Do the 80's Deserve their Bad Rep?
 

Most music lovers seem to scornfully look upon the 80's as a stain on the history of popular music. I have heard the terms "cultural wasteland" and "lost decade" used many times by many people in reference to the 1980's, and it irritates me. Sure, there were some very embarrassing aspects of the decade, but I think there is a lot more that the era offered that cannot be overlooked.

The 80's in my opinion were actually an extremely influential time. The further development of politically-charged pop and punk music, the incorporation of synthesizers, the spawning of solo careers by many ex-band artists and the birth of what we would consider the modern metal scene all came out of the 80's, not to mention the songwriter movements of the time and the developments in early jazz fusion. I think the decade is too often shunned arbitrarily.

I'm not really into 80's Hair Metal or care about 80's Top 40 - no comment. If there was one positive thing I had to say about the 80's - Randy Rhoads.

Most? Really? I'm not sure about that. Of course those that grew up in the 90s would scorn it because they are from a different era and prefer dour grunge/rock music, and many of them also probably like some of the worst hip-hop, shoegaze and electronica of the 90s as well.

The 80s certainly had much more good pop music (chart and indie). Electronica had its roots before the 90s (in the 80s and 70s), hip-hop started properly in the 80s, shoegaze started in then too, the roots of indie rock were also very much in the 80s. Dance music as we know it also started in the 80s, far far more good pop-dance back then as well.

I think some people's perspectives are limited by American music which while it had some good things was not really what defined the era. There is far more to the 80s than American groups like Bon Jovi and REM. British music for example had far more variety and - like in the 70s - there was other good music (particularly pop) in other parts of the world like Italy and Japan. Also rock critics can give a distorted view of the 80s focusing on just a few biased favourites like The Cure when there was much more than that.

Jazz fusion? You're in the wrong decade there .. It came about in the late 60s and got somewhat popular in the 70s.

To some extent, I do think the 80s deserve a bad rep. In the late 70s, popular opinion turned against the ambitious and often experimental rock music of the 70s. A lot of great bands disappeared around the start of the 80s when their creative sparks started fizzling out or their music couldn't be sold anymore, for example Procol Harum and Caravan. Those who did survive often changed their sound and style in an attempt to remain sellable to fans of the new and increasingly synthesized pop music, for example Yes, Heart, Genesis, Magma or Gentle Giant.

Also, the least appreciated parts of the discographies of bands that kept going like Pink Floyd or Camel are typically from the 80s. The problem with the 80s production is that it sounds more dated than it did before because they were playing around and experimenting a lot with technology, but technology gets old while the sound of a guitar or a flute is a lot more timeless as instruments don't change that much. As a result, music from the 80s sounds, to me, often more outdated than music from previous decades.

In the end, it is of course about perspective and what you look for. If you like the metal or alternative rock that came about during the 80s (f.ex), then perhaps it's a decade full of merit, but if you're like me and like bands and artists from earlier decades who disappeared or turned to **** in the 80s with big hair and shoulderpads, then the 80s is in many ways a pretty sad decade.

Every decade has it's share of good music and crap music. It all comes down to personal taste.
I like a lot of music from the 80's, but I have to admit I do find myself listening to music from other decades much more often. (1950's to the present.)

The 80s was not the decade for progressive music that much, but the 70s beats all other decades on that anyway. As for productions well there could be different types it wasn't all in the heavier American style. But really productions from every era sound of their time, it just means that people have to make the effort to accept the different sound, some will and some won't. That's why when I read a review of someone on an 80s album saying the production is too dated or 80s I just feel that they don't get the point and are wasting their time reviewing it.

The Best of times, as well as the worst of times, all in one big mish mosh.

The 80s is probably my favourite decade for music.

If you're into METAL, than the '80s rule.
The only bad thing music-wise that they produced was all that lame pop. But that's coming from a huge new wave fan.

Arguably there was far lamer pop in the 90s, the 80s had some great pop from many countries.

If you're into Gothic rock, hardcore punk, dream pop, College rock, Indie pop, Post-Hardcore, Noise rock and Industrial, the 80s also rule. Every decade has it's awful chart music, the 80s is no worse than the 70s, 90s or 00s. In fact, the 60s was the only decade wherein pop music was of a consistently high quality, and even then there was a lot of shit

I'm in to all that! What is college rock?

Alternative rock that developed from post-punk/hardcore. It got its name from the popularity it gained in youthful college radio audiences. See The Replacements, REM, Husker Du (post-Zen Arcade) and Violent Femmes for more info.

'80s were also good for post-punk and deathrock.

Hell yeah, Christian Death and the like were great.

I think the utter **** of hair metal and new wave (not that I don't listen to all of it without an ounce of shame) actually led to the formation of the underground music scene that we know today. Without A Flock of Seagulls, would Slayer or The Melvins have felt as much desire to be so different?

Pop was best in the 80's. Styles were varied (e.g., New Wave, power ballads), keyboards were fresh, and auto-tune hadn't yet been invented. Also, rap had yet to crowd out other types of music on radio and music TV.

hardcore punk and metal were pretty ****ing amazing in the 80s.

Goofy maybe to those who didn't live throught the music at the time, to those who did it was quite normal.

Ozzy Osbourne produced some of his best solo material during the 80s along with Ronnie James Dio, and Judas Priest as well (just to mention a few), so the 80s Heavy Metal genre was at some of its best during this particular era in my opinion.

I always liked the New Wave from the 80s as well, with bands like Tears For Fears and The Cure.

The only reason someone might suggest that the 80s produced "lame" music during the 80s would maybe be because of the introduction of MTV and the use of music video's by almost every popular artist at the time.
So we now have "classic music video's" that coincide with the music itself. And I personally don't see that as being a bad thing for the music industry of the 80s. Instead, musical evolution.

I disagree also that the 80s was the era of jazz fusion. Maybe the development of contemporary R&B witch later lead to the Neo-Soul genre later on in the 90s, but jazz orientated rock music had been around decades before the 80s.

As for the Glam/Hair Rock & Metal genre and bands are concerned, this is only a label that was given to certain bands because of appearance more so than the music itself. I will admit that a lot of the music sounds "Bubblegum" these days but never the less, in my opinion there is some good rock music that came out of the Glam/hair era.

I would personally think that the 90s produced more "Weak" genres of music and bands/artist than the 80s did, but that's just my opinion, and to be honest, good music can be found in all decades. Some decades may have just produced and evolved more so than others musically with importance and influence to the era of the present day.

i'll just sum it up as this:-

you had to be there

otherwise, it doesn't make much sense

I agree. With the 90s I find I often have to dig a bit deeper to find my preferred records, the most famous ones (which may have nostalgia for others) often don't impress me that much. And although some often seem to equate metal with the 80s, I don't that much. I might like more metal from later as it might be slightly more elaborate or progressive. But the decade had lots else besides the big US rock sound anyway.

The 90s for me are immortalized in the math rock, indie rock, post hardcore, noise rock, post rock, hip hop, ambient house and IDM that the decade spawned. Still a great 10 years of music, and actually one of my favourites.

When I think of the 90s though, I think of Grunge and Britpop as being what they're remembered for.

I didn't really listen to newer popular music in the 90s so none of it holds nostalgia for me. That just leaves me even more free to just explore and pick out what from scratch what actually appeals to me. So with Britpop while I like, for instance, some Oasis songs I'm also quite critical of some of their stuff and don't really think by my estimation that they have done a truly classic album.

Elliott Smith released his best albums in the 90s too, that immediately brightens my view of the decade. Trip Hop and Shoegaze are further sub-genres I neglected to acknowledge.

The hair and makeup were considered over the top then.

I feel both of these comments perfectly summarize my opinion of the 80s (especially Tore's). Although, I would add post-punk and experimental music (in general) to Stu's list of genres...

I don't know if that argument really applies though.
I mean, I like music from the 50s through the 70s, and I wasn't born in that timeframe. But the 80s? There's VERY little that I like from that time period. And I was born in 81, so what's up with that?

at least a teenager in the 80s

i dunno, just being swept by the tide at the moment

in retrospect, i don't think many people who were younger could get caught up in big hair, parachute pants, NES-like synths or videos shot in Sri Lanka

That's me in the 90s, but I still equally appreciate music from far before I was born. It's in a different context, yea, but the common denominator here is that the reason I don't like most 80s music has nothing to do with not being old enough to have been swept up in it.

I think we're saying the same thing though... that the credit 80s music gets, as good music, is [mostly] tied to people being ripe for that time period.

I was just coming at it from a different angle, I think.

As Il Duce said not that much is up with that, you were a teenager and so probably into current music in the 90s. Still, you might have had some songs you heard off the radio from the 80s that you remember, although that music was better in the first half of the 80s which being only a baby then you would have hardly remembered.

Of course 80s music has become fashionable because the teenagers of that generation have grown up and are championing it and have nostalgia for it. I also think though that the music quality can back that up. People will have the same remembrance for 90s music soon as well. But I agree with the earlier comment that all decades have good music, you just have to look more to find it. I do feel some people (not saying you) just use the fact that they don't like a particular style of music (often just meaning they haven't tried much with it) to just damn a period.

i can't vouch for the quality of 80s music but things were so much more fun then, as opposed to the dour 90s and the virtually faceless 00s

Personally don't like much from the 80s but the 90s weren't much better.

Would you elaborate more on this?

Honestly, the face of the 00s at least on the most mainstream level is just a cheap imitation of he 80s.

However, on a non-pure-top-40s level it's far more diverse due to Internet diversity. I would say though pitchfork's shamelessly lo-fi garage-blues-psychadellic-noise type music is 00s specific. Albeit, that's mostly just imitating the 60s and/or the 90s.

there's no identifiable dominant new sub-genre or any "new" fashion sense

I hated the 80s, I'm glad I'll never have to go through that again. When I think of the 80s I think of a cheap & tacky plastic decade with no substance.

As for the music, well pretty much all of the good stuff from that decade I discovered in the 90s when I went looking for it.

Basically if you didn't live through the 80s you didn't miss much.

The 80s were great! I'm sure I'm extremely biased because I was child during that time, but to me the 80s were a time when everything just seemed so fresh and new and sleek. It was a time when there was both catchy, super-poppy pop music and an incredible explosion of underground music in such a wide variety of styles.

In 30 years time people will look back at the music from now and say it is laughably dated, because most people don't make the effort to understand earlier styles.