This has become my new hobby, watching young people listen to classic rock music for the first time. I like "Airplay Beats" (La & Che), and Mollyboy, to name a couple. His name is Declan, and to see the look on his face when he goes into a song, not knowing the group or title or what genre it is, and it turns out to be something way beyond his expectations, is priceless.
An awful lot of those reactors don't add much beyond "that was cool" to their videos. Some people don't do any research, and know nothing about the music or what year it came out, they ascribe meanings to the lyrics that no one could have predicted, all wrong. The comment sections clear those things up. "Summertime" - "What does "the cotton is high" mean?" "My Sweet Lord" - "is that some kind of code for liking your shorty? (lyrics go on to mention Hare Krishna) Is he religious?" (That's one guy, who I won't shame publicly.) But I do really enjoy the multi-reactor compilations. Seeing people moved to tears by "The Great Gig In The Sky" ("I feel some kind of way now!") or marveling at Yes' "Roundabout" or being blown away by the sheer perfectionism of Steely Dan is just entertaining to watch.
That's how I know that modern music doesn't have any flashy intros, or change tempos or go off in a different key, or have solos. They are recognizing it too now, and they seem to gradually wean themselves off hip-hop and become lovers of the music of my childhood and adolescence. Stray thought - some of these people say they are record producers. I wonder how busy they are in the studio, because they spend hours every day recording reaction videos!
Edited to add, it's kind of annoying how many people can't identify instruments by their sound. And how many people think a Fender Rhodes Electric Piano is an organ.
