Generation gap: what do you think of the other generations' music?

[AdamWill2]

I thought it might be interesting to hear what people think about the music of the 'other generations' in Rock Band. Personally, I grew up listening to Nirvana, Radiohead and so on, and I still listen to a lot of music today so I'm familiar with most of the 00s bands in there. But I've been having a lot of fun hearing the older songs in the game - stuff like Foreplay / Long Time and Gimme Shelter are great great rock songs. I do listen to older stuff but it's mostly more obscure than that - most of the 70s bands in Rock Band are ones I haven't listened to before.

What's everyone else's take? For the younger people, what do you think of the 60s-70s stuff in RB? For the older people, what do you make of the 90s-00s stuff? How do bands like Pixies and Queens Of The Stone Age sound compared to the stuff you know inside out?

Be interesting to hear everyone's take.

edit: placed this here rather than history of rock because it's really supposed to be about *the songs in the game*. If you want to go for a broader Decade X vs. Decade Y comparison, please start a thread in History of Rock.

[CrimsonEdge]

Here's a breakdown of the era's of rock I like:

60's-70's=incredible.

80's=terrible.

90's=got a bit better.

2000's=worse than the 80's.

Edit: As for the songs in the game...

70's were great.

80's has Tom Sawyer. Worst song in the game next to Electric Version.

90's is probably the best out of the list.

2000's have very few songs I like. Read: 2.

[c6insd]

Music is music. Different ages express themselves differently - if you truly appreciate music, you can truly appreciate each era's music.

I'm 40 (well, in a couple months), so I "grew up" with 60s/70s/80s rock. I've always been into music though, so I've followed and enjoyed music across all the decades. Just like each decade, there's stuff I like and stuff I don't.

As far as the music within Rockband, most of it is at least "good" to me, and the DLC has been pretty great imho.

[JShmazzle]

I'm convinced, and it seems fairly plausible, that Rock Band was created by people right around my age (31).

Growing up in the late 80's, Poison, Motley Crue, Metallica, GnR, and several others were in my tape deck. Pearl Jam and Nirvana got me through high school. As I've gotten older, I listen to quite a bit of late 60's and 70's rock. I've listened to a fair amount of 00's stuff as well, though pockets of good bands are harder and harder to find amongst the crap.

What gets into Harmonix' games is pretty good. The 70's have been represented beautifully. The 80's are doing pretty well, but I could use a little more glam, and even some hair. The 90's stuff is good. The 00's represent a fair amount of what I like as well, aside from Fall Out Boy, which is near the worst ever. Jet, Hives, Queens, and OK Go are all good choices.

Overall, as far as music from the past 45+ years, I'm pretty much a centrist. A lot of it is good for different reasons, and Harmonix gets a good mix in the game. It's harder picking newer songs, as they have to gamble a bit on popularity and staying power. It's much easier to throw a Rolling Stones song in there, who doesn't like the Stones?

And are you lumping Pixies in with new rock, or just saying they're obscure? Because I was listening to them in the late 80's. I guess you could count the reformation. They're a good addition, though. I'd even like to see some Frank Black (Los Angeles), or some new/retro Black Francis.

[schmitty]

Im 20 and I can't stand most of the 90's and 00 stuff. There is some 80's stuff in the game that I like as well as some 60's and 70's. There is only 2 songs from the 90's I like and 1 song from 00 and I only can tolerate those 3 songs.

[AdamWill2]

I mentioned Pixies as they're right around the late 80s / early 90s, and their initial fanbase was very young, so I consider them more an 'early 90s band' than a 'late 80s band'. I figure mostly people who consider the real '80s bands' to be 'their' music would not include Pixies in the set

[pulseMOD]

Music is music. Different ages express themselves differently - if you truly appreciate music, you can truly appreciate each era's music.

I'm 40 (well, in a couple months), so I "grew up" with 60s/70s/80s rock. I've always been into music though, so I've followed and enjoyed music across all the decades. Just like each decade, there's stuff I like and stuff I don't.

As far as the music within Rockband, most of it is at least "good" to me, and the DLC has been pretty great imho.

agreed, except that i'm only 22. but as long as the music sounds good i don't care what generation or even what genre it came from.

[AdamWill2]

btw, since it seems to be coming up, my take on the 90s - 00s stuff - my era - in the original game (haven't got into DLC yet) is that it's okay but not great. I hate the Strokes, and putting Jet in the same game as some of the greatest classic rock acts of all time just illustrates exactly *how* pale an imitation they are. But you can't argue with Nirvana or Radiohead (although they really could've included a newer song than Creep), I like Say It Ain't So (though I'm a Pinkerton guy as far as Weezer is concerned), and of the stuff I didn't know from outside the game, I was very impressed with Here It Goes Again, Maps, Electric Version (yes, I like it) and the QOTSA track, among others.

[CrimsonEdge]

if you truly appreciate music, you can truly appreciate each era's music.

I can't even begin to express how incorrect this is =\. It's like saying "If you truly appreciate T.V., you can truly appreciate each channels shows." It's simply not true and fallacious. You imply that if one truly doesn't appreciate music from an era then one does not truly appreciate music.

It's simply not true.

Edit: I'll put it like this. Good music is timeless and is not identifiable with the era it came out of. Good music can not be identified from the era it came out of. I can clearly identify 90% of every song from the 80's because of the reverbed out snare. Because of this, the music is not timeless. It has an age that can be identified. This is one reason why GnR, Pink Floyd, The Who, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Radiohead, Pantera, and a hand full of other bands are so famous. They transcend the boundaries of the era they came out of.

And in that sense, yes, I can appreciate music from every era. However, I can't appreciate music riding on the fads of the times. The bands I listed above have not done this (except Pink Floyd who had a quick stint with the 80's style drums... coincidentally it was the worst stuff they put out).

[LinkinPark1992]

Im 15 and i think it goes like this from best down.
1. 70's Nothing beat Zepp, The Who etc.
2. 90's Great Bands: Nirvana, Metallica, Sound Garden
3. 00's a lot of garbage (FOB, MCR) but also some good bands like LinkinPark,
Staind, 3 Days Grace
4. 80's: noting that great

Closing Statemnt: 70's had the amazing bands with people who were great at what they did.
90's grunge is great and some good instrument work.
My problem with the 00's is there are very few bands that are actually good. Most bands can barely even play live and u never hear a good guitar solo anymore just 3 guys playing the same few chords.