Commentary

We all know that the 70’s was the decade of arena rock, the 80’s was the decade of hair metal/synth pop and the 90’s was the decade of grunge/alternative rock, which brings me to my next question: what the heck will we categorize our current decade of music?

It’s funny how music tends to change every generation. The 70’s was the era of classic rock where groups such as Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Lynyrd Skynyrd took over the entire music scene. Next up was the 80’s, where both hair metal rockers such as Guns ‘N Roses, Def Leppard and Bon Jovi took over, along with glamorous pop icons such as Madonna and Cyndi Lauper. The music scene changed from more laid-back, mellow classic rock to loud metal riffs and techno-sounding pop beats, and society’s wardrobe changed from bellbottoms and beads to leather and lace.

Next came my favorite decade: the 90’s alternative grunge rock era. Suddenly, it didn’t matter what you looked like or how you could sing. The rock star criteria no longer meant that you had to belt out high notes like Bon Jovi and Madonna, or wear fancy leather and lace. As long as you had a distortion petal, could scream bloody murder and had a few ripped jeans and torn flannel shirts on hand, you fit right in. Artists such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden soon took over the airwaves, making Seattle the new Los Angeles, as Kurt Cobain once said.

So with all this sound and attire change every ten years, what words would we use to categorize our current decade of music? Is it the generation of emo rock because of artists such as Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco and Metro Station? Or is this generation geared more toward pop rockers such as The Killers and Maroon 5? Or perhaps rock music has taken a backseat to pop icons uch as Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake? What about other big bands of the 2000’s such as Coldplay, Linkin Park and the White Stripes? What category would they fall under?

I’m guessing that it’s possible we may not be able to categorize our current decade of music until we’re already well into the year 2010 and beyond. Then maybe we can look back on the last ten years and sum it up into one category that best describes the entire decade because as of right now, I haven’t got a clue as to where it would fall. In my opinion, it seems as though after the 80’s and 90’s, music seems to have gone downhill. But then again, I think everyone tends to favor the generation of music that they grew up listening to, so maybe that’s just me.

What do you think? How would you describe our current decade of music?

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