...when artists like Aretha & Marvin really meant what they were singing. It truly was *soul*...


70s- rock fragments & becomes big business. Despite being so, this decade gave us the singer/songwriters (yeah, they wrote their own songs), "do-it-yourself" punk rock (influencing today's pop punk & "real" underground punk & showing that it wasn't the "fad" people made it out to be), disco (show me a kid of 2003 who doesn't know "YMCA" & I'll show you a kid who was brought up in a cave), heavy metal (how many of you people watched The Osbournes or have heard of a 2 bit song called "Stairway to Heaven"?)
Turn on the tv & half the music used in commercials is music from this decade.
Music during this decade sucked? Then the recent release of Led Zeppelin's live cds would not've made it to #1 in Billboard. ..And they're just one example.


80s- This is where things start slowly going downhill, IMO. The early 80s had plenty of pioneering new wave acts, but MTV shook things up in '81. The one thing I'll give MTV is the fact that it exposed the world to different forms of music that they might not have ever heard otherwise. Hip hop is a great example of that & the 80s is the decade where rap took off. Most of today's mainstream rappers don't hold a candle to the guys who built the groundwork for them. You can probably name the truly good ones that'll stick around for a while on one hand. The rest are flashes in the pan acts...Also, 2 names stick out of this decade that people still love today: Jacko & Madonna. Jacko is a freak now, but he still has a huge following. Madonna opened tons of doors for future female performers. (not a huge fan of hers either though)

90s- It sure was nice to see another "big thing" band that forced others to follow suit. Talkin' about Nirvana & the whole grunge thing. (which did get outta hand) But after grunge died, we hadda endure another sad crap pop period. This is where we hit rock bottom, people. It's always been a business, yes, but as of the 90s to now, it's blatantly moreso not about writing a good, lasting & memorable tune anymore. Just get that voice electronically treated in the studio, get that video in heavy rotation & do your best lip-syncing on stage, baby!

I'm thinkin'- so what'll today's kids have to look back on in 30 years & say- "Man! Now That was good, well written music!"? Christina Aguilera? Britney? Lil Bow Wow? Nsync? The Spice Girls? I dunno, people...maybe those names & others like em *will* be revered in 30 years...but it seems pretty unlikely...


Tell ya what (*gets off soapbox*)- I'm liking this fairly new, striped down "garage" rock we've been seeing lots of recently. The White Stripes, The Vines, et al...

All this & I'm not even 35 yet!

:wave: Night kids!

*stands up and applauds*

:clap: :clap: :clap:

Thank you!! I agree with what you're saying. I'm only 15, and this is supposed to be my generation, yet I find I am living in that of the early 90's. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are some good rock bands out there now. I love the Foo Fighters, but they have been around since the ending days of grunge, and Dave Grohl knows what he is doing, he's been there before. I'll have to agree with you on the whole "garage-rock" thing. Those bands are good, but they aren't getting the recognition they deserve. I mean, the White Stripes are getting some, but the rest aren't getting very much. There are a lot of good emo bands out, but the only 2 that get any recognition are The All American Rejects and Dashboard Confessionals (who deserve soooo much more). I don't know what is going on. It's like all my fellow teenagers are just into the fake, computer-generated sound.

But I'm not.....

Yes, what a concise description of music's history since 1950. I am a little more lenient on where things went downhill though. What you described for the 80s is precisely why I won't say music went downhill just yet.
I see a dry spell to be around the years 88-91 though. So I guess things did go downhill in the 80s--the late 80s no less! Fortunately music came back to life in the early 90s. I'd say another dry spell came officially in 97, and music has been in a funk ever since. Believe me, I won't be looking back 30 years saying "man this and that was great." I'll be able to name some things, but as a whole, the new millinium has been a disappointment. I like certain things that are out now only because "beggars can't be choosers."

I've jumped for joy with the rise of artists like The White Stripes and The Vines. Unfortunately they haven't been quite as mainstream as I'd like them to be. Mainstream doesn't mean squat lately, but it would still be nice for mainstream music to include their deverse sounds.

My opinion is that pretty much everything sucks except country. Country is the only music I like to listen to because its what I grew up with and it doesnt change all the time like that crap that's on pop radio now.

Hola!

Ok, now that I've written such a looong post, now that its gotten a few replies, I can "clean it up" a little as I'm aware it's full of holes.

I guess it's known that there's a little crap in every decade. Just that it seems to me that there's *more* crap today than ever. Why? Thank you MTV. Who on God's green earth *doesn't* have access to it? Making a video is a neccessity for new bands, or they run the risk of dying fast. Thing is, MTV is showing so few actual videos, they've found the need to create MTV2. It sure was great to see such brilliant ideas like 'The Grind' & TRL... :rolleyes:


I agree that we did indeed hit a *really* low point in the late 80s. We had lots of lousy acts that were a joke then & still a joke today. eg: New Kids On The Block (sorry old fans- just a late 80s Nsync), Tiffany (sorry old fans- just a late 80s Britney), and the act that *proved* what I'd been saying all along to my friends during that period.. Milli Vanilli. Here were 2 clowns who *actually* won a freakin Grammy for lip-syncing. When they got busted for it, it proved to me that I & others w/ similar opinions were right: You literally don't need much talent to make to the top anymore. Just have the right look & you're halfway there. This also showed me that as MTV's popularity increased, the lower the creative standards became. When you watch MTV, you're not using your imagination one bit. You're looking at some *director's* vision of the music.

Turn off TRL & see a live show....

Just also wanted to add that hip hop hit a high point in the 90s. (during the early half of the decade) We got acts like Tribe Called Quest & De La Soul who injected a jazzy vibe into it. That stuff was great. Gangsta rap followed soon afterwards & this'll sound weird to some, but the better acts of that subgenre were fantastic. They were literally telling us about life as they saw it & no one had ever been musically exposed to that aspect of life in such an in-your-face way. Helped rap become "the new rock" because it was so shocking to many. But of course, like grunge, when the copycats came along, it became predictable & dumb.

Anyway, that's it for now. & again, I'm not saying *all* of today's music is lousy. There's lots of great music being made out there, just that you have to look a little harder for it now...

Oh yeah, as for country- well got mixed feelings. I'm not a country fan, but I have great respect for the pioneers of it. (eg: Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson et al) I can't speak for it b/c I don't know enough, but it seems to me that what passes for 'country' today is really just pop w/ a southern accent. The Dixie Chicks appear to be trying to bring it back to something resembling the roots.

:wave: Later! (& thanks Hannah for the applause! The fact that you're only 15 & love older music shows me there's hope! Lol! You can't be the only one. And I agree w/ you & Cash'- lots of these new bands that're making good music are not getting the attention they should. Some are better than others, but they're putting fun back into rock.

Case in point: the new Metallica album. Formerly a groundbreaking metal band, they have sold out and recorded a "NU-METAL" album.:mad:

Good news, tho': The new Led Zeppelin box set totally bakes!!!:cool: :cool: :cool: :cool:

i like some of it

Originally posted by Rickenbacker
Hola!



I guess it's known that there's a little crap in every decade. Just that it seems to me that there's *more* crap today than ever. Why? Thank you MTV. Who on God's green earth *doesn't* have access to it? Making a video is a neccessity for new bands, or they run the risk of dying fast. Thing is, MTV is showing so few actual videos, they've found the need to create MTV2. It sure was great to see such brilliant ideas like 'The Grind' & TRL... :rolleyes:


I [i]hate[/i[ MTV! I like rock music from the 80's and early 90's like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and so on...and I agree with Hannah Lee about most kids our age just like the computer generated sound of today's music.

I agree that today's music totally sucks. :thumbsdow

ITA with the original post.
1950s and 60s R&R was the best. You could understand the words and dance to the beat. I am always very disappointed that Rick Nelson never gets credit for bringing R&R to accceptance. Through the TV show, her got parents to see that it wasn't a bad thing.

I was raised on contemporary jazz and classic rock, and that's pretty much everything I listen to. I do like some of today's songs, but I hate most of it, and the singers as well. It just doesn't have the same quality as the old stuff.

There's great music being made everyday, Rickenbacker. It's just that most of it isn't mainstream. Don't blame the musicians; blame the RIAA, MTV, ClearChannel Communications, and other whores in the corporate gangbang.

Look past the radio and MTV and you'll find plenty of good bands but I do agree as far mainstream music goes a lot of it sucks.

i call it Crap-Rock

also the rap and hip-hop has just gotten more and more rotten as it progresses. It's time for a change in music.

Im so sick of all these fake bands who try to copy others style from the past. Get your own style :rolleyes:

I mainly listen to classic rock and a few people from today who are worthy... :lol:


LED ZEPPELIN ROCKS :rock: Jimi HendriX Rocks :rock:

i very rarely listen to any of the new stuff. there are a few new bands that are great but they are not mainstream.

Originally posted by AKA
There's great music being made everyday, Rickenbacker.

Yep- that's what I'd reiterated. :)


It's just that most of it isn't mainstream. Don't blame the musicians; blame the RIAA, MTV, ClearChannel Communications, and other whores in the corporate gangbang.
Agreed.

I don't listen to much of todays music. There are a few bands I like but many of these groups that you guys talk about, I've never even heard of and I agree with Rickenbacher that they probably won't be around in 30 years. Especially all these boy bands and Hip Hop acts.

I have to agree. I've been digging through my old cds lately and listening to them. The only current musicans I like now are the Dixie Chicks and Michelle Branch.

I agree with whoever said earlier that there is good music out there now, it just isn't whats "mainstream." So many of the artists out there currently that should be getting recognized aren't. I'll never understand why some people can praise an "artist" that dances around on stage and doesn't even sing live. Why should they get the credit because a studio and a million technological devices are making them sound marketable?

I honestly can't stand these people that came on the scene,after the 80's.To me,they just haven't got it.JMO.

What makes me uncomfortable is this new technology that enables any schmoe who can't sing for beans, to sing like Barbara Streisand. I think in just a couple of years they've already "improved" it. I 1st heard it when Cher put it to use on "Believe". You can hear it clearly on that song. (I've also heard few other songs using it) But I think since then, it aids vocals in a more seamless way now.

Originally posted by Rickenbacker
What makes me uncomfortable is this new technology that enables any schmoe who can't sing for beans, to sing like Barbara Streisand. I think in just a couple of years they've already "improved" it. I 1st heard it when Cher put it to use on "Believe". You can hear it clearly on that song. (I've also heard few other songs using it) But I think since then, it aids vocals in a more seamless way now.

You mean that vocal effects thingie that makes it sound like some electronic warbling?? (Like on "Believe") I get sick of those things big time. The revenge of Peter Frampton.:rolleyes:

Originally posted by shavelyLBC34
I'll never understand why some people can praise an "artist" that dances around on stage and doesn't even sing live. Why should they get the credit because a studio and a million technological devices are making them sound marketable?

I don't think I will ever understand it either. :confused:

Originally posted by mcgwirefan
ITA with the original post.
1950s and 60s R&R was the best. You could understand the words and dance to the beat. I am always very disappointed that Rick Nelson never gets credit for bringing R&R to accceptance. Through the TV show, her got parents to see that it wasn't a bad thing.
Rick Nelson is quite underrated. I can only say that the current music I can find on the radio sounds worthless to me. I have made a conscious effort to listen to it, and wanted to like it, but I am unable to. When I listen to current artists who are famous and supposed to be great, the music they're singing sounds worthless to my ears. It may be that this music has some virtue that I just can't hear, but to me, it sounds like they have no talent. In particular, I had a girlfriend a few years ago who tried to get me into the alternative music scene, and I tried. I wanted to like it, but I just didn't. One of the very few recent artists I do like is Chris Isaak, and I guess he's not really that recent.

1 year ago I would have totally agreed with your view of todays music, but after turning away from MTV, and searching hard for good music, Iv'e found that there is alot of great music out today, it's just harder to find.

I actually did a little study with a friend of mine recently who is over 40 years old. What I did was I would tape two songs back to back. One from the 60's, or 70's, and one from the 90's, and the 2000's, and she would tell me which one she liked better. To my surprise, most of her choices were the newer songs I played. Some of the artists she particulary liked were: Tracy Chapman, Dave Matthews Band, Matchbox 20, Everclear, Michelle Branch, Vanessa Carlton, Pearl Jam, John Mayer, Josh Groban, and the Thorns, among others. She kept saying the same thing over and over again. She would say atleast todays songs have some sort of message to them.

The more I did this little experiment, the more I realized that she was absolutely right. While the oldies stations I taped off of played songs like: who put the bop in the bop shoo wop a dop, the newer songs I played all seemed to have some kind of deeper meaning. Maybe that's part of the reason so many people have trouble accepting todays music, they miss the innocence of the way much of it use to be. I'm not sure.

Anyway, I do agree with you that most of the music played in the mainstream is absolute crap, but for anyone thinking all this generation has to offer musically is crap, I would definitely encourage you to search a little bit, and find music from some of todays lesser known musical talents. I think you might be surprised.

Unfortunately we live in a society where crap seems to sell. It's kind of like my mom has told me many times how in the 60's her parents thought that most of the popular music they listened to was crap. It seems as if every generation is doomed to hear about how crappy their music is, and how great the music was in the previous generation. Personally I have never been one to put labels on certain generations of music. I feel that there is plenty of good music from every generation. It may be harder to find today, but it's definitely out there!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mdntrider7
Iv'e found that there is alot of great music out today, it's just harder to find.

Agreed. This is what I said in my 2nd post on the 1st page.


I actually did a little study with a friend of mine recently who is over 40 years old...She would say atleast todays songs have some sort of message to them.

Interesting experiment. Basically, it *does* boil down to personal taste. I'd be curious about 2 things: What 99 other people of various ages would've said & what songs you put on the tape. There's no way anyone can tell me music of the 60s/70s had no messages to them. eg: Beatles from 1965 on, any 70s Stevie Wonder, pretty much all of Bob Dylan, early 70s Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell...etc.


It's kind of like my mom has told me many times how in the 60's her parents thought that most of the popular music they listened to was crap. It seems as if every generation is doomed to hear about how crappy their music is, and how great the music was in the previous generation.

Agreed. I said something close to this in my 2nd post. Criticizing the previous generation is inevitable. There's crap in every decade, there's great work in every decade. But hintsight is 20/20- The music of the 60s alone is a hard act to follow. If you played your friend "who put the bop in the bomp alomp"-type songs, of course they wouldn't stand up next to Tracy Chapman, for example. And you have to keep in mind all those innocent 50s songs where written at a time when rock was still very young. It hadn't yet been elevated by acts like The Beatles & Dylan. I think w/ the advent of MTV & the doings of Big Brother ClearChannel, we are indeed seeing *more* crap than ever in the just the past 7,8 years.
Ask your mom if any of the people who put down 60s music back then, haven't come around since. Using the Beatles again as an example, lots of adults couldn't stand them during their early pop phase. By roughly a year & a half after their arrival, their songs had noticably matured, they gained many adult listeners & were taken more seriously. This had never happened in a pop music context on such a huge scale before.

History speaks for itself. I guess not enough time has gone by for the newer stuff yet. Hopefully, the good, harder to find artists of today will stick around long enough to grow & put a shine on history books in 30 years.

:)

Originally posted by mdntrider7
...She would say atleast todays songs have some sort of message to them.

...It's kind of like my mom has told me many times how in the 60's her parents thought that most of the popular music they listened to was crap. It seems as if every generation is doomed to hear about how crappy their music is, and how great the music was in the previous generation....
In terms of the messages in music, my pre-requisite for music is that it sound good. If it sounds good, I consider secondary characteristics like messages. As for every generation dissing the next generation's music, when I was growing up, the older generation did condemn rock as a genre, but the difference is that I spent some time listening to today's music, wanting very much to like it, but simply couldn't. As I said, it may have some virtue I can't perceive, but to me it sounds like a lack of talent or commitment on the part of the artists.

I have heard some of the groups you mentioned and had the same reaction to them, but why don't you make a specific recommendation and I'll check it out?

By the way, although it's no substitute for sounding good, in terms of messages in the music, the practice of writing messages into the lyrics really got off the ground in the 60s, starting with people like Dylan.

Originally posted by BrandonS
I have heard some of the groups you mentioned and had the same reaction to them, but why don't you make a specific recommendation and I'll check it out?

Here are a few of my recommendations. Some of these artists are actually pretty well known, but when you compare them to main stream artists like Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake, they are pretty rare. These are a few of the cds, and artists Iv'e really enjoyed off the top of my head:

Dave Matthews Band: Crash, Tracy Chapman: Matters of the Heart, Crossroads, and her self entitled album, Tracy Chapman. The Thorns: self entitled album, The Thorns, Josh Groban: Josh Groban, Marc Anthony: Marc Anthony, Matchbox 20: More than you think you are, yourself or someone like you, mad season, Shawn Mullins: Souls Core, and anything by Pearl Jam.

These are just a few of todays artists that I greatly enjoy, and I think you may as well. Some are lesser known artists, and some are pretty well known. My strongest recommendation is Tracy Chapman. I think she is one of the best, and less known talents to hit the music industry in the last 15 years. Like I said, when I think of more, I'll list them.

Originally posted by Rickenbacker

Interesting experiment. Basically, it *does* boil down to personal taste. I'd be curious about 2 things: What 99 other people of various ages would've said & what songs you put on the tape. There's no way anyone can tell me music of the 60s/70s had no messages to them. eg: Beatles from 1965 on, any 70s Stevie Wonder, pretty much all of Bob Dylan, early 70s Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell...etc. [/B]

Basically what I did was taped a bunch of songs off of modern radio stations, and a bunch off of the oldies stations. I do realize that there is alot of great older music out there, heck I have alot of it in my music collection today. But for some reason the oldies stations seem to mostly play the innocent, lighthearted stuff, instead of the groundbreaking stuff that came out of the 60's, and 70's. So you are right, the next time I do a study like this, I should probably tape off of my cds, rather than off the radio. I also agree that it would be a good idea to do this experiment with more than one person. Then the results may turn out a bit different. Very good point.

[i]Originally posted by mdntrider7
Basically what I did was taped a bunch of songs off of modern radio stations, and a bunch off of the oldies stations... for some reason the oldies stations seem to mostly play the innocent, lighthearted stuff,

Yup. I agree again. This is where 'Big Brother' Clear Channel comes into the equation. They own like, *every* freakin radio & tv station & ultimately control what's played (& force fed) to us. I wanna get a better idea of what exactly they do own & then post it here later.
Radio is totally dumbed down now. It used to be a great, free format during the 60s, when the djs played what they wanted & never had to follow some lame "researched" song list. So the listener walks away w/ the impression that we all wanna hear the same 10 songs again & again.

Originally posted by mdntrider7
Here are a few of my recommendations....Dave Matthews Band: Crash, Tracy Chapman: Matters of the Heart, Crossroads, and her self entitled album, Tracy Chapman. The Thorns: self entitled album, The Thorns, Josh Groban: Josh Groban, Marc Anthony: Marc Anthony, Matchbox 20: More than you think you are, yourself or someone like you, mad season, Shawn Mullins: Souls Core, and anything by Pearl Jam.
Thank you. I guarantee that I will listen to at least one of these, if not more. BTW, for your experiment with exposing the older person to oldies vs. recent, I think that there was a big decline in music quality in the 70s and your experiment might have been more significant if it had been 60s and late 50s or maybe just 60s. Also, do you have a broad knowledge of the music of the 60s, and did you take a good representative song from both old and new? No offense intended, but the results of your experiment are hard to evaluate, since they are dependent on your particular choice of songs.

Originally posted by BrandonS
Thank you. I guarantee that I will listen to at least one of these, if not more. BTW, for your experiment with exposing the older person to oldies vs. recent, I think that there was a big decline in music quality in the 70s and your experiment might have been more significant if it had been 60s and late 50s or maybe just 60s. Also, do you have a broad knowledge of the music of the 60s, and did you take a good representative song from both old and new? No offense intended, but the results of your experiment are hard to evaluate, since they are dependent on your particular choice of songs.

You are right, like I said in my last post, most of my choices were pretty random. I would basically tape one song off the oldies station, and one off the modern station, and play them against each other. There really wasn't a whole lot of thought behind which songs I'd put up against another. I think what I'm going to do next time is pick some historically relevant songs from the 50's, 60's, and 70's, and put them up against some of the most relevant songs of the 80's, 90's, and 2000's. I think that would help make my study a bit more legit. I may even post my choices up here. Also, if I can get more than one persons opinion in this study I think that would help too. Too bad there's not a way to post up my favorite songs here. That way I could just do the study here. I'll see if I can figure out how to do that.

As far as whether or not I have a broad knowledge of 60's music, that sort of depends. Do I think I have more knowledge than the average person my age? Yes! I grew up listening to older music, infact my parents didn't even let me listen to newer stuff until I was 13 years old. so I definitely believe I have a broader interest in older music than the average person my age. Heck 90% of my cd collection is from the 70's, and below. Some of my older cds are: Janis Joplin, Creedance Clearwater Revival, Simon and Garfunkel, Pink Floyd, the moody blues, the four Topps, and many many more. But, Do I think I have as much knowledge, or more knowledge than someone your age? Absolutely not! You grew up in that time period, and I don't believe a person can fully understand a style of music unless they've lived through it. There are probably hundreds, possibly thousands of songs that you heard as a kid that I never will, simply because much of it isn't played on radio stations today, so by someone your ages standards I most likely don't have a broad range of knowledge in older music, but by someone my ages standards, I do.

Like I said in my original post, I didn't even really start getting into modern music until about a year ago. Before I would literally watch Mtv for a few minutes, and I truly thought that was all this generation had to offer musically, and I was not impressed! It wasn't until I got sick of listening to my local radio station play the same old songs over and over again that I decided I was going to search high and low for new music that I could get into, and enjoy. I started listening to Indie Stations, and stations that geared away from much of the top 20 crap on the charts today, and I started taping some of these newer songs, and within a few weeks I had five tapes full of great new music I had never heard before. For my whole life I had just assumed that most new music was crap, but when I finally decided to search for good new music I was able to get 5 full tapes in two weeks.

The point of my first post wasn't to put down old music, it was simply to tell people that there is still good music out there. I'm not saying you're this way, but I believe there are many people out their who are just like I use to be, who believe that there is no more good music today, so my message was for those people to tell them that there is. I just think it's ashame how many years I wasted judging this generation of music while the whole time I was judging, the great music was out there. I just don't want anyone else to do the same thing.

Anyway I'm glad that you are going to check out some of the artists I mentioned. I will make a list of some more artists that Iv'e really enjoyed, and I'll PM them to you. When you do start checking some of these artists out, if you don't mind would you PM me, and tell me what you thought of them? If you don't want to do that, that's cool, but I'm very interested in hearing your thoughts on some of these artists. Even if you don't like them. I just think it's fun sharing new music with people!

Brad,

It sounds like your approach is well reasoned. I will certainly do as you ask. A couple of years ago, when I spent a few months trying to listen to the alternative music on our local stations, I really wanted to like it. Obviously, life is better for me if there is great new music being created, than if it's 99% crap and I have to live in the past. Actually, I should thank you very much for your assistance in trying to catch up with modern popular music. One thing, though. I'll try to like what you've recommended, but don't be too disappointed if I don't.

Best Wishes,
Brandon

Originally posted by BrandonS
I'll try to like what you've recommended, but don't be too disappointed if I don't.

I wont be. I realize that everyone has different musical tastes, and not everyone can like what I like. I just think it's cool that you're atleast open minded enough to give some of this stuff a chance.

Originally posted by mdntrider7
...there is still good music out there...
I really appreciate your working with me to try to introduce me to some recent music that you like, and it's an interesting experiment, but I have to report negative results so far. This evening, when I was printing out your list, one of the entries rang a bell, and I realized that an ex-girlfriend who was much younger had given me a Matchbox 20 album in the hopes of converting me to alternative music. I checked, and it was "Yourself or Someone Like You." At the time, I hadn't been able to bear to listen to more than about five minutes of it. But tonight, I loaded it into my CD-ROM drive and listened to every song. I'm sorry to have to report that I think it stinks. The general tone of the music is pleasing, but the problem is that the song writing is extremely inferior. I mean, compare the songs on this album with, say:

Love Me Two Times - The Doors
Bus Stop - The Hollies
Cathy's Clown - The Everly Brothers
Chain Gang - Sam Cooke
Mr. Tambourine Man - Bob Dylan
Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen - Neil Sedaka
Maybelline - Chuch Berry
You Belong to Me - The Duprees
Do You Believe In Magic? - The Lovin Spoonful
Solitary Man - Neil Diamond
I Get Around - The Beach Boys
All I've Got to Do - The Beatles

I don't want to make you mad, because I like you, but frankly, to my ears, the comparison is laughable. I would be flabergasted if this work is remembered in 30 years. The main problem is the extremely inferior quality of the song writing. To me, it sounds like, "We'll just play a few nice chord progressions until we've used up 4 minutes or so, and have the other guys play some nice harmonies in the background." Also, the songs are extremely repititious and similar to each other, even considering the fact that they're all by the same group. The singing kind of stinks too. I like Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, who have very non-standard styles, but I don't like this guy.

I'm really very sorry. I'll try a few of the other selections you mentioned. Maybe these songs possess some virtue that I'm not capable of perceiving, but to me they just seem like rock songs that stink. The songs seem to me to be written pretty much in the style of any song from the late 60s or the 70s, so it doesn't seem that the problem is that it's a genre I don't like. For what it's worth, the song that I came the closest to liking was "Kody," but it wasn't very close.

What I *think* might be more your speed are current (or at least more recent) bands & artists with a strong 60s/ 70s influence.

My recommendations would be:

The Black Crowes- straight ahead blues-based rock w/ a heavy dose of early 70s Rolling Stones & Humble Pie.


Lenny Kravitz- This guy shamelessly sounds straight out of 1970...& that's why I love the guy. :)

Supergrass- Their latest album "Life On Other Planets" is almost like listening to David Bowie's or T-Rex's early 70s glam phase. Try finding "Za", "Rush Hour Soul", "Seen The Light", "Funniest Thing", "LA Song", & "Run".

Jellyfish- Real shame about these guys. Yet another sad example of fantastic music/ lousy timing. If you have any appreciation for psychedelic era Beach Boys & this other 2 bit, no-name band called The Beatles, you'll love them. Ringo Starr worked w/ them at one point. In the early 90s, they put out 2 albums w/ good critical success, but poor sales. I think people are kinda rediscovering them now. They've got a box set out now, I think. Try finding "Sebrina Paste & Plato", "The Ghost at Number One" & "Bye Bye Bye" for a start.

The High-Fives- I was just introduced to this mid/late 90s band in the past month. I was blown away by how accurately they reproduced a mid 60s pop sound. They could've easily come out back then & created hits. Try finding a song called "Back Again". I'm eager to hear more of them myself..

If you like any old school punk rock, you might like The Donnas. These girls can rock. Think The Runaways when you hear them. Their influences are written all over em.

I'm into LOTS of 70s "prog rock" like Yes, Peter Gabriel era Genesis, ELP, Pink Floyd etc. There're many current prog bands that take obvious cues from the old masters. I'm still getting into one called Spock's Beard. Got an album called "V" & I hear hints of Yes & Rush. (the latter being my #2 band after The Beatles)

For a much more simple, striped down rock sound, I've been very impressed by The White Stripes. You *might* not like the guy's voice, but this group is honest & I hope they stick around a good while.
"Dead Leaves & The Dirty Ground". Sounded like something Neil Young's Crazy Horse mighta done. "Expecting" (very Zeppelinesque), "Black Math", "There's No Home For You Here" (somehow I think The White Album w/ this one), "The Air Near My Fingers" & "Fell In Love With A Girl" are all stand-outs to me.

A few years back, there was a French trio (or was it duo?) called Air. They turned the clock back to the mid 70s & relied heavily on the use of original Moog synthesizers. Try finding their 1st album "Moon Safari".

And also, I don't know what your collection is like, but radio tends to ignore TONS of great songs by the old classic bands. One of dozens of examples is Queen. You'd think they only wrote 5 songs if you just listened to the radio. I could very easily PM you many obscure
gems by the greats, as well as lesser known old bands.

And if all else fails, Brandon- it's always safe to turn to the older artist's current work! :D I still buy new releases by McCartney, Rush, Yes, Kansas etc...
I'd be very curious to know what you found/ liked. :)

Originally posted by Rickenbacker
What I *think* might be more your speed are current (or at least more recent) bands & artists with a strong 60s/ 70s influence.

My recommendations would be:

.....If you like any old school punk rock.......I'd be very curious to know what you found/ liked. :)
Wow, what a lot to think about! Thank you. I will check this out and thanks for your time and effort in posting this. Oh, I included your quotation about punk rock, because I don't like it. I just like straight rock - best from about 1957 through the end of the 60s, but still occasionally good through the early 90s. Also, I've never heard T-Rex, although I've heard of them. I will definitely look into what you've suggested, as well as what Brad suggested, and let you know what I find. What I'd actually like to find is music that appeals to someone who likes the Doors, the Stones, Jethro Tull, etc. Wow, you guys are great! Thanks!

Brandon

Okay, I've gone to Amazon.com and listened to excerpts from most of the artists recommended by Rickenbacker, except The High-Fives who don't have any albums there. There's only so much one can learn that way, but of all of the groups I checked out, Supergrass comes the closest to something I like. I'll buy "Life on Other Planets" today. Now here's the remaining question. I have heard enough to say that Supergrass doesn't suck, but are they capable of composing individual songs that are memorable, like the artists from when I was young? Being competent, and having a good sound, is not enough if you can't write individual songs that are worth anything. I'll find out. I still plan on continuing with Brad's list, since I only struck out with one group.

Okay, I'm listening to Supergrass "Life on Other Planets" right now and I think they're pretty good. I'll have to get back to you on whether there are any truly memorable songs. Actually, right this second I'm listening to "Can't Get Up" and it's a pretty cool song. I recall that "Brecon Beacons" was good too. Good to know that someone current is putting out work I think is good.

Very encouraging to hear you think Supergrass are ok. I oughta quit while I'm ahead here! Lol! But yeah, between Brad & myself, you've got a fairly big pool of choices. I'm actually in the midst of waiting for a few more replies to a thread I posted on a music board I frequent. They *really* know their stuff there. I asked about current bands w/ a 50s/ 60s retro sound. I'll post em here soon.

As for whether what you find'll be memorable- that's entirely up to you. :)

In a nutshell, it's hard to pit new, young bands up against these timeless classics. Almost not fair, really. I suspect very few will equal them. That's why I turn to newer, 'retro sound' bands to deliver the next best thing. Maybe more time has to go by before we see what's revered in another 25 years.

Rickenbacker or mdntrider7 (or anyone),

I heard a song at Starbuck's a few minutes ago, which was apparently contemporary, which I liked a lot. It was a song called "Blonde on Blonde" by Nada Surf. I also heard one or two more songs by them, which seemed okay to me. Does anyone know what musical genre they are considered to be? Are they popular or obscure? Are there other groups recording in their style? See, I am trying to like today's rock.

Originally posted by BrandonS
Rickenbacker or mdntrider7 (or anyone),

I heard a song at Starbuck's a few minutes ago, which was apparently contemporary, which I liked a lot. It was a song called "Blonde on Blonde" by Nada Surf. I also heard one or two more songs by them, which seemed okay to me. Does anyone know what musical genre they are considered to be? Are they popular or obscure? Are there other groups recording in their style? See, I am trying to like today's rock.


I've heard them described as 'power pop'. Basically rock w/ heavy pop leanings. Don't know any newer, similar bands offhand. There was a short-lived, early 90s band called Material Issue that produced some great power pop. When I think power pop, I think Cheap Trick...but they're the 70s version of that genre. Get my PM?

Very interesting! You sure know a lot. No, I haven't gotten a PM from you since 6/18.

Originally posted by BrandonS
No, I haven't gotten a PM from you since 6/18.

Was it the one w/ the list of 'roots rock' suggestions?

I agree that todays music sucks although there is some that i listen too but I mostly listen to old stuff, mostly 70's rock. I should have been born 30 years ago.

Okay, I've read a few of the posts regarding what bands and singers today are good. Now, I haven't read too thoroughly- but there are some good singers and bands that I didn't see listed. I'm going to list some other good ones now:

PETE YORN (musicforthemorningafter)
Phantom Planet (the guest)
Train (Drops of Jupiter)
Old 97's (Satellite Rides)
Jack Johnson (Brushfire Fairytales and On and On)
Coldplay (A Rush of Blood to The Head)
Starsailor (Love Is Here)

Now sorry if someone already listed these- I just wanted to make sure that they got included with the good bands category.


-Later

Originally posted by TheNothingMan
PETE YORN (musicforthemorningafter)

Add his new album, Day I Forgot, to that list.

I got to see him with The Foo Fighters earlier this month. It was great!

I was hoping more people would jump in w/ more suggestions. :)

I like some of todays music, but not like pop stuff (I enjoyed it when I was in like 5-6th grade...then I got a brain....;) ) but most of the music I like people have never heard of the group unless they like that type of music...I am stopping my self from saying the biggest sterotype of the kinds of people who like my music even though its true...but I enjoy music along the lines of Jack Johnson, DMB, John Mayer

Originally posted by Rickenbacker
I was hoping more people would jump in w/ more suggestions. :)

I have no suggestions,because I don't like today's music.

Guster is such a good band if you like DMB, John Mayer type of music, they are sorta like Dispatch but better

Originally posted by Rickenbacker
Was it the one w/ the list of 'roots rock' suggestions?
Yes, thanks. By the way, I bought Nada Surf's album, "Let Go," that has "Blonde on Blonde" on it, and I like it. The worst song on it is quite pleasant. Nice to know that some current groups are putting out music I think is good. I'll try some from your "roots of rock" list.