Theezy

Bottom line is that music today is so different because the industry is so different.

It's impossible to compare because artists have different priorities.

I will say that I think pop now is melodically better than the older pop.

Prospero

There is good music under all the rocks from all the ages. you just have to find it. And lots of bad music also. But today fantastic production technology can mask the poor quality of many songs and performers.

xLizardx

There's plenty of great pop music today, it's just not always in the top 40. However, since the internet makes finding awesome artists more accessible than ever before [and since home-recording is more accessible than ever before] I would argue that there is probably MORE great pop music out there than in say, the 60s or 70s. You just have to dig a little to find it - but please, it's pointless listening to say, One Direction and claiming that music has regressed. There has been **** music from every decade - what about stuff like the Osmonds or the Bay City Rollers?

Here are some fantastic modern pop songs:


Of Monsters and Men - Little Talks - YouTube


Gotye - Somebody That I Used To Know (feat. Kimbra) - official video - YouTube


Shiny Toy Guns "Le Disko" - YouTube


Bastille - Laura Palmer - YouTube

I could go on, but you take my point.

Neapolitan

Fleet Floxes at 2 minutes sounds like America.

I don't think those examples are so fantastic - no offense. That one Goyte song is just plan annoying. I think the style singing Of Monsters and Men use is just plain horrible - I can't listen to it. It's just certain things in music get overdone till ad nauseam. That's not a "now versus then" thing.

What has happen to post-Whitney R&B, Blues, Bluegrass etc has quite often happen to indie folk, the singing sounds derivative and pretentious. It doesn't mean I don't like those genres, I'm just a very finicky listener. I would rather someone who others would not be considered to have a strong voice to sing in their own natural way than for them to try to sound like someone else, whether they are expected to because it's the new standard or told to sing that way have a hit.

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xLizardx

I think the Gotye song has been massively over-played on radio and stuff, however, that's the case with any song that's an actual hit. Lyrically, I think it's intelligent and memorable.

I suppose it's subjective as to whether you enjoy a particular style of singing - personally I think that it goes well with the style of the music, just as singing in a bluesy fashion would go well with singing a blues song.

I see what you mean about Whitney though - there are far too many pop/ rn'b singers who over-egg stuff [I call it doing a Mariah]. Whilst it may be very technically impressive to hit 10 notes in 4 different octaves in one line, in terms of song structure, I think it's actually detrimental to a piece of music, as adding constant flourishes/ embellishment rather saps the expression from a song. Roughly, I think that a song should follow an arc a bit like a novel - set up scene with the start, gradually build to a climax about 3/4 the way through, then let the consumer back down gently. If you do absolutely everything of which you're capable throughout the entire thing, then where do you go? You've nothing to build up to, because you're already at the top of the mountain. And if you remain at the same altitude for the whole climb, that's not a climb at all... it's just a walk.

Ok, might have overextended my metaphor there slightly lol but you see what I mean.

Isbjørn

Gotye was at #1 I think, but I see your point, and it's a valid one.

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xLizardx

Cheers Yes I know it did well in the charts, but I thought I should include a song that was extremely popular to forestall the 'but "pop" means "popular"' argument.

DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

Mmmm, kinda sorta maybe, but not really. Harmonies there are waaay below what Brian woulda and coulda done. It's actually a bit more like CSN harmonies circa late 70's-early 80's, on some songs.

Also, Brian wasn't a big fan of folk music, I can't imagine him doing something like that in the 60's.

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DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

Here ya go.

Jump ahead to the ~2 minute mark


This is CSN, 1977. FF sounds waaay more like this than anything the BB's did, or could have done.

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DriveYourCarDownToTheSea

Them too.

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