You can only pick one musical decade--which one?

I messed up my post. I meant 2021-2031 (to follow the OP 11 years format).

 

2010 to current's definitely underrated from an indie and hip hop perspective. The big marquee names aren't as prevalent as previous decades and it was slowly becoming the age of "anyone can release an album from their basement or an independent label," but there's a lot of great stuff out there. Not sure if music was necessarily "easier to find" back in the 90s or if it was more because I was glued to MTV back then. Alternative rock radio was also pretty decent in some markets in the 90s. By the later part of the decade I was already mostly using internet to research music.

 

66-76

 

1966 - 1976...

...followed by 1988 - 1998.

 

This was never even close……not coincidentally the peak of vinyl media.

 

The real motto is probably praising the Beatles

 

as noted in my post...re-read and absorb. ; )

 

Born in 52 so I go with 66-76. Good years.

 

I never did any file sharing or even music downloading in the 00's - I just did things the 'old way' which meant that for the first time in my life I began to build a more serious physical music collection through buying CDs. A funny anecdote; in my journal around 1990 when I was eighteen, I actually wrote one day: "I have a dream, a wall full of records." LOL Back then I still meant LPs...! But once I FINALLY got a CD player in 2000, I started accumulating CDs and I bought them pretty much "blind", having perhaps read some reviews and recommendations on internet forums. But absolutely, without the internet I would never have gotten into older music to the level I did well after my teens! To me it wasn't about listening to music on the net ( well, not before YouTube and streaming came along ), to me it was finding fan forums for different bands or music genres and getting to interact with other people like we do here - and then being inspired enough to go and get the music. And the thing is, when it came to rock/prog rock/metal music in 1966-1976, it almost never disappointed

 

Easy for me. 66-76

 

I chose 1966 - 1976 but i would have prefered an option 1955 - 1965.

 

1988 - 1998.

I need my 90s country.

I’d go for 1977-1987 next, which includes most of my favorite pop.

 

So each decade has 11 years?
I think I'd take 66-76 over the other ones grouped together.

 

1977-1987
But always been a fan of the spirit of '76

 

I would have just done a simple 60s/70s/80s etc poll. 1966-1976, 1977-1987 etc just hurts my head.

 

1977-1987 would be my second choice and the others I don't care much for.

 

I picked the same period but would only put one Artist from your list on my list (EC). The depth within even the broad category of "rock" is why it is my favorite decade (+1).

 

Exactly! 1977-87 for me too. Far and away the best era for quality vinyl pressings. RL and Wally and GP and TimTom knew what they were doing! Even my albums from the earlier eras are often later recuts that just stomp the originals. And of course, Eighties vinyl.... Highly underrated, often amazing, and (most importantly) not played to death when you find it used.

 

Don’t forget New Order (my personal favorite).

+1 on 1977-1987

 

I've always said that I wanted to be 18 in 1969. That way I grow up with the 60s music and spend my best young adult years watching the 70s unfold.

 

I could agree with you if I had lived in England. Being 18 in 1969 in the US could be a wild ride.

 

1977 - 1987 for me. Love me some post-punk, new wave, and hard rock from that era. Even the mainstream pop and rock hits outside of these genres had a ton of good stuff. You've got Joy Division, New Order, Split Enz, the Clash, Talking Heads, the Cars, early Cure, early U2 before they went pop-rock, and I'm barely scratching the surface of the post-punk/new wave genre and its many offshoots. For rock you've got Sammy Hagar, Def Leppard, Quiet Riot, Van Halen, Tom Petty, and so forth. Even the so-called "corporate rock" of the time (Foreigner, Survivor, Boston, Journey, etc.) produced some catchy hit tunes. You can't mention 1977-1979 in particular without disco: the Bee Gees, Donna Summer; Earth, Wind & Fire; and a German favorite that's pretty obscure here in the states: Dschinghis Khan. And who can forget genre-transcending legends like Michael Jackson and Prince? This era had so much variety and, as far as I'm concerned, an amazing density of great tunes. In particular 1983 is, always has been, and always will be my favorite year for music. It's pretty much a no-brainer; 1977-1987 is in fact almost exactly my favorite decade for music.*

*Well, if we were to cherrypick individual years until we had a decade worth, I'd of course have to include 1965 in there for one - but for a consecutive 10-year window it doesn't get better than 1978-1987.

Edit to add: Electric Light Orchestra. They're split between 1966-1976 and 1977-1987 but several of their biggest and best songs were from '77, and they're awesome either way anyway.

 

It's called a Baker's decade.

 

Hate to follow the herd but went 66-76.

Thought long and hard about 77-87.

I should've thought more - I now am leaning toward 77-87!

 

I chose 66-76, but I sure wish the decades fell on the actual beginning and ending of each decade.

Let me preface this with, I am about as far from someone who says there has been no great music since the 70's. Prog, jazz, and contemporary classical have all been very strong in the last several decades.

But so much innovation and great music happened from 66 - 76: King Crimson, YES, Premiata Forneria Marconi, Banco, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Univers Zero, Mahavisnu Orchestra, Return to Forever, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Art Zoyd, Weather Report, tons of great Anthony Braxton releases, tons of great Zappa...

And also, the lat 60's and 70's were one of the strongest eras for contemporary classical music. These composer were at the height of their creativity: György Ligeti, Bruno Maderna, Luciano Berio, Peter Maxwell Davis, Helmut Lachenmann, Per Nørgård, Xenakis, Elliott Carter, Toru Takemitsu, and more.

And before I get accused of being an old codger, the period of time from the mid 90's to the present, gets very close, for the types of music I listen to (prog, jazz and contemporary classical).