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It’s a common complaint that modern music is terrible compared to the music of the 70s, 80s and 90s. I hear it all the time, and if I’m honest, I’ve probably said it myself on occasion.
But I’ve started to wonder if part of the reason older music seems better is because history has already done the filtering for us.
When we think of the 70s, we remember the best songs by artists such as Pink Floyd, Queen, David Bowie, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac and many others. When we think of the 80s, we remember the biggest hits and most memorable records. The same applies to the 90s.
What we tend to forget is that there was also a lot of forgettable, disposable and downright awful music released in those decades too. Most of it has vanished from radio playlists, streaming services, television programmes and public memory.
Today we’re hearing everything at once: the classics of tomorrow, the average songs and the outright rubbish. Perhaps in twenty or thirty years’ time people will look back on the 2020s and hear only the very best tracks that have stood the test of time, giving the impression that this era was much stronger than it felt at the time.
That said, I still can’t shake the feeling that songwriting was generally stronger in previous decades. Whether it was because artists had more time to develop, because record companies invested differently, because bands tended to play together for years before becoming successful, or because musical trends weren’t changing at internet speed, many songs seemed to have stronger melodies, more memorable hooks and greater individuality.
Maybe nostalgia is playing tricks on me. Or maybe there really was something special about those earlier decades.
What do you think? Was music genuinely better in the 70s, 80s and 90s, or are we simply comparing the greatest hits of the past with the entire output of the present?
But I’ve started to wonder if part of the reason older music seems better is because history has already done the filtering for us.
When we think of the 70s, we remember the best songs by artists such as Pink Floyd, Queen, David Bowie, ABBA, Fleetwood Mac and many others. When we think of the 80s, we remember the biggest hits and most memorable records. The same applies to the 90s.
What we tend to forget is that there was also a lot of forgettable, disposable and downright awful music released in those decades too. Most of it has vanished from radio playlists, streaming services, television programmes and public memory.
Today we’re hearing everything at once: the classics of tomorrow, the average songs and the outright rubbish. Perhaps in twenty or thirty years’ time people will look back on the 2020s and hear only the very best tracks that have stood the test of time, giving the impression that this era was much stronger than it felt at the time.
That said, I still can’t shake the feeling that songwriting was generally stronger in previous decades. Whether it was because artists had more time to develop, because record companies invested differently, because bands tended to play together for years before becoming successful, or because musical trends weren’t changing at internet speed, many songs seemed to have stronger melodies, more memorable hooks and greater individuality.
Maybe nostalgia is playing tricks on me. Or maybe there really was something special about those earlier decades.
What do you think? Was music genuinely better in the 70s, 80s and 90s, or are we simply comparing the greatest hits of the past with the entire output of the present?
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