Which decade produced the best music and why?

[Liberty4eva]

Which decade produced the best music and why?

[Stu]

The post punk side of the 80's is my favourite era for music because you had a massive influx of young, intelligent mostly art school dropouts going out there and starting bands with interesting sounds and concepts.

The same can be said of the electronic music explosion started in the late 80's that continued throughout the 90's.

So not really decades because that's an impossible question for me to answer but eras I guess.

[BB_Eye]

1740's :)

Handel's oratorios, Bach's Musical Offering and Art of the Fugue, Scarlatti's sonatas.

In the 20th century... I'd say the 1950's. The electric blues of Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, plus bebop reached its zenith thanks to the innovations of Bird, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis and the electronic music of Raymond Scott and Stockhausen. Plus Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs. I'd say even the Beatles would have a hard time beating that.

[Scarlett.]

I'd say 80's I love how upbeat the music was

[MeMyselfAndI]

2000-2010
because music is not old and classical.

[Niall]

00s because I've lived through the whole thing. :hugesmile:

[Jords]

00's because I dont know much else.

[Shaun]

60s :love:

[Ramsay]

60s /70s ish

[Boothy]

60s.

Popular music wouldn't be what it is today without artists such as The Beatles, The Doors, Elvis Presely etc. The 60s completely changed the music industry.

[Angus]

1960s - The Beatles and the whole Merseybeat era
- the birth of metal (Black Sabbath)
- reggae is introduced to Britain
- the guitar bands predominated

For the first time young people started to develop their own style and culture, and weren't just clones of their parents. The break away from the Establishment, free love, the beginning of sexual equality, the Summer of Love (1967), the variety of genres(from The Beatles to Black Sabbath, from Cream to Desmond Dekker, from Lulu to Georgie Fame, Rolling Stones to Donovan etc), the inspiration for musical innovation and experimentation for all the decades that followed. The 1960s was the decade when British music dominated the world.

[Josy]

60's & 80's.

[Jessica.]

20s/60s

[InOne]

80's-90's.

[InOne]

This is all British music by the way :)

[Locke.]

90's.

Because it just did.

Early 00's was decent aswell.

[Harry!]

80's - 90's

[Benjamin]

60's and 90's. :love:

[James]

1970s for me, when Pink Floyd were at their peak. :) :P

Music has become, over the years, more-and-more about image, as opposed to what you actually hear. It's always been a balance in the industry but I think the turning point was when bands and acts starting putting out videos, that was mid-70s. Then in the 80s you had the start of MTV and the like, then in the 90s the manufactured boybands and girlbands, then reality TV shows in the 2000s. So an on-going thing.

[BB_Eye]

1970s for me, when Pink Floyd were at their peak. :) :P

Music has become, over the years, more-and-more about image, as opposed to what you actually hear. It's always been a balance in the industry but I think the turning point was when bands and acts starting putting out videos, that was mid-70s. Then in the 80s you had the start of MTV and the like, then in the 90s the manufactured boybands and girlbands, then reality TV shows in the 2000s. So an on-going thing.
I don't think all that much has changed. The masses have always been happy to buy any old bland rubbish with a pretty face slapped on it for time immemorial. The musical trailblazers of the mid-20th century who I mentioned enjoyed limited popularity, but who was actually selling records during their time? Simpering MOR country acts such as Ricky Nelson and the Everly Brothers. Who had all the teenage girls squealing back in the UK? Cliff Richard.

And the 60's was saturated with superficial crap, particularly the UK which would was dominated by one-hit-wonders. Motown was so contrived too and has not stood the test of time either. Even musical 'talent' shows go all the way back to these times.

[Niamh.]

I probably listen to mostly 90's music just because I was a teenager in the 90's so it had the biggest impact on me. Other then the 90's I like the 60's as well

[Jords]

20s/60s

:S

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

:S

:joker:

[Stu]

1970s for me, when Pink Floyd were at their peak. :) :P

Music has become, over the years, more-and-more about image, as opposed to what you actually hear. It's always been a balance in the industry but I think the turning point was when bands and acts starting putting out videos, that was mid-70s. Then in the 80s you had the start of MTV and the like, then in the 90s the manufactured boybands and girlbands, then reality TV shows in the 2000s. So an on-going thing.
Aren't you just totally ignoring the evolution of music? Sure plenty of it is image based but more people are making music right now than at any other period in history. You just have to go and look for it. What about the advances in technology? The advent of new genres and subgenres? There's been a huge amount happen from the 80's on.

And like BB_Eye said, the poo always existed. People just forget it because only the good acts really get remembered, so people have a rose tinted view of the past.

Right now it's pants I'll grant you because a lot of the music that was interesting for the past twenty years has peaked or gone out altogether and whereas before it was replaced, say from hair rock to grunge, now all that's come in is the reality stuff.

[Fetch The Bolt Cutters]

so james is old then -_-

[CaraRawr]

late 80s/90s/early 2000s.

[Sarah.]

60's.
The Beatles.

[Ramsay]

^
:worship:

[James]

Aren't you just totally ignoring the evolution of music? Sure plenty of it is image based but more people are making music right now than at any other period in history. You just have to go and look for it. What about the advances in technology? The advent of new genres and subgenres? There's been a huge amount happen from the 80's on.

And like BB_Eye said, the poo always existed. People just forget it because only the good acts really get remembered, so people have a rose tinted view of the past.

Right now it's pants I'll grant you because a lot of the music that was interesting for the past twenty years has peaked or gone out altogether and whereas before it was replaced, say from hair rock to grunge, now all that's come in is the reality stuff.

I guess I meant the stuff that gets into the charts but there is good music out there somewhere, I'm sure. Take the point about rose-tinted view, yeah.

[Zippy]

definitely not the 90s

Im listening to a lot of 80s electro pop lately so I'm gonna go with the 80s. Early 80's mostly.

[Marc]

70s, 60s, 90s, 80s in that order.

[Roy Mars III]

90s

[Shaun]

60s > 70s > 80s > 00s > 50s > 90s

[Kizzy]

Every genre has amazing music, some more amazing than others, but it would be impossible to pinpoint a 'best decade'.

[Niamh.]

60's and 90's. :love:

This :love:

[Brother Leon]

90s

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[Me. I Am Salman]

Except for 2009, the 00s were great

[joeysteele]

I like to listen to all decades of music, however although I do like the current music I find I prefer to listen to the 60s and 80s.

I have made it my aim to have loads of CDs of artists from the 50s up to the present,I am getting there and love all the compilation CDs too but I like reading about the singers/groups too.

[Z]

I know this isn't the question asked in the thread, but I think it's better to judge what was outstandingly bad about each decade musically because every decade has had some incredible highs and nostalgia will always be the deciding factor in what people choose as the best. But people are nowhere near as biased when it comes to pointing out crap music.

[Jesus.]

60's.

Motown
Beatles
Elvis
Stones
Dylan
Cash

It's not even a fair competition.

[Me. I Am Salman]

50s 60s 70s 80s music is boring

[Me. I Am Salman]

bring on the pack of wolves

[joeysteele]

I think all decades have had good and bad music really, but for me I like the more melodic and singalong music from the 60s, from what I ahve heard the 70s seemed to be an experimental time as to music with so much going on and the 80s were a progression of the best of that era.
The 90s and the present have had really strong music and again good and bad, the late 90s though seemed to herald the 'engineered' hit system where records entered the charts at the top end then fell rapidly within a week or 2 later.

In the main I would say the earlier decades had far better singers, who really had to be able to sing to be successful and hold their audiences whereas now we have the glitzy show/wild dance effects centred around each performance.

[reece(:]

early 2000s, 90s, 80s was all good

[Bollo]

I'd say every decade has elements of greatness in terms of music, so for me it is impossible to choose

[Me. I Am Salman]

The 10's are not bad so far tbh.
Except for the first 7 months of 2010, that is.

[lostalex]

90's

because grunge was amazing. Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Garbage, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Bjork.

The 90's were Amazing.

[Niamh.]

90's

because grunge was amazing. Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Garbage, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Bjork.

The 90's were Amazing.

:love:

You forgot Pearl Jam though who were clearly the best :idc: