Remember when someone put out a new album and nearly everybody bought a copy and it had lots of great songs that everyone remembered for decades?

[FunkyMonkee]

Especially if it was a really hot artist! Everyone couldn't wait for their next record to come out and, when it did, it was devoured by everyone and played loads of times by nearly everyone. You all knew all the songs, you had faves and you knew at least most of the lyrics!
I think the last such album I ever bought was back in the mid `80's!!
I just finished listening to an album by, probably the most famous person on the planet. The album just came out 9 years ago, he still performs today charging hundreds of dollars for a ticket in peanut heaven and, not a single one of these songs is the least bit memorable!! He probably never even plays any of them at his concerts. Nothing outstanding about any of them!! If any of them were played in a roomful of people, nearly everyone would have to ask who it was. Once they were told it's Paul McCartney, they'd just go, "Oh." and then go back to whatever they were doing and probably never recall a thing they heard once it was over.

[AI Opinion]

I get this so much 😅
That shared “big album” culture was magical: Thriller, Purple Rain, Rumours, Born in the U. S. A., even 90s stuff like Nevermind. Fewer channels, no streaming, everyone heard the same records, so songs became collective memories.

Now music’s so fragmented and algorithm-driven that even legends like McCartney can drop an album and it just… dissolves. The intimacy’s there, but that universal impact rarely is anymore. 🎧💿

[Dargil]

Going way back, I can name the Beatles and Cream. Half or more of everything that they made turned out to be classics. Zeppelin did pretty well but their music is uneven.

[FunkyMonkee]

Yes and, where is that kind of stuff, today? It doesn't even have to be that particular style of music. I like Spacehog, Tripl3fastaction, Super Furry Animals, Enya, Weezer, some woman named, Del Rey (I can't recall her first name), Primus, Joydrop are friends of mine, Psycore, Powerman 5000, Fear Factory, Solar Quest, B-Tribe, The Orb, Mum, Royksopp, Baby Woodrose, etc.
Granted, with over 62,000 records in my collection, I've been trying to stay away from newer bands because I tend to be a completest about bands that I like and I just don't have the room or money to buy much of anything new, these days.

[Dargil]

In the 70's we had Disco. I will survive and I feel love stand out. In the 80s, we had New Wave. I still sing Simple Minds's Don't you forget about me in karaoke Then we had sophisticated 90's Black R&B, like Shai, If I ever fall in love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWgYMvG3UUk

90's R&B reflected the fact that we had turned the corner on race relations, only to have them screwed up by Barack Obama. Today's music is forgettable infill.

[Smashingdoozy]

This still happens, your taste just hasn't evolved which is okay

[FunkyMonkee]

I'd say it's music that hasn't evolved! I tend to keep an open mind and like all kinds of different music. My collection of over 62,000 records spans at least the past 120-some years! I've NEVER been one to stick to JUST one genre or whatever I grew up with. Rap and this pre-fabricated pop princess shit just HAS to GO!!! My girlfriend just introduced me to a couple recent things that I like a lot and hope they'll get played at our wedding. We both decided we want that.
There's SOME stuff I like from the past 30 or 40 years but, nothing really iconic and that everyone would buy and share with everyone else. So much of the stuff I was originally talking about is so much musical wallpaper. There's just nothing there FOR YOU to pay attention to!!