1983-2000 Vs 2000-2017
 

In terms of change isn't it pretty obvious that music saw more important evolutions from 83-00? And if there is a stagnation does it even matter? 86-87 is the best time block from the earlier period but 2016 was the most incredible year of music during this whole time span (my opinions, obviously).

Any comments as to what's going on?

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

Are you accusing me of being nostalgic or the last 17 years?

I think he's accusing you of being a junkie.

Of course not. You have lived through those times in music, if i'm not mistaken, so you have a much better foundation for this kind of discussion. It was just a joke. I just read your post and immediately thought of the wrong generation meme.

As far as personal taste, definitely '83-'00 as it encompasses the majority of my favorite metal, along with a ****load of other ****, whereas I don't much listen to nearly as much music from '01 and on. Any option that includes the 80s is pretty much gonna win for me.

No offense taken. Nostalgia is obviously an important part of this discussion. Perhaps we're presently in a state of perpetual nostalgia. Or older developments seem more revolutionary to me because I was younger. What if we took another 17 year chunk 66-83? To me the first two 17 year chunks both saw more development. Maybe the obsession with newness and novelty became dull. Or maybe my hypothesis (stolen from Mark Fisher, btw) won't stand up to scrutiny.

To be clear I'm not interested in the quality of the music but rather the degree to which pioneering music came about. It seems to me that the earlier time chunk wins that contest hands down when it comes to metal.

And Bat, since you did qualify your statement as personal taste, let me ask you, how important is whether or not a band is pioneering important to you? Is their something about breaking important new ground that makes the music more enjoyable than a fantastic copycat?

I'm more concerned with whether an artist has a singular sound than them being actually original. ICP is a great example: they were more or less ripping off Ice Cube and Esham at the start of their career, but they did it with an approach and personality that set them apart from pretty much everybody, so I don't really care that they weren't bringing much new to the table (although I guess it's possible that their late-90s/early-00s stuff was more original, but I just might not know who they were then ripping off). But I also love a ****load of unoriginal hacks who just did that sound better than others. So I guess the only thing that's important to me is if the music sounds good. *shrug*