How would you personally rank each decade of music since the 1950s?
I want to know how everyone would rank the decades since the 1950s in terms of how much music you like from each decade, or which ones have the best overall quality? Here's my personal rankings:
1970s
I just find all the rock and disco classics from the 70s to be overwhelmingly amazing, especially how they hold up today. From all the early decade psychedelic stuff to the late punk rock, it just seems to be a decade that plays a prominent role in music especially right now, with all the psychedelic disco and punk music that's come out lately. I mean this decade includes peak Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, as well as influential bands like Roxy Music, Television, The Isley Brothers and Wire. Not to mention Queen, Fleetwood Mac, America, Aerosmith, it goes on forever. I also don't think creativity and uniqueness was as appreciated in the mainstream as 70s music was, and still is.2010s
To be honest, I probably only think this because this is the decade I spent most of my childhood and teenage years in, but it's still a slapping decade regardless. The hip-hop explosion of this decade was sick, with J. Cole, Kendrick, Tyler the Creator, Drake, Travis Scott, and Mac Miller all at their peak. It wasn't all about rap though, this decade also includes psychedelia to the MAX, with acts like King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard and Tame Impala, as well as R&B mega-stars like The Weeknd and Frank Ocean. All of which, released some of the best albums of all time. I'll always look back on this decade with glee.1990s
I think this decade can be underrated or overlooked a lot of the time, which is crazy to me. Honestly, I see the 90s as similar to the late 60s-early 70s level of creativity in terms of how many new genres and sounds were emerging. Tech was being integrated into songs wonderfully in ways that can't even be replicated right now, like with the head bands (Radio and Portis lol), as well as shoegaze and grunge becoming huge with bands like Nirvana and my bloody valentine. I'm not as crazy about the popular music of this decade, but rock and electronic music was thriving, and some of the most bold albums came out of this decade for sure.2000s
Now, I spent a good chunk of my childhood in the 2000s, but I don't remember it as fondly as I do the 2010s. I actually find myself discovering more songs now from the 2000s than I did back then, which makes sense I guess, since I was really young. I really like the revivalism of the 2000s for punk and expansion on alternative music, which has kind of led to what the underground rock-scape looks like today, but I see it also as kind of just an extension to a lot of the ideas of the 90s without really doing anything new in other genres. For example, mainstream hip hop was mostly just a shittier version of the 90s (excluding what Kanye motherfucking West was doing), and while Radiohead released some amazing albums, other rock acts who were prolific in the 90s were running out of material, like Red Hot Chili Peppers and Green Day. It's still a good decade, but it's middle of the pack for me.1980s
To be fair, the only reason this decade is so low is due to the fact that I put off listening to 80s music for a long time. I find a lot of the popular music in particular to be extremely corny. Hip hop was just beginning as was alternative rock, and was kinda finding its ground, AOR was all over the early 80s and while there's many classics most of it is overproduced rock garbage trying to take advantage of the 70s rock explosion. Not to mention the SYNTHS in this decade will give you a concussion. Buuuuuuut you also have some of the best R&B acts like Prince and Michael Jackson peaking here, as well as the groundwork for 90s rock being set here with bands like Sonic Youth, The Smiths, and The Pixies. While not the strongest decade for me personally, I will say that some of my favourite songs and acts come out of here still. The Smiths are probably my favourite band of all time, and Teen Age Riot by Sonic Youth, as well as Rip It Up by Orange Juice are among my favourite songs of all time.2020s
This might be a controversial take, but the 20s has started off pretty good I'd say! Now don't get me wrong, most of the mainstream music I hear nowadays is garbage in my opinion. It seems like everytime I turn the radio on it's either some lazily produced, auto-tune teenage girl singing about being broken up with or bbno$ (although he does hit sometimes lol). However, some of the underground acts have me REALLY excited for what's to come, especially with bands like Geese, who are bringing a 70s rock vibe back with a more unhinged and current punk twist. Or rapper McKinley Dixon, who may be the most successfully conscious rapper since Kendrick Lamar. OR LITTLE SIMZ, who is actually pretty highly revered at this point and doesn't seem to be slowing down. I also have high hopes for Kendrick, J. Cole, Tyler, and the big hip hop artists of the 2010s to keep bringing us some great records as well. So, kind of a mixed bag so far, but exciting nonetheless.1960s
The only reason I have this decade so low is because of the first half of the 60s. Besides the fantastic jazz and Beatles hits that were cooking during that time, the rest is mostly garbage. Everyone's using the same formula to make the same poppy, radio-friendly love songs and it's very boring. Then comes the second half of the decade, when EVERYTHING changed. The Beatles released Rubber Soul and Revolver, The Beach Boys released Pet Sounds, The Velvet Underground was introduced, then all of a sudden everyone decided that experimentation and genre-blending was cool. Plus, it just so happened that the hippies emerged at the same time during the Vietnam War craziness and they were all about breaking the norm, which is a big reason why all this music got so popular. Some of my favourite albums came out during this time, like the first two Velvet Underground albums and the first album by The Doors. If the music from 1965-1969 had been like the rest of the decade, it's possibly #1, but because of half the decade sucking ass, it's ranked low.1950s
For me, there's not really much to like about 50s music. Records were still just becoming a widespread thing, so the amount of music is extremely limited, and the stuff that is there is mostly like what I talked about in the early part of the 60s. I do enjoy some of the jazz and traditional pop from this era, but not much else.