The Evolution of Music – Part III

Contemporary music

This is the age that we can personally relate to. While it can be divided into two parts: the music from 1900 up to 1960 and from 1961 up until now, we will focus on the latter. The twentieth century brought so many changes and innovations to the music (and, for the record, to every other part of the life). This is where technology stepped in and brought us electric guitars, synthesizers, electric amps and auto-tune. The music of the 20th century constantly changed, never sitting in one place and so, we distinguish the music of the sixties, eighties, nineties and so on. This is a century where jazz was born, where rock and techno and punk and pop were conceived. Where people gather at immensely big musical concerts like Woodstock, where music creates and destroys whole subcultures.

Starting from the sixties with the immortal Beatles from English Liverpool that were formed in 1960 and to this day are the most listened band in the entire word (check Last.fm rankings that indexes what is played in people's players). A band that created "All you need is love", "Come together" and "Here comes the sun". All four members of The Beatles are legends in the contemporary culture: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Star. Their most important album is "Abbey Road" with it's instantly recognizable cover. The sixties is also the time of Elvis Presley that was as much as worshiped by his fans until his early death in 1977.

Then came the seventies, when The Beatles were still going strong and when many new stars appeared. This is where Rod Stewart and Elton John where beginning (with the legendary "Your Song" by the latter), when Simon And Garfunkel ("Sound of Silence"), Bob Marley ("No Woman, No Cry") and The Police ("Message in a Bottle") played. The seventies also saw a rise to one of the most important genre of the contemporary music: the rock. Rock then evolved into tens of different sub-genres (hard rock, progressive rock and eventually even metal) but remained to this day as one of the three most important genres of music along with the pop and the electronica. When you think of the seventies and of rock you find yourself with a lot of legendary bands and performers. Of course the most important one is arguably Led Zeppelin with their "Stairway to Heaven" but you must not forget about Queen ("We Will Rock You"), Dire Straits ("Sultans of Swing"), Lynyrd Skynyrd ("Sweet Home Alabama"), Deep Purple ("Smoke on the Water") and so many more it's difficult to name them all.

The eighties. Oh, the eighties. The time when synthesizers and electronic music began it's rise. Music was more about it's form less about it's content. It was fast, dynamic, dramatic often with lyrics that made no sense (a good example is "St. Elmo's Fire" by John Parr; still, it is a very good song!). In 1982 the mother and father of all musical albums was released - "Thriller" by Micheal Jackson, an album that made a simple, black skinned man from a poor family a musical god. "Thriller" featured "Beat it", "Billy Jean" and many other songs that are with us to this day. Along Jackson, who basically made Pop the way it is now, was Madonna ("Like a Virgin"), Guns N' Roses ("Sweet Child O' Mine"), U2 ("With or Without You"), Bon Jovi ("Livin' on a Prayer") and many more. Eighties also started the trend of the black music (rap and hip-hop) with performers like Public Enemy ("Fight the Power") and Run-D.M.C. ("Walk This Way") appearing.

During the nineties people saw more and more synthesized tunes added to the music. Old genres fractured into new genres: Punk Rock, Grunge, House etc. This is when Auto-tune was born, an infamous music processor that allowed people with no voice talent at all to sound good on the recordings (Cher in "Believe" was the first one to use it) that soon became used by almost any commercial singer to date. Rock bands use it (Paramore, Angels & Airwaves), Pop stars use it (Lady GaGa), rap stars use it. Everybody uses it. The most important bands of the 90s are Depeche Mode ("Enjoy the Silence"), Nirvana with their legendary Kurt Cobain ("Smells Like Teen Spirit"), Eric Clapton ("Tears in Heaven"), Red Hot Chili Peppers ("Under the Bridge"), 2Pac ("No changes"), Eminem ("My Name Is"), R.E.M. ("Everybody Hurts"), Daft Punk ("Around the world") and many more.

And so we have reached the end of this long history of music evolution. From an Egyptian harp to a electric guitar. From Beethoven to Jackson. We shall end this very brief summary with one musician that is an icon of the music at this very moment. Of course it's Lady GaGa (second most listened to artist according to Last.fm). A girl with weird outfits, strong voice and piano talent, that came out of nowhere and made a stunning career with only two albums (and most important singles being "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance") proves that in this industry nothing is impossible. GaGa also shows that a strong stage personality is required to be popular in the contemporary music. That was true for her, true for Micheal Jackson, true for Freddie Mercury, true for Ozzy Osbourne and many more.

And all of it because of a simple fact that music is a reflection of man's soul.

Questions:

1. What is your favorite kind of music? And why?

2. Should music lyrics be rated similar to the way movies are rated?

3. What was your favorite music five years ago? 15 years ago? How have your musical tastes changed?