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Complexity is but one component. I enjoy a lot of music that uses simple chord progressions. But when you have simplistic music, with artificial vocals, and eve

by teilo 5y ago

Complexity is but one component. I enjoy a lot of music that uses simple chord progressions. But when you have simplistic music, with artificial vocals, and every human elements digitally normalized out, with uninspiring melodies, it's just empty and tedious. I feel like I'm being spoon-fed by mommy and daddy.

nfw2 5y ago
For what it's worth, I think the current wave of modern pop is much more interesting-sounding than 80's hair metal or the pop from the earlier 2000's that was autotuned ad nauseum. For example, look at the current top of the Billboard Hot 100. 1.) Easy On Me - Adele. Adele's music is always far from empty. She is a true artist. 2.) Stay - Kid Laroi. This may not be your type of music and there are certainly a lot vocal effect here, but there's a lot going on here rhythmically and melodically. The chord structure is also pretty unusual. 3.) We Don't Talk About Bruno - Lin-Manuel Miranda. LMM is a genius, but it's a Disney song, so let's skip this one. 4.) Glass Animals - A rare indie hit to make it to make it to the top, this one is arguable the "simplest" song on this list. It still feels like it has character and that the artist has put their stamp on it. 5.) Shivers - Ed Sheeran. If Sheeran's music feels tedious now, it might just be because his music has been at the top of the charts virtually non-stop for more than a decade. Still it's hard to deny his talent or argue that his songs are simple musical drivel. It's fair to say that MOST of what is produced is derivative drivel, but I would say that's probably true of pretty much any era. There were tedious grunge artists, tedious metal artists, tedius disco artists, tedious arena rock artists, etc.
- nmfisher 5y ago
  I had never actively checked out the Billboard Hot 100 until you mentioned it just now. I had to laugh at how blissfully unaware I had been at the amount of country music that comes out of the USA! Going through those 100 songs, pop music doesn't seem to be noticeably worse than 20 years ago - except when it comes to the sheer volume of mumble rap. It stands out to me as uncharacteristically bad/monotonous/derivative/etc (and I say this as someone who was a big hip-hop fan all through the 80s/90s/2000s). I don't think it's just a matter of taste, either, because I definitely don't like most of the chart (Adele/country/indie/etc), but I would never say it's lacking in musicality. Mumble rap is just irredeemably bad.
- cousin_it 5y ago
  Compared to a good 80s track like Jump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM all songs you listed sound limp, fake and barely even alive. Maybe it's a matter of taste, but come on, tell me I'm wrong.
  - UncleMeat 5y ago
    You are wrong. Heck, even Jump was criticized to hell and back for being synth garbage instead of the shred metal that Van Halen was known for prior to that song. There has never been a time in history when more great music was being created and made accessible to the masses than today. And I say that as a crotchety jazz nerd.
    - digisign 5y ago
      VH was never metal, they started before it with hard-blues reminiscent of Led Zeppelin with a party posture, then added piano chords and pop sensibility via synth. They were only in the neighborhood due to EVH imitators.
      - Apocryphon 5y ago
        There's nothing bluesy about "Right Now."
        digisign 5y ago
        So what? It certainly isn't metal either.
        Apocryphon 5y ago
        But it does shred.
  - Apocryphon 5y ago
    You are wrong, in that a lot of those tracks listed have completely different tempos and genres from the song you're comparing. So then you're favoring '80s rock, specifically glam metal, over modern pop. You're not wrong in preferring one over the other, but there's no objective comparison to be made when the songs are playing at completely different speeds with very different styles. Funnily enough, there is an '80s revival going on with some modern pop right now, but again then you would have to compare the original '80s new wave, synth-pop music to it and not '80s rock. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-52109397 https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-52109397 As far as why there isn't as many modern rock top hits to compare to '80s ones... well, this decade didn't kill rock. That's a historical phenomenon that dates back to the 2000s or so.

by teilo 5y ago

nfw2 5y ago

For what it's worth, I think the current wave of modern pop is much more interesting-sounding than 80's hair metal or the pop from the earlier 2000's that was autotuned ad nauseum. For example, look at the current top of the Billboard Hot 100. 1.) Easy On Me - Adele. Adele's music is always far from empty. She is a true artist. 2.) Stay - Kid Laroi. This may not be your type of music and there are certainly a lot vocal effect here, but there's a lot going on here rhythmically and melodically. The chord structure is also pretty unusual. 3.) We Don't Talk About Bruno - Lin-Manuel Miranda. LMM is a genius, but it's a Disney song, so let's skip this one. 4.) Glass Animals - A rare indie hit to make it to make it to the top, this one is arguable the "simplest" song on this list. It still feels like it has character and that the artist has put their stamp on it. 5.) Shivers - Ed Sheeran. If Sheeran's music feels tedious now, it might just be because his music has been at the top of the charts virtually non-stop for more than a decade. Still it's hard to deny his talent or argue that his songs are simple musical drivel. It's fair to say that MOST of what is produced is derivative drivel, but I would say that's probably true of pretty much any era. There were tedious grunge artists, tedious metal artists, tedius disco artists, tedious arena rock artists, etc.

nmfisher 5y ago
I had never actively checked out the Billboard Hot 100 until you mentioned it just now. I had to laugh at how blissfully unaware I had been at the amount of country music that comes out of the USA! Going through those 100 songs, pop music doesn't seem to be noticeably worse than 20 years ago - except when it comes to the sheer volume of mumble rap. It stands out to me as uncharacteristically bad/monotonous/derivative/etc (and I say this as someone who was a big hip-hop fan all through the 80s/90s/2000s). I don't think it's just a matter of taste, either, because I definitely don't like most of the chart (Adele/country/indie/etc), but I would never say it's lacking in musicality. Mumble rap is just irredeemably bad.
cousin_it 5y ago
Compared to a good 80s track like Jump https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwYN7mTi6HM all songs you listed sound limp, fake and barely even alive. Maybe it's a matter of taste, but come on, tell me I'm wrong.
- UncleMeat 5y ago
  You are wrong. Heck, even Jump was criticized to hell and back for being synth garbage instead of the shred metal that Van Halen was known for prior to that song. There has never been a time in history when more great music was being created and made accessible to the masses than today. And I say that as a crotchety jazz nerd.
  - digisign 5y ago
    VH was never metal, they started before it with hard-blues reminiscent of Led Zeppelin with a party posture, then added piano chords and pop sensibility via synth. They were only in the neighborhood due to EVH imitators.
    - Apocryphon 5y ago
      There's nothing bluesy about "Right Now."
      - digisign 5y ago
        So what? It certainly isn't metal either.
        Apocryphon 5y ago
        But it does shred.
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  You are wrong, in that a lot of those tracks listed have completely different tempos and genres from the song you're comparing. So then you're favoring '80s rock, specifically glam metal, over modern pop. You're not wrong in preferring one over the other, but there's no objective comparison to be made when the songs are playing at completely different speeds with very different styles. Funnily enough, there is an '80s revival going on with some modern pop right now, but again then you would have to compare the original '80s new wave, synth-pop music to it and not '80s rock. https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-52109397 https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-52109397 As far as why there isn't as many modern rock top hits to compare to '80s ones... well, this decade didn't kill rock. That's a historical phenomenon that dates back to the 2000s or so.