Worst Decade in Modern Music?

I'd have to go with the 90's. The biggest musical movement of that decade was grunge, and its only saving grace was Nirvana, and a couple of good Pearl Jam songs. Other than that, what do we have? Sure hip-hop was expanding (Ice-T and such), but this was overshadowed by the horrible alt-rock, teen pop, and nu metal that saturated the airwaves. That, and I absolutely can't stand Lilith Fair-style "chick rock". Though that's probably more do to personal overexposure than those musicians being bad, from what I've heard.

The 70's. You had a few really cool bands, but the majority of the decade was dominated by disco. Nuff said.

50's: It's unfair to take this decade into consideration when all I've really listened to is Davis/Brubeck/Charles/Coltrane.

60's: Same as 50's, though there's the birth of popular rock with The Beatles and The Yardbirds; and Psychedelic and, well, this album was released. Plus several of my favourite 70's bands formed, as well.

70's: Albums by Genesis, King Crimson, Pink Floyd and Yes. Plus the Canterbury Prog. Scene got in to full swing around this time too. Plus there are countless Classic Rock bands, and the growing of Heavy Metal bands like Sabbath, Rush and Blue Oyster Cult and yeah I'm a big 70's fanboy.

80's: Thrash/Speed/Death/Doom Metal. 'nuff said.

I'm torn between the 90's and 00's: nothing really ground-breaking came from either decade [unless somebody's going to argue that Post-Rock is a revelation in underground music; I don't really see a bunch of Average Joes being able to record music on to a Personal Computer with cheap recording equipment being a genre, though YMMV]. Maybe I'm just bitching about these two decades as I grew up in them, and had to experience the bad as well as the good? I dunno.

I picked the 00's for the worst decade. But it's exaggeration as I do like some Tool, Disturbed, Dragonforce, Psyclon Nine, etc. But going by Top 40 radio leads me to my conclusion that it was pretty bad- although Lady Gaga really is pretty good.

APPLE BOTTOM JEANS
BOOTS WITH THE FUR
THE WHOLE CLUB WAS LOOKIN' AT HER
SHE HIT THE FLOOR
NEXT THING YOU KNOW
SHORTY GOT LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW LOW

The 90's was pretty okay, I didn't listen to much pop, but Nirvana and Alice in Chains were good. Metallica was going downhill but Load/Reload have their moments of good. The Black Album was pretty good, Garage, Inc. had some good covers. KMFDM released their best stuff in the 90s. Marilyn Manson got started, Skinny Puppy was actually good then... GWAR... the best rap comes from the 90s. Green Day was good back then.

But all I did as a kid then was listen to the Alternative Rock station, so I really don't know much of the mainstream stuff, besides a bit of NSync/Backstreet Boys/Eminem.

The 90s weren't as bad as everyone says, but music generally meandered in that decade. The middle of the decade had some good songs, depending on which genre you were into.

The problem with the 90s from what I can tell is that bands that had a lot of success in the late 80s and early 90s got tired, lazy, or both, which brought us to the current trend of songwriting that involves writing a refrain, coming up with a couple of two-line verses, and using a solo or two to stretch the whole thing to two and a half minutes. Mass produced and utterly without substance.

This trend continued into the double aughts, dragging the decade down until we got this musical abortion.

Also, every Dragonforce song is this combined with terrible vocals.

Penguin wrote:

This trend continued into the double aughts, dragging the decade down until we got this musical abortion.

That is not this. Or anything these guys have made.

Oh God, now that I think about it the 00's have spawned the -cores. That's a bad decade. Go sit on the naughty step and think about what you've done. No, you may not take your hair straighteners with you.

Just Chipper wrote:

Plus the Canterbury Prog.

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I voted for the Noughties (vomit) because I think Poker Face may have been the best song of the decade. And I hate that song.

...I like a lot of music from all of those decades.

Sorry.

Quote :

I'm torn between the 90's and 00's: nothing really ground-breaking came from either decade [unless somebody's going to argue that Post-Rock is a revelation in underground music; I don't really see a bunch of Average Joes being able to record music on to a Personal Computer with cheap recording equipment being a genre, though YMMV]. Maybe I'm just bitching about these two decades as I grew up in them, and had to experience the bad as well as the good? I dunno.

The 2000's had "The Marshall Mathers LP", "The Slim Shady LP" (Eminem), "Kid A", "In Rainbows" (Radiohead), "Sea Change" (Beck), and put out MIA, Kanye West, and Lady Gaga, and Green Day have been putting out their best material since "Dookie". While the White Stripes and the Kills and the Vines may not be particularly original, you have to admit they rock pretty hard (I like them).

Just sayin'.

Mr.Doobie wrote:

Quote :

I'm torn between the 90's and 00's: nothing really ground-breaking came from either decade [unless somebody's going to argue that Post-Rock is a revelation in underground music; I don't really see a bunch of Average Joes being able to record music on to a Personal Computer with cheap recording equipment being a genre, though YMMV]. Maybe I'm just bitching about these two decades as I grew up in them, and had to experience the bad as well as the good? I dunno.

The 2000's had "The Marshall Mathers LP", "The Slim Shady LP" (Eminem), "Kid A", "In Rainbows" (Radiohead), "Sea Change" (Beck), and put out MIA, Kanye West, and Lady Gaga, and Green Day have been putting out their best material since "Dookie". While the White Stripes and the Kills and the Vines may not be particularly original, you have to admit they rock pretty hard (I like them).

Just sayin'.

I don't really care for any of those bands. Though I will say the 00's has the benefit of Mastodon/Between the Buried and Me/general resurgence in Thrash Metal/Sludge Metal. It's just that things like Crunk, and Crunkcore and Deathcore and so many bad bands that counter the good.

Zeiss Manifold wrote:

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I've only listened to their first two albums, though I keep on meaning to listening to more of their stuff! I much prefer Comus, Camel and Egg, along with Curved Air [if they count].

EDIT: Curved Air don't, I guess. Same kind of sound, though.

EDIT2: vvv I love Death Cab's first two albums. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] even though "We have the facts" was made in 2000 vvv

Screw all of you, I loved my 90's indie rock.

00s, yes it had albums like "The Blackening" in metal, but that's really on the fringes.

The overwhelming majority of mainstream rock/pop, and "alternative" rock became a big mush of bland, insipid, saminess. Mainstream rock bands of the 70s & 80s (and even 90s era U2, and bands like Nirvana) piss all over The Killers, Keane, Razorlight and even The Kings of Leon who are probably one of the better ones.

And the -cores. Oh the -cores. May they all disappear into nothing and be forgotten.

Mr.Doobie wrote:

While the White Stripes and the Kills and the Vines may not be particularly original, you have to admit they rock pretty hard (I like them).

The White Stripes are a disease, a cancer of the music industry.

All I "have to admit" about the White Stripes is that they had a few good songs, and then created absolute shitpiles like "My Doorbell." And when that lyrical laziness was too much, they covered "Walking with a Ghost," which is the musical equivalent of having screw drivers shoved into your ears.

Hot Cancer wrote:

00s, yes it had albums like "The Blackening" in metal, but that's really on the fringes.

The overwhelming majority of mainstream rock/pop, and "alternative" rock became a big mush of bland, insipid, saminess. Mainstream rock bands of the 70s & 80s (and even 90s era U2, and bands like Nirvana) piss all over The Killers, Keane, Razorlight and even The Kings of Leon who are probably one of the better ones.

And the -cores. Oh the -cores. May they all disappear into nothing and be forgotten.

I liked the Killers, never heard of Keane or Razorlight, and thought Kings of Leon were absolutely shitty. I didn't even much like "Holy Roller Novacaine"or "Aha Shake Heartbreak", albums people promised me were good. They just kind of struck me as uninteresting and full of filler.

I thought Mastodon were pretentious and overrated. And they're complete dicks, but that's beside the point.

And as for crappy mainstream rock, you could say every decade had that.

For example...

50's - For every Chuck Berry or Bo Diddley there was at least 3 Chubby Checkers
60's - Hermans Hermits, 1901 Fruitgum Company, Vanilla Fudge, Blue Cheer
70's - Isaac Hayes later career, every James Taylor rip-off (I don't much like James Taylor, either), Iron Butterfly, Def Leppard
80's - Oingo Boingo, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Ratt, Dokken, Great White
90's - Toad the Wet Sprocket, Lit, Alein Ant Farm

My vote is still on the 90's, because even the proclaimed opus (the grunge/alt-rock revolution) wasn't really that good. The only strong, bands in its corner were Green Day and Nirvana, and Green Day only put out one good album during the 90's ("Dookie"), while Nirvana imploded by 1994. Sorry, but Nirvana is not good enough to excuse the likes of Alein Ant Farm and Lit.

Not only that, but remember, 90's alt-rock inspired the current mainstream cheese rock awfulness of Nickelback and Hinder. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Quote :

It's just that things like Crunk, and Crunkcore and Deathcore and so many bad bands that counter the good.

It certainly makes me feel better that there are about 2 bands that actually play crunkcore, and they're relatively obscure and will be quickly forgotten.

Also: Who voted for the 60's, 70's, and 80's? I'd like to hear their reasoning!

On the whole, I'd say the 00s had the highest proportional volume of post-adolescent eunuch whining about things like how haaaaaaard it is to be middle-class and white and get dumped by that chick who finally realized how shallow you are. During the '90s, at least they didn't play that retarded shit nonstop, but over the past several years, I've started having to seriously get into classic rock just to avoid it... and to my everlasting shame, I have discovered that I love hair metal. And synthesizers.

Sarin wrote:

...I've started having to seriously get into classic rock just to avoid it... and to my everlasting shame, I have discovered that I love hair metal. And synthesizers.

Nothing wrong with that. Seriously, how can you go wrong with hair metal and synthesizers?

I'm in a permanent state of envy for my mother, though. She saw Van Halen live TWICE, once in summer of '80, and again in '84. She also saw so many other hair metal/classic rock acts live- Journey, The Scorpions, Def Leppard, Dokken, Ratt, Motley Crue, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Peter Frampton, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, etc etc. And the best part was she saw them live when they were young and had good performances. I saw Crue live last year and it was really a disappointment.

And because of how awesome the music was (to me) back then, I keep thinking I was born way after my time. Oh well. I do like stuff from the 00's but nowhere near as much.



Also take note how David Lee Roth's attire is similar to Khan and his crew's. Roth's even rockin' Khan's long hair. So eighties

Nihilist wrote:

Sarin wrote:

...I've started having to seriously get into classic rock just to avoid it... and to my everlasting shame, I have discovered that I love hair metal. And synthesizers.

Nothing wrong with that. Seriously, how can you go wrong with hair metal and synthesizers?

I'm in a permanent state of envy for my mother, though. She saw Van Halen live TWICE, once in summer of '80, and again in '84. She also saw so many other hair metal/classic rock acts live- Journey, The Scorpions, Def Leppard, Dokken, Ratt, Motley Crue, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, Peter Frampton, AC/DC, Eric Clapton, etc etc. And the best part was she saw them live when they were young and had good performances. I saw Crue live last year and it was really a disappointment.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

To the bold: Trust me, I wouldn't feel envious if I were you. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I pull on your panties,
Than I pull on your tights,
And I say 'Darling',
'Don't I look wonderful, tonight?'

Answering my question about bad things from previous decades:

60's: You could argue against hippies, and bands like the Monkees, Herman's Hermits, or 1901 Fruitgum Company. This was the golden age of sappy, sickly sweet bubblegum. Not only that, but bad psychedelic music (ie: Ultimate Spinach)
70's: The singer-songwriter invasion. A good deal of bad hard rock/heavy metal acts (ie: Grand Funk Railroad) and even worse prog acts (ie: Rush and Yes).
80's: Probably the cheesiest decade. Also: bad hair metal.

I can't really decide... I do, however, agree with Nihilist's defense of the 90's. If there's one thing that annoys me, it's when people whine about the 90's/00's being shit compared to any earlier decade. Yes, the earlier decades were awesome too, but they weren't devoid of vapid, painful shit either - it's just that the good stuff has obviously been better-remembered and the bad shit has faded into obscurity, while the bad shit from the 90's/00's is still fresher on everyone's minds.

Mr.Doobie wrote:

I thought Mastodon were pretentious and overrated.

A few people I've spoke to seem to think the same way about them and I don't get it. How are they pretentious? [I find calling any form of music 'pretentious' to be utter bullshit simply because 99% of the time it's somebody saying "I don't like this band's music and I don't know why so I'll just call them pretentious"] I've asked each time somebody labels them like that and have gotten either no answer in return or just a half-assed "they're pretentious i don't like them" excuse.

Their last album may be over-rated, sure. Everything else has been solid gold, though, and Crack the Skye was still one of the better releases of 2009. :B

Mr.Doobie wrote:

and even worse prog acts (ie: Rush and Yes).

Oh, you have just made yourself completely irredeemable in my eyes. Pah.

Mr.Doobie wrote:

Nihilist wrote:

I'm in a permanent state of envy for my mother,
though. She saw ... Eric Clapton

Trust me, I wouldn't feel envious if I were you. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oh now, come on.

Quote :

It certainly makes me feel better that there are
about 2 bands that actually play crunkcore, and they're relatively
obscure and will be quickly forgotten.

We can only hope. Only then, a newer, dumber fad will probably roll around. What with Nu-Metal being influenced by the earlier br00tal Metal and Underground Hip-Hop scenes, and Scene taking its influences from 90's Emo and being spoilt brats, you could probably pick what was the biggest growth of the last 5-10 years and make it heavy as fvckk, and you have a new awful genre. I call dibs on it involving video game sounds, seeing as gaming's become so much more popular over the last few years and... wait, wait... FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Just Chipper wrote:

Mr.Doobie wrote:

Nihilist wrote:

I'm in a permanent state of envy for my mother,
though. She saw ... Eric Clapton

Trust me, I wouldn't feel envious if I were you. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Oh now, come on.

Now I'm going to like it even more out of spite. I dedicate my 24 hour Van Halen block to you, Mr. Doobie. Perhaps we shall incorporate some transvestite bingo into the mixture.

Zeiss Manifold wrote:

Just Chipper wrote:

Plus the Canterbury Prog.

ANOTHER SOFT MACHINE FAN ON WGW WHAT IS THIS

MIND WAS BLOWN. I am loving this thread. I never get to talk about prog. (I went to a Jethro Tull concert, bitches)

I went with the '90s because of a) boy bands and b) shit like Brittany Spears got its start then. The '00s have some good music, it's just not in the mainstream. In fact it's nowhere near the mainstream. I'd be surprised if it got a single radio play, actually. Of course, the '00s also brought about the horrible indie scene (and scene scene, too), so...

Quote :

The '00s have some good music, it's just not in the mainstream. In fact it's nowhere near the mainstream. I'd be surprised if it got a single radio play, actually. Of course, the '00s also brought about the horrible indie scene (and scene scene, too), so...

Yeah, I kept on meaning to bring up how the Internet's worked so well in bringing underground bands to music fans, and how as a result there's more out there to influence musicians and inspire them to perfect what they're trying to do. Though, yeah, we're on a major double-ended sword as it's much easier for garbage to become popular, so I've tried not to count it as a bonus/hindering for my opinion on the last ten or so years in music because both extremes have been pushed really far as a result.

Dr. Professor Science wrote:

Zeiss Manifold wrote:

Just Chipper wrote:

Plus the Canterbury Prog.

ANOTHER SOFT MACHINE FAN ON WGW WHAT IS THIS

MIND WAS BLOWN. I am loving this thread. I never get to talk about prog. (I went to a Jethro Tull concert, bitches)

You see, I haven't listened to that much Jethro either. XD [though I saw a vinyl copy of Thick as a Brick in an old store last week and was tempted to buy it simply because of the fact, well, a classic Prog album on vinyl! I saw Peter Gabriel IV, along with Steely Dan's Katy Lied there too, but I really need to save money]

Just Chipper wrote:

Dr. Professor Science wrote:

Zeiss Manifold wrote:

Just Chipper wrote:

Plus the Canterbury Prog.

ANOTHER SOFT MACHINE FAN ON WGW WHAT IS THIS

MIND WAS BLOWN. I am loving this thread. I never get to talk about prog. (I went to a Jethro Tull concert, bitches)

You see, I haven't listened to that much Jethro either. XD [though I saw a vinyl copy of Thick as a Brick in an old store last week and was tempted to buy it simply because of the fact, well, a classic Prog album on vinyl! I saw Peter Gabriel IV, along with Steely Dan's Katy Lied there too, but I really need to save money]

Thick as a Brick is one of my favourite albums of all time. Go listen to it. Right now. I have Fragile on vinyl and then I realized that my record player is broken so I didn't buy any more.

To all of you folks baggin' on the '00s era of music, I bring you:

Jenny Lewis, The Black Keys, Wolfmother, OK Go, Franz Ferdinand, The Donnas, E.S. Posthumus, Fleet Foxes, Flogging Molly, Jason Mraz, Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend, Pendulum, Mason Jennings, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Mika, moe., Neko Case, The Paper Raincoat, Scissor Sisters, and Supergrass.

And if you haven't heard of at LEAST one of these bands/people, it's no fuckin' wonder some of you hate the '00s music. I will weep.

(Disclaimer: *some of these people may have spawned in the 90s and run into the '00s, however.)