[Norm Lenhart]

Overall I don’t disagree. But nostalga stuff aside, as was posted upthread, where is the Pink Floyds/Zep or insert widely lauded as genuinely great band here, in or of the last 20 years?

Sure, we all have different tastes and this thread proves that. But even in a subjective thing like taste in music there are still good and bad, better and worse, great and suck in the big picture.

I totally agree it’s a business now more than ever with bean counters and degrees ruling the roost. But the knockdown dragout ‘best’ of today/recently... well what is it and how does it compare to what came before? That’s the thing. Humans have to categorize. always have, always will.

I look at music the same way as politics. Liberals suck for quantifiable and demonstrable reasons. So do some bands/music. We believe our politics is correct for quantifiable and demonstrable reasons and likewise, some bands/music can be shown to be better or worse and why.

I guess it just comes down to ‘good’ and ‘popular’ being strangers 99.9% of the time.

[Revolting cat!]

Well, let me start by saying that I don’t regard the Pink Floyds/Zep as “genuinely great bands”, and no, they haven’t been widely regarded as such by rock critics, who, as you might know, are listeners who have taught themselves to discern, analyze and critique, and are not much for judging rock music by how they (the critics) bond with others at stadium venues. (The main argument against those two, with which I agree, was their pretentiousness.) The sales figures are no argument for or against quality, sorry. (Remember the lowest common denominator.)

Be that as it may, your argument may still be valid, however my memory is shut, so I can’t name for you a great band of the last 20 years, but two recent bands, whose vids I linked above, are I think great and comparable to the bands of the 1960s, that with much better trained musicians: Filligar and the Gramblers.

[a fool in paradise]

I look at music the same way as politics. Liberals suck for quantifiable and demonstrable reasons. So do some bands/music. We believe our politics is correct for quantifiable and demonstrable reasons and likewise, some bands/music can be shown to be better or worse and why.

I find music to be like food. Purely subjective taste.

Politics is about a means to an end. Of most import to be is blocking attempts at Socialism here. The chains of socialism are not easily cast off and they take their toll on the citizenry.

AND in the end, Socialism does NOT solve society's ills.

[a fool in paradise]

I guess it just comes down to ‘good’ and ‘popular’ being strangers 99.9% of the time.

Budweiser, Miller, and Coors win out in sales but "good" beers taste a lot different than those do.