Concerning the whole "old is better than new" phenomenon.

[GhostPony750 959]

@, Ah. It's sad, you doesn't seem to be opened to other's ideas.

 

Everyone have different tastes, different ideas, everyone is different. You doesn't seems to respect me for that....

It's always the same thing: Someone like an older thing than the newest, and everyone just bandwaggon him saying that he's stuck in the past, unnopened to new ideas.

 

I horribly dislike mangas, and I have my reasons. But I have watched them to forge an opinion, and I've never created a thread forcing everyone to dislike them with non-valid evidences.

 

If you feel the need to be rude, so be it. I won't post here anymore.

 

 

 

The 80's were worse IMO, back then there were all the cheesy hairbands. Stuff like Bon Jovi, Poison, Whitesnake, Warrant, etc. it's all just awful. The 70's had disco, and disco sucks.

"Instead of criticizing, why don't you try to find the reasons of these statements? It may be something, or nothing. You can't really fall on anything else."

[Thrashy 2,800]

If people argue that all new things are inferior to the old by default, they're certainly fooling themselves. However, even though I agree that there was plenty of garbage in the past, I still submit that past garbage doesn't stink quite as badly as modern garbage. And conversely, even though there are plenty of modern gems, I still don't think a majority of them shine quite as brightly as classic gems. This is just my subjective opinion, of course, and at the end of the day we just have to accept that nothing can truly be looked at without any subjectivity whatsoever - there's always going to be a hint of "I like this" or "I don't like this" whenever describing what is either wrong or right with things both past and present. That said, I see no problem with those who just so happen to prefer the old to the new, or vice versa. Hell, here's a few of my own subjective opinions that are sure to rub some of you the wrong way:

 

-Awful '80s pop garbage like Bon Jovi is still easier on the ears than modern pop garbage like Maroon 5

 

-'80s NWOBHM, thrash and power metal bands contributed more to metal as a whole than any of the screaming, Cookie Monster bullshit that floods the scene today

 

-Video games from the NES era all the way up to the N64 era still hold far more imagination and replayability than any of the CoD clones that get shat out year after year

 

-Absolutely-fucking-NONE of the movies that re-imagine classic films EVER hold a candle to their original inspirations (Wonka > Burton's Charlie, Carpenter's The Thing > the 2011 abomination, Hitchcock's Psycho > ...you get the idea)

 

I'd really like to touch upon this last bullet point. Although I'll fully admit that the music and video game scenes do have quite a few innovators that do stack up to the classics, Hollywood is NOT such an innovator...at least, not anymore. Yes, there's the occasional Inception, but aside from that, our film industry has devolved to such a point where even B movies on SyFy are actually more original than the big-hit blockbusters. That's right - something like Sharknado actually treats viewers with more respect than something like Michael Bay's Transformers movies. That is pretty fucking sad right there.

[Music Chart Fan 819]

@, 

 

It seems a tad bit hypocritical for you to, on the one hand, say that you're annoyed when people make inaccurate blanket statements like "Almost all music these days is garbage", while on the other hand, repeatedly make blanket assertions like "mainstream music has always been bad", which can be just as annoying to other people.

 

From your original post, I gather that you find statements like "Almost all music these days is garbage" annoying because you think such people are judging today's music on the basis of mainstream, popular songs, while you would say that their judgment is inaccurate and that there is a lot of music out there other than those mainstream, popular songs.

 

Now let's look at some statements you made:

 

 

 

The 80's were worse IMO, back then there were all the cheesy hairbands. Stuff like Bon Jovi, Poison, Whitesnake, Warrant, etc. it's all just awful. The 70's had disco, and disco sucks.

 

I can't help noticing that you seem to have just dismissed two entire decades of music based on one genre of music from each of those decades. In other words, you just did the very thing that you previously said you find annoying. I could respond to these statements you made by saying that the '70s and the '80s had a lot of different genres of music, even within mainstream, popular music. Hair bands were only one specific genre that was popular in the '80s, and so it's inaccurate for you to judge all '80s music on the basis of that one genre. Similarly, disco was only one specific genre of music that was popular in the '70s, and it's inaccurate for you to judge all '70s music on that basis, also.

 

When discussing music, I think it would be more productive and pleasant in general to avoid making overly broad, yet seemingly definitive, statements like "x genre of music sucks" or "music from x decade is garbage". Such statements are usually very subjective and dependent on the musical tastes, philosophies, etc. of the particular person making them, which are almost certainly going to differ from those of other people, who will then be put off by such statements since they will think those statements are inaccurate. It might be better to just acknowledge that such statements are one's personal opinion; then if others disagree, maybe they could discuss how and why their musical tastes, philosophies, etc. are different.

 

With that in mind, I happen to like some cheesy '80s hair bands and '70s disco, and I listen to some songs from those genres in the mix of songs from previous decades that I listen to, so I personally would disagree with your above statements on that basis. I like popular songs from a lots of genres from the '70s and '80s - not just hair metal and disco, but also folk, easy listening, hard rock, funk, pop/rock, etc. While I gather that you deliberately avoid "mainstream" music, I mostly listen to popular artists and songs from past decades that I have picked out. I will freely acknowledge that there are plenty of artists and songs from past decades that I don't really like.

 

And (to contribute something to the topic) that is one advantage to living in the present time - I can choose to look up and listen to just those artists and songs that I like, without really having to listen to those that I don't like. The nostalgia effect of people tending to remember the "good" songs, and radio stations tending to play such "good" songs, while forgetting the bad ones, can be an advantage compared to keeping up with the current popular music scene and having to take the good with the bad. Also, when I hear a song I like on the oldies or "play anything" station, or I see that a song was a hit on the singles popularity charts back in the day, I can usually look up that artist's other hits, listen to them on YouTube, and download some of their songs if I like them, which is more convenient than flipping through physical issues of Billboard, going to the record store to buy singles/albums, and playing them on the turntable.

[Le Kvlt Dawn 2,368]

 

 

-'80s NWOBHM, thrash and power metal bands contributed more to metal as a whole than any of the screaming, Cookie Monster bullshit that floods the scene today

I'd swap out power metal with traditional doom. And you do realize that thrash metal evolved into death and black metal right?

Take a listen if ya don't believe moi.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2KcKHJjQFk

 

 

I can't help noticing that you seem to have just dismissed two entire decades of music based on one genre of music from each of those decades. In other words, you just did the very thing that you previously said you find annoying. I could respond to these statements you made by saying that the '70s and the '80s had a lot of different genres of music, even within mainstream, popular music. Hair bands were only one specific genre that was popular in the '80s, and so it's inaccurate for you to judge all '80s music on the basis of that one genre. Similarly, disco was only one specific genre of music that was popular in the '70s, and it's inaccurate for you to judge all '70s music on that basis, also.

I never dismissed those decades, I said that I hated hair metal and disco. Plus, the two songs that I just posted are from the 80's. I do listen to 70's and 80's stuff, it's just that I'd much rather listen to post-punk than hair metal. Haven't you seen me spam Joy Division, the Pixies, and Swans to death on here? 

 

 

With that in mind, I happen to like some cheesy '80s hair bands and '70s disco, and I listen to some songs from those genres in the mix of songs from previous decades that I listen to, so I personally would disagree with your above statements on that basis.

That's fine with me.

 

 

I like popular songs from a lots of genres from the '70s and '80s - not just hair metal and disco, but also folk, easy listening, hard rock, funk, pop/rock, etc.

Okay, from the 70's and 80's, I like punk, post-punk, hardcore punk, post-hardcore, trad. heavy metal, trad. doom metal, thrash metal, early death metal, early black metal, early grindcore, early grunge, early alternative, and early hip-hop.

 

 

While I gather that you deliberately avoid "mainstream" music

No, I'm a fan of Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead.

 

 

I mostly listen to popular artists and songs from past decades that I have picked out.

And I constantly dig around the internet for music.  

[Sweet Dreams 1,893]

Generally, I don't like remakes/new instalments of old shows (eg, Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated). New shows aren't too bad, I mean, look at Breaking Bad, but when you draw out a classic like that... I dunno, I just think they kinda stuffed them. I don't like the new pokemon either. And, you're not seeing anything new, really. It's the same stuff, but in the new Hanna Barbara show instalments, there's more adult references and teenage problems evident, from what I've seen. Anyways, back on topic.

I get what you're saying about nostalgia. Shows like Seinfeld and Pokemon I still watch all the time, because those were the things I loved when I was around ten, which was pretty much the happiest point in my life, I had no responsibilities, and no care for what people thought of me. I still love songs from back then too. I know I'm only young, but it kinda feels like childhood was a long time ago, and those things help me to hang onto it.

 

I obviously haven't got anything to say about the 20th century, because I wasn't there. However, I think back then could've been a lot better, because from what I've heard, it was much more innocent, and less violent.

Edited November 3, 2013 by ~Harmonic Dreams~

[MagicalStarRain 599]

If there's one thing a majority of society hates, it's the concept known as "change". You have many people who want to rewind the clock and they just don't realize that the world is and always will be changing. There's the possibility that the change can be bad and it cloud's people's judgement. This, I can apply to anything.

[Music Chart Fan 819]

@,

 

I must admit, I didn't expect for you to listen to "mainstream" artists, given how I've seen you say several times things like "mainstream music has always sucked" and "the radio has always played garbage", and how, for example, in a different topic you called another person's band choices "super mainstream (and awful)". I guess those statements must not be as universally true as they come off to me, since there are "mainstream" artists that you say you are a fan of.

 

I will admit that I bristle a little when you say things like the above examples. In part that's because I disagree with those sentiments. But also, when I post, I try not to make absolute declarative statements about things that aren't actually clear-cut, and I try not to make posts that would needlessly anger or insult other people (even unintentionally).

[Le Kvlt Dawn 2,368]

I must admit, I didn't expect for you to listen to "mainstream" artists, given how I've seen you say several times things like "mainstream music has always sucked" and "the radio has always played garbage", and how, for example, in a different topic you called another person's band choices "super mainstream (and awful)". I guess those statements must not be as universally true as they come off to me, since there are "mainstream" artists that you say you are a fan of.

Well I did say that I like J-pop in my OP. And honestly, only a complete pleb could dislike Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails.

 

 

I will admit that I bristle a little when you say things like the above examples. In part that's because I disagree with those sentiments. But also, when I post, I try not to make absolute declarative statements about things that aren't actually clear-cut, and I try not to make posts that would needlessly anger or insult other people (even unintentionally).

The underground is this massive thing, the mainstream is tiny compared to it. So it would only make sense that most of what I listen to is non-mainstream.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Mirai Kuriyama

[Koelath 445]

People who claim "[x] was better before!" or "[x] all sucks now!" are, quite frankly, dumb people.

 

Crowd A runs on pure blind nostalgia. Cartoons sucked complete ass (sometimes near-literally, He-Man is crazy homoerotic) in the 80s, but you wouldn't know it listening to these guys. You keep hatin', I'll keep watching Adventure Time and Avatar.

 

Crowd B runs on tunnel vision. All cinema sucks today? Yeah, I'm sure that's true if all you ever bother to acknowledge is Twilight and Movie Movies. You keep right along complaining, I'll be over here with Cabin In The Woods and Pacific Rim.

 

Music's awful now too? Welp. I'm sure you've been well-informed by the radio. Oh, looky there, Sonata Arctica and Kamelot...

 

Basically, people are dumb. All of them, in varying ways.

Edited November 3, 2013 by Koelath

[Le Kvlt Dawn 2,368]

 

 

Oh, looky there, Sonata Arctica and Kamelot...

Power metal isn't my thing, I mean really NOT my thing. But hey, different strokes for different folks. Except we're referring to music here lol. Seriously, I don't like the squeeky vocals and stuff. I used to like Helloween but not anymore. 

[Koelath 445]

Power metal isn't my thing, I mean really NOT my thing. But hey, different strokes for different folks. Except we're referring to music here lol. Seriously, I don't like the squeeky vocals and stuff. I used to like Helloween but not anymore. 

 

Neither of those groups has squeaky vocals. Well, Kamelot's original vocalist sounded like a cat on helium getting its balls hacked off...But nobody even acknowledges those first two albums exist, so it's fine.

[Sugar Pea 2,683]

People have a different perspective of things and how they are.

I'm not going to play little miss innocent over here, i'll admit that I have shared my thoughts on this forums about how I thought that things looked a lot more exciting back then, and how I wished to live in that era. I'm not sure why, but it just sounded intriguing.

I just love that feeling of nostalgia, ya know? 

I think I should start trying to adapt to the changes around me. I mean, OP, all of us have thought at one point that something old was better than something new.

 

I enjoy quite a few things, and then there's a lot I don't agree with and refuse to bat an eye to. 

 

I mean, it's nothing new. But I must concur on most points.

Edited November 3, 2013 by weirdokitterz

[GlamourDolly 78]

Darling it is just opinions no need to fret over it. Like what you like and let it be.

 

My two biggest ones tho are movies and fashion. Films to me personally were better made back in the day and I'm talking Hollywood's golden ages. My favorite decade of film was the 1930s with 1939 being their best year ever. It just seems like they put more effort into making a film and actually cared about the craft of acting. Also beileve it or not but there were much more roles for women and women lead characters then there are now..

 

and as for fashion...Fashion now has become so dull and unoriginal. People don't believe in glamor anymore. The fashion industry use to be much more exciting but now it's so much produced anything you buy in your little hometown you can buy around the world. I blame this on corporations taking over the world that leads to smaller designers never being able to get their lines out there.

[Envy 6,395]

People assume that "life was easier back then". But no, they're out their mind. There was once a point in time when smallpox was common, polio was common, racism was common, homosexuality was extremely taboo, being irreligious was frowned upon, gender roles were strict, there was the draft, etc,. If anything we've been making progress. Back then there was no internet or cellphones, or video games FFS. So why would anyone prefer to live back then than now? 

 

Sadly, I'm not sure I can say that some of the people who pine for the "good ol' days" are unaware of these issues being more prevalent back then. Some people wish to live in less progressive times, because they are, to put it nicely, less progressive themselves.(Although all of those are still very much issues today, and to say that being irreligious is not frowned upon these days seems a bit inaccurate to me)

 

...But enough of that, as I don't think this topic is really supposed to be about that. lol

 

I do agree that it can be annoying. Like in music, I hate it when people talk like the Classic Rock days were all good music, and everything today is "trash". As somebody who primarily listens to old music, I can say I don't find all of it to be gold. Nope, not even a lot of the stuff they play on the radio stations that they call "Golden Oldies". Some of it I absolutely can't stand.

 

It is funny to see people my age or younger talking about how much better Classic Rock/Oldies are, because we weren't even around in that time, therefore we don't have anywhere near the level of nostalgia that those who were around during that time do. Or my point isn't really about nostalgia, it's about growing older. I'm not trying to justify dislike of everything new with that, but I look at my opinions of video games, and it's not really that I want to dislike new games or anything, I'm just getting "too old" for them, I suppose. I can't enjoy games like I used to. My favorite games all come from 2006 and before (mostly before) because that was when I was younger. Even when I see a new entry to one of my favorite series come out that is very much a fantastic sequel (like Animal Crossing New Leaf), I grow bored of it really fast, and thus my opinion for older Animal Crossing games that I enjoyed longer remains higher.

 

So, perhaps, for some people it's a matter of just getting older and... I don't know, it's a very hard thing to describe.

 

Of course, for the preteens/teens who brag about listening to Led Zeppelin instead of Justin Bieber and call all modern music "trash", they're just attention seekers, and nothing more, but the whole liking older things better than newer things isn't always about attention, nor is it about ignorance or wanting to hate.

 

I hope that made some sense... It may not have... lol

[Dddrgn 450]

I believe, in some areas, things were better in the past, but for the most part, it's completely untrue. Music has only improved and developed more diversity than anyone could have imagined 30 years ago, so long as you ignore the popular music, and television, in many areas, has significantly improved as well. Videogames, toys, etc. were not quite as good in the past, and now they are made in more abundance, you just have to know where to look to find the amazing ones, rather than the heavily advertised crud.

[Le Kvlt Dawn 2,368]

 

 

(Although all of those are still very much issues today, and to say that being irreligious is not frowned upon these days seems a bit inaccurate to me)

It depends on where you live. I live in California, being an atheist is accepted here. I've actually met plenty of atheist/agnostic people at school. (Surprising since I'm really anti-social.) My only IRL friend is a Protestant immigrant from Iceland and he likes to wear this shirt around. http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4123/4740105891_f4e63c13c3_z.jpg

Dat Depeche Mode reference. 

 

 

I do agree that it can be annoying. Like in music, I hate it when people talk like the Classic Rock days were all good music, and everything today is "trash". As somebody who primarily listens to old music, I can say I don't find all of it to be gold. Nope, not even a lot of the stuff they play on the radio stations that they call "Golden Oldies". Some of it I absolutely can't stand.

"Classic Rock" isn't even a legitimate genre, it's a radio format. I primarily listen to stuff from the 90's, 00's, and the current decade. I do fangirl over older albums like Unknown Pleasures, The Velvet Underground & Nico, and Meat Is Murder every now and then though.

 

 

Of course, for the preteens/teens who brag about listening to Led Zeppelin instead of Justin Bieber and call all modern music "trash", they're just attention seekers, and nothing more, but the whole liking older things better than newer things isn't always about attention, nor is it about ignorance or wanting to hate.

Comparing Led Zeppelin to Justin Bieber is really moronic. I could do the same reversing it, by comparing Between the Buried and Me or Cult of Luna to Madonna or Bon Jovi.

 

 

My favorite games all come from 2006 and before (mostly before) because that was when I was younger. Even when I see a new entry to one of my favorite series come out that is very much a fantastic sequel (like Animal Crossing New Leaf), I grow bored of it really fast, and thus my opinion for older Animal Crossing games that I enjoyed longer remains higher.

I've lost most interest in gaming, but I'm still interested in handheld gaming. For one, it's not flooded with generic FPS's. Although, there are console fighting games like Blazblue and SSB that I do have my eye on.

[Splashee 28,599]

On 11/2/2013 at 6:52 AM, Le Kvlt Dawn said:

So what are your thoughts on this whole "nostalgia" phenomenon that's been sweeping the internet? 

 

I hate "nostalgia". The way people use it to describe how they feel about something.

 

But, sadly, old is better than new, most of the time. I have to agree on that.

[TBD 17,272]

It depends on the content  where I’d agreed “old is better than new” but at the same time disagree.  If we’re talking about franchises, I always keep an open mind on the new things and give it a fair judgments. If we’re talking about culture, then I’m more of an traditionalist.

[Pentium100 2,297]

On 11/2/2013 at 7:52 AM, Le Kvlt Dawn said:

What people fail to realize is that the radio has always played garbage, it's been doing it for years and it's nothing new. Meanwhile, the underground has always been a gold mine.

Almost all of the older music I listen to and really like has been played on the radio or TV when it was new and was quite popular. 

2 hours ago, Splashee said:

But, sadly, old is better than new, most of the time. I have to agree on that.

An older device is usually easier to repair than a newer one. Some manufacturers are even trying to make repair as difficult as possible on purpose. No service manuals, special chips that cannot be bought anywhere except pulled from similar devices etc.

Some devices are designed with different priorities now than they were then. A TV is advertised as "cheap", "ultra thin" or "uses less power" instead of "has great picture quality", "will last for a long time because we used quality components". I do not care if my plasma TV is 5cm or 15cm thick. No, 15cm would be better, it would mean the case is stronger and the TV would probably be easier to take apart to repair.

Though I usually can just buy and use the old device instead of a new one. 

[Mirage 24,777]

Vintage audio is where it's at.

[Pentium100 2,297]

5 minutes ago, Mirage said:

Vintage audio is where it's at.

I do not even have that may modern audio devices, well, apart from sound cards in PCs. 

[Here No Longer 5,286]

Any claim like this should always, and I do mean ALWAYS be taken on a case by case basis, and generalizations like this are just stupid, period.

[Moony the Cat 3,707]

I think that every decade has some good things and some terrible things and it has always been this way in my eyes. So im openminded to new things and old new things . ( with that i mean old stuff that i havent seen/played yet, so that they are still new to me. )

But i will still always prefer older traditional animation over flash cartoons. But that doesnt mean that i cant enjoy flash cartoons as well, i just like traditional more. In that case i would always say old was better. Not all older animations of course,but still.