I was born in 63?
Haven't seen a bad non-progressive decade since.
maybe 1900's?
Wow an old thread. I'll stick with my initial comment. Maybe a breakdown by me of the decades (yes this is my opinion)
50's
At first thought I would choose the 50's as the worst decade until I look at all the great songs. I would consider the 50's might be the worst album era of the six decades (if you exclude jazz) but songs were too strong in the 50's. Rockabilly, Rock & Roll and Folk acts dominate my favorites of this era along with some amazing jazz artists. Damn I can imagine just listening to Allen Freed's Radio station for endless great songs.
60's- The early 60's are once again a strong jazz era (Miles, Coltrane, Monk, Montgomery, Evans,Getz, Roach, Peterson, Ella) for me along with so many new genres.
Also the early 60's dominated by folk and folk rock, Rhythm & Blues, Blues, Rock & Roll, Soul, bluegrass, heck even some great country and of course enter Dylan
By the mid 60's - Enter the Beatles, Surf rock, Garage Rock, Folk Rock, Electric Folk Rock, Electric Blues Rock, Singer/Songwriter, French Pop, Girl Groups, Experimental Rock, Psychedelic Rock, Funk
By the late 60's - Art Rock, Proto-Prog Rock, Proto Punk Rock, Pop Rock, Acid Rock, Singer/Songwriter, Jazz Fusion, album orientated rock, heavy blues rock, avant-garde rock, electronic rock, electronic, Canterbury scene and so much more.
The 70's
Funny while I find the early to mid 70's one of the strongest points in rock. Very easy to state 50 great albums from each year from 70-75.
Then the 70's take the first turn for me. Up to 75 I could say that almost everything form 57-75 is all at least good music. Starting in 75 music started to turn ugly for me. For the first time there was music I didn't like and not only didn't like but started to begin the hate. My music was split up as blues rock had turned to hard rock that was too hard for me, pop rock became to cheesy and arena orientated, funk and R & B turned to disco, garage rock turned to no talented punk rock. Luckly at the same time the New Wave (the better part of punk, Rock Fusion, prog rock, electronic/New Age/Space rock along with some staple rock bands kept turning out great music.
The 80's
As I ran from the metal, hair bands and disco I survived the 80's on old rock acts the new wave acts and proto punk were turning out some interesting stuff along with some new psychedelic and NEO-prog rock. Then came the college oriented alternative rock, industrial and goth rock era. Ambient rock too. Also a big fan of the alternative dance scene. By the late 80's early britpop and so many great alternative bands make up my favorite music of the 80's. Funny I believe most people here were listening to heavy metal and hair metal I didn't even know that stuff existed. I didn't listen to pop radio and stopped reading rolling stone instead I was listening to alternative radio and heading to clubs playing that type of music. I love that stuff even today.
The 90's
Have to admit I didn't catch onto alot of stuff I love today from the early 90's until I found out about it later in the 90's and thruout the 00's (shoegaze, noise pop, Dream Pop, space rock, modern art rock). At the time it was the new jam band scene (blues Traveler, Dave Matthews) along with britpop (Oasis, Blur, stone roses, Pulp), The new girl singer/Songwriter movement and Seattle Grunge. By the time I went to Woodstock 94 I had also picked up a few more interesting genre's and had even enjoyed Aerosmith and Metallica stuff I didn't care for. The late 90's enter Radiohead which brew my mind. Coming up with 25-30 great albums every year of the 90's easy.
The 00's
Eyes wide Open. For Xmas 99 I heard Govt Mule and by January I was hooked on Govt Mule. The next month I went to see a disaster show for Fiona Apple as she stopped mid show. That nite I went home opened my computer and for the first time found a website for Fiona Apple and stayed up all night going back and forth with a few people about the show. That led to a meet up with a new crowd in NYC and a quick introduction to the new NYC music scene. Within a few months I had opened up to all sorts of new and old(80's, 90's) music I never knew or wasn't interested in. The 00's for me was an endlist list of indie and other genres of music. Seeing local bands, talking to local bands, discussing music with local bands. I quickly realized what the future of rock was. No longer was it just a rehash of old music but a mix of different styles. Mixing punk and prog was something I never imagined but as the 00's went on I saw it all coming together. The new bands would use any type of instrument to make a new mix. Yeah some here could call it weak or not mind blowing but I saw the pieces of the puzzle and a hope for a new blend. Also the 00's started me on an introduction to modern prog and understanding that I had missed so much prog from the 70, 80's and 90's. I saw over 700 concerts in the 00's there is no way the 00's sucked.
In summary
50's the roots of rock and awesome jazz
60- introduction to rock in so many new forms
70- classic rock albums and introduction to electronic along with the begining of my hate rock
80- alt rock and goth, Neo Prog,
90's -britpop, grunge, women in rock
00's-indie rock, NYC scene rock, electronic dance
10's -keep blending genres!!
no bad era and I'm sure I left out plenty. Let alone I could rag on 1/2 the music discussed here by plenty of people who have voted that both the 80's and 00's sucked for music. And the people saying they loved the 80's but would disagree with me on what was good 80's music.
