What’s your decade?

[dvdrtldg]

Disclaimer: I know that dividing musical history into decades is dumb. But I’m interested in testing the theory that everyone’s favourite musical decade is the decade in which they “came of age”. Works for me - my second favourite decade is the one we’re presently in, but my #1 is the 70s

Overall I’d rank them 70s > right now > 80s > 60s > 50s > 90s

[robussc]

80s for me, though the very late 70s get included in that, as it was when electronic music really kicked off. 90s electronica got a bit mad, disconnected from popular music in the 00s & 10s as there was a young kid running around. The 20s I’ve been on a voyage of new discovery, but steering clear of the mainstream which is as seemingly dull as ever.

I love songs from before then but the production is so rough.

[ChulaCoola]

60's/70's for me. I was born in 63. 80's also fits in there when it comes to synth/pop/other. But generally - 70's. It is hard to beat Aerosmith/Ted Nugent/Skynyrd/Allman Bro's band/Bob Seger/Johnny Winter/SVR/ZZTop/The Who/Deep Purple/Led Zeppelin/Elvis Costello/Kansas/Frampton/Paul McCartney and Wings/Billy Joel/ and I could go on and on.

[dvdrtldg]

It's crazy when you think about the musical genres that hit their stride in the 70s

Like the 60s definitely kicked the doors open in terms of license to experiment, but when you take away the greats - Beatles, Stones, Velvets, Kinks, Hendrix, a few others - you're left with a lot of derivative hippy dippy pissing about

The 70s on the other hand was the decade of art rock, heavy rock, country rock, yacht rock, pub rock, krautrock, glam, early metal, early stoner, prog, punk, post-punk, dub, Afrobeat, funk, disco, jangly guitar pop, on and on and on. And many of the greats of the 60s did their best work in the 70s - Stones, Pink Floyd, Bowie etc

[Quarmat]

I cannot answer properly, because I love late 60s british invasion, early 70s british rock/prog, late 70s funk/disco, early 80s synthpop, early 90s alternative rock, late 90s english breakbeat, early 00s french house, late 00s french touch, early 10s math rock, late 10s electohouse.. etc. Sorry!

[selig]

Disclaimer: I know that dividing musical history into decades is dumb. But I’m interested in testing the theory that everyone’s favourite musical decade is the decade in which they “came of age”. Works for me - my second favourite decade is the one we’re presently in, but my #1 is the 70s

Overall I’d rank them 70s > right now > 80s > 60s > 50s > 90s

This idea is fleshed out nicely in “This is Your Brain on Music” by Daniel Levitan. It’s because of how the brain forms in the ‘coming of age’ years, but he explains it in much more detail. One of the few “must reads” for anyone making music IMO.

[robussc]

The 70s on the other hand was the decade of art rock, heavy rock, country rock, yacht rock, pub rock, krautrock, glam, early metal, early stoner, prog, punk, post-punk, dub, Afrobeat, funk, disco, jangly guitar pop, on and on and on. And many of the greats of the 60s did their best work in the 70s - Stones, Pink Floyd, Bowie etc

You make an excellent point.

[selig]

It's crazy when you think about the musical genres that hit their stride in the 70s

Like the 60s definitely kicked the doors open in terms of license to experiment, but when you take away the greats - Beatles, Stones, Velvets, Kinks, Hendrix, a few others - you're left with a lot of derivative hippy dippy pissing about

The 70s on the other hand was the decade of art rock, heavy rock, country rock, yacht rock, pub rock, krautrock, glam, early metal, early stoner, prog, punk, post-punk, dub, Afrobeat, funk, disco, jangly guitar pop, on and on and on. And many of the greats of the 60s did their best work in the 70s - Stones, Pink Floyd, Bowie etc

As a teen in the 70s, I felt SO disappointed that those very folks you mentioned (the ‘greats’) were no longer making music. I discovered jazz and classical in that period as well as a good dose of synth based music towards the end of the era. It took me to well into the 90s to go back and ‘discover’ the greats of the 70s. It SHOULD be MY decade based on brain science, but I was a late bloomer and so it’s the music of the 80s (when I was totally immersed into the deep end of electronic music production) that I most relate to. That said, I DO relate to the 70s hit radio songs at a deeper level because that’s what I was mostly listening to at that point (back when radio played a wide variety of music that was popular rather than by genre).

[TritoneAddiction]

For me it’s 90s music has had the biggest impact on me. That’s what I grew up with.
Lots of Amiga 500 game music. Turrican 2 still has one of the best soundtrack ever made.
Command & Conquer soundtrack.
Prodigy - Experience, Jilted, Fat of the land.
Björk - Homogenic
Marilyn Manson - Antichrist superstar, Mechanical Animals.
Slipknot - Self titled
Cannibal Corpse - Bloodthirst

[robussc]

Björk defines the 90s for me. What a great decade for her. And Homogenic is also my favorite album of hers. Pure perfection. And of course Violator by Depeche Mode was a fantastic end point to the 80s.

[dvdrtldg]

A lot of music in the 90s seemed really uninspired and retrograde to me. Thousands of landfill rock bands trying to be Nirvana, the deterioration of 80s house music into an endless swamp of "Ibiza trance" and "chilled beats", annoying neo-hippies like Ben Harper and Jack Johnson being annoying neo-hippies, shitty nu-metal and emo and Blur vs Oasis and everyone doing a fucking "Beck remix", I hated it all. The only bands I remember getting really enthusiastic about were Stereolab (at first) and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (at first) and the High Llamas. A bit of hip hop here, a bit of Breeders there. But that was about it. The critically acclaimed stuff (Bjork, Massive Attack, Radiohead, Beastie Boys) left me cold. At the time I was worried that I was just getting old and no longer interested in anything new, but the early aughts made me realise it was them, not me

“This is Your Brain on Music” by Daniel Levitan.

Excellent! going to check that out, thanks

[robussc]

A lot of music in the 90s seemed really uninspired and retrograde to me.

This made me go back to my music collection and see what I picked up in the 90s

Björk of course, though she's now disappeared into some post-music space that I've been unable to follow.
Faithless were absolutely fantastic
Massive Attack really hit their stride - Mezzanine is still as gob-smacking as the day it came out.
Air freshened things up at the end of the decade (Stereolab was too noodly for me)

But the album of the decade for me was Seduction of Claude Debussy by Art of Noise. What a sonic voyage. So good!!

(I'm showing my Euro roots, but I don't find much to thrill me in the US music world - very samey and formulaic)

[robussc]

Thanks for starting this thread, it's been a fun trip down memory lane.

[rgdaniel]

My decade starts when the Beatles started, so I relate most to stuff from 1964-1978, roughly, when I was 10-24 years old. The formative years.

[dvdrtldg]

Massive Attack really hit their stride - Mezzanine is still as gob-smacking as the day it came out.
Air freshened things up at the end of the decade (Stereolab was too noodly for me)

I loved Stereolab in the early 90s when they were doing their low-fi drone/krautrock stuff, they just had a great sound and a refreshingly primitive approach. They lost me when they got all smirky and lounge-poppy

Oh and The Orb, how could I forget them. Loved The Orb, although I think they sound a bit dated these days

Massive Attack I could never get into, although it might have had something to do with overexposure. There was a period during the 90s when every single time you went to a party, or dropped by someone's house, you'd be hearing Blue Lines or Protection. By the time Mezzanine came along I was done, but maybe I never gave it a proper go

[robussc]

Massive Attack really hit their stride - Mezzanine is still as gob-smacking as the day it came out.
Air freshened things up at the end of the decade (Stereolab was too noodly for me)

I loved Stereolab in the early 90s when they were doing their low-fi drone/krautrock stuff, they just had a great sound and a refreshingly primitive approach. They lost me when they got all smirky and lounge-poppy

Oh and The Orb, how could I forget them. Loved The Orb, although I think they sound a bit dated these days

Massive Attack I could never get into, although it might have had something to do with overexposure. There was a period during the 90s when every single time you went to a party, or dropped by someone's house, you'd be hearing Blue Lines or Protection. By the time Mezzanine came along I was done, but maybe I never gave it a proper go

Being across the pond, Massive Attack was definitely not ubiquitous here. Portishead was more popular I think. So that helped me not burn out, give Mezzanine another go…

[guitfnky]

came of age in the early/mid 90s, and definitely have an affinity for that era, but really, I didn't feel like I had a true listening 'home' until probably the early to mid 2000s. a lot of what I loved in the 90s was juvenile and gimmicky (nu metal), with a few exceptions (Fugazi, RATM). the 2000s though, I felt like I figured out what it was about those shittier bands that I liked, and started finding artists that did those things, but without the dumb hypermasculine bro bullshit. it's also when I learned to appreciate electronic music, and started branching out into jazz, folk, downtempo, and generally less angry music. still love that stuff, but my palate changed much--for the better--a bit beyond my teens and early 20s.

[dvdrtldg]

it's also when I learned to appreciate electronic music, and started branching out into jazz, folk, downtempo, and generally less angry music. still love that stuff, but my palate changed much--for the better--a bit beyond my teens and early 20s.

I suspect that younger generations are going to be a lot more eclectic in their musical tastes, maybe to the point where the whole "Your favourite musical decade is the one in which spent your teens" thing no longer applies

I have two nephews aged 13 and 16, they're both crazy into music and they're just snarfing it up from any & all eras. 13 is a bit more into whatever's happening right now, but he's a drummer and his favourite band overall is Led Zeppelin. 16 is into droney synthy stuff, mostly from the mid-aughts like Emeralds and Oneohtrix Point Never, but he was telling me recently about this awesome band he's discovered called Tangerine Dream. And his favourite album of all time is Abbey Road

[bossa]

#70 jazz, fusion, jazzrock, latin rock, ambient, minimal music (classic),

[Jackjackdaw]

I love music from all times. But my favourite period for music gear is the 70s and 80s I love Wurlitzer E.Ps and Boss fx pedals and JCM Marshall amps. Roland drum machines, 1/4 inch headphone jacks, black tolex.

[fullforce]

For me it’s 90s music has had the biggest impact on me. That’s what I grew up with.
Lots of Amiga 500 game music. Turrican 2 still has one of the best soundtrack ever made.
Command & Conquer soundtrack.
Prodigy - Experience, Jilted, Fat of the land.
Björk - Homogenic
Marilyn Manson - Antichrist superstar, Mechanical Animals.
Slipknot - Self titled
Cannibal Corpse - Bloodthirst

Red Alert, Hell March! Duu duu duu duu du du duuu!!!!!!!!