Looking back at music today
Posted by Waesrdtfyg0987@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 47 comments
I think a lot of this might just be growing up in the 80s, but I look back now and so much of the music feels terrible. I like 60s, 70s, grunge, but most of the 80s I look back and think how did I listen to this? Everything from the pop/synth of the early 80s to the ridiculous hair bands of the mid-late 80s sounds terrible now. There was definitely some great music here and there, but so much I can't believe I ever listened to it.
I don't feel this way about any other stretch of times. Anyone else think similar? Was it the music itself or the fact that my teens were all in the 80s?
denvergardener@reddit
80s had some of the best music of the last 70+ years.
WTF are you talking about?
Legitimate_Working11@reddit
No way. Shitty pop music exists in every era, but the 80’s alternative, ska, punk, post punk scene was fantastic.
Crafty-Farm-8470@reddit
Hard disagree, my dude.
There were some absolutely epic years in music that we got to experience.
Look at 1987, for instance: Incredible albums from- Prince GnR INXS U2 Def Leopard, REM Sonic Youth George Michael Bruce Springsteen Midnight Oil LL Kool J Motley Cru Whitney Houston Aerosmith Sisters of Mercy The Hooters
Etc, etc Nothing like that today, sorry...
CountHonorius@reddit
Beg to differ. 80's music was insanely good - whether it was in English, French, Spanish or Japanese. It became less good after 1987 when everything was either rap or produced by Stock Aiken Waterman. The arrival of grunge in the '90s was a godsend.
viewering@reddit
80S were also Underground
?
Cinisajoy2@reddit
Some bands were good and some were iffy. Admiral mentioned some and the only one they mentioned I liked was Pink Floyd. Didn't care for 80s pop particularly. Now heavy metal and hair bands I liked. I also liked 70s soft rock. I was a teenager late 70s to early 80s.
LIslander_4_evr@reddit
It's the cheesy songs and bands of the 1980s I don't listen to. Such as: The Safety Dance, Whip It, Walk Like An Egyptian, Dancing in The Streets.
Admirable-Currency89@reddit
In my mind, there were some highlights in the 80s. Pink Floyd, Van Halen, Go-Go's, Ramones, Prince, Madonna, REM and some college radio bands leading into GnR, Soundgarden, etc....but yeah, aside from a decent song here and there, the synth and hair metal stuff was just bad.
2insane4@reddit
It takes me back to Casey Kasem and the one hit wonders. I love all kinds of music, being from Detroit. Enjoy the do-whop..motown..60s-90s. Hell I like thrash metal and disco too! It all depends on your taste and mood.
Exponential-777@reddit
No, you aren't the only one. I think most of the 80s synth pop music sucks!
I love synths and have several. Underground electronic music from the 90s is more my style and I still buy new electronic music.
But this sub is an MTV and 80s music non-stop love fest. So I doubt this is going anywhere.
ptindaho@reddit
I think there is always more terrible music than good music, but the good stuff sticks around and often makes us think the older stuff was a better time. There is a ton of good stuff going on right now all with all the bleh crap that is rolling out endlessly. I think Noise pop is better now than it ever was before. Lots of good punk resurging and lots of good 90s indie inspired stuff with 80s synth and such also getting a cool revisit. A lot of great bands from the 90s are doing new stuff, too. I went to a great SkaPunk show last night with Goldfinger and MxPx (plus Homegrown and Zebrahead). Super fun and much like the 90s.
Newer really good bands like Prism Bitch, Chanpan, INJI, and good new hardcore is happening around us. They just aren't blowing up.
1plus1equalsfun@reddit
I didn't much care for a lot of it back then, and have been stuck in the 50s thru 70s all this time.
s1l1c0n3@reddit
Im pretty much the opposite. I don’t understand how people listened to the stuff in the 60’s and 70’s and things only got interesting with punk and beyond.
TheSwedishEagle@reddit
Yeah. Can you believe folk was popular?
s1l1c0n3@reddit
No. Not at all. I also don't understand why people were so into Zeppelin either.
Strong_Medium_6646@reddit
New wave and synth is the best type of music that came out in the 80s!
Sudden_Office8710@reddit
What about the emergence and world domination of hip hop!!?!? It’s still the biggest genre there is especially if you consider Kendrick Lamar and Bad Bunny headlining the last to Superbowls. I’ve traveled all over the world and rap dominates and it doesn’t even matter that I can’t understand them it sounds cool as hell.
Strong_Medium_6646@reddit
I also liked early hip hop and funk too.
Kitchen-Zebra-4402@reddit
The only new music I like now is the stuff that sounds like it was made in the 50s-80s.
oboingadoing@reddit
Nah, I still listen to stuff from when I was a teenager in the 80's. I also listen to older 60s, 70s music and new things that came out this year. I will say some of the best production values came out of the 70s. Some of that music just sounds so good through good speakers.
TheSwedishEagle@reddit
Hmm. I feel the opposite. 80s music was awesome. 70s was the worst except for the disco and funk.
UrsaMajor7th@reddit
It’s your taste and perception, not the quality of the composition and production.
Clamper5978@reddit
There’s music for the moment. And there’s music for a lifetime. I can’t get enough of the music from the 60’s-90’s, depending on the bands and artists. I also like some of the newer acts out today. I prefer more of the Americana sound of some of the newer artists. I really like Billy Strings, Lucas Nelson, and also like some of the rock and metal bands. There are some great R&B singers out, Leon Bridges, who have that old school vibe. Bands from the past worth exploring are bands like Sea Level, Cactus, and if you can dig it up, look for collaborations by artists that occasionally get released. Think Starfleet. Sometimes these surface. Terry Bozzio, Steve Stevens, and Tony Levin, released an album called Black Light Orchestra, in ‘97. Great musicianship.
AZPeakBagger@reddit
I was listening to a talk show a few years back and the host had on an expert on how the human brain processes music. Said that as we age, we start to lose the ability to hear certain tones, notes and frequencies in a musical song. But our brain will fill in those missing pieces from the music we grew up with so that a song from the 80's sounds exactly like it did 40 years ago. Also went on to explain why now at age 50+ when we complain that a new song sounds terrible, it's true. Mostly because we can't hear the entirety of the notes, tones and frequencies.
Sudden_Office8710@reddit
I have serious tinnitus from too many concerts and I think if you can’t appreciate new music you’ve stopped growing and are stuck in whatever era you thought the music was good in. You’ve turned into a crochety curmudgeon. I mean if sir Paul McCartney can get down with Dominic Fike then a GenXer should be able to as well.
Silly_Fortune3725@reddit
The OP is saying that '80s music sounds terrible, not modern music.
Sudden_Office8710@reddit
All I ever heard growing up was this isn’t real music just wait and see when you get older it will be so dated you won’t want to listen to it again. That wasn’t true at all. Even the music I hated in the ‘80s I’ll listen to on occasion just because it automatically takes me back to that moment in time of when it was on the radio.
ElCaminoLady@reddit
Eh, I was picky even back then. Zombie by the cranberries was nails on a chalkboard then, still now. Some of the goofy songs/bands I liked as a teenager (presidents, toadies) sound like kiddie rock now. I was disappointed when everything new just started sounding like American Idol. Granted pop has been around for awhile but now it seems like the only new music. The exceptions have been the more funk or soul tinged songs here and there.. (Bruno mars as a not so good example, can’t remember many) With the whole pop deal I miss actual musicians playing actual instruments. We are the last generation that where able to idolize the players as well as the singer..
JuJu_Wirehead@reddit
When I was real young I grew up listening to 80s music, but in my early teens I got involved in the local punk scene. I would seek out hard to find and obscure music (back then at least) like Crass, TSOL, Subhumans, early Funkadelic, etc. I still look well outside of pop to find good music today. Pop music is always going to be for teens and 20somethings.
80s pop music is just childhood nostalgia for me, I have a playlist of my favorites and will hit it up when I want those feels. Only a few of those "80s" bands ever had good music outside of their one hit and have continued to put out good albums. Tears for Fears and Duran Duran are a couple who have put out some pretty good stuff recently. And rumors have it Tears for Fears is working on a new album and tour.
ImaginaryAd6339@reddit
You're forgetting all the comedy tracks that got popular when radio was still huge in the 90s?
Janet Jackson or Bryan Adams or Coolio or RHCP could have been on the top 9 at 9 with Adam Sandler or Green Jello. The 90s were super weird.
Fun_Interaction_9619@reddit
There is a lot of bad 80s music, but I think the 70s was the best decade for music in every genre of the time. I even like disco - I think it's the orchestral element I appreciate.
Silly_Fortune3725@reddit
I'm not completely anti-'80s, but my nostalgia about that era - in terms of Top 40 and radio rock - is fairly picky and idiosyncratic. Plenty of its alt, college, punk, and indie rock still holds up, though.
RiffRandellsBF@reddit
You're likely the minority. Even then laughing stocks like Flock of Seagulls were true musicians who put out some bangers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwI6xXZh2y0
Fun_Interaction_9619@reddit
I always loved the guitar in I Ran. Cool video.
catnapspirit@reddit
That was very cool..
hippiestitcher@reddit
Nope, there is a ton of 80's music that I still love and listen to regularly. So many great bands and songwriters. <3
shakespeareanon@reddit
Whatever.
IMTrick@reddit
Honestly, this could probably be said of just about any decade. Name a year, and I'd bet I could throw out multiple examples showing how the mainstream pop that was on the radio that year was crap.
I don't mean to knock people who are into mainstream pop... well, I guess that's a hard argument to make after what I just said, but my point is that if you're into real artistry or musicianship, then the mass-marketed Top 40 stuff isn't generally a great place to look for it.
There was a lot of really amazing music in the 80s, but like every other decade, it wasn't usually the stuff that was super commercial and dominating the sales charts.
MhojoRisin@reddit
Your comment brings to mind a couple of things for me:
*In her teens, my daughter was a big fan of 80s music. She wondered why current music wasn't as good. I didn't use the phrase "survivor bias," but I pointed out that she was mostly only hearing the stuff that rose to the top during that period. At the time (like any time), we had to sit through some bad, forgettable music.
*In my teens during the 80s, I was sick of the current stuff on the radio. Hair metal, power ballads, forgettable pop. A good part of the problem for me is that I lived in a smallish town without a ton of radio options. I also didn't have the money or the taste to know how to go about finding music outside of the radio stations. So, I just locked into a classic rock station and enjoyed the hits of the 60s and 70s. Turns out, there was a lot of great stuff going on in the 80s. For example, my daughter just clued me into the Descendents. I started enjoying 80s hip hop in the 2010s. I know Spotify is terrible for artists, but it's done so much to expand my musical horizons.
Fast_Drink_9516@reddit
Pop and the top 40 have always been garbage. I spent a lot of time in the record store on the corner, listening to new things and having friends that listen to new things. Music was a huge part of my social experience.
MJblowsBubbles@reddit
There's something with turning 30 that changes what music we like. I'm 50 and like (and still like) pop music that was out through 2006-2008. Aside from a few songs after this time, I can't stand most of it. And I've heard from younger and older friends and hear the same thing with music after they turned 30 is garbage.
PissedCaucasian@reddit
I don’t mind the synth stuff from the early 80’s but the pop and hair metal were always bad from the late 80’s. That’s when I turned to underground hardcore punk and alternative or what they used to call “college” music. Early 90’s was a quick respite when actual bands with songwriting abilities were in the top 40 but since then pop music has been garbage to me. Guess I’m just getting old.
oglumb@reddit
There were a lot of diverse sounds and experiments with the musical technologies of the 80s. And a lot of what we were exposed to depended on what was played over radio and MTV, and some of it was popular at the time. One could also look back at the 70s and feel the same way about Disco, I suppose. I’m sure it also has to do with what we were going through in our lives, at the time as well, whether we look back fondly at it or cringe a bit inside. Every era has its fads. And music is no exception.
Krazeecatlady69@reddit
I think today's music is ridiculous. Yes, some of the lyrics were cheesy and if written today would be completely inappropriate. Doesn't matter to me because those songs take me right back to where I was at the time, good or bad.
I'm sure there are people who feel the way you do, but most of them won't be posting in this sub.
umair01@reddit
The business model changed, we're not buying cd's, tapes or records anymore. Record companies have no incentive to bring artists to the national stage and release 'good' music and\or promote their music.
Puzzleheaded-Sky3141@reddit
I'm looking at the 80s to early 90s with an open mind. I cringe hard, but thousands of cassettes can't be wrong, dammit. Some of it is utter garbage, sure.
If this should be a different post, I apologize, but some of the 90s didn't survive well either, just saying with love
NaturalForty@reddit
Living through the 80s, I thought that most popular music from roughly 1985-1991 was terrible. They was plenty of good stuff but it was, you know, alternative.
I also think rock music went downhill in the late 90s, when "adult alternative" and nu metal were things. I listened to hip hop for a few years until rock improved again.