I was going through my iTunes playlists today, and it occurred to me that most of my favorite bands did the bulk of their work between 1960 and 1970, or between 1980 and 1990. That's not to say that I don't enjoy other decades; the 70s weren't bad, the 90s had some classics, and I like some contemporary music.

However, I think the music scene (at least in the States) peaked in the 60s, with another smaller peak in the 80s.

80s pop is fun, dancey, and weird, and I love it precisely for that reason. Plus, the early 80s had plenty of carry-overs from the best of the 70s (the Clash, the Ramones). But it doesn't have quite the power over me that 60s music does, and it doesn't have the number of outstanding (in my opinion) artists that the 1960s did. I can listen to Jefferson Airplane or the Beatles or the Doors all day and not get bored. Plus, you have Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, the Who, Big Brother and the Holding Company...the list goes on. Suffice to say, I love the 60s.

I think it has something to do with the culture of that time period. Globally, the world was very much in upheaval, with the Cold War raging and nations under pressure from both the United States and the Soviet Union. Domestically (meaning in the US for me), the social scene was a picture of conflict. The Vietnam War, the inter-generational conflict between the Baby Boomers and their parents, political dispute over just about everything, and widespread disenchantment with the political and religious establishment. And that's not even mentioning the drug experimentation that characterized the counterculture and countercultural music scene.

All of those forces seem to have produced a self-aware and creative setting for new artists to emerge in a way that really hasn't been done since.

Agree or disagree? What's your favorite decade for music?

I love the music from the late sixties and early seventies, that was when all the good rock and roll began, at least to me it did . the early sixties was just getting started with rock, the late seventies and early eighties sucked in the disco phase, I don't have too much to say about the nineties.

The 70s and the 80s. I don't mean typical 80s pop or something. I mean the other stuff they had going on. Though New Wave is pretty cool. :)
And the sixties had some awesome things going for them. Like Joplin, Hendrix, and the Doors.
And hell, even the nineties had some awesome stuff, once you dug through all the boy bands, pop and other assorted garbage. Grunge and alternative were amazing in that decade.
I don't think I really focus on any one decade really. Well, at least not intentionally. But I'd say the majority of what I like is from the 70s or 80s, so that's why I picked what I did.
But I have total respect and love for the 60s and 90s, too.

I agree that the sixties was the best.
Much love to The Beatles.
<3

I've moved this thread to the music subforum.

I like the 70-80 alot. When Rock became all experimental:3

I have few music of that period of time. Honestly I wished I was alive to witness those days.

I'm going to say the 40's, the 70's, 80's and 90's.
Most of what they play now is shite. :D

I really like swing music and a lot of the war time music of the 40's.

The 70's being the best decade for rock.

The 80's because, yeah, I like genesis and the culture club ext. :O

90's I like to think of the 90's as the end of originality. ;.; Like sometime in the late 90's.

I think out of the given options 80s, because I love 80s pop and the influence it left on musical culture. However, I highly prefer today's music to anything from the 20th century.

The best decade of music for me would probably have to be the 90s. I really enjoy the electronica and dance that came out of this era. I like the electronic music of today, but a lot of my favorite songs came from the 90s era.

• I really don't like this century's music D:
  I mean, there's some apparently, but most of my music was farther back ;]
  
  Sadly all before I was even born >___x
  
  The sixties were pretty good. Back then all you needed was love (: . I love The Beatles.
  
  I'm a huge fan of the 70s and the 80s though. The Angus Young days <3. I was a huge fan of a lot of classic rock musc =3. We just don't have guitarists like Jimmy Page anymore =[. But then again, I don't think we ever will again. He was amazing [:
  
  I think the 90s were pretty good. AFI was a lot better back then, I think they're pretty crappy now. Especially in comparison to their first album. They were good up to about The Art of Drowning D;
  
  I miss the older stuff v___v;;

The sixties was a great era for modern music. It was revolutionary. Everybody was coming up with something new, there were proto-punks, rock'n'rollers, singer-songwriters, soul, rockabilly, everything was political, everything was personal, everything was changing. So many artists and sounds came out of that decade. Artists and sounds that laid the foundations for music that's still being written, that still can be found in so many places in today's music...

Originally Posted by Seiki Nova

I think out of the given options 80s, because I love 80s pop and the influence it left on musical culture. However, I highly prefer today's music to anything from the 20th century.

I second that.

I like some bands from the 70s and 80s and without them the bands I like wouldn't be as great in quality, but the bands I like are from the right now, so that's why I opt for now.

Yay! The eighties are getting lots of votes! ^^ I chose it because those were the days when men in drag were sexy, hair and fashion were totally wild, and some of the coolest bands and songs were on the charts. I just wish I'd been a little older during that time period. It would have been so much fun to have been an eighties teenager! But I was a little bit too young to enjoy that experience.

Probably anywhere between 1960 and now. I voted for 1970's though... and I was not thinking of disco (yuck). More toward the nostalgic rock type, classic rock, etc. Good stuff. The 80's was a pretty rad decade for music as well.

Originally Posted by poet`s playground

The sixties was a great era for modern music. It was revolutionary. Everybody was coming up with something new, there were proto-punks, rock'n'rollers, singer-songwriters, soul, rockabilly, everything was political, everything was personal, everything was changing. So many artists and sounds came out of that decade. Artists and sounds that laid the foundations for music that's still being written, that still can be found in so many places in today's music...

I completely agree with this. The best times in music are the times when music is evolving, when music is radical instead of remaining stagnant or changing only slightly. I see the past few decades as a wave -- creativity building beginning with jazz and swing, culminating in the wide-spread and daring musical changes of the sixties, stagnating through most of the 70s, and then very slowly rising and ultimately falling in creative potential as we go through the eighties and then approach the end of the nineties, where music flatlines at a low amount of originality and continues to flatline into the 2000s. I mean, we still have groups like Radiohead that are pushing music forward, but they're not as big and there aren't very many of them. It's sad.

We need more bands like Queen these days.

Bands that constantly evolves as times goes on, and that never fails to please.

Also feel free to correct me if I'm wrong but are there any bands these days that can get an audience going like Freddie could? Because I just watched the "Live at Wembley" dvd and I can't think of any modern band that can get that big of a crowd to go that nuts.

Truely those were golden days of music. : )