Is music worse than ever?

wv wrote:

If you dont know who Max Martin is (and i didnt), watch the video.

w
v

That was a good one.

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joemad wrote:

there is hope in “modern music” that is not influenced by Max Martin… these kids sound pretty good…..

BTW, I too don’t have the patience to view 20 min vids on topics like this…… thus, on the youtube screen, note the “sprocket” (settings) on the lower right of the vid and select “speed” to view the video in faster (or slower) speed. (IF viewing from a smart phone, note the 3 dots on the upper right of your screen to adjust vid speed)

That’s ironic considering that impatience is one of the causes of the demise of modern music. So…in a way, it’s the fault of people like you, huh?

joemad: assassin of music

Some older artist are coming back like Freddie Jackson, Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, Mary J Blige is still around, there is still Beyonce, Jill Scott, plus some fantastic young female artists, like Marsha Ambrosious, Janelle Monae, K. Michelle, Sevyn Streeter, Ledesi, and let’s not forget my new favorite female artist, Keisha Cole. She also has a bangin body as well.

Interesting video, and it passes the old “smell test.”

I’d love to see a similar study done of trajectories within a musician’s career. I’m betting it would find that most of them tend to start out with greater musical diversity and complexity, and their lyrics were superior in the beginning as well.

Bruce Springsteen comes to mind right off the bat. His first two or three albums had far richer textures, tonal diversity and complexity than his later albums, and he took more chances with his lyrics. Strangely enough, they seemed more “mature” than many of his later offerings — at least to me.

U2 strikes me as having a similar trajectory and loss over time, though they had a pretty good run through the 1980s. Bad Company as well (in the 1970s), though it happened faster with them. Perhaps just one great album, and a descent into pop.

Some artists hung in there longer than others. In my view, Cat Stevens made four great albums before he basically lost it, but the first two on that list — Tea for the Tillerman and Teaser and the Firecat — were richer lyrically, while the last of the four, “Foreigner,” took the most chances musically.

That study might stumble upon a few who never fell. I’d place Van Morrison in that group. He seems never to have lost his innovation, complexity, intelligence, etc. From beginning to end.

I’m partial to the music I grew up with. For the most part I stopped listening to new music sometime in the early 90’s.

There are some newer bands I like, but only because they have a retro style reminiscent of the music from my youth.

I like that there are young people who are drawn to older musical styles. Here’s a young blues artist I like doing a Sabbath cover.