My amount of music listening has certainly gone up during this quarantine era. As such I’ve had more of a chance to analyse in more detail the various bands/albums I’m listening to.
Anyway, just for a larf I thought it would be interesting to get peoples opinions on what they think has been the best decade for rock music. Note this is for rock (in my case I include prog) but I agree the boundaries are often a bit blurred.
I know some bands probably cross from one decade to another but which decade is their best?
For me it was the 70’s… I mean just look at the list for that decade… (starting off with the well known progs):
Pink Floyd
Yes
Genesis
Bowie
Jethro Tull
Led Zep
Sabbath
The Who
Rush
ELP
Bruce Springsteen…
I certainly grew up on those, and mostly follow current prog rock now, so Anathema, Marillion, Pendragon, Steven Wilson, Magenta, Glass Hammer, Riverside etc etc. All rock has been great in its era and has aged well and new goodies have come along to fill the gap.
Best decade for Rock Music 60’s (Can swap for the 70’s)
Best decade for Soul Music 70’s (Can swap for the 60’s)
Best decade for Indie Music 80’s
Best decade for Hip Hop 90’s (Can swap for the 80’s)
Worst decade for Retro 00’s
Best decade for Female Artists 10’s
Apart from Genesis, Jethro Tull and ELP, it’s very hard to argue with you.
Add in Can. Kraftwerk, Buzzcocks, Slits, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Throbbing Gristle, Suzi Quatro, Neu!, Sex Pistols, Hawkwind, Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Television and Joy Division and you have a water-tight argument for the 1970s.
Well I’ll go 70s but the question is the definition of “rock”. Does it include the Beatles, perhaps not during the Please Please Me days but by the time Sgt Pepper was created? Okay it’s all music.
As a slight aside quite a few years ago I was driving my daughter home from a ballet lesson and I was playing Songs of Yesterday by Free and there’s this moment where they syncopate and switch time sig. At the time Tash was also learning clarinet so got the rudiments of music and said “Dad, the way they changed time there was genius”. 2 weeks later the same journey and this time was playing the Doors (Soul Kitchen and the Crystal Ship) when she said “Dad, you and Mum had the most wonderful soundtrack to your youth”. Her partner is a great Bruce Springsteen aficionado. Similarly, youngest daughter is a great Simon and Garfunkel fan and her partner asked the other day if he could hear all of Hotel California (on vinyl). As it progressed he started to realise the themes and nuances of the album and completely unprompted said “well that’s a pretty cynical commentary on America”.
Rose tinted glasses play a part to. There was of course much rubbish in any era. After all even Vivaldi was seen as trivial in the early 18C!
Probably based on the average age of the members the 70s would have been when most of us were young dumb and full of… It’s the music most of us seemed to have grown up on. It was on our radios and cheap stereos in our cars and at the gigs we went to. We were lucky that it was also arguably the best rock and roll decade.
I voted 60’s because almost every great band started in the 60’s … Beatles, Stones, Zep, traffic, Allman Brothers, Cream,Pink Floyd, Bowie, Tull, Hendrix. The Dead, Doors, Jefferson Airplane,CSN, Neil Young, I’m going to put Joni in here; she’s as much of a game changer as anyone. Spirt, Blue Cheer, Quicksilver, Beach Boys, Yes, I’m sure I’ve missed several. In fact I think every single artist from the OP’s list started in the 60’s
I’ll go with 70s unless yer including Beatles. They were always a Pop band. Now, John Lennon… he’s in a whole different league. Brilliant. So, if you’re including Beatles, I’d go with 80s.
And really, even coming from an endlessly creative supply of such excellent Rock music thru the 70s, I still really enjoy most of the New Wave of the 80s as well. Lot of fun, creative stuff there.
