A friend of mine swears up and down that 1995 was the pinnacle of music releases, and everything has gone to hell in a handbasket since. I don't necessarily agree with him, but let's look at some of the notable albums that came out that year:
Fu Manchu - Daredevil
The Roots - Do You Want More?
Van Halen - Balance
Face to Face - Big Choice
Radiohead - The Bends
Monster Magnet - Dopes to Infinity
Death - Symbolic
Silverchair - Frogstomp
Faith No More - King For A Day... Fool For A Lifetime
ODB - Return to the 36 Chambers, The Dirty Version
Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It
Hum - You'd Prefer An Astronaut
Mobb Deep - The Infamous
Clutch - Self Titled
Primus - Tales from the Punchbowl
Everclear - Sparkle and Fade
Pink Floyd - Pulse
Neil Young - Mirrorball
Foo Fighters - Self Titled
The Presidents of the United States of America - Self Titled
Garbage - Self Titled
Rancid - ...And Out Come The Wolves
Red Hot Chili Peppers - One Hot Minute
Down - NOLA
AC/DC - Ballbreaker
Sonic Youth - Washing Machine
Deftones - Adrenaline
Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?
Mr. Bungle - Disco Volante
Green Day - Insomniac
Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness
Alice In Chains - Self Titled
Fear Factory - Demanufacture
At The Gates - Slaughter of the Soul
Ozzy Osbourne - Ozzmosis
That's just a partial list. Some observations:
-Some of my favorite all-time albums came out in 1995, and I understand why: this was a formative year for my taste in music, as I was in 8th Grade and a lot of these bring back fond memories. Every time I hear songs from these albums, it brings me right back.
-1995 must have been the year of "Self-Titled" albums. There are so many!
-Some huge bands that are still around today released their debuts in 1995, like Deftones and Foo Fighters.
-If you are into Metal, some bona fide classics came out in 1995 (Death's Symbolic and At The Gates' Slaughter of the Soul), when Metal was supposed to be "dead". Those albums went on to influence so many other bands over the years, and they still do.
Is it the best year for music releases ever? I can't really say, but it's certainly a contender.
I agree that the cream will rise to the top. My point was, I think there is more cream than before just from volume. And, yes, artists could break out without a label in the past, I think it's just easier these days to do so. Not just music, either, but books, software, etc is easier to get out to more people than before. Gungham Style is a good example. How likely would that have been to be such a huge hit in 1991? Granted, he had a record label and was popular in Korea, but the global reach of the internet made it HUGE. (Good or bad, not commenting on the quality of the song as compared to others).
Great point on the producers side and one I hadn't considered. A good producer (because of a record company) would help make some of the music even better and, until that happens, we'll be slogging through some "almost there" music that could be better. The Beatles wouldn't have been as big if it wasn't for George Martin.
Funny you mention "kids these days". My 20 year old listens to a lot of rap. Don't ask me who, I don't know because I'm an old fart. But, he was over yesterday working in the garage and had "yacht rock" playing on his phone. Basically, old music. I always thought it was because I exposed him to the music I liked as he was growing up, but maybe it's more common among his generation. I have no idea.
Personally, I couldn't pick a year. There's just soo much. I can say that it wouldn't be before the mid 60's and probably not after 2000, but that's because I stopped listening to music as often as I did when I was younger because life as an adult gets in the way.
-Rob
rob_lewis said:
Funny you mention "kids these days". My 20 year old listens to a lot of rap. Don't ask me who, I don't know because I'm an old fart. But, he was over yesterday working in the garage and had "yacht rock" playing on his phone. Basically, old music. I always thought it was because I exposed him to the music I liked as he was growing up, but maybe it's more common among his generation. I have no idea.
Probably a bit of all of the above. Expose kids to good music, and it will plant a seed. But I think teenagers will always want to listen to music that feels like "theirs", and borrowing your parents' CDs is kinda uncool. But with streaming and the internet, it's easy to listen to the music your parents planted the seeds with, but in a way that YOU found it and discovered it for yourself.
Poking around forums of vinyl collectors, I'm amazed by how many young people are collecting records these days. I know they're a small minority, but I'm amazed to see ANY 16y.o. sharing, "Here's my record collection." And it's like... Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Neutral Milk Hotel, Tame Impala, Kendrick Lamar, and MF Doom. One kid I had a conversation about his taste in the sort of classic rock I love said his parents mostly listened to like Brittney Spears and Spice Girls, that his peers got him hooked on Zeppelin.
Peabody said:
In reply to Beer Baron :
I almost said in the other thread, the 90's was probably on par, or almost, with the 70's, but didn't want to open that can.
And then it occurred to me, maybe the 70's and the 90's only seemed that good because the 80's was so bad...
In reply to Peabody :
Meh, I grew up an '80s punk. There was great music out then, just not mainstream.
Beer Baron said:One kid I had a conversation about his taste in the sort of classic rock I love said his parents mostly listened to like Brittney Spears and Spice Girls, that his peers got him hooked on Zeppelin.
Now THAT is funny! I love it.
Also, this thread and the 90s albums thread have me listening to more different music at work these last few days.
