Good Songs/Bands That Now Sound Dated

[gcczep]

So long ago...

A good/great band would never sound dated especially if the listeners are emotionally invested in their work. Interesting observations about 80's music. Duran Duran comes to mind. I've always thought that period's music was unique but it never really propogated much. Flock Of Seagulls, A-Ha them lot.

Hilarious comments about Led-Zeppelin and Whitesnake. Tongue in cheek and all in good fun.

 

[Mr. Bob Dobolina]

^^ Great observation and absolutely right. I guess what I'm saying is that I just never liked that sterile, drum machine and computer sound that was so popular in the 80s.

 

[LG]

^^You know that never really bothered me too much Bob D...I actually missed the synthesizers in a lot of 90's music a backlash I guess to the previous decade.

One reason I like the 80's more than the 90's, was they were more fun and so was the music compared to the "Grunge" scene which is the worst name for a musical genre/era in history.

Of course that doesn't mean there weren't some gawd awful bands in the 80's, Boy George and Culture Club come to mind instantly.

 

[Aero]

A good/great band would never sound dated especially if the listeners are emotionally invested in their work. Interesting observations about 80's music. Duran Duran comes to mind. I've always thought that period's music was unique but it never really propogated much. Flock Of Seagulls, A-Ha them lot.

Again, I disagree.

Duran Duran is another good example. I think some of their 80s hits like The Reflex, Wild Boys, and Is There Something I Should Know were good songs in the 80s that don't sound good today. For whatever reason, they seemed confined to that decade only. And coincedentally, I don't hear those songs on the radio anymore either.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this as Rio and Hungry Like The Wolf are about the only ones that receive radio play where I live so obviously someone else thinks the same as me. And it has nothing to do with chart position because The Reflex went to #1 in the US and Wild Boys was once at #2.

 

[Khor1255]

If you are talking pop sensibilities I guess you are spot on. But I have never had much of a feel for pop. Those Duran Duran songs that have fallen out of favor I never liked in the slightest bit. I'm not even a fan of Hungry Like a Wolf and when they were popular I wasn't even into Rio. It took years of much worse garbage to make me reevaluate some of the stuff I had previously panned.
I guess I am the exact opposite of many music fans in that a lot of times I don't start liking something because it is popular. I could care less what everyone else likes. If I hear it and it resonates with me it will likely do so till the day I die.

 

[LG]

^^I agree with you Khor, if I like something it usually is forever even if the sound is "dated".

What I do notice is the progression in rock music from the 50's to the 80's, the actual recording technology made such a massive improvement in sound quality which in turn led to home stereos becoming far better quality.

When I play Bill Haley and the Comets "Rock Around The Clock" I notice the skinny sound more than it sounding "dated" in any way. But that doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the song.

I think being older also has something to do with it, I grew up with music from the 50's before rock music really came of age in the late 60's and 70's. So unlike a young person today listening to a Chuck Berry song and wondering what the fuss was all about, it sounds good to me.

Perspective and subjectivity always enter into any discussion like this.

As far as Duran Duran go, the only song I really remembered of theirs' was "A View To A Kill" from the James Bond movie. I never bought any of their records they simply didn't appeal to me.

 

[Vehicle]

It's only 'dated' in the sense that whatever music you're talking about, it evolved into something else.

Some people loved it so much, they picked up instruments. They emulated their idols, and then took what they learned and used those ingredients to write their own music.

That's all there is to music. Growth & evolution.

As far as the 'skinny' sound, I'm right with LG. Doesn't sound dated to me.

It only sounds skinny now because it's grown a million different layers since then, an we have something to compare it to.

Those 'oldies' were raucous, cutting edge rock and roll, in their time.
Decidedly fat.

Do yourself a favor...

Take the next 2:21, and really listen to the lead solos on this Elvis cut.





Dated? Heck no.

Raw, stripped down, bare bones lead solos? Hell yea!

 

[gcczep]

Stay there...

Again, I disagree.

Duran Duran is another good example. I think some of their 80s hits like The Reflex, Wild Boys, and Is There Something I Should Know were good songs in the 80s that don't sound good today. For whatever reason, they seemed confined to that decade only. And coincedentally, I don't hear those songs on the radio anymore either.

I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this as Rio and Hungry Like The Wolf are about the only ones that receive radio play where I live so obviously someone else thinks the same as me. And it has nothing to do with chart position because The Reflex went to #1 in the US and Wild Boys was once at #2.

That's what I was trying to say. I still hear Say A Prayer on a rare occasion though. I think Ordinary World is a good song too. Mind you, I don't think their songs are terrible as well as them being a band and I own a CD of their best.

 

[CP/M User]

When I think about The Beach Boys, I always think of their "Pet Sounds" Album, which probably sounds dated, though personally I prefer the Instrumentation from that, compared to the sound of "Pet Sounds" when Brian Wilson does it live. Not that I'm saying it's bad, though the studio album sounds more authentic, however I will accept that such an album done Live isn't an easy task.

 

[TheSound]

To me it would actually be easier to say who doesn’t sound dated. Certainly to me most ‘classic rock’ sounds very dated, in fact it almost has to be by definition of being 'classic', but that’s not remotely a criticism, there’s nothing wrong with liking music which sounds dated, I actually like dated things, that’s why I love classic rock instead of all this modern crap. Saying something sounds dated is actually a compliment and something to be proud of when you look at all the horrendous modern alternatives (rap, most hiphop, poppy R&B)...in fact we should rejoice in our datedness!!

But for example, stripped down to their basics, did the most recent AC/DC or Van Halen or Aerosmith or Iron Maiden or Deep Purple or Lynyrd Skynyrd albums actually sound any different to the first albums these bands recorded 35-40 years ago? No, of course they don’t, in fact stylistically they are almost carbon copies, unless anyone is willing to try and convince me that ‘Black Ice’ (2008) is a dramatic departure from ‘Back in Black (1980)?? These bands don’t display any real originality, or ever do anything new or truly experimental, they just stick with the same basic sound/formula which made them popular in the first place…but then that’s exactly what we, their audience, demands, which I guess means that our expectations as listeners are also equally dated.

If the opposite of sounding ‘dated’ is sounding ‘modern and fresh and original’ …. then it’s actually difficult to think of hardly any bands that I like off the top of my head whose sound ever evolves and changes much at all…though to my ears Radiohead are one band who do, love them or loathe them, each Radiohead album is virtually unrecognisable from its predecessor, in fact they maybe even try too hard to do something radically different, and also Rush to me are always looking to try and find new things, and their style to me never sounds dated or jaded, and each new Rush album sounds fresh, though at the same time it's still instantly recognisable.