2000-2009: WORST DECADE OF MUSIC EVER!
By Barry Dutter
Quick – name the best rock album of the past ten years. Can’t do it, can you? How about the best new band? Best song?
The fact is, it can’t be done, because 2000-2009 comprise the worst decade of rock music, EVER!
The best new band of the past decade was arguably the Killers, a group which has released some catchy tunes, but their best work pales in comparison to groups such as the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.
The most memorable songs of the past 10 years are Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida,” “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse, and “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry. “Viva La Vida,” was apparently plagiarized from two other songs by Joe Satriani and Cat Stevens. “Rehab” and “I Kissed a Girl” were mostly novelty songs. As talented as she is, Amy Winehouse was basically a one-hit wonder, and while Katy Perry seems poised to become the It Girl for the next few years, based on the reaction to her subsequent songs, it seems “I Kissed a Girl” was a fluke. None of her other songs has had the same mass appeal.
A quick stroll through rock history recalls the British Invasion and Woodstock music of the 60s, Super-Groups like Kansas, Yes and Boston and the birth of Heavy Metal in the 70s, the rise Rap and New Wave in the 80s, and the birth of Hip-hop and Grunge in the 90s. Compared to those epochal events, the 00’s lack a musical identity.
It seems there was no great innovation. Some might point to Emo, but I would argue there is nothing new in Emo. Singers being overly dramatic and emotional? They’ve been doing that since Elvis checked into the Heartbreak Hotel and announced he was so lonesome that he could die. .
Most people would be hard-pressed to find something good to say about the music of the past 10 years.
But surely the 00s were better than the 1950s, some would argue. Those songs from the fifties were very simplistic and some of them, like “Splish Splash,” or “Yakkety Yak,” were downright silly.
That may be, but those 1950s tunes, as nonsensical as they sometimes were, hold up better than just about anything released in the past decade. And the 1950s saw the birth of Doo-Wop, and you’ve got to respect that.
Some people might say that an old fogie like myself just can’t appreciate what the young kids are into today. But I would argue I have always loved good music at any age, and I would gladly appreciate a great new album if someone would just release one.
What about older acts from the 80s and 90s, one might ask. Surely there are some classic rockers still doing great work today. Well, the two best groups from the past that are still relevant today are U2 and Green Day, and I would say that neither band has released anything in the past decade that was as good as their earlier work.
True U2 fans would say the band has not released any great songs since the 80s, and even Green Day fans must admit that the work they’ve done in the 00s was not as good as the edgier work they did in the 90s.
These days when I turn on the radio, I mostly listen to classic songs from the 70s and 80s. I still try to find new music to enjoy, but I usually find myself heading back to the familiar stuff I grew up with.
When I was a kid, I used to go to record conventions, where people would buy & sell old vinyl albums. There would always be an old guy at these shows who would play nothing but Big Band music from the 1930s. I figured he hadn’t listened to any new music since the thirties. I kind of felt sorry for that old guy. It always seemed to me that that guy was frozen in time.
Now I find myself in a similar opposition. I can’t imagine myself listening to anything other than classic songs from the 70s and 80s from this point forward.
But that’s ok.
It’s traditional for every new generation to bash current music and praise the older tunes from long ago.
The words that Bob Seger sang in 1979 have never been truer than they are today: “Today’s music ain’t got the same soul. I like that old time rock and roll.”
