I'll start from Rock n Roll era.You old farts can go back further.

1. 1980s-Not even close

2. 1970s

3. 1960s

4. 1990s

5. 1950s

6. 2000s

7. 2010s- Still early but

The only decade I have no hesitation deciding about is number 1, 1980s. However, I will give it ago, it may change from time to time

1. 80s

2. 70s

3. 90s

4. 2000s (up to 2004! after that was truly terrible. I specifically remember that as being the time music REALLY went downhill)

5. 60s

6. 50s

7. 2010s

1. 70s...it really is top in terms of music, a lot of innovation (I think, if we're talking about the pioneers in the music itself, then 70s simply has no equal) and a host of brilliant songs

2. 80s...vertex for pop music, and the peak for some of my favorite artists

3. 90s...turning point for rock music, and a new vector for it, the active development of pop, electronic and hip-hop.
4. 60s...although this decade has given us the greatest act ever, but other than the Beatles, I can not think of anyone who really love.

5. 00s...I can not say that everything was bad, there are great musical artists in each decade, there was some good periods too, eg 2001-2005, but overall the decade was much weaker than the previous ones.

1970s- Best era in music hands down

2. 1960s- close second

3. 1980s

4.1950s

5.1990s

6. 2000's- the worse decade of music by far

1980s easy for me-Only decade of non R&B music I like alot and R&B music was great too.

1430's

1. 60's - had the most diversity, you had rock acts, Motown, Stax, jazz fusion, psychedelic rock, and much more. Just the best overall decade for all non-classical music in my opinion. I used to hate pre-British Invasion (basically pre-Beatles) 60's music but now I'm all for it, The Four Seasons, the girl groups, and Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound. The Beatles alone make this one of the greatest decades IMO, however with artists like The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Motown, Stax and so much more it easily becomes the greatest decade of popular music.

2. 70's - also had a lot of diversity, there was progressive rock, punk rock, heavy metal, developments in electronic music, disco, funk, and much more. It was the natural evolution of what happened in the 60's, I like this decade almost as much as the 60's. I love David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Bob Marley, The Bee Gees, Pink Floyd, Iggy Pop, Serge Gainsbourg, too many artists I love are from this decade, I don't really see anything wrong with it, I just prefer the 60's.

3. 80's - had a rough start in some ways. But by 1982 Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Culture Club, George Michael/Wham! and many pop acts were starting their dominance. I do like some albums from 1980-81 however for me it really got good in 82. I also think that by 1989 the music was not as good, I mean after the wonderful year of 1987 (Bad, Sign o' the Times, Faith, Introducing The Hardline, etc.) 1988 and 1989 were a bit disappointment especially 89 (besides Rhythm Nation). One thing I liked most about the 80's is the mix of synths with organic sounds in a lot of the pop music was brilliant. Some of it was awful but I tend to love it. I think that the Rock genre in this decade is weaker than the past decades (probably because there tended to be a lot of mixing of genres in this decade) but still good. Hip-Hop was at it's best in this decade IMO. Overall great decade! Also, I think it's the last good decade for Pop music.

4. 50's - i think the 50's are really underrated here on the org. The start of Rock 'n' Roll alone makes it one of the most interesting decades. Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Eddie Cochran, and many more rockers made some of the best popular music ever during this time. It was just a fun genre. I personally prefer that kind of Rock. But not only that this decade is interesting because the recording technology got much better as well. It was the end of the Jazz/Broadway type pop songs and the beginning of Rock 'n' Roll. However many of those old types of artists made good records this decade too, for example I think Frank Sinatra got better this decade with his concept albums and his voice got better too. There was a lot of great music in the 50's, maybe not as diverse as later decades but still strong in the traditional pop, rock 'n' roll, and jazz genres.

5. 90's - i don't know what to think about the 90's. sometimes i love it but a lot of the times i hate it. There was Grunge which I do not care for too much but Nirvana and Soundgarden were good (though not my type of music), and this was another great decade for Hip-Hop (at least in the beginning of it). I like a lot of music from the 90's, especially electronic music. I think it was a good decade for Alternative genres too, I like Alternative Rock and Alternative Hip-Hop from this decade. But a lot of the mainstream music just sucked, especially in the latter half of the decade. For me it's a decent (first half good, second half bad) decade for mainstream music and it's good if you really went out there and got the alternative music, the hip-hop, the electronic music and all that. I'm also quite fond of the Pop music developing in other countries at the end of this decade. To me this decade is when music kind of stopped evolving the way it did in past decades.

6. 2000's - i love a lot of the music at the beginning of this decade. I love OutKast, I love The White Stripes, Beck, Norah Jones, early Alicia Keyes, even some Usher, and the works of some of my favorite artists from the 90's in this decade. I also liked a lot of foreign pop music of the early 2000's. However like around the second half of the decade, I started seeing just about all Pop music get worse and worse. Even though I dislike American Pop music in the late 90's and early 2000's I didn't hate it as much as the pop music we had from like 2005-2009. In the latter half I did love Amy Winehouse and a few other artists. I've heard a lot of good things about the independent music of the time, I guess I haven't listened to music in this decade enough. For now I think that the highs are really high but the lows really low so it's a little worse than the 90's for me.

I can't speak much about 2010's because they aren't over, but I think it's be an improvement in the mainstream Pop music of 2005-2009. I also can't speak much about pre-1950s music because although I have some, I haven't listened enough. I love all music by George Gershwin, and I like a lot of the classic pop/jazz of the 20s-40s but I'm not much of an expert. I also like Bessie Smith and Robert Johnson who did some great Blues but again, I'm not much of an expert.

[Edited 12/27/12 11:28am]

[Edited 12/27/12 11:29am]

iaminparties said:

I'll start from Rock n Roll era.You old farts can go back further.

1. 1980s-Not even close

2. 1970s

3. 1960s

4. 1990s

5. 1950s

6. 2000s

7. 2010s- Still early but

Pretty much like that.

The 1950s had some nice jazz and "modern classical" stuff, but I don't really care about the pop / rock'n'roll / r&b stuff of that time.

The 2000s was a great decade for underground music, but the mainstream stuff was pants (meaning just about anything played on the radio and on the music video channels).

MiniJamesW said:

1. 60's - had the most diversity, you had rock acts, Motown, Stax, jazz fusion, psychedelic rock, and much more. Just the best overall decade for all non-classical music in my opinion. I used to hate pre-British Invasion (basically pre-Beatles) 60's music but now I'm all for it, The Four Seasons, the girl groups, and Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound. The Beatles alone make this one of the greatest decades IMO, however with artists like The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Motown, Stax and so much more it easily becomes the greatest decade of popular music.

Very well stated.

(Not just the 60s section, put the complete post.)

Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

My favorite decade is a 10 year span of two decades combined. 1974-1984.

At the beginning of each decade since the rock and roll era on up until the 1990s, each decade bled off the previous decade for a few years into the new decade until something comes along and changes the sound completely altogether. The early 1970s were still bleeding a little off of the late 1960s sound and then disco came along and made a drastic change in sound. The early 1980s came in and still bled off the late 1970s sound for a few years until a drastic adult contemporary change in the late 1980s. As for the 1990s, well once shit hop got in real good toward the middle of that decade, the 2000s arrived and still no change. The 2010s arrived and still no change.

1. 90's (Grew up in this decade so it'll always have that special place for me)

2. 80's

3. 70's

4. 2000's

5. 60's (Don't really like most early to mid 60's stuff)

The only music I liked now is pop dance/techno/electronic

i tried rap/R&B/indie/rock/metal-I give up

Im not going underground with a bulldozer to look for it.

vainandy said:

My favorite decade is a 10 year span of two decades combined. 1974-1984.

At the beginning of each decade since the rock and roll era on up until the 1990s, each decade bled off the previous decade for a few years into the new decade until something comes along and changes the sound completely altogether. The early 1970s were still bleeding a little off of the late 1960s sound and then disco came along and made a drastic change in sound. The early 1980s came in and still bled off the late 1970s sound for a few years until a drastic adult contemporary change in the late 1980s. As for the 1990s, well once shit hop got in real good toward the middle of that decade, the 2000s arrived and still no change. The 2010s arrived and still no change.

1977-1986 for me.

1978-1988 for me.

Aww those were the days.

Personally, I'd rank the past five decades like this..

1. 1970s
2. 1990s
3. 2000s
4. 1980s
5. 1960s

theAudience said:

Very well stated.

(Not just the 60s section, put the complete post.)

Music for adventurous listeners

tA

Tribal Records

Thanks!

MiniJamesW said:

1. 60's - had the most diversity, you had rock acts, Motown, Stax, jazz fusion, psychedelic rock, and much more. Just the best overall decade for all non-classical music in my opinion. I used to hate pre-British Invasion (basically pre-Beatles) 60's music but now I'm all for it, The Four Seasons, the girl groups, and Phil Spector's Wall Of Sound. The Beatles alone make this one of the greatest decades IMO, however with artists like The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis, Motown, Stax and so much more it easily becomes the greatest decade of popular music.

2. 70's - also had a lot of diversity, there was progressive rock, punk rock, heavy metal, developments in electronic music, disco, funk, and much more. It was the natural evolution of what happened in the 60's, I like this decade almost as much as the 60's. I love David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Bob Marley, The Bee Gees, Pink Floyd, Iggy Pop, Serge Gainsbourg, too many artists I love are from this decade, I don't really see anything wrong with it, I just prefer the 60's.

3. 80's - had a rough start in some ways. But by 1982 Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Culture Club, George Michael/Wham! and many pop acts were starting their dominance. I do like some albums from 1980-81 however for me it really got good in 82. I also think that by 1989 the music was not as good, I mean after the wonderful year of 1987 (Bad, Sign o' the Times, Faith, Introducing The Hardline, etc.) 1988 and 1989 were a bit disappointment especially 89 (besides Rhythm Nation). One thing I liked most about the 80's is the mix of synths with organic sounds in a lot of the pop music was brilliant. Some of it was awful but I tend to love it. I think that the Rock genre in this decade is weaker than the past decades (probably because there tended to be a lot of mixing of genres in this decade) but still good. Hip-Hop was at it's best in this decade IMO. Overall great decade! Also, I think it's the last good decade for Pop music.

4. 50's - i think the 50's are really underrated here on the org. The start of Rock 'n' Roll alone makes it one of the most interesting decades. Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Eddie Cochran, and many more rockers made some of the best popular music ever during this time. It was just a fun genre. I personally prefer that kind of Rock. But not only that this decade is interesting because the recording technology got much better as well. It was the end of the Jazz/Broadway type pop songs and the beginning of Rock 'n' Roll. However many of those old types of artists made good records this decade too, for example I think Frank Sinatra got better this decade with his concept albums and his voice got better too. There was a lot of great music in the 50's, maybe not as diverse as later decades but still strong in the traditional pop, rock 'n' roll, and jazz genres.

5. 90's - i don't know what to think about the 90's. sometimes i love it but a lot of the times i hate it. There was Grunge which I do not care for too much but Nirvana and Soundgarden were good (though not my type of music), and this was another great decade for Hip-Hop (at least in the beginning of it). I like a lot of music from the 90's, especially electronic music. I think it was a good decade for Alternative genres too, I like Alternative Rock and Alternative Hip-Hop from this decade. But a lot of the mainstream music just sucked, especially in the latter half of the decade. For me it's a decent (first half good, second half bad) decade for mainstream music and it's good if you really went out there and got the alternative music, the hip-hop, the electronic music and all that. I'm also quite fond of the Pop music developing in other countries at the end of this decade. To me this decade is when music kind of stopped evolving the way it did in past decades.

6. 2000's - i love a lot of the music at the beginning of this decade. I love OutKast, I love The White Stripes, Beck, Norah Jones, early Alicia Keyes, even some Usher, and the works of some of my favorite artists from the 90's in this decade. I also liked a lot of foreign pop music of the early 2000's. However like around the second half of the decade, I started seeing just about all Pop music get worse and worse. Even though I dislike American Pop music in the late 90's and early 2000's I didn't hate it as much as the pop music we had from like 2005-2009. In the latter half I did love Amy Winehouse and a few other artists. I've heard a lot of good things about the independent music of the time, I guess I haven't listened to music in this decade enough. For now I think that the highs are really high but the lows really low so it's a little worse than the 90's for me.

I can't speak much about 2010's because they aren't over, but I think it's be an improvement in the mainstream Pop music of 2005-2009. I also can't speak much about pre-1950s music because although I have some, I haven't listened enough. I love all music by George Gershwin, and I like a lot of the classic pop/jazz of the 20s-40s but I'm not much of an expert. I also like Bessie Smith and Robert Johnson who did some great Blues but again, I'm not much of an expert.

[Edited 12/27/12 11:28am]

[Edited 12/27/12 11:29am]

Nice breakdown

iaminparties said:

Nice breakdown

Thanks!

I like different aspects of every decade. I don't have one favourite.

I ain't got no favorite decade...

The 70s is my favorite decade for music That was the golden era for funk,soul,disco and rock.I'm obsessed with that decade and I feel blessed to have been a part of that era.

^ I agree. I wasn't there but just looking back on that era in general, hands down.

mjscarousal said:

1970s- Best era in music hands down

SoulAlive said:

The 70s is my favorite decade for music That was the golden era for funk,soul,disco and rock.I'm obsessed with that decade and I feel blessed to have been a part of that era.

Blessed indeed!

'60s

'70s

'50s

'80s

'90s

'50s is third for the simple fact that I have only listened to a handful of artists (charles mingus, frank sinatra, Elvis, LR...) whilst 80s is hit and miss

[Edited 1/1/13 5:02am]

54-59

62-76

77-87

91-96

00-04

CrabalockerFishwife said:

Personally, I'd rank the past five decades like this..

1. 1970s
2. 1990s
3. 2000s
4. 1980s
5. 1960s

My list would be similar...

1. 1980s

2. 1990s

3. 2000s

4. 1970s

5. 1960s

currently have be obsessively playing music from the 60s and 70s, but the top 3 decades hold the music I love the most.

1.1980's-punk, post punk, goth, deathrock, synthpop, dreampop.

2.1990's-old school visual kei, shoegaze,

3.1970's-funk, glam rock, punk

70s

60s

early/mid 80s

Very fond of the early 90's!