Best decade for music

[thomasowen]

The BBC has been repeating a very intresting series in which it puts the decades of pop on trial, its worth watching.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b008s...n_Trial_Finale/

I'm just intrested to know what some people on here think is the best decade for music, it seems a lot of Reading and Leeds goers are devoted to the 90s but is this the best decade for music?

Personally for me it's the 60s by a country mile although I would be very hard pushed to name my 2nd place.

The TV show is good if you want a recap and although it doesn't include the 00's I thought I would add it anyway.

Edited May 7, 2009 by thomasowen

[VCK]

The 90s are my favourite decade for music, followed by the 80s.

[TurnsLeftLooksRight]

Without really thinking too hard about it I chose the 90s, predominantly for bands such the Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nine Inch Nails etc. But being a teenager in the 2000s I have enjoyed alot of music from these last 8 years, though admitably not from the first two bands I mentioned earlier...

[kaosmark2]

I've gone with this decade, although that's mainly due to what I know. Sure a huge number of the bands I really love formed earlier, but there's still a huge number of fantastic bands forming and developing in this decade, and a number of older acts have produced some fantastic work.

Also, while I still buy CDs, the internet has done wonders for music. It's increased its exposure, it means bands have much more freedom to defy record labels. We no longer need magazines to find out about gigs. Fans are much more connected to discuss music with each other (eg. this forum, blogs).

[thomasowen]

I've gone with this decade, although that's mainly due to what I know. Sure a huge number of the bands I really love formed earlier, but there's still a huge number of fantastic bands forming and developing in this decade, and a number of older acts have produced some fantastic work.

Also, while I still buy CDs, the internet has done wonders for music. It's increased its exposure, it means bands have much more freedom to defy record labels. We no longer need magazines to find out about gigs. Fans are much more connected to discuss music with each other (eg. this forum, blogs).

[Joshuwarr]

90s or 00s for me. Although the most interesting bands of all time came out of the late 70s/80s (The Fall, Sonic Youth, Pixies, Talking Heads, Devo etc).

[j...rox]

90's was great until near the end until The Strokes came back round in 03. Up till about 97 was flawless. Bit too young to go with anything before. Been really enjoying a lot of albums from about 06 onwards, but equally there's been some dead rubbish stuff.

[504329lt]

Late 70s / early 80s

[Budweiser]

90s by far, this is mostly becuase i grew up listening to that type of music.

[robsadler]

it is hard not to say the 90's as it was the decade i went to school in, went to my first gig, bought my first album and generally got into music in.

there were a lot of good bands and albums......

oasis, radiohead, the prodigy, ash, symposium, pulp, ocean colour scene, weezer, rage against the machine meaning a lot to me.

robx

[Budweiser]

it is hard not to say the 90's as it was the decade i went to school in, went to my first gig, bought my first album and generally got into music in.

there were a lot of good bands and albums......

oasis, radiohead, the prodigy, ash, symposium, pulp, ocean colour scene, weezer, rage against the machine meaning a lot to me.

robx

[Explosions_In_The_Sky]

I'm going to be a complete arse and cut across two decades = 1984 to 1994

Some pretty seminal records from:

Sonic Youth, REM, Fugazi, U2, The Smiths, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Aphex Twin, Public Enemy, Pixies, Husker Du, Nirvana, The Cure, Nofx, Smashing Pumpkins, Kyuss, Dinosaur Jr, bad Religion, Nine Inch Nails, The Replacements, Nas, Green Day, Minutemen.

60s and 00s run it pretty close. The later part of the 90s (except Elliott Smith and Radiohead) and the bulk of the 70s (up till post punk) except Floyd and The Stooges were personally a wasteland.

[SJH]

For me it has to be the 90's. Most of the stuff I listen to now comes from that decade; although that's not to say the 2000's hasn't been bad, just not as good.

[thetime]

geesh its got to be the 90s by far and stretching to the late 80s. but that what I grew up with.

if we had this same discussion in 10 year how many bands from this decade would have the same affection that radiohead, the smiths, oasis, blur, pupl, sugarcubes, carter usm, neds, pwei have.

[thomasowen]

I was a kid in the 90s, just old enough to remember Britpop in its sightly faded stage (96-99) and I hated it, I remember liking Wonderwall, A couple of oceon colour scene songs and a few others but overall I thought it was boring. I spent the 90s listening to 60s and 70s records and the 00's revisiting the 90s, because now I can dig deeper. I still dont think its a patch on the other decades though, I mean 95% were copycats of some that had gone before.

If I could cut between decades, I would choose 1962-1972

Edited May 8, 2009 by thomasowen

[thetime]

I mean 95% were copycats of some that had gone before.

[thomasowen]

cant you say that about most music from the 50's?

[thetime]

umm no. I'm not just talking about the mainstream, even altenative or underground or indie music in the 90s had lost it's originality.

[kaosmark2]

Some good reasons (I think if this decade is rememberd for anything it will be the way bands have used the internet with particular refrence to Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys and Lilly Allen). However I believe that its hard to get any perepective on this decade yet. Whilst I have been a teenager during these years and I probably love more bands from this decade than any other I would still say its not been a productive time for music. Bands now are releasing far, far less albums than they were 20 or 30 years ago and there have been far less developments in music, every band is just repeating whats gone before, even the great ones.

[kaosmark2]

I'm going to be a complete arse and cut across two decades = 1984 to 1994

Some pretty seminal records from:

Sonic Youth, REM, Fugazi, U2, The Smiths, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Aphex Twin, Public Enemy, Pixies, Husker Du, Nirvana, The Cure, Nofx, Smashing Pumpkins, Kyuss, Dinosaur Jr, bad Religion, Nine Inch Nails, The Replacements, Nas, Green Day, Minutemen.

60s and 00s run it pretty close. The later part of the 90s (except Elliott Smith and Radiohead) and the bulk of the 70s (up till post punk) except Floyd and The Stooges were personally a wasteland.

[thomasowen]

I disagree. Radiohead have released their 2nd-4th best albums, post-rock has flourished, there's been a huge number of fantastic electronic bands, North American and Canadian indie has been strong. I think people forget that whilst there's a lot of tat around now, there was a lot of tat around in previous decades, it's just they're not still listening to it. Because it's still shit.

Come 2015 there will be bands crediting acts of this decade with a similar level of reverence as the likes of RATM get now.

[thomasowen]

but you are talking about the main stream? how many bands in the undergrond scene do you know of? what period of the 90s are you getting at? mst indie music was non mainstream until oasis made everything more mainstream in around 1993ish. I remember being at college in 1990/1991 and the likes of carter, sugercubes, pwei, neds etc etc were very much not mainstream so to speak.

[thetime]

But those bands can trace their roots back to a genre thats gone before. Everything worth talking about had happened by the 90s, there was no new stuff to explore, so bands just worked on improving on existing genres (and that doesn't make them bad and as I say there are some exceptions to the rule.)

[thomasowen]

but all bands evolve from whats gone before dont you reckon?

[jammy2211]

I voted 2000's, that's just the music I listen to though. When I think of my greatest albums most of them are this side of the millenium, Brand New, Dillinger Escape Plan, Coheed and Cambria, Devil Sold His Soul, Machine Head (Blackening + Through the Ashes), NIN (Downward Spiral + With Teeth + Year Zero). I'm sure more will be remembered once we have more perspective.

In terms of mainstream type music I ain't really sure though, don't have enough perspective myself on what it used to be like.

Also all the points about the internet changing music is relevent to 00's.