Wow! That was cool to hear.

Oh come on HTL, show some guts man. Give us your real professional opinion.

Don't be politically correct.

Lay it on us man.

What was the difference between those those sets brother?

You're a producer, drummer, maestro. Tell us what it is bro.



*** Edit


HTL....someone just pinged me and said I was being sarcastic so I am editing.

I was trying to be funny.

Ok, let me start over, if I were to compare the two lists I would say:

Hmmmmmmmm. Because 1998 has chords and interesting drums and famous musicians playing instruments and the other was doesn't have anything musical at all????

But then I would get crucified and all, so I didn't say it and I was hoping you would take the heat for me but I guess that was selfish of me.

Simple, 1998 = music, 2018 = crap.

BUT this is only based on the songs that he posted. There is some good music being produced in 2018 and there was some crap in 1998 and this holds true for any year. YMMV

That was very interesting!

Each top 20 set included lots of similar sounding songs. And that is what I'd expect since the top 20 is driven by market demand...what sells, what is popular is what gets into the top 20. The top 20 (or 10 or 100 or whatever) has never been an artistic measurement.

With that said, this is a very subjective comparison and I bet there are plenty of days where the top 20 list has more variety. So, while interesting, I don't think it is very meaningful.

I'd love to see this same sort of top 20 comparison for every decade and maybe take the top 20 songs of the year or of the entire decade instead of a single day snapshot! I bet lots of 80s top 20 songs were similar. Same for the 70s and 60s.

And, of course, I call BS on the tired old saw that today's music is somehow not real music. I heard that same complaint from my grandpa and then from my dad and now I hear it from my peers. And also we had to walk to school, through the snow, with no shoes and it was uphill both ways! Now, get off my lawn!

John to the Power of 3 formerly known as John Cubed,


Clearly you have no idea what you are talking about.

When I was in school walking barefooted for twenty miles to get my Zeppelin albums there was eight feet of snow on the ground but it was 175 degrees at the same time.

And gasoline tasted better.

So there!!!

Sure, whatever, David Snider.

My dad isn't on spotify. He also couldn't tell you what songs are on spotify. He also can't tell you what spotify is.

Even at that, he loves music and listens to it often. A lot of the music he listens to sounds very similar. Different artists, of course, but they all have a somewhat similar sound.

His friends his age also listen to those same types of songs for the most part.

He will tell you "Now THAT was when music was good!"

My grandfather disagreed. It all sounded like noise to him and it all sounded the same. His generation had REAL music.

It's the same rehashed conversation over and over...even here.

I have to wonder if early man/woman was banging sticks when they heard someone bang a few rocks together (first rock music) and were like "listen to that noise..." blah, blah, blah.

I think the BIG question here is when people say music sounds like crap or $h!+, who is spending so much time listening to fecal sonics that they have become an expert on it? And how are they not embarrassed to share their knowledge of it?

These charts do change very quickly. People really like to consume more of the same. The people that argue "this all sounds the same" are usually the same people who are listening to the same type of music over and over. What color is their black kettle?

Something that wasn't really mentioned is that several of those songs are by the same artists.

Also, I don't have spotify, but I did look on Billboards top 20 and know that xxxtancion (as an example) has 4 songs in the top 20. He was recently murdered.

All of that is neither here nor there for me. It is what is. There are many charts. To me, they are a great reference for what's popular and that's about where it ends for me. If you don't like it, why are you listening has pretty much been my motto. I also don't eat at places I don't like, or shop at stores that don't carry what I want. Not complicated.

If you are wondering what make those songs different, you already know. They aren't THAT different. Which goes back to, people want more of the same.

When the Beatles held spots 1-5 on the charts, was it because each of those songs was so different from one another? Of course not.

Man, that was a long ramble explaining something you all already know. ha!

Have a good one!

Circle of life .

It all has to come around again in some form.

Certainly interesting to hear that music juxtaposed so well.

Yes, a significant contrast. Maybe we will return to quality music one day...

Quote from the movie AMERICAN GRAFFITI.

John Milner: Rock and roll's been going downhill since Buddy Holly died.

I found this to be super interesting! It's crazy to me how the changes have been so subtle over the years, that you barely notice as it is happening. But then you look compared to now and realize just how much it has changed.

Thanks for sharing

Eugh, I strongly dislike the top 20 right now. They are just not my thing.

The 1998 songs were pretty much crap. Only the Paula Cole song seems to stand up still today imo.

Spotify is a terrible gauge for popularity, as it is gamed for position. Plenty of articles and sources that describe how artists and fans game Spotify. Is that any better or worse than payola? Who knows.

The Childish Gambino song is a great song.

As I was going through my stuff, I found a Columbia Records compilation CD from 2006 featuring 23 of the "best of the best" releases that year from Columbia in all genres. Artists included Beyonce, Project Pat, Three 6 Mafia, Ray Cash, Bow Wow, Carly Simon, Bob Dylan, Amerie and John Mayer, among many others across ALL genres.

In terms of mastering references I was "thank you God"--for I had just found a one stop shop "desert island" type mastering set.

Then I listened to them. OMG. EVERY track was awesome--so well mixed, so much dynamic range on every one, every genre represented very sophisticated harmonies, great melodies, great songwriting, phenomenal masters, jaw dropping production. Again, in EVERY genre.

The most recent list we were asked to listen to above just does NOT sound the same.

If I were an alien from Mars (and maybe I am) and I compared those 2006 masters to the stuff on the current list above I would say "Sounds like they're getting lazy." Comparatively speaking.

They are not even on the same playing field of production excellence.

I know I may be comparing applies to kiwi fruit and the list above may be "rigged" but I do think things are changing in terms of the thoughtfulness being put into mixes and production. At least it sounds that way to me. Maybe I am wrong. But 2006 was really not THAT long ago, and every single one of those tunes I am speaking of from Columbia hits that year were fabulous.