We are entering a golden age if 2015-2016 is any indication

Thanks for all the recommendations!

 

@ServingTheMusic I listened to a couple of albums from your list.

Beginning with Stephen Emmer's "International Blue," I found him heavily influenced by David Bowie, particularly in his singing style. And I couldn't help but feel it was a lesser and somewhat derivative version of what Bowie does. Overall, Emmer is not bad, and he does sing with conviction and much emotion, but I can't say I was particularly captured by the songs such that I would shell out $25 to $30 to buy the album on vinyl.

One interesting point about about Emmer, though, is that he's not young, and his first album came out in the early 80's. So when we consider a new Golden Age, I would've thought it would need to be driven by largely new artists (say under 40.) Is that not how you would define it? If not, then it seems we could include new albums by legacy acts as evidence of a Golden Age. I only ask respectfully.

As for Tindersticks' "The Waiting Room," I am largely not into this type of music. It's too slow and dreary for my taste. I understand, however, that some people might go for this slower, ambient style of music, so I'm not really the best person to gauge this kind of music, especially as it would compare to others in that genre.

Based on hearing a couple of your recommendations, I would respectfully disagree that these albums are on par with the extraordinary output of Dylan, The Beach Boys, or The Beatles.

But I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on the subject, along with specific recommendations to back it up. I will still check out more of the albums you recommended because I want to know what exists today that others love, and I may still find something that connects with me.

Again, thank you sir.

 

Golden age for which genres?

And no you can't put David Bowie on that list, RIP or not.

 

Kendrick Lamar
Drake
Adele
Kanye West


That's four that have the musical and cultural significance of the artists listed above.
Maybe you'd know that if you paid more attention to modern music.

 

FYI, the Emmer album features vocals all by guest artists. He is a composer and arranger. Vocals are performed by Midge Ure of Ultravox, Liam Mckahey of Cousteau, and Bernard Sumners of Heaven 17...and Tony Visconti of David Bowie fame produced it.

For the others, I agree, Tindersticks is not for everyone....

All a matter of taste..but very much appreciate you taking the time and being open minded. Cheers.

 

If you're referring to me, I'm not going to those shows and never have, just pointing out the facts. The best show I ever saw was in a "crowd" of about 40-50 people.

 

Yes and no. No doubt legacy artists from the Rolling Stones to Madonna do very well on the road with their presold brands and big catalogs of hits. And they do particularly well as measured by gross because of the ticket prices they can command -- Fleetwood Mac has the 6th highest grossing tour worldwide in 2015 according to Pollstar, but sold only 43% of the number of ticket that the top grossing tour -- Taylor Swift's -- sold, and half the number of seats that the #7 grossing tour -- Ed Sheeran's sold.

But, Taylor Swift was #1 by gross in 2015, One Direction was #3, Ed Sheeran was #7; and no doubt in 2016 Adele, Rihanna and Kanye will have among the top tours. And the acts playing MSG this year include Halsey, 5 Seconds of Summer, 21 Pilots, Justin Bieber, Adele...it's not like only Katy Perry and Taylor Swift can sell arenas.

 

Good post. But IMO no analysis is complete without a comparison to the UK chart for balance. So here's the list of acts that hit number one on the UK Official album chart last year:

George Ezra, Sam Smith, Mark Ronson, Bob Dylan, Imagine Dragons, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Kendrick Lamar, James Bay, The Prodigy, All Time Low, Paul Simon, Josh Groban, Blur, Mumford & Sons, Brandon Flowers, Will Young, Florence + the Machine, Muse, Lionel Richie, Ed Sheeran, Years & Years, The Chemical Brothers, The Maccabees, Dr. Dre, Cilla Black, Jess Glynne, The Weeknd, Iron Maiden, Stereophonics, David Gilmour, Disclosure, Rudimental, Faithless, Jamie Lawson, 5 Seconds of Summer, Elvis Presley, One Direction, and Adele.

Trainor, ID, Lamar, Mumford, Florence, Muse, Weeknd, 5 Seconds, and Adele pulled double duty topping both charts. "Boomer icons" included Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Lionel Richie, Cilla Black, Iron Maiden, David Gilmour, and Elvis Presley. But only those by Dylan, Maiden, and Gilmour were not greatest hits/best of packages.

Much higher turnover than the US chart. But again, it's newer acts that dominate; Sam Smith with 4 weeks at the start of the year and Adele with seven at the end.

 

I have to say, I find some of these posts quite entertaining. I think I would actually miss your words of wisdom if you ever moved on to greener pastures.

On a side note, I've now realized that the OP and I do not have the same tastes in music. However, that's a plus in this case as he's challenging me to listen to albums I wouldn't normally give a chance and that is the BEST part of this forum, hands down. Learning about the best copy of Who's Next or Aja is good too, but when I can find an album to like that would have passed me by otherwise is a gift that keeps on giving. Thanks OP.

 

Ah shore dew hope that this is a joke. I mean, I'd love for someone to try to explain West's cultural significance.

 

There's a book on it. Check it out when you get the time.
http://www.complex.com/music/2013/12/kanye-west-textbook-cultural-impact

 

Nobody who puts out new music only every 3 years or more is going to have much cultural significance, unless your definition of cultural significance is getting on TMZ regularly. The Beatles were releasing 2+ albums of new material every year. The Door, The Stones, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix were doing at least an album a year, and each one showed a lot of growth and change from the previous one.. Creedence Clearwater Revival put out THREE outstanding albums in 1969. Adele has put out three albums in her career. And who has she influenced? Isn't that a big part of cultural significance? Madonna, as much as I despise her, had cultural significance. Adele has none.

 

Looking forward to Cirque Du Soleil doing their Kendrick Lamar show in Vegas in 2050.

 

That's a good point - I honestly don't know why this is, unless it's more of a celebrity type thing going on. Or a status thing where you can say "I was there!" even if you don't really care much for the music.

I've read that concern in this very forum where said member goes to see an oldies act and notices that a lot of people simply don't care to listen to the music. They are more interested in maybe hearing the few hits they know and then chat on the cell phone the rest of the time. Probably happens at Swift or Adele concerts too, I suspect.

The acts I go see generally don't have this issue as most people who come likely aren't doing it to look cool to their friends on Facebook or Instagram...they just want to enjoy the music. Sill have the cellphone in air annoyance but not necessarily chatterboxes only looking to hear the hits.

 

I am aware of all four . Laudable attempt, but I think you know none of them are really comparable.

 

Kanye and Drake are and the other two have the potential to be.

 

You're picking and choosing to try to make a point, but the facts are what they are.

If you look at the top grossing tours of the 2000's (see Wikipedia) you have to go down to #13 to find a current artist of the time (Tim McGraw and Faith Hill). In the 2010's, 7 of the top 10 tours were older artists.

Now imagine if in the 1970's the biggest tours were of artists who were popular in the 1940's and 1950's. That's how things have changed. The fact is, since the 1990's there have been fewer current artists who a large number of people will pay top dollar to see than at any time. People don't have careers like that anymore.

 

I don't know if you are 15 or 70 (since you declined to put your age on your profile for reasons unknown), but it's hilarious that people who champion new music never say what it is that appeals to them about it, beyond that is 'new'. Probably the same folks that can't resist any product labeled "New and Improved!", despite the lack of any information supporting its claim to be improved. ("Hey, it's new---It must be improved!")

 

Justin Bieber is "holding the consciousness of millions". Does that mean he's great?

Quality of music is a subjective thing, and has little to do with how many people listen to it or like it.

 

I agree with some of what you said, but there are mature music fans out there that don't want to hear "Back In Black" ever again, and yet don't fall for the latest flavor of the month just to look cool to their kids or younger co-workers/forum members/etc.

 

46, thanks for asking. And since you asked, the current music I love speaks to me in exactly the same way music I discovered during my childhood, teens, 20s, etc. It's smart, sexy, sad, funny, angry, joyous, thrilling and ethereal. It speaks to my soul and makes me glad to be alive. I feel genuinely sorry for people who no longer have that ability to be moved or excited by something new to them, and I remain mystified that so many people are apparently made actually angry by the fact that there are people who are still able to find joy in new music.

 

What do mean by "mature"? I know I'm old, but don't have to be reminded of it.

As for looking cool to forum members, that's easier to do by chatting about forum favorites than Guy Garvey or Glenn Hansard. When I post pics in the "Now Playing on Vinyl" thread, or better yet the more generic "Now Playing" thread, the likes I seem to get between a Beatles / Neil Young / Bowie post is miles away from the response I get from some modern Indie artist. I don't much care, but it's just something I've noticed.

I do the same thing admittedly ("like" the stuff I'm familiar with), although I do try to sample something that catches my eye occasionally that I haven't heard / haven't seen before.

 

Math quiz: whose tour grosses more, the artist whose tickets cost $400 or the artist whose tickets cost $100?

 

Well, yeah, but it ain't the 2000s. Sure legacy artists do great on the road. And 20 years from now Taylor Swift and Katy Perry and Beyonce and Adele and Rihanna and Kanye and Drake and Ed Sheeran and Pink maybe if Zayn Malik or Harry Styles go on to have solo careers like Justin Timberlake has had, and Luke Bryan, etc will also do great on the road probably. The business is always going to be different tomorrow than it is today. But the artists who are most popular, who soundtrack people's lives, will remain popular with the people for whom that music was the soundtrack to their lives. The popular music and popular artists are popular because I love of people love it and them.

 

I enjoy reading posts citing the likes of Kanye West, Beyonce, Adele, Taylor Swift, etc... as new music. By 1980, Zeppelin, Beatles, The Who, Stones were already considered dinosaurs. Beyonce has been making records for nearly 20 years for God's sake! It's cool to talk about this stuff, but let's be real.

I heard this cool new band you guys should check out. They're called The White Stripes