Interesting thoughts, although I was surprised by the inclusion of the Velvet Underground, it's not their fault others' imitation, but isn't it a bit early for a Christmas pullover?

In terms of hit making Max Martin is the most successful writer in the history of pop music. Sadly, that Swedish hit making factory and their cold, calculated approach to manufacturing hits should take more of the blame for the sorry state of today's pop music than anyone else in the music industry. Horribly contrived, Muzak by committee churning our hits like a car factory churns out cars.😟

Your videos are far too long with too much waffle. I think you need to edit them and cut them down by at least 50%. I just end up skipping through most of it.

At last! Someone else who thinks The Fall and Mark E Smith is crap.

I hate rap. Always have, always will. Beginning of the end for me was rap becoming huge at the start of the 90s. Rap is so shitty a genre it took not long before it had to be built around pop hooks of the past in order to keep being relevant...

You don't like Ramones, then how about Television?

Hello Andy, Here is the first thing I would do for a charity "allowing" me into their world/space...I would clean up all the pebbles/rocks/debris lining the front of their building. And I would do it all by myself, not with someone else. And the relationship with the charity will be much better for it.

Exactly, the destruction of the album is the main attack and cause of destruction of all this. This is why I criticize the interface of streaming apps

Trio of Doom: Spectacularly Mediocre. I met one of the sound engineers on the gig and he told me how messed up everything was sonically. John McLaughlin's version of what happened lays it all out. Not long after, Lifetime were playing a gig in LA at the Roxy. Jaco was there and asked Tony if he could sit in. Tony, still pissed off about the ToD debacle, said NO!

turned off as soon as first "tune" came on. rap became crap

I would (probably) put Elvis Presley first chronologically on a list like this. He was arguably the first "modern popstar" in the sense that people became just as/more interested in the person's life/personality than their musical output. Record execs have been exploiting that ever since.

The 90’s were a huge fabric of bands

Hm.. I don't know, I mean I kinda see your point about the long-term effect the success of some of those people had (and I'm glad you're making clear that they themselves aren't really to blame), but, you know, Nirvana, Kraftwerk and The Velvet Underground happen to be among the absolute greatest as far as I'm concerned and seeing them share this list with Ed Sheeran and Britney Spears, that's... I mean one could argue they actually saved music (especially Nirvana), at least for a time and there is such a thing as a sort of back and forth, things now being similar to how they were in the 80s again (albeit even worse). Anyway, whenever I see someone complain about today's music, I can't help the (hopefully understandable) urge to bring to their attention the fact that I'm a singer-songwriter who's been putting out songs and compositions on KZbin for more than 10 years now (one actually being called "Taylor Swift", though it's probably way more "abstract" and less obvious than one might expect in the lyrics) always trying to get better and to be as versatile as possible and constantly trying things I hadn't done before, so maybe someone would like to check some of those out (the latest ones right now are actually attempts at 90s techno, I guess I should "warn"; well, that's still gold compared to todays's music and that's, among other things, what I'm trying to say with that as a provocation, especially with "OK Boomerang")...

Duff said it well... Why are you guys coming to see dinosaurs like us? Where are your generation's iconic bands?

Well as a 72 yr old growing up in the UK through that time , I tended to ignore the American way of presenting themselves , knowing their penchant for showbiz glam ,, I just listened to the music , and decided by that if I liked it or not... but I disagree about the Velvet Underground , their early stuff was..unique ,leave Warhol out of it ..I never ever liked AC DC though , never thought they did anything original ...Kraftwerk were the last people to re-shape the course of popular music ..everything from then on is just remixing ideas that existed already , and using the increasingly advancing technology to create "new " sounds ..I am a huge fan of Cpn Beefheart and the Magic band , they took blues into the future and created a unique style , the lyrics that were a joy to listen to for the rich descriptive stories ..who writes interesting lyrics these days ? ps careful what you say about" gingers " mate ! generalisation is dangerous

Spot on, Andy!

the blind leading the blind - has any one checked out ticket sales for bands lately - Iron Maiden Metallica the Stones Blondie Deep Purple the Warning all seem to be doing ok - who cares whats in the charts

I blame the whole "back to pop standards commercial pop" to Stranger Things and namely the resurgence of Kate Bush on the basis of that one song blowing up due to that series. So now kids want to hear their favourite pop stars doing cutsey and vapid renditions of 80's pop songs and the producers and record labels oblige. I don't think it's a real shift but merely a trend that will pass as soon as it started.

I hate Canine Waste (sorry Kanye West). He is self proclaimed as a genius, but he has made no unique contribution to Hip Hop. Everything he has produced and been derivative, and uninspiring, yet he struts around like he is some kind of messiah. The originators of the genre like DJ Cool Herc, Kurtis Blow, Grandmaster Flash and Grandmaster Melle Mel have something to shout about, but like true artists they don't. West has brought nothing to the table, and have proved the adage, those who have nothing to say, shout the loudest.

Max Bygraves of Rock hahaha😂

Most of these selections are absurd. Most of them were very good or interesting bands, or harmless pop singers. The only selection I agree with is Sheeran, who is truly awful. I don't know enough about Kanye West to comment.

Great video Andy! Bravo! more!

When I started to really absorb music around 13 years old, I started out as a Heavy Metal & a Hard Rock kid with bands like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Thin Lizzy. Then I moved towards more obscure bands like Steely Dan, Yes, Focus, Frank Zappa & The Mothers. Then when I was 17 years old I discover a genre called Jazz Fusion which completely changed my life and the bands from that genre that really helped define my taste. But the band that blew me away when I heard that first note from them was Return To Forever. You knew it might have been coming because of my profile picture but they are my favourite band of all time. I have only allowed myself to have one favourite RTF album, I could have easily just filled it up with all of their albums. The Romantic Warrior is my all time favourite album & if I could only have one album on a desert island it would be that one. I took a good long think about this question & I love the whole discography. I like the first couple Latin albums with Flora Purim. I adore the rawness & the variety of the early heavy Fusion albums. Their last studio album Musicmagic not so much but the live albums that they recorded just before they disbanded in 1978 are great. I also really like the Bill Connors era with RTF in 1973, I adore all the albums with Al Di Meola. Where Have I Known You Before is fantastic, No Mystery just a little bit lower in my ranking but side two of that album is beautiful. Of course Romantic Warrior is their masterpiece. Also all of their bootleg live recordings in 1976 are just amazing, I would have loved if they made an official live album during the Romantic Warrior tour, & even their reunion album Returns from 2008 is still really enjoyable. Overall when I looked at this entire catalog, not a very long one but with a lot of variety and live albums and recordings out there with all the jams and solos the musicians in the band created, I love the mellow music they do and the heavy music they do. I adore to death everything about it, I love Al’s phrasing & the dangerous nature of his shredding. Chick Corea is such an awesome composer and can really tell a story through a composition. Lenny White’s incredible monster drumming is so powerful, fiery & explosive, with Stanley being such a tight and direct bass player. Those two work really well as a rhythm section. I love Coreas Keyboard playing and like the whole fantasy/medieval world he makes with the tunes. Return To Forever never ceases to blow me away. The main reason I think they’re in here is because I have no problem with any of their albums and pretty much all of those records, I would listen to one on any given day and think yeah that’s got to be in my top list of favourite albums of all time.

"There's always something incompetent about me and it gets on my nerves." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣I'm with ya, Andy! 100%

As a hifi nut I am upset about your ' stereo ' tease - please list your hifi components, or maybe better still, do a hand held long lingering shot of each component: a droolers paradise. But seriously, why no Oasis? All that fake confrontation and sibling handbags - it's a puke-fest. Love your perceptivity and broad worldview. Keep it up

It is really weird that you don't get the genetic connection between Buddy Holly and The Ramones

I disagree with you about the VU. I get what you say about the pretentiousness, and yeah there was a bit of that, but that is far outweighed by the influence they have had on music. I think you have said in the past that when you were at school, you came to a fork in your musical journey and went in a certain direction. I think I have had the same kind of journey, but the opposite one. Most of my mates at school were either into rock (kiss, Iron Maiden, Queen, or bands like Genesis or Dire Straights...) or just pop. and I was getting a bit bored by the whole thing...then came the Cure, Joy Division, the Smiths, etc...and that was such a liberation to me, and it sent me on my musical journey, from Nick Cave, to the Pixies, Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Portishead and the likes...it also sent me retroactively, to the Clash, the Pistols and the whole punk scene, Bowie and ultimately the Velvet Underground . And I am just your average Joe, I don`t particularly care what some stuck up critique might write, it is just my taste (as well as many other artists and genres besides). Which leads me to my choice of artist who ruined music (i prefer to think of it as `sent me in that direction`): Van Halen...to me they represent the birth of popular Hair Metal, which I despise: I could never identify with latex cladded men, posturing while on an egocentric 10 minute long guitar solo. It just wasn`t for me. And yes, I could have chosen Kiss (the Monkees of Hair metal) or Queen, but Van Halen to me is the embodiment of that. What it boils down to is this: It is all about personal taste: like what like, have an open mind (which is why I follow this channel, because my musical taste varies greatly from yours) and enjoy the ride.

Sheeran is crap, ha ha 😊

There’s loads of great music out there right now. Music has not been “ruined.” Instead of complaining about lame pop, why not focus on the good music being produced? This kind of video is too reactionary.

If you think the Ramones took attention away from prog rock, you have far too much faith in humanity. The majority of people don't want to listen to ten plus minute songs full of musical and lyrical eccentricities and technicalities. Your average music fan has the attention span of about three minutes and that's when it's tuned into one dimensional music.

Fantastic breakdown of our sorry state in music. In a way, I noticed all of these while they were happening.

A few years back on allmusic, I left a 3-star review of a Velvet Underground album that had an overall 5-star rating from both fans and the site. To me the sound quality is horrible and only a few of the songs are engaging. I went back about a year later to check my review and make sure I still agreed with myself. THE REVIEW WAS GONE. So, that's one way the music industry protects its icons: no criticism allowed.

There's a couple of things you don't discuss here: Who composed the best, most beautiful and self-sufficient pieces for solo guitar ( without anything else ) Who played in more styles and on different kind of guitars, being less gear-dependant

Where’s Marillion? 😆

Lots of very relevant points, Andy. And well articulated. Thank you for being courageous enough to express your thoughts. Herbie Hancock's linear notes on Jaco Pastorius' first album came to my mind listening to you : "... Of course, it's not the technique that makes the music; it's the sensitivity of the musician and his ability to be able to fuse his life with the rhythm of the times. This is the essence of music. ..." I've been saying for years now that mainstream music has, for the most part, lost its idealogical dimension. Music as a carrier for ideas has been one of the reasons I've felt so attracted to it, so I sometimes feel a bit lost in today's musical landscape. Hopefully, we've got artists like Louis Cole, Mono Neon, Jacob Collier, Cory Wong, The Fearless Flyers, etc. who seem to be doing their thing. At least their music sounds "right", aligned with who they are (to me, at least).

Great idea for a list. For me it's Hendrix, he's amazing but a terrible influence, spawned a million awful wanky guitarists.

Really interesting stuff this Andy and you make many interesting points. Not sure about one or two inclusions but this is a helluva good argument. One of your best videos I think.

Oi leave the Monkeys alone

I would just say values overall. Music is more about style over substance from miming to autotune to having to do something outrageous to keep your name in the spotlight....i just saw maiden live this week. In their 60s and putting on an amazing show. No comparison

Feels about right. Though The Monkees are way better than AC/DC in terms of creating music.

Lester Bangs the second!

Let me stop you right there and correct the record: For every Pixies, there's a Nirvana, not "for every Nirvana there's a Bush". Nirvana was the corporate response to glam metal. It wasn't organic.

I think there are far larger forces at work "ruining music" than this. They rise of the internet, pro tools, beat detector, auto-tune, etc had a *much* bigger impact than say, Brittney Spears. Like, compare the Sun to a grain of salt.

there's a vid on youtube john lydon mocking on one of the later members of the ramones. to the latter *irony is a dead scene* [dillinger escape plan], taking himself too serious in my humble opinion. perhaps ramone is too dumb to understand british humour ?! 😅

I always couldn't get why the Ramones are even considered to be a punk band, let alone the face of punk which of course are the Sex Pistols. Ramones are clearly a boy band.

So, 8 out of the 10 are bands/artists from the USA. So we can conclude that the US "ruined music". Fair enough, the US has ruined pretty much everything else in the world.

By and large I have to agree with you. Got me thinking. Well done.

As a 20-year-old I I think Good Luck, Babe & Espresso are pretty good pop songs, I guess as they're less same-old to me and on the higher end of the charting crop of the last few years. There is good music coming out that doesn't reach the mainstream. I like FKA twigs' bjorkish single 'Eusexua' that came out this week, other artists like Mk.Gee, Magdalena Bay, Weyes Blood, Bladee.

Okay, so the Top 5 are the Mahavishnu Orchestra albums between 1971 and 1976. Can't wait to find out what numbers 6 to 20 are.

Good talk Andy, Kylie Minogue should have got a special mention.