Music today

There are some great comments and arguments here.  I still believe that there are great artists today and yesterday, so I find music I like in all eras.  Now, I am referring more to progressive of course, because pop music and radio music has always been mostly bad, but  I feel that music on the radio was much better and included more styles during the 60s and 70s.  I grew up not knowing what progressive music was, but I still had exposure to it on the radio, and that is what got me interested in the complexities of it all.  I look back now and find that almost all of the music I purchased on vinyl, 8-track and cassette was progressive and I didn't even know it.  I loved and owned most of the albums from Pink Floyd, Kansas, Blue Oyster Cult, UK, Steely Dan, Genesis, Yes, and so on, and it wasn't until 1980 when I was asked what groups I liked and named these off, the person responded by saying "Oh so you like progressive rock."  Pretending I knew what she was talking about I said, "Ehrmmm.... Sure!"  So what I am saying is, at least where I grew up, that I got my knowledge of progressive rock from the radio, however, I didn't realize it then.  I don't think this would happen nowadays, at least on commercial radio.  Now all that music sounds the same.  And let's not even start about how God-awful country music has become lately.  It was bad before, but now it is just automated drivel where all of the crap sounds the same and people gobble it up like candy.

Edited by TCat - July 22 2019 at 09:06

Music overall: better in the past

I voted music from the past. One reason is that to some degree at least most of the good ideas and melodies have already been done. Along those lines does anyone really think there will be a band in the next few years(or even from the past few years)as good as the Beatles, Rolling Stones, the Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd just to name a few? I don't. Even if we limit ourselves to prog I don't think there are many(if any)current bands even approaching the greatness of Yes, Genesis, PF, ELP, Camel, KC, JT, etc. Sure, there's some good music out there but I think the best(even in prog)is way in the past. 

Edited by AFlowerKingCrimson - July 22 2019 at 13:34

Despite being born in the 80s, 99% of what I listen to and love was made BEFORE I was born.

If we're talking about my past (I'll be 65 in December) then there is no way that music today is better.  NO WAY. 

When I started to get interested in music, and even more when I found prog, I paid very little attention to the "modern" music of the time. Well, first I used to put MTV a good deal of time (in the 90's), and so I got to know many very nice (pop) songs of the time, but from 00's up to a few years ago, I really dismissed the music that was being released at the time (I had to make up for the older music that I was discovering). However, I wouldn't even say that I think the music when I was growing up was best (90's), but rather the music from the 70's. Now that I have been paying more attention to modern music, and a bit of what I missed a little earlier on, I still think the same... well, of course 90's music would be better than today's too. However, I do have found some nice stuff around, specially on prog (of course), but still, even knowing these great bands and music being done today, I can't help but return to the classics, and not easily will I want to hear something modern instead (except for a few albums). Even for prog metal, I would rather listen to what was done in the 90's / 00's to what is being released today. And for me that's the most important factor, I can try to understand and explain any number of qualities in the music, but in the end it's all about what I feel like listening and what I don't really want to listen on a common basis.

There's a lot of great music coming out today, as far as the popular stuff, yeah not a fan. But Steven Wilson, Wobbler, Dear Hunter, King Gizzard, Neal Morse are all doing great stuff. That said most my favorite albums are from the 70s. I'm gonna chose not to vote though.

MortSahlFan wrote: Despite being born in the 80s, 99% of what I listen to and love was made BEFORE I was born.