Earlier this week, a friend and I were having a conversation about music, and I remembered an article or interview that I had read somewhere. It lamented the state of music today (somewhere, Terry's {audiosavant's} ears are burning). Well, maybe lament is not exactly the right word. It was more of an observation/reflection on the fact that there are no musical giants any more, or at least not on the scale of years past. No bands repeatedly dominate on that top level of critical and commercial success.

To illustrate, let's consider who would be the "Artist of the Decade" for the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s.

My personal picks:

1960s: The Beatles. Consideration given to the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, the Who, and Bob Dylan.

1970s: Pink Floyd. Much closer call, with the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, and Billy Joel all up there.

1980s: Michael Jackson over U2, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, and Prince. The Police had the unfortunate timing of splitting decades, and they broke up less than halfway into the '80s. R.E.M. were critical darlings but didn't break through commercially until the early 1990s.

1990s: If you could lump Nirvana and the Foo Fighters into one band, I'd vote for that. Otherwise, ??? Grunge acts of note include Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Green Day. Mariah Carey sold a buttload of albums. U2 kept on going, and R.E.M. got big, but I don't think of them as 90s bands.

2000s: I admit it. I'm totally lost. Uh, I don't know, Coldplay?

Sadly, you are having trouble because the genre shift probably was not into areas that you followed as much. Hip Hop became the mainstream followed by a smattering of radio pop.

I'm not qualified to pick a winner in those categories either but I do think that's maybe where your trouble lies.

I agree.

And, I realize that looking backwards is often done through rose-colored glasses. For every Beatles, there was a Monkees (although, I kinda like the Monkees). For every Bob Dylan, a Tiny Tim. Bee Gees. Abba. Milli Vanilli. Bieber.

So, yes, you'll always find good and bad music when you look closely enough.

I saw where Billboard called Eminem the artist of the 2000s. Guess that fits.

Here's my list, combined with some I like, others because...well, because:

'60s
1)Beatles 2)Stones 3)....lot's of others of equal importance, Beach Boys, CCR, Doors ect

'70s
1) should be Zeppelin but mostly first half of 70s, otherwise Pink Floyd 2) Eagles 3) Elton John 4) Supertramp 5) Fleetwood Mac/Queen/Neil Young ect

'80s
1) Michael Jackson, not my choice personally 2)Madonna, ditto 3)Dire Straits and ZZTop kind of bridge late 70's-80's otherwise...late 80's and early 90's Tragically Hip at their peak(huge in Ontario).

90's
Getting harder to choose here....Nirvana, Shania, Live, Celine Dion, Pearl Jam, Oasis....

2000's
Who cares?

I'll probably change my mind, or think of some glaring omissions in the meantime....

Oasis - nice. They were huge for a while (c. 1995).

Likewise, Dire Straits, after "Brothers in Arms", was the biggest rock band at that moment. Seems Mark Knopfler decided that wasn't his cuppa and DS went quiet - no followup album for several years, and then, on to the solo works which we all love over our Axioms.

Am I the only one who liked Vanilla Fudge?

mmmmm....fudge.

Between this thread and the beer float thread, my sweet tooth is actin' up.

Even more than usual, I mean.

Yeah, I know, hard to believe.

Your quest for a group/singer for the 2000's led me to do a search of groups that started in the 2000's and I came across this arcticle

What about the '50s? Chuck Berry? Elvis? Sinatra?

Slim Whitman, Zamfir?

NOasis.

DOHasis