I think Clueless is onto something with his hormonal imbalance comment. Music just seems more important when you're a teen/young adult. I think that whatever music you're exposed to during these formative years becomes imprinted on the brain. My age is such that the pre-1977 music is what has been imprinted, but that just means I like the music more, not that it's in any way actually better than post-1977 rock.
It's my observation that over the years rock music has alternated between periods of simple and complex music. The earliest rock was heavily R&B based with tinges of jazz (Johnny Otis, Ike Turner, etc.). It was relatively complex music to play. Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and others (doo-wop vocal groups) simplified this music to the point where, quite literally, any reasonably talented kid could pick up a guitar and play their songs. But within a few years the music become complex again. The early sixties witnessed Phil Specter's wall of sound. Lavish arrangements with full horn and string sections performed by top level studio musicians. The British invasion represented a return to a relatively simple musical form. A few years later rock becomes complex again with art rock groups (Yes, King Crimson) and disco. YES, disco is complex. If you doubt me, listen to Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park", or better yet get a guitar or bass and try to play anything by Chic. Three chord music it ain't. Punk & rap are obvious returns to simplistic music. You still needed talent to produce music, but punk & rap allowed relatively unskilled musicians to make music. By the mid to late 80s the music was still somewhat simplistic, but the skill level required to make it was quite high with the guitar pyrotechnics of Van Halen, Anthrax, Metallica and Steve Vai dominating. The grunge sound brought the musicianship back to a more humanly manageable level. The boy/girl bands and urban R&B sounds that followed are examples of complex music. It may sound simple, but it's a heavily produced music that requires a substantial level of musical skill to play.
At its core rock has been a very democratic music. The people producing the music are not that different than the people listening. Whenever it appears that the two groups greatly diverge, then the music returns to a simpler, more easily played/produced form. I think this is how rock is able to periodically reinvent itself. I can't imagine that any of rock's early pioneers could have envisioned the music lasting for fifty years.
It's my observation that over the years rock music has alternated between periods of simple and complex music. The earliest rock was heavily R&B based with tinges of jazz (Johnny Otis, Ike Turner, etc.). It was relatively complex music to play. Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and others (doo-wop vocal groups) simplified this music to the point where, quite literally, any reasonably talented kid could pick up a guitar and play their songs. But within a few years the music become complex again. The early sixties witnessed Phil Specter's wall of sound. Lavish arrangements with full horn and string sections performed by top level studio musicians. The British invasion represented a return to a relatively simple musical form. A few years later rock becomes complex again with art rock groups (Yes, King Crimson) and disco. YES, disco is complex. If you doubt me, listen to Donna Summer's "MacArthur Park", or better yet get a guitar or bass and try to play anything by Chic. Three chord music it ain't. Punk & rap are obvious returns to simplistic music. You still needed talent to produce music, but punk & rap allowed relatively unskilled musicians to make music. By the mid to late 80s the music was still somewhat simplistic, but the skill level required to make it was quite high with the guitar pyrotechnics of Van Halen, Anthrax, Metallica and Steve Vai dominating. The grunge sound brought the musicianship back to a more humanly manageable level. The boy/girl bands and urban R&B sounds that followed are examples of complex music. It may sound simple, but it's a heavily produced music that requires a substantial level of musical skill to play.
At its core rock has been a very democratic music. The people producing the music are not that different than the people listening. Whenever it appears that the two groups greatly diverge, then the music returns to a simpler, more easily played/produced form. I think this is how rock is able to periodically reinvent itself. I can't imagine that any of rock's early pioneers could have envisioned the music lasting for fifty years.