Music, And Why The 2010s Is Shaping Up To Be A Terrible Decade

Music, And Why The 2010s Is Shaping Up To Be A Terrible Decade

Music. Sometimes it is good. Sometimes it is great. But nowadays, it is often bad. Very bad. One must think about the recent history of music, and how it is in decline. It deserves some thinking and words to think about from me.

First, let's look back at the last 50 or so years, and try to think about what musicians or bands we most remember as the "great" ones. In the 1950s, we saw the beginning of rock n roll as a genre, with legends such as Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, whom deserve the respect of anyone who respects music itself. Things got better in the 1960s, with saw the rise of British bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, The Troggs, and others. And let's not forget other legends who one can respect, if not outright enjoy listening to, such as folk musician Bob Dylan, or the legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

The greatness of music peaked in the 1970s. While overall, this wasn't a great decade for the country itself (Vietnam, Watergate, etc.), it was an great decade for music. This was when we saw great rock musicians and bands such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, the list goes on and on. By reading this one paragraph, you'll get a good sense for what this author's favorite types of music are.

So when did music start to decline? That would have to be the 1980s. Just as our country saw its national decline begin - at least, in retrospect - with the rise of Ronald Reagan, the rise of synth pop helped pave the way for the long-term decline of music. Although looking past the pop stars who overused synthizers in this era, there are plenty of bands and musicians that are worth mentioning. Aside from the so-called "King of Pop" Michael Jackson - who this author personally respects as a performer, even as his taste in music has evolved in recent years - there is a diverse group of bands that can be seen as either good or great in this decade too, most especially the Prince of Darkness himself, the GREAT Ozzy Osbourne, who was formerly a member of Black Sabbath. But also other acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, Twister Sister, and to a lesser extent, Queen and Bon Jovi.

The 1990s? Sure, in the later part of this decade, we started to see the Joseph Stalins of music start to pop up, such as Britany Spears and NSNYC. But regardless of your taste in music, nobody can argue that Nirvana wasn't revolutionary, and that had Kurt Cobain not killed himself, he could have done much more good for rock music in his life. Other notable acts include Green Day, Blink-182, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Korn, and a personal favorite of this author: the controversial shock rocker Marilyn Manson, who remains deeply misunderstood even today, unfortunately.

As for the 2000s, just as this was a "lost decade" for much of our country - with events like 9/11 and the Great Recession's beginning - this is probably the worst decade for music so far, although that is on track to easily change. But there are some good, if not very good bands in this decade, such as My Chemical Romance, Three Days Grace, Linkin Park, Good Charlotte, Avenged Sevenfold, Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco, who all deserve some kudos. Even in the middle of a decade dominated by bad rap music, one rapper proved that rap music can SOMETIMES be good, if not great. This author loved Eminem's music in his youth, and still has a great deal of liking and respect for him today.

So here we are in the decade we live in now. So what about the 2010s? What musicians or bands will mostly be remembered when we look back at the age of Twitter and Barack Obama? Will they really be Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, One Direction and Psy? Or will a new rock legend rise to lead a musical renaissance? One must certainly hope so, because there seems to be no great, or even good, bands or musicians in sight right now. Few people from this generation may feel this right now. But right now, the 2010s is shaping up to be the worst decade for music in a long time.

Copyright © 2013 Anthony J. Piccione

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