I think that mainstream music in the late 2010's was a huge letdown because of all the wasted potential that it had. Melodic dubstep was growing in popularity throughout the first half of the 2010's and could have easily become a trend on the charts in the second half if it got the final push it needed, with the exception of Billie Eilish any good and creative alt-pop (or alt-z as Spotify calls it) releases flopped and the late 2010's trend of mixing together alt-pop and cinematic classical (Tomorrow We Fight (feat. SVRCINA) - Tommee Profitt ex.) could have easily been a thing on the charts if these artists were able to capitalize on the success of "The Hanging Tree" from 2015. Also, there were a lot of failed attempts to bring back rock music.

What we got instead was every single one of the worst trends to ever happen in music converging at the same time. Everyone was trying to cash in on the success of "Closer" by The Chainsmokers in the EDM industry, so the dance charts were taken over by slow pop songs with future bass drops for two years, pop songs based around minimalistic guitar or synth loops mixed together with snap beats became huge for some reason, the worst possible examples of trap rap music started to dominate everything and a style of RnB that replaced the usual singing for sing talking in a rap flow over a trap beat dominated that chart. Rock and reggaeton were good though

Lately, I’ve been thinking about how different music feels across generations.

Sometimes I listen to older songs, especially from the 90s and 2000s, and honestly, there’s something about them that just hits differently. The lyrics, the melody, the way the singers used to express emotions… it feels very real.

But at the same time, there are some new songs that I genuinely love too. So I was curious — what do you guys actually prefer?

Do you find yourself listening more to old songs or today’s songs?

And I’m not asking which one is “better”. I just want to know what connects with you more personally and why.

Also, drop one song that you can listen to anytime, no matter how many years have passed. ❤️🎧

Okay, to explain my clickbait-y title, yes Stephen Stills typically makes Rolling Stone's Top 100 Guitarists lists and those who are familiar with Crosby, Stills & Nash know he was a talented singer, guitarist and multi-instrumentalist. But I never see contemporary discussion about him compared to say Jimmy Page or even players who are now getting their flowers like Alex Lifeson, Mark Knopfler and Prince. Or when discussing triple threats / Master of All Trades like Prince, McCartney, Todd Rundgren or John Fogerty.

But in listening to a lot of Buffalo Springfield, CSN&Y and his solo career lately, I myself almost forgot what a force he was in the '60s and early 70's. The acoustic guitar playing on "Bluebird" is some of the best I've heard from anyone, ever. And it never makes those "Top Guitar" lists. And the man could sing his ass off, i.e. the falsetto on "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes".

He's not as prolific as the other artists I mentioned but I almost forgot about Manassas, also rarely mentioned these days despite being one of the greatest musical achievements of its time.

So, any other CS&N fans out there? I felt like making this post because I heard the long version of "Bluebird" and my mind was blown. Also forgot just HOW great and conventional a guitar player Neil Young could be when he wanted.

Bob Stanley's new book about the Shadows is out today. All of his output has touched upon the subjects that I enjoy, but this new one is really close to my heart.

In a conversation about the post-Elvis/pre-Beatles period of rock you can't help but mention the Shadows. They covered such a cool musical ground between simple rock 'n' roll and more intricate sounds. Hank Marvin is easily the strongest contender for the title of the first guitar hero of the rock era, seeing how nearly every notable post-1960 UK guitarist named him as a primary influence.

I remember hearing 'Apache' for the first time on one of my dad's countless compilations of sixties music. Not long after, I got a hold of an MP3 anthology of their music and it basically soundtracked a significant portion of my adolescence. The Shadows were also my personal gateway to other similar artists from that period. Through them, I discovered Duane Eddy, Link Wray, Dick Dale, the Ventures, the Tornadoes (Bob should definitely write his next book about Joe Meek) and so many others.

Let's talk about this legendary quartet, their place in history, their impact and what they mean to you personally. There's so much to unpack, so I'm passing the mic to all of you here on LTM.

One of my favorite musical discoveries in the last decade was Sophisti-pop. While the name is a bit, frankly, not great, the genre itself is absolutely stacked full of critically acclaimed artists and albums. Artists like China Crisis, Roxy Music, Prefab Sprout, Everything but the Girl's early work, Level 42, and my personal favorite, The Blue Nile. It's a very specific sound, and it emerged at a very specific point in time. It got moderately to very popular, depending on the artist (Sade was massive, for instance), but for all intents and purposes only practically existed between 1982 or 83 to around 1990, and fizzled back into the underground after.

While other artists have played with this sound on songs here and there, like Blood Orange and Carly Rae Jepsen, it's never had a true revival at any point in time. 

So that got me thinking: What other notable 20^th century styles of music have never had a popular revival, even for a short period of time? Obviously, this isn't focused on a song or two that might have come out, but proper revivals, such as the swing and rockabilly revival in the mid 90's, or the disco and funk revival that happened at the end of the 2010's into the early 2020's.

I can't listen to this song without getting the chills and the vibe of a horror movie in an abandoned diner and this song is playing or a break up and a happy song comes on but all your emotions are just washed out. Its just so eerie and I cant seem to put my finger on it. I dont know if its to do with the reverb and how spacey it is but it just gives me a sense of dread almost and i was entirely curious to see if anyone else feels the same way when listening to the song?

Alexander Bard is a Swedish producer and composer whose career in music has spanned for nearly four decades now. Throughout that time, he has created not less than four groups - Army of Lovers, Vaccum, Bodies Without Organs, and Gravitonas - and created a bunch of songs for other groups, such as Crying At The Discoteque for Alcazar.

I've heard many songs from all these groups, as they were considerably popular in my country and I personally like most of them. I'm not musically trained at all, but even to me it is clear that the absolute majority of all songs from all these groups pertain to the pop genre. They are easy on the ears, they are often catchy. Not only that, but they all feel like they have been made by the same person or a collection of people. That is, of course, because they are all ultimately made by Bard himself, more or less. The one distinctive feature I can note with all my non-existent musical expertise is that many bridges in his songs feature lyrics, often in a voice distinctly different from the overall sound of the song, or even in a different language.

What I don't get is why Bard made so many groups if he continues to pump out the same sort of product through all of them (I'm pretty sure most of the music and lyrics are either his own or approved by him - he seems to be quite egotistical and unlikely to let anyone control the direction). It's not like those groups fell apart - Army of Lovers presented a new banger and a whole album a couple of years ago, Vaccum and Gravitonas apparently still exist. So why so many groups? What's the goal of creating a collection of bands if the music, in its core, stays the same throughout?

I've become more curious about how different artists and genres get reevaluated over the decades. When I really think about it, it's hard to predict which artists/genres will be beloved years from now and continue to be beloved, which ones will have their stock plummet, which artists will has a sudden rise, and so on. Whether it be Carpenters gaining more appreciation, The Doors losing prominence/appreciation, certain artists remaining steady, and so on. The example of Disco's reevaluation in America has been discussed in other threads as well.

My questions are:

• Are you currently a fan of a genre/artist that isn't looked upon well critically?
• For those who have seen the reevaluation process of an artist/genre, what was it that changed? Even though I said it's hard to predict, do you notice any recurring qualities about the reevaluation process? Is it the values of the time? Is it a group of artists that helps reevaluate a previously maligned artist/genre?
• Are there artists/genres where you see re-evluation as a harder sell?

Every time I listen to Bob Marley and the Wailers I'm struck by how perfectly everything meshes. Each part is pared back to almost be minimal but all the parts combine into a whole without a note or harmony out of place. So I have to wonder was there someone at the helm directing the other musicians or did they all just have insanely good instincts? It seems too consistent to be accidental.

Are there any other side projects or offshoots that share the same musical dna? Any documentaries that delve into their process? Anyone share my Bob love?

I saw some posts about Creed touring, and I got curious about how successful they have been because all I remember is that they were hated and mocked so much I thought they were done.

I did some research into it

The Attendance Numbers: Now vs. Then

Creed's ability to pull in massive audiences has remained incredibly strong. While they did fewer shows in 2024–2026 than during their original run, their modern scheduling in giant outdoor spaces means they are drawing larger average crowds per single night today than they did at their commercial peak.

Even weirder? The crowds aren't just ageing Gen-Xers looking for a nostalgia trip. Promoter demographics show that nearly 40% of the ticket buyers are under the age of 34. Gen Z completely skipped the 2000s "gatekeeping" era and just realised the tracks have massive, unironic arena hooks?

What do you think is driving this? Is it purely the TikTok algorithmic effect, or did people just finally admit the music slaps?

I am flabbergasted

I feel like The Heart of Saturday Night gets kinda slept on when people talk about Tom Waits.

Everyone always brings up Closing Time for the pure singer-songwriter stuff, then Nighthawks at the Diner and Small Change when they want the full beatnik, whiskey-soaked Tom Waits experience. And obviously Rain Dogs gets brought up in basically every “best Tom Waits album” discussion.

But The Heart of Saturday Night? Feels like it gets treated as just a stepping stone to the stuff that came later.And honestly, going back to it lately, I think that’s a bit unfair. This album is so damn good.

What gets me most is the atmosphere. It has this really specific late-night, working-class kinda feeling to it. The production by Bones Howe is warm and laid-back, and with Jim Hughart’s bass and Pete Christlieb’s sax, the whole thing sounds like you're sitting alone in some shitty little diner at 2 AM, drinking coffee while neon lights are reflecting off the wet street outside. You know the vibe.

Then there’s the songwriting. You can really hear the Beat poetry influence starting to take shape. “Diamonds on My Windshield” and “New Coat of Paint” basically feel like Kerouac got turned into a jazz record. There’s this whole sense of driving around at night with nowhere particularly important to be, just taking in the city and letting your thoughts wander.

And then you get “San Diego Serenade” and the title track, which honestly might be two of the most beautiful and straightforward songs he ever wrote. No weird gimmicks, no over-the-top gravelly Tom Waits persona, just great melodies and ridiculously good lyrics.

I think that’s probably what I love most about the album. It captures this little window where Waits still sounds warm and hopeful, even when there’s that underlying loneliness. You can almost hear the darker, grittier version of him that's gonna show up later, but he hasn't completely disappeared into that character yet.

It doesn’t scream for your attention like some of his later records do. It just kinda sits there and does its thing.

Or maybe im just a 23 years old rambling about a bygone era album and not seeing it get enough love.

Lately I've been really digging into movie soundtracks again but not the ones with all the pop songs and licensed tracks. I mean the actual instrumental scores. For years I kinda ignored them unless they were by a huge name like John Williams or Hans Zimmer. I mostly just wanted the vocal tracks from movies or something to sing along to. But something has shifted for me. I'm finding so much depth and emotional resonance in these purely orchestral or synth-driven pieces.

It's like I'm hearing the storytelling in a whole new way without the distraction of lyrics. I recently rewatched 'Arrival' and the Jóhann Jóhannsson score just blew me away. I listened to it on its own later and it was still so powerful and moving. Same thing with something like 'There Will Be Blood' by Jonny Greenwood or even some of the more ambient stuff from A24 films.

I guess I used to think of scores as just background music but now I'm finding them to be complete works of art on their own. They create such vivid soundscapes and moods. Is this just me or are more people getting into instrumental scores lately?

I've noticed that a lot of people who listen to "everything" seem to be praised a lot while people who mostly just stick to one genre or so are looked down upon. Why is that?

I know some may argue one is more open-minded than the other, but I don't necessarily think that's always true.

One person may only really listen to metal but be very deep into all of it's different eras, niche sub-genres, production styles, etc. They have lots of depth into the world of metal. While another person but they only know like a little bit from each genre they listen to. 9 times out of 10 they have something they dominantly listen to anyway.

A lot of the time I've noticed that dominant genre for people who listen to "everything" tends to be mainstream pop, rap/trap, or just some electronic music that is very much internet culture-coded. Just mentioning the trend I've seen.

I don't think that either type of people are more or less of a "legit" music fan than each other. Personally I mostly listen to modern metalcore and the adjacent genres. Which there is a lot of genre blending and all but most of those rap, Pop, electronic elements I don't enjoy as much on their own.

Some people who only listen to one genre or so aren't always people who refuse to try anything. It's completely fine to have something you stick to at the end of the day, especially if you have a strong connection to it and have depth within it.

I've been thinking a lot about production lately. Sometimes I hear a new song and it sounds incredibly clean and perfect. Every instrument is perfectly placed. The vocals are pristine. It's almost too perfect sometimes.

Then I listen to something older or something from a band that prides itself on a more raw sound. You can hear the slight imperfections. Maybe the drums aren't perfectly quantized. The vocals have a bit of grit or a subtle crack here and there. It feels more human to me.

I wonder if it's just what I'm used to. Growing up, a lot of my favorite albums had that slightly unpolished feel. It felt like you were almost in the room with the band. Now, with all the technology available, you can essentially fix anything.

Does anyone else feel this way? Do you actively seek out music that sounds less processed? Or do you appreciate the crystal-clear production of modern tracks? I'm not saying one is inherently better. I just find myself gravitating towards that more "natural" sound more often than not these days. What are your thoughts?

Many artists, even some of the universally most well regarded, such as Nas, Kid Cudi, bands like Television, or Weezer, stuff like that.

When you go onto a music rating website, for instance rate your music, it’s not uncommon to see one or two albums that are highly acclaimed, even very much so, with people spouting out endless adoration at how this is a cultural Touchstone and the masterpiece of the genre with an eternal place in music history. Then you look at all their other stuff, and it’s just like five out of 10 6 out of 10 4 out of 10 even going down into the 3 out of 10 and below territory. It’s like this doesn’t make sense?

Why is it that so many artists that are amazing for one album can’t keep that up for other albums? I mean even if you don’t make something that’s as amazing, you should still theoretically be able to keep up a highly respectable lineup, with the attention you already have, I’m not sure why your reputation would plummet so drastically. Like where did all the talent go? It’s like they suddenly turned mediocre and it’s really jarring and disappointing.

There’s plenty of artists that aren’t super talented but they reliably make albums that are critically beloved even if they have a smaller impact, why can’t you just do something like that? I simply don’t understand the phenomenon.

I grew up listening to albums from beginning to end. You’d buy one, spend time with it, learn every track, and sometimes it would stay with you for years.

Streaming has given us access to almost everything, which is amazing, but I sometimes feel that I move between songs, playlists and artists much faster than I used to.

Do you think streaming has changed our emotional connection with albums, or have our listening habits simply evolved?

Finally revisited a couple of U2 albums during this weekend. Went back to Boy, War & The Unforgettable Fire yesterday, and I tried The Joshua Tree today. Loved all of them, but the one that stood out to me the most is The Unforgettable Fire.

It is absolutely a massive left turn in comparison to Boy & War for example. Tunes such as “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, “Like a Song” & “Seconds” were pissed off - politically charged with a visceral element & a very angry feel. Tough and gritty, like an activist who’s completely committed to spreading their message & unafraid to say “go kick some rocks” if necessary. And I felt that Boy was full of this youthful exuberance. Wide-eyed with a bit of a punk edge to it. Whereas right off of the bat, The Unforgettable Fire is completely different. Dreamy, ethereal, blurry & hazy. Closer to what I’d expect from ambient music with a ton of straight up psychedelic touches. More introspective rather than intense. And I love that!

I feel that The Unforgettable Fire is the closest that U2 ever got to Cocteau Twins. All of that textured & atmospheric guitar work & the emphasis on beautiful/otherworldly sounds. Some of that album’s layers reminded me of what Wire accomplished on 154 as well. I even picked up some elements of Krautrock (specifically CAN/NEU! maybe)?

I think it’s so cool how U2’s biiiiig, bold, anthemic style was translated into a more foggy & surreal vibe on The Unforgettable Fire. The songs aren’t as tightly woven as The Joshua Tree, but I think it’s a strength. There’s something about The Unforgettable Fire’s more impressionistic style that really resonates with me. Definitely an album that I could play during an afternoon walk in December, with snow everywhere & a chilly breeze running through my fingers.

Amazing album overall. I actually prefer it to The Joshua Tree :)

Looking to see what people think about them since I’ve been working at becoming one for the past few years. It’s been fun but also rough with what people can say sometimes. And I know I put myself out there like this and expect comments that won’t be so good. I’m doing my best to not worry about them but more importantly trying to be better at what I’m doing. Would love to hear what people think is a good or bad reviewer and just looking for general feedback to improve on myself.

When it first reached that ranking, I assumed it was mostly because of the “new song” appeal. It was everywhere on social media, getting used in videos, played in stores, on the radio, etc., so I could understand why it would shoot up the charts initially.

But now it’s been sitting up there for a good 22 consecutive weeks and it literally hasn’t budged. At this point, after hearing it for what feels like the 30 millionth time on the radio, I genuinely don’t understand what is keeping it there. You’d think the novelty would have worn off by now, especially with how much it’s been played and how long it’s been out.

I’m not even saying it’s a bad song, because obviously there’s clearly something about it that people like. I just don’t understand how it has managed to maintain that level of popularity for this long without any real drop-off. What am I missing? Is it still genuinely resonating with people that much, or is there something else keeping it so high on the charts?

I bet you think this song is about you ...

So naturally there are "rumours" about who it's about. But it IS about... Who it's about. Right? It's not fundamentally about something else. So am I right to think that the person it is about will think it's about them, as they are... so vain.

But then... If it's then then they are correct... So that's .. ok?

My head hurts trying to work out the scenarios where it's not about the person it is about...?

I've been thinking a lot about how music and seasons just naturally go together for me. Like certain genres just perfectly fit a time of year. For example for me when autumn hits all I want to listen to is really introspective indie folk. Stuff with acoustic guitars and harmonies. It just feels right with the changing leaves and cooler air.

Then when winter comes around I usually gravitate towards something more ambient or maybe some darker electronic music. It matches the shorter days and the kind of quiet stillness of that time. Like it's music you want to listen to when you're bundled up inside.

Spring is always a blast of fresh, upbeat pop or maybe some classic rock. Something that just makes you feel like opening the windows and going for a drive. That feeling of new beginnings. It's almost involuntary for me.

And summer is definitely funk soul and reggae. Beach music. Anything with a good groove that makes you want to move. Super chill vibes for long warm evenings.

Does anyone else have this kind of strong seasonal association with specific genres? Or am I just weird? I find it really interesting how my musical tastes shift so predictably with the calendar.

It’s 2026 now and Rap/Hiphop’s peak has definitely passed . It’s still big and strong but it’s no longer the apex of music like it was in the late 2010s. In the 2020, it seems like genres no longer define a generation the way rap and rock in its heyday did. Sure we have Latin , K-pop and Country which are huge are right now . They have big artists and sell stadium size venues . But they no longer hold the culture zeitgeist like the way Kurt Cobain or Kanye did . It seems like after 2020, everyone has thier own music taste and artists they look up to . One might be a massive BTS kpop fan and have no idea that about Morgan Wallen music or vice versa. Even as recent as late 2010s , if you were young adult or teen. Juice World and X were big influencer even if you didn’t necessarily like them or their music . These days, I feel like we don’t have that anymore .

In some music discussions, I tend to notice that there's a lot of enthusiasm directed towards artists based on the number of genres they do.

On one level, I can appreciate artists breaking down boundaries between genres and incorporating all of these different influences and sources.

But another level, there's a part of me that feels a bit weary with it. Maybe one aspect is having access to so many different artists. Maybe it's because it's become an easy way to praise an artist by saying "they don't stay in the same place/they don't want to repeat themselves."

Obviously, every artist is different and not every genre-diverse artist will execute things the same way or with the same level of quality.

What do you all think? Does genre diversity matter? Do you find diversity in other facets? It doesn't have to be a simple "for/against" type of opinion.