Am I The Only One be Who Thinks Today's Music Is Soul less?

[KitKat]

No offense to anyone who likes the NEW music of today. There are a few songs out there that are great, but to me, the majority of today's music feels so... plastic, soul less, imitation. 

[GEMINIGUY]

Someone started a thread here on this subject a while ago. One reason a lot of today's music is the way it is because talentless hacks sit behind there computers and synthesize music. There are no real musicians with real instruments in a music studio working hard to make one song, they can churn out lots of "songs" in a short amount of time.

[KitKat]

Yep. There are even songs out there that are sung by artists that have it all. A great body, great image, and a good voice, but the words to the song are just so meaningless and lame. It's sad.

[MissBarbara]

It depends upon what you mean by "soul less." And, more to the point, it also depends upon what you mean by "the new music of today."

Yes, if you limit your definition of "the new music of today" to the 10-15 songs in heavy rotation on your typical pop radio station, then a lot of it does seem over-produced. But if you expand your view outside of that, "the new music of today" is just as soulful as the old music of yesterday.

To take just one example among thousands and thousands, have you listened to any of Lady Gaga's duets with Tony Bennett? You'd be hard-pressed to describe that as anything less than soulful.

[KitKat]

To be more specific. When I say "the music of today" I am talking about the music that is on the popular radio stations being served to the masses. The main stream music, that is indeed soulless, or to be more descriptive, featureless, bland, dull, colorless, lackluster, dreary, drab, uninspiring, undistinguished, anemic, insipid, tedious and uninspiring, boring, dull, tedious, dreary, uninvolving, humdrum, tiresome, wearisome, uninteresting, uninspiring, unexciting, soul-destroying, mind-numbing. I'm sure there are more endless synonyms to describe it.

[KitKat]

I think I forgot to mention.... Uninspiring. 

[herschel]

Best string of adjectives I've ever seen! I won't argue the merits of the proposition, because I don't imbibe radio, television, movies, newspapers, etc. What I learn on KB is good enough for me.

But I'll buy the corollary, that songs from the old days were full of soul. 1920-1950 was the peak for popular music that made me feel good. For opera, I would go back another couple hundred years.

Young people these days hate opera, maybe with justification, because there are so many crappy productions. But the best opera, a lot of which is now on YouTube, is fantastic stuff. To do it justice, you need a supplementary sound system for your PC or laptop, which can be had for well under $100. You also need to invest a fair amount of time studying the librettos, which were included in vinyl albums, but unfortunately are missing from YouTube. Then you need to cultivate an ear for language. Who has time for all that? Very few.

[KitKat]

I have heard opera a few times. I certainly don't hate it. Maybe if I spoke Italian or French or what ever language they are singing in I would enjoy it more. I do enjoy classical music. As well as some Glenn Miller on occasion. I have a wide range of likes. Of course this is all my opinion of what is "good" or "real" music.

[herschel]

As an example of inspiring musical entertainment, we have Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald in Naughty Marietta, 1935: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI_JT7k0cLo


One of the nice things about YouTube is the viewer comments. Here's a selection from under this video:

>If only I had learned to flirt.  Mothers, please teach your daughters to flirt, but not to tease.  Important difference.  I think it has something to do with the eyes and touch.

>As we are telling our past, my memory is of being dragged up the aisle at about five years of age, screaming, and my embarrassed mother saying, "yes, all right, we'll bring you back to see it again, but we have already sat through it two times and we have to go." That was 1935, Naughty Marietta, and I still wonder why a five year old little girl was so powerfully affected by the voices, and of course the romantic story of Naughty Marietta, and... still is.

>I am 50 years old and just love Jeanette and Nelson too. It always makes me feel happy when I listen to them. Do you think they were really in love with each other ? I can't decide.

>Nelson Eddy did a concert in Brisbane Queensland before he died. I was the fan he met backstage. When I asked Nelson about Jeanette he broke down and wept. He was so sad and still in love with Jeanette who had died.

[KitKat]

One of the most entertaining things about YouTube are the comments.

[phtlc]

No offense to anyone who likes the NEW music of today. There are a few songs out there that are great, but to me, the majority of today's music feels so... plastic, soul less, imitation.  

Every generation experiences this. As a kid I heard adults referring to the music I listened to by saying "the music kids listen to is shit...the stuff in my day was classic".

 Now I hear people my age saying "the music kids listen to is shit...the stuff in my day was classic"

[MissBarbara]

No offense to anyone who likes the NEW music of today. There are a few songs out there that are great, but to me, the majority of today's music feels so... plastic, soul less, imitation.  

Every generation experiences this. As a kid I heard adults referring to the music I listened to by saying "the music kids listen to is shit...the stuff in my day was classic".

Now I hear people my age saying "the music kids listen to is shit...the stuff in my day was classic"

While fully aware that you do, in fact, get this a lot, I'll nonetheless agree that that's exactly the point.

I once heard Neil Young say, "Some people say that if it's old, it's good. Other people say that if it's new, it's good. I say that if it's good, it's good."

[GEMINIGUY]

A WOO to Mr. Neil Young! This Note's For You! :^)

[KitKat]

No offense to anyone who likes the NEW music of today. There are a few songs out there that are great, but to me, the majority of today's music feels so... plastic, soul less, imitation.  

Every generation experiences this. As a kid I heard adults referring to the music I listened to by saying "the music kids listen to is shit...the stuff in my day was classic".

 Now I hear people my age saying "the music kids listen to is shit...the stuff in my day was classic"

That's true. It seems like every next generation is a step down, the music has finally come to the bottom of the stairway.

[freddy1984]

Only New Music I will listen to today are from the Artists that I grew up with that ARE STILL making Music, these Musicians of Today (and I use that term loosely) don't know how to make good music like I what was accustomed to back in the 70s and 80s.

[phtlc]

That's true. It seems like every next generation is a step down, the music has finally come to the bottom of the stairway.

Is that truly the case though? I think we each get so emotionally attached to the music that was relevant in our youth that we naturally see it as "real music", while the next generation is crap.

I'm sure the current generation of musicians is just as talented as the ones I listened to as a teen and the generation before (yes I know...that's sacrilege). I just don't like them because it's not what I listened to in high school.
If I was 14-18 I'd love it.

[KitKat]

I was a 90's teen and I thought the music sucked at the time. I was more into Led Zeppelin & Pink Floyd. Then later I realized that the 90's weren't so bad, but the 70's are still better in my opinion.

[GEMINIGUY]

But Phtlc, you're missing the point. All past musicians were talented, and they worked hard to craft each song in the study, which could take a lot of time.
This new generation of "musicians" are talentless hacks, who sit behind their keyboard and use software to create music without any effort. That's not how you make music. That f*cking bullsh*t.

[KitKat]

But Phtlc, you're missing the point. All past musicians were talented, and they worked hard to craft each song in the study, which could take a lot of time.
This new generation of "musicians" are talentless hacks, who sit behind their keyboard and use software to create music without any effort. That's not how you make music. That f*cking bullsh*t.

Agree. Although once in a while you will get a decent catchy tune.

[JulesVern]

No offense to anyone who likes the NEW music of today. There are a few songs out there that are great, but to me, the majority of today's music feels so... plastic, soul less, imitation.  

Every generation experiences this. As a kid I heard adults referring to the music I listened to by saying "the music kids listen to is shit...the stuff in my day was classic".

 Now I hear people my age saying "the music kids listen to is shit...the stuff in my day was classic"

Beat me to it... Just like adults complain about kids not respecting the older generation this has probably been around since the caveman days. :-p

That's not to say I disagree that today's music certainly seems to be more generic... Cookie cutter music execs don't often take chances.