At the risk of sounding 'old', newer music isn't as good -- or more specifically, SINGERS aren't usually as good. Autotune has completely changed who can make music. In the older days, if you couldn't sing, you couldn't sing. Period.
There are still some great singers today (Adele, Michael Buble, etc.), but they're more an exception than the rule.
Autotune and pitch correction make lousy singers sound barely acceptable ... at the cost of making good singers sound mediocre.
I’m with you. However, I find that I’m a fan of some of Taylor Swift’s music, especially her 1989 album. Her voice is purely pedestrian, but the arrangements and tunes are sometimes ridiculously catchy.
I dare you to listen to this all the way through. Yes, it can be a bit formulaic, but sometimes formulas work...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BYUf8QDCZU&list=PLxA687tYuMWiHaLuwtNz6edZMBBgrXTL_
FWIW, my all time favorite Chicago Album is the first one. That is true “raw” Chicago. It is awesome!
BTW, regarding my comment on the Taylor Swift 1989 album. Listen to “Blank Space”. The drums are incredibly “boring”. It’s obviously a drum track, and it NEVER changes. No fills or anything. They simply cut out the drum track when they want it silent. Like I said, formulaic.
And it’s not the only song that does that. The stuff is all throw away pop. It’s not made to be listened to on your high end hi-fi 30 years later, in the same vein of Ricky Lee Jones “We Belong Together”.
It’s classic ephemeral stuff - just like so much of the disco stuff.