Do you think music has gotten better or worse since the 1980's?

Answer 1

WORSE!
as the '60's' had the best music.

Answer 2

In general, a lot worse. Under a microscope? What you'll find is that there a lot of absolutely great music that's just off the radar. There are select bands in the '80s, '90s and today that are way better than select bands from the '50s, '60s and '70s. Will there be another beatles? No. Oasis tried it and failed miserably. Zep will always be better than Guns -n- Roses and the sound that Santana was producing in the '70s will never take a back seat to, well, Santana now. However, on the flip side, prior to the experimental age of music that was the '80s (and that's what the '80s was about) you couldn't have some of the great off the radar cult-favorite bands like XTC or the Super Furry Animals. Either of which would slaughter ABBA in a head-to-head music battle. Elvis Costello will always be betterthan Elvis Presley when you boil the qestion down to music only.

It's important to remember that while the music of today seems to focus on how hot the singer is, the '70s had Disco. And disco always sucked.

Answer 3

well, from a technical aspect, I believe that it has gotten generally worse. The advent of MTV forced record labels into signing acts that had an "image" or could not only sell records on sound and stage performance, they also had to look good. As time went on, technology allowed recording studios to have more than just a few tracks on a song, with this, they learned that they could "create a sound," thus ending the need for musical ability.

There seems to be a swing back to musical ability of late. Musicians such as Keb'Mo, Brad Paisley, Kieth Urban, and Eminem are creating high quality music that is based on talent from a musical standpoint again. We can only pray that many people follow their lead. I am afraid, however, that "American Idol" created pop stars will not go away completely.

Answer 4

I think that mainstream pop music got worse. In the 80's there was still a sense to be genuinely creative, even if you are going to write a 3 minute pop song. That seems to have disappeared.

However, if you look at alternative music, indie music, electronica and the avant-garde, music got a great deal better than the 80s. This is partly due to technological advances.

Answer 5

Obviously each answer given is going to be extremely biased according to the generation it is being answered by! For example, an elderly man who would court the ladies and swing his hips to some 50's pop is going to say worse!

But then again, im 16 and i think music has come on leaps and bounds since the 80's, although having parents who were my age the 80's means that i do nod along to certain tracks!

The 90's was a brilliant year for music... the evolution of black artists from just soul singers to hip hop and R&B... Salt N Peppa come to mind here "AAAH PUSH IT" etc... anyway i think im done here! Im just a talkative chap, ciao bella x

Answer 6

I'd say better. It's definitely got more diverse; back in the 80's you might have had dance, metal or indie for example, but now you seem to get sub genres within sub genres. It means there's something for everyone.

Ultimately there's still people out there makiing great music and writing strong tunes and lyrics; just like there was in the 80's. There's a lot of total dross now, but then there was in the '80's as well, it's just that nostalgia makes you remember the good and forget the bad stuff.

Answer 7

In a technical sense (i.e. quality of sounds and effects etc) it is better. But that aside it is so much worse! Motley Crue were well hardcore, no-one trashes hotel rooms anymore!
Going back further than that, Jim Morrisson was a acid-munching god what do we have as an equivalent now? Pete Doherty???? And Jon Bonham who is there now? Joey Jordison? Definetely old stuff when music was new!

Answer 8

Its obviously just a question of taste: everyone likes best what they grew up with. Better or worse? Just different, I guess, there's always been a lot of sh*t along with great music. The important thing is to be open to the best and ignore the rest!

Answer 9

Definitely worse. Actually, it was pretty bad in the eighties. Today's music is uninspired and performed by talentless people whose names we won't remember in two years. There are exceptions; Britney Spears hasn't had an album in years (thank God!), but then she's really not known for her talent, is she?

If you want to hear how good music used to be, whether it's R&B, Country, Jazz or any music that originated in the U. S., you have to go mid-seventies and back.

Answer 10

Popular music has gotten worse, much much worse. Wait... popular music in the 80's sucked too (with a few exceptions)

Answer 11

It depends what you mean. If your'e talking about early 80's, with bands like Joy Division and Blondie, then it has got worse. If, however, you're talking about it getting worse after the likes of Rick Astley and Belinda Carlisle in the late 80's, then no.