Why does most new music suck?

No I am not calling you degenerate. That would be completely uncalled for based upon anything I've read from you. It would also be rude. What I've done is quote someone who has pointed out that good manners and civility are a method used by one class of society to oppress another sector of that society. The implication is that you are trying to impose civility upon this thread as an attempt to silence opinions that disagree with yours. I doubt that was your intention, but that may well be the effect.

The OP offered an opinion, somewhat rudely stated, about today's music. At some point the thread veered towards talk of the end of civilization with teacher's union as a main culprit. I guess Albert Shanker really does get hold of nukes. I don't think the OP was taking himself as seriously as others are taking this topic. This thread could have been titled "What's Wrong With Me That I Can't Relate to Today's Popular Music?"

Thank you, Onhwy61, for your thoughtful response. It is not easy to be thoughtful during a disagreement, and I genuinely appreciate it. I have a reaction to your post, and I hope you will find it similarly reasonable...

What I've done is quote someone who has pointed out that good manners and civility are a method used by one class of society to oppress another sector of that society. The implication is that you are trying to impose civility upon this thread as an attempt to silence opinions that disagree with yours. I doubt that was your intention, but that may well be the effect.

Though I understood the meaning of the quote, I failed to appreciate your interpretation that my comments might, intentionally or not, silence opinions that disagree with mine. It certainly was not my intention to silence anyone, as you mentioned. In fact, my intention was exactly the opposite. It was to point out some comments that I felt might be intended to silence opposition. It is ironic and unfortunate that, in my attempt to challenge what I perceived to be peremptory comments, I made what you perceived to be peremptory comments. You have my apology for that.

Those who are familiar with my posting history will know that I have no problem with differences of opinion. My first comment on this thread reflects that. If it weren't for differences of opinion, this site and those like it would be very boring. I made the comments I did because I felt that the thread was veering into territory where nothing constructive gets said, because people have dug their heels in too deep. You have resisted the temptation to do that, and I thank you for it.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Bryon

If Chris Hedges were an audiophile, things would get interesting really quick.

All the best,
Nonoise

New music, along with so many other things "suck". Maybe the music sucks because it's a reflection of everything else.

I'm not sure what the deal with "civility" is. I mean, are we to handle every utterance and statement with kid gloves?

Look, you can't throw out a sweeping and myopic generalization like "new music sucks" (which itself is an "uncivil" observation) and then expect a gentrified, socratic discussion among strangers. I don't think audiogon is the domain of sycophants. However strong a statement you start with is going to generate as equal or stronger statements in return.

With all due respect to Goose, Bryon, et al., and with the exception of a few responses involving mentions of death, etc., most of the responses have actually been pretty restrained. And my own comment that Goose's stone is gathering moss seems born out by his comment about his own musical frames of reference; e.g., the Stones, the Who, and the rest.

Seriously - the Stones, Beatles, Who, etc., started FIFTY FRICKIN' YEARS AGO. That doesn't diminish the power of their artistry or legacy in the least, but if one is pining away for the expressions of half a century ago, then one really seems to refuse to accept the inevitable change in musical paradigms and directions.

Yes, I say "accept". You don't have to like it, but you can't simply out-of-hand reject it as substandard. That shows true superficiality.

It's like saying "All rap sucks" or "All country sucks". Completely untrue. Yes, there's a lot of rap and country (and classical and jazz - I mean, how many decades back has jazz been set by smooth jazz and Kenny G?) that's pure marketing and image and stereotype and geared towards the here and now, not the far and yet unknown. But there're also a few rap and country artists who are every bit as important as Daltrey and Hendrix and Richards.