The video nailed it. I read, somewhere in the past, where the use of synthesis detuning could render a whole generation unable to distinguish pure tones. I guess they were right. Maybe society has now de-evolutionized enough to reverse back to tribal rhythmic rituals.
Each to his own of course. On the plus side it was mostly easy music to learn to play at a time when I was a (late to it) newbie, and it usually “shifted bums off seats”. And when a whole load of pretty young ladies were dancing in front of you, sometimes on the tables, what was not to like about that? Apart from I have always been a progger at heart. But compare something like learning Pink Floyd’s “Echoes” to “Amarillo”, and I am afraid the former wins hands down for me, no contest. 
OK, there may be fewer pretty ladies dancing to it, but its a hard life and you sometimes have to suffer for your art… 
And I agree that the cheese has longevity, but so does UHT milk, which tastes like “bull’s milk” as my old man used to say
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It’s true, melody is basically dead for the moment. What’s in is TEXTURE… that’s how a current song evolves and grows and has interest. In a way it harkens back to things like Tangerine Dream, only even more minimal melodically. Kids put the same energy into finding one kick drum out of thousands for the verse, and then another one to layer it in the chorus, with a weird pad behind it, and on the next verse the filter opens JUST A LITTLE. It’s just a whole different approach from what we did, which is of course what music for a new generation is supposed to be about.
Of course, a whole lot of newer popular music truly objectively sucks.
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Regarding new music, young musicians, I am surprised by a few like Tal Wilkenfield (if you don’t know who she is repent of your sins and Google her)–talk about a throwback. And Elise Trouw (20 yrs) seems able to bridge both. If you haven’t heard of Elise, she looks like a model, sings like Sade, and plays drums like Arron Copeland. She has a trio act live. She also does a looper thing (live and on video) where she plays all the instruments live into Ableton and builds the song tracks live while singing over them.She has a lot of tech savvy the way she uses Ableton she doesn’t have to fight with pedals. She says she doesn’t like music of her generation (like @FredProgGH is talking about) because there aren’t enough drums and she likes drums. HA!
Oh believe me, Youtube is packed full of young musicians that play their ASSES off. And occasionally they even form cool bands like Vulfpeck. In fact, there’s probably more of them than there are boring crappy DJs. But, they’re all niche, like we are.
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I teach middle school, and it may just be that I have only band and choir kids, but my students are very much into classic rock. I have a girl that is so into Queen that she carries a journal with facts about Freddie Mercury and Brian May. I have another student that comes in during lunch to play Rush’s Subdivisions on the drum set (and he plays it really well too). This is one of the first generations that like the same music as their parents.
- Paul
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At my local venue a about six years back, I saw three teenagers tear into Tom Sawyer, and they were 100% spot on. Awesome. Not sure where they are now.
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My Mother was born in 1918. Every morning, as we were getting ready for school, she always had a radio on, listening to the top 40. Motown, Stax, and Beatles were heard often, and she liked all the new music as she moved into her 50s. In the 1970s, she purchased Dark Side Of The Moon, and it became her favorite album. We were shocked.
My sons grew up listening to me rehearse, and are still fans of 70s Rock, as they are now in their 40s. That music was timeless to several generations.
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Yup - this stuff still works! And our kids (18/21) routinely play stuff from our “cheese” catalog, and seamlessly switch between the cheese and current stuff.
In our “classic rock & more”, we try to stay away from the over-abused songs (Satisfaction, Johnny B. Goode, Highway To Hell, Smoke On The Water, …), picking alternative tracks from the respective catalogues, but Mustang Sally still is a heck of a crowd-pleaser, as is Long Train. So it’s a bit of a balancing act - keeping the band happy and the audience engaged. But overall, it’s fun…
cheers,
Torsten
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It’s true. My daughter has always been equally into classic rock and boy bands since she was 5. She likes someone like Katy Perry or K-Pop but also thinks Bohemian Rhapsody is the best song ever. The odd thing is that even tough so many kids like their parent music so many still like really bad techno, or the worst of bland praise & worship. They really don’t discriminate between what we would consider good and bad. I think a lot of it is sound too. We think oh, that’s compressed, squeezed, autotuned, soulless. No dynamics. They don’t care, it’s all sound coming out of a phone.
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Torsten, I’ve found a wonderful link here that’s shows what synth 1 is capable.
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