Is it me or.....

[NEETzsche]

mainstream media has always been shit. it's shit by definition: you don't move units by being discriminate. the blander something is, the more people it will appeal to. that's just the way it is. if you'd just take off your nostalgia goggles for a minute you'd realise that (for example) james whale, cecil demille, george lucas, and chris nolan are all as shit as each other and all fulfil the exact same role in their respective epochs.

good art will always exist, though. the contemporary stuff is just tougher to discern because it hasn't been subjected to the 'test of time' yet.

[res]

I know what you're saying, brother. But, when I speak of old school it usually goes back to the 70's and 80's. Though Whitney was around then, I prefer her music from the 90's plus. There is one thing for sure, no one has come close to her voice.

Do you mean early 90's? (which was still heavily influenced by the 80's). Her music later on in the 90's kind of sucked, although not compared to modern music.

[Shabba Rank$]

All I've been listening to as of late is A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, Luniz, RBL, stuff like that.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

mainstream media has always been shit. it's shit by definition: you don't move units by being discriminate. the blander something is, the more people it will appeal to. that's just the way it is. if you'd just take off your nostalgia goggles for a minute you'd realise that (for example) james whale, cecil demille, george lucas, and chris nolan are all as shit as each other and all fulfil the exact same role in their respective epochs.

good art will always exist, though. the contemporary stuff is just tougher to discern because it hasn't been subjected to the 'test of time' yet.

Excellent point man, and well taken.

So my question to you then is, do you think the stuff of today is going to stand the test of time? I don't and the stuff that is really good is being drowned out by the stuff that isn't.

[pixelmademe]

Age is catching up with you homie.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

Age is catching up with you homie.

damn I'm only in my late 30's...it's not like I'm 80.

I also am feelin that new Kendrick Lamar album. Think it's one of the best albums if not the best album of the year.

Fuk it I'm getting old.

[res]

It's certainly easier to make in today's music/entertainment industries too, thanks to such things as auto-tune but I'm not convinced on the 'old days'.

There are some talented singers, actors etc. in this error too. Even the greats of yesteryear were of a low count. less than a handful in each decade. That still exists now with the current crop.

Too much emphasis on the old school and too much hype for them too from the oldies, I feel.

Well let's do it like this, I'll name some of the top artists in the 80's and you give me a list of modern artists that you think are comparable.

Stevie Wonder, Prince, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Pattie Labelle, Luther Vandross, Guns and Roses, Van Halen, AC/DC, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran


I agree that in each era the number of "great" artists is limited, but one of the differences today is that artists can get their foot in the door that aren't even "good". Also, overall the number of great artists is decreasing. The only way we are going to come up with a significant level of great artists today is to change the standard of greatness. Madonna set the trend for the "style over substance" thing back in the 1980's, and I see her as the mother of the modern era. But just listen to the voices of the other female artist that surrounded her at the time, women like Laura Branigan, Pat Benatar, Bonnie Tyler, heck even Cyndi Lauper (listen to her song "I'm gonna Be Strong" if her eccentric style always distracted you from the fact that she was really a good singer).

[res]

All I've been listening to as of late is A Tribe Called Quest, Rakim, Luniz, RBL, stuff like that.

It's irrefutable as far as Hip Hop is concerned. That genre peaked in the late 80's through the mid 90's, and then it was down hill.

[NEETzsche]

Excellent point man, and well taken.

So my question to you then is, do you think the stuff of today is going to stand the test of time? I don't and the stuff that is really good is being drowned out by the stuff that isn't.

the stuff that seems like it's being drowned out now is the stuff that will stand the test of time. i mean, no one bought the velvet underground's first album when it came out and now look at it: it's arguably the most influential rock album ever. but no one remembers fucking herb alpert or whatever the teeny-boppers were listening to back then. for most people, keeping their finger on the pulse takes too much effort, so they just wait for the good stuff to eventually filter into the mainstream consciousness via critics and suchlike and then consume it retrospectively, when it's not cutting-edge any more.

[NEETzsche]

Stevie Wonder, Prince, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Pattie Labelle, Luther Vandross, Guns and Roses, Van Halen, AC/DC, Michael Jackson, Duran Duran

i'm sorry but most of those people are awful and absolutely no better than whatever shit tops the charts these days.