Best recent decade in music

Which decade was overall the best musically?

  • the 50s

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • the 60s

    Votes: 7 17.1%
  • the 70s

    Votes: 12 29.3%
  • the 80s

    Votes: 8 19.5%
  • the 90s

    Votes: 8 19.5%
  • this decade (so far)

    Votes: 1 2.4%
  • other (within the last century though--we're talking SOMEWHAT recent)

    Votes: 2 4.9%
  • no clear winner in my mind

    Votes: 3 7.3%

  • Total voters
    41

allan2

Gone Fishing
Joined
Apr 2, 2002
Messages
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Location
Minneapolis, MN, USA
Which decade, in your opinion, produced the overall best music?

The 50s with the fun, fresh start of rock'n'roll?
The 60s with their psychedelic experimentation?
The 70s with the rise of progressive rock, or did you like the disco or early punk?
The 80s with the "new wave" sound and synthesizers?
The 90s with "alternative", "grunge", and rap?
Or this decade, still young--but does it appear to have some promise?

I'll hold off from voting (and revealing my own opinion) for awhile.... But let's just say I think the 80s were the LOW point of music...IMHO.
 
It is a toss up between the 50s and the 60s, but the 1960s win on account of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band.:D
 
Originally posted by allan2
But let's just say I think the 80s were the LOW point of music...IMHO.
:confused:
The 80s which saw U2, Queen, Simple Minds, Madonna and Michael Jackson in their best shape and you call it the low point of music?
 
"The 80s which saw U2, Queen, Simple Minds, Madonna and Michael Jackson in their best shape and you call it the low point of music?"

Yeah, the 80s which saw the Culture Club, Paula Abdul, Glass Tiger, the Pet Shop Boys, the Human League, Wang Chung, The Thompson Twins, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Madonna and Michael Jackson....

Sure, SOME good bands like U2, the Police and REM started there, but they were, more than any other decade I can recall (I wasn't around in the 50s or most of the 60s), lost in the junk....

OVERALL they were the worst decade. I.e., as compared to other decades, I think the 80s was a relative drought in terms of good music. Lots of pretentious stuff and bubblegum crap, with a FEW good bands giving some relief, or reason to even have the radio on at all....

And Queen really peaked in the 70s--News of the World and A Night at the Opera were both from that great decade....
 
Are you talking about (pop-) music in general?
I mean, in all of these decades there was mainstream music and a whole lot of "alternative" (in the real sense) or "experimental" music. So I think you'll find something good in all of these decades (even the 80s) but if you have to focus on the mainstream it is quite hard.
I agree with allan that the 80s were the worst of the above, for the reasons he mentioned.
I'm quite undecided but I think my vote has to go to the 90s for a simple reason. The 90s were heavily influenced by the decades before them. I think the variations in style were the biggest in that decade. Just think of Grunge, Hip-Hop, Country and Boybands in one decade (not that this is all great, but as I said, the bad things were in the other decades as well). There's also been all kinds of new or experimental music, including Techno.
For that diversity the 90s get my vote.
 
No clear winner. The 50s had a lot of 'black' music gettin' out to middle class and working class (and maybe some rich too) white kids and laid the foundation for Rock and Roll.

So the 60s has like the Doors and Pink Floyd at some of their best, and its got (early) Rolling Stones, Cream, Yardbirds, etc.

The 70s had Pink Floyd again, Black Sabbath, some lesser known underground prog rock bands, and of course Punk in England and the U.S. Had some well and lesser known lesser known punk bands in both countries.

The 80s was (REAL) good for underground metal and hardcore/punk.

The 90s had 'grunge' and very ecclectic music that I hold in high regard.
 
Originally posted by allan2
Yeah, the 80s which saw the Culture Club, Paula Abdul, Glass Tiger, the Pet Shop Boys, the Human League, Wang Chung, The Thompson Twins, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran, Madonna and Michael Jackson....
Ah come on! Pet Shop Boys, Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran were not bad (I'm being serious here.)
In that list you simply must have forgotten Modern Talking.;)
 
60s or 80s?
Beatles vs Queen
hard to tell
Pink Floyd vs Dire Straits
still no decision
Inventing rock vs inventing pop
And the 60s win!!!
 
70s were the best, followed by 60s and 90s
 
Originally posted by G-Man
60s or 80s?
Beatles vs Queen
hard to tell
Pink Floyd vs Dire Straits
still no decision
Inventing rock vs inventing pop
And the 60s win!!!

Is there really any comparison between Beatles/Queen OR Floyd/Straits?

I mean Queen and Straits were both quality bands that I enjoy, but Beatles and Floyd are legends!
 
Floyd is a 70s band through and through. Like Led Zeppelin. They both released a bit in the late 60's but didnt hit it big until the 70s. Same with bands like Jethro Tull or CSNY.

If you want to use the 60's argument, someone like Hendrix or the Rolling Stones or perhaps even the Doors are probably more appropriate.
 
Everyone knows that Rock and Roll achieved perfection in 1974. It's a scientifically proven fact.
 
The 80's were the best decade for rap. In the late 80's, rap was just beggining to break into the mainstream, and there was a lot of diversity. There was political rappers like Public Enemy and KRS ONE, humorus ones like Biz Markie, battle rappers like Big Daddy Kane, and of course, gangsta rappers like NWA. But all that dissapeared in the early nineties :( . But since I'm the only one who cares about rap here, my opinion is irrelevant. I think the 70's were the best decade for metal. I am undecided.
 
Don't forget LL Cool J, one of the ultimate rap masters of the 80s and 2 Live Crew who opened up A WHOLE ****LOAD of doors for rappers in the future.
 
Pink Floyd from the 60's, with Syd Barrett, sounds nothing like the Pink Floyd of the 70's. If one just heard a 60's Floyd vs a 70's Floyd on the radio, no one would think they were from the same band.

I did this to my sister once. She was complaining that Pink Floyd was too depressing and not happy enough for her. :rolleyes: So I played "See Emily Play" (From the Piper album) and asked her if she liked it. She did, and then I asked her to guess the band. :lol:
 
Originally posted by monk
The 80's were the best decade for rap. In the late 80's, rap was just beggining to break into the mainstream, and there was a lot of diversity. There was political rappers like Public Enemy and KRS ONE, humorus ones like Biz Markie, battle rappers like Big Daddy Kane, and of course, gangsta rappers like NWA. But all that dissapeared in the early nineties :( . But since I'm the only one who cares about rap here, my opinion is irrelevant. I think the 70's were the best decade for metal. I am undecided.

What?! You resent the presence of Jay-Z (AKA Bling-Bling-Fo-Sheezee-My-Neezee), Ja Rule (AKA The Chanting Cookie Monster with an Attitude), Snoop Dogg (AKA Da Dogg Father), Dr. Dre (AKA I-am-sampling-simple-stupid-sounds-and-putting-them-into-music-with-beat), Eminem (AKA If you hate me, I love you), Timbaland (AKA fricky-fricky-fricky) and their crew??? Unbelievable. :rolleyes:

In terms of rap, Nas is IMO is good though in the 90s.

And... aside from Micheal Jackson (bring on the moonwalk!), the 80s represented the optimal point of bad music.
 
Originally posted by SuperR


What?! You resent the presence of Jay-Z (AKA Bling-Bling-Fo-Sheezee-My-Neezee), Ja Rule (AKA The Chanting Cookie Monster with an Attitude), Snoop Dogg (AKA Da Dogg Father), Dr. Dre (AKA I-am-sampling-simple-stupid-sounds-and-putting-them-into-music-with-beat), Eminem (AKA If you hate me, I love you), Timbaland (AKA fricky-fricky-fricky) and their crew??? Unbelievable. :rolleyes:

In terms of rap, Nas is IMO is good though in the 90s.

And... aside from Micheal Jackson (bring on the moonwalk!), the 80s represented the optimal point of bad music.

:lol: :lol: :lol: You forgot Master P[AKA Mr. I 've got lots of cash and f**k plenty of h*s, if you don't like me n*gga I'll knock off your nose]. And yes, Nas is good. He killed Jay Z when he released Stillmatic. Wu Tang and Mobb Deep were good in the early nineties. The eighties sucked for every kind of music except rap.
 
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