# Will there ever be music as good as or better than music from the late 1960's and early 1970's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-music-as-good-as-or-better-than-music-from-the-late-1960s-and-early-1970s/718529 "2015-04-25T20:55:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Nema98](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d2c977/32.png) [@Nema98](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nema98)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-music-as-good-as-or-better-than-music-from-the-late-1960s-and-early-1970s/718529/221 "2015-05-12T01:50:34Z")
I feel there will always be good songs and music produced by artists in the future. Whether which decade had the “best” music is entirely subjective. As a much younger person, I like many stuff from that time period but also from my generation too. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-music-as-good-as-or-better-than-music-from-the-late-1960s-and-early-1970s/718529/222 "2015-05-12T02:08:51Z")
> [@Steophan](#): > > Music is comprised of some or all of rhythm, harmony, and melody. If you would accept as music something that only has melody - as you did earlier - it’s silly not to accept something that only has rhythm. > > A vast amount of music, probably the majority that’s ever been made if not recorded, consists solely of rhythm. > > And when I talk of spoken word, I don’t just mean recent, recorded orators, I mean the ancient traditions of wandering poets and storytellers, who throughout most of human history were the sole repository of culture. Rap is a direct descendent of that, and whether you like it or not, whether you think it’s interesting or not, to decry it on the grounds that it has no melody is foolish. I just don’t see the point of it without melody somewhere. To me it’s the most important element. “Without a song…” (Sammy Davis Jr continues to sing…) Rhythm: so what You don’t know how rap is related to the ancient Greeks or native americans any more than I do. Are you studying this stuff?Sounds like something you could read in a magazine. I like to talk too, and I’m saying I ain’t going for it, and my voice is out there just like yours and theirs. I’m an alert listener who cares. I don’t have to buy into it. Don’t mean a thing to me that Marvin Gaye or Neil Young didn’t already say in one breath on a bad day. Is there room in the world for me? I hope so. Who the hell started this thread? You hear a rap and think it’s beyond criticism. I think “that person can’t sing so he’s doing the best he can under circumstances. Good luck” I think that to tout it on the grounds that somebody said it was “historical” is foolish. Theres a lot of received wisdom about this but I havent’ been impressed with anybodys ability to use it in this dialogue. I’m giving song after song as examples of what I mean. Haven’t heard one poetic trope out of a rap song, if just to just to shut me up. Time will tell who has fell… ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-music-as-good-as-or-better-than-music-from-the-late-1960s-and-early-1970s/718529/223 "2015-05-12T02:11:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m not sure who said that, but the structure and the form of popular music after the introduction of rap and hip-hop was a drastic change, much in the same way rock music was when it was introduced in the 50s and developed in the 60s. Do you like the structure and form of popular music after the introduction of rap and hip hop? Listen to pop radio? You don’t think it’s execrable? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-music-as-good-as-or-better-than-music-from-the-late-1960s-and-early-1970s/718529/224 "2015-05-12T02:12:45Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Do you like the structure and form of popular music after the introduction of rap and hip hop? Listen to pop radio? You don’t think it’s execrable? Not at all. Pop music in the late 70s was kind of crap, then got pretty good again in the early to mid-80s, then the 90s was kind of crap, but then it got good again in the 2000s. I would put the mid-2000s as another golden age of pop. It’sgotten a little stagnant for me again. But, no, not execrable. There’s a lot of Top 40 music from the last 15 years I enjoy very much. In terms of Top 40, my 3 favorite decades are the 60s, 80s, and 00s. Then the 10s, 50s, 70s, and 90s. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-music-as-good-as-or-better-than-music-from-the-late-1960s-and-early-1970s/718529/225 "2015-05-12T09:59:42Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > For me this report is vague to meaningless. I have no idea of what it measured or how it was accomplished. Ah, I missed that you had posted this. I’m not sure what you mean by “vague to meaningless”, as the link I posted was the full research paper. As well as detailing their methods and algorithms, they include links to download the data they calculated as raw data and graphs. And they have examples of the process of analyzing specific songs. [Here it is for you again.](http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/5/150081) > [@](#): > > Pop music is fads and will change over time. “Fads” implies a level of subjectivity, yet at the same time it seems you consider it objectively true that hip hop, rap and 80s music sucks (and possibly others…I only saw your posts from page 4 onwards). ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-music-as-good-as-or-better-than-music-from-the-late-1960s-and-early-1970s/718529/226 "2015-05-12T10:57:42Z")
There is a relevant graph this blog post. It shows that, according to critics, late 60s / early 70s indeed was a uniquely good time. [http://jsmp.dk/acclaim-of-music-by-year/](http://jsmp.dk/acclaim-of-music-by-year/) ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2015, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-music-as-good-as-or-better-than-music-from-the-late-1960s-and-early-1970s/718529/227 "2015-05-12T13:48:45Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > You hear a rap and think it’s beyond criticism. You can criticise it all you like. But to criticise it for having no melody is idiotic, it’s not supposed to have melody. Would you criticise a podcast or poetry reading for having no melody? If not, why criticise rap for it? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-there-ever-be-music-as-good-as-or-better-than-music-from-the-late-1960s-and-early-1970s/718529.md?page=11)