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Why does 80's music get such a bad rap?

88keys

88keys

Golden Member
Maybe it's just me, but I think alot of bands and artist wrote some their best stuff in that decade.

For example.
Van Halen, Metallica, Rush, Iron Maiden, Dio, Ozzy Osbourne, Guns n Roses, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Traveling Wilburys, AC/DC, David Lee Roth, Pink Floyd, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Megadeth, Slayer, Aerosmith along with others that I just can't think of.
 
Because the 80s were terrible. There were certainly gems in there, but on the whole the music sucked. Feeble and thin, with the overuse of electronics.
 
A lot of it just didn't age all that gracefully relative to other generations of music. I think most of the blame is that synthesizers spiked in popularity, and many artists over used them, or simply shoe horned them into their music.
 
lxskllr said:
Because the 80s were terrible. There were certainly gems in there, but on the whole the music sucked. Feeble and thin, with the overuse of electronics.
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Like there wasn't shit music in the 60's/70's/90's.....same shit different decade
 
motsm said:
A lot of it just didn't age all that gracefully relative to other generations of music. I think most of the blame is that synthesizers spiked in popularity, and many artists over used them, or simply shoe horned them into their music.
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I don't think there is anything wrong with syntehsizers in music so long as it's done correctly.

But I think alot of bands were using synthesizers for the sake of using synthesizers. I feel as if producers pressured the artists to incorporate it into their music so it will sound modern.

But some examples of good synthesizer driven songs...

Ill Wait - Van Halen.

Rush Subdivisions
 
Agreed, 80s had the best music, especially Van Halen which for the 1980s would have been 50/50 Van Hagar and Van DLR exactly, but since I'm a big fan of both worlds that works for me.

88keys said:
But some examples of good synthesizer driven songs...

Ill Wait - Van Halen.
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Love that song, it was nothing Van Halen ever did but it's so catchy and upbeat that it works.
 
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BrokenVisage said:
Agreed, 80s had the best music, especially Van Halen which for the 1980s would have been 50/50 Van Hagar and Van DLR exactly, but since I'm a big fan of both worlds that works for me.



Love that song, it was nothing Van Halen ever did but it's so catchy and upbeat that it works.
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Yeah, everybody thinks of "Jump" as Van Halen's staple keyboard driven song which is OK. Maybe I would think more of it if I hadn't heard the song a billion times on the radio. But IMO, "I'll wait" is a much better song in every measurable way.

But FWIW, I probably like 70's music just as much as 80's music, and most of the 90's were pretty good, but I feel like hard rock and metal took a downhill slide at that point.

My musical tastes generally revolve around good bass, drums and guitar.
 
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88keys said:
Maybe it's just me, but I think alot of bands and artist wrote some their best stuff in that decade.

For example.
Van Halen, Metallica, Rush, Iron Maiden, Dio, Ozzy Osbourne, Guns n Roses, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Traveling Wilburys, AC/DC, David Lee Roth, Pink Floyd, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Megadeth, Slayer, Aerosmith along with others that I just can't think of.
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Name 1 song Pink Floyd wrote in the 80s that was better than their worst music of the 70s.
 
Because they listen primarily to radio hits (best case) or what popular critics/reputation claim the 80's was made out of (worst case). Metal, hardcore punk, more experimental/avant-rock, indie rock, hip-hop, and industrial music all had major developments and/or births in the 80's and the so-called "80's sound" did not define those styles at all. Of course, some 80's pop was incredibly awesome as well, and many people are simply ill-equipped to handle its high-energy greatness.

EDIT: Ok, to be fair to the posts immediately above me, a lot of excellent 70's bands turned to shit in the 80's, a mix of losing inspiration and feeling pressure to jump on new trends. I can agree with that, but it applies to every decade (see: nearly every metal band trying to "go grunge").
 
88keys said:
Yeah, everybody thinks of "Jump" as Van Halen's staple keyboard driven song which is OK. Maybe I would think more of it if I hadn't heard the song a billion times on the radio. But IMO, "I'll wait" is a much better song in every measurable way.
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Well Jump was more commercially popular that's probably why, kinda like how VH with Hagar still did great keyboard songs like Love Walks In, Dreams, and When It's Love but Right Now is considered their keyboard staple. Still an awesome song though with a great unique music video.
 
JulesMaximus said:
Name 1 song Pink Floyd wrote in the 80s that was better than their worst music of the 70s.
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Learning to Fly
On the Turning Away
Actually, the whole album "Momentary Lapse of Reason" is quite good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mKDvp7MavQ

Come to think of it, depending on how you look at it, Pink Floyd's the Wall which was released December 1st 1979 IIRC. I know songs from that album get played on 80's stations on Pandora along with Van Halen songs that were released in the late 70's
 
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88keys said:
Learning to Fly
On the Turning Away
And depending on how you look at it, Pink Floyd's the Wall which was released December 1st 1979 IIRC.
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The 80s didn't start as an era with 1980. There's always lag with the transition of the defining culture of a decade. The "80s" didn't start until 82 or 83.
 
I'd like to point out that I will take a solid 80's synthesizer backing track over some Disney engineered autotuned train wreck.
 
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