@ghdprentice 

Earlier, maybe.

Later, I doubt it.

A creative peak is just that. A peak. There was a build up to it and a fairly sharp decline after it. Since then, there have been fabulous records and fabulous performances, but the overall quality, diversity, musicianship and creative juice from 1969 to 1972 was unique.

@gowanus 

Fifty years from now they will still be listening to music from the 60's and 70's. Just like they will still be listening to 50's and 60's jazz.

This is because what lasts is music that contains innovation, creativity, musicianship, dynamics and emotional impact.Properties that are in scarce supply these days. Much easier to copy someone else's hits or stick with a formulaic genre like hip hop or rap.  

@vair68robert 

@stuartk is 99.7% correct that the music between 1967 and 1977 was magical, but the point of my comment was the picking of 1971 as its apex.

Of course I knew that there would be pushback because there is a tendency for people to become emotionally attached to music that they are exposed to when they are in their early teens. The flavour of the day, so to speak. There is also an element of people that just want to disagree with any statement they hear, without spending the time and energy to actually think it through.

@fred60 

Actually, I did include....

Imagine by John Lennon

Ram by Paul McCartney

The Yes Album

Madman Across the Water by Elton John

@jkf011 

"Saying it was "the best" means you only like that music and you are making the point that the year of any work of art you love was the high point of art. "

No. It certainly does not mean that.

What it does mean is that I have a long a varied experience of all types of music and I have the breadth of knowledge to make that statement.

I saw Tool for the third time a few weeks ago and just booked a trip to see Turandot at the Met in NYC next April. I listen to almost every type of music from almost any decade (except hip hop and rap of course).

Maybe I can explain this in a way you will understand.

Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. But that doesn't mean that there aren't other tall mountains. It just means that Everest is the tallest.

@jkf011 

Sorry, but it isn't my fault that you can't understand such a simple question.

"Every year is  better than the last."

Sure. Whatever you say.

@whart 

Actually, one of the bands that I consider very underrated was also on UK Island.

The Sutherland Bros. & Quiver had several good albums with the best being "Lifeboat" which featured one of the most underrated guitarists in Tim Renwick.

Renwick also appears on albums by Al Stewart, Pink Floyd, David Bowie, Elton John, Alan Parsons and  The Pretenders.

@stuartk 

@mahler123 

@markmoskow 

@moonwatcher 

Seems that there are a lot of similarities in how our individual musical journeys have affected our current tastes.

We were lucky to have been there in the beginning in the late 60's and early 70's, but maybe unlucky in that we developed very high standards in what constituted good music. It also gave us a broad spectrum of musical genres to enjoy when you consider popular music included bands like the Allman Bros., ELO, The Eagles, Steely Dan, Bowie, Black Sabbath and Joni Mitchell.

Then things changed.

1. Mid 70's. Still vibrant and varied music being made, but less of everything.
2. Late 70's. Disco happens and popular music becomes more formulaic and emotionally shallow. Also, as a reaction to the disco world, punk music begins.
3. Early 80's. New Wave and Punk take over and music starts to die. Musicianship all but disappears and image is everything. Style over substance.
4. Late 80's and early 90's. New Wave declines and hip hop/rap surges into the void. Both genres devalue musicianship and music follows a stagnant formula that still exists three decades later.
5. Late 90's to today. Shallow, bland, formulaic, pop music that places 90% on image and 10% on substance.

Please keep in mind that these are gross generalizations, only meant to illustrate how I see musical history. There is still a lot of current music that remains vital and innovative, but musicianship is still in short supply.

The result of this is that my current musical taste includes a large amount of vintage jazz, as well as a love for opera. Both genres feed my need for instrumental and vocal sophistication and both require you to use your brain.

The added benefit is that jazz and classical records just sound better and allow good equipment to shine.

@whart 

It was September 10, 1973 and Elton was in Vancouver with The Sutherland Brothers as the opening act.

I was pumped and probably reasonably high, only to have 3/4 of the Sutherland Brothers band held at the US border for some reason I can't remember. The two brothers came out and did a few songs "unplugged", but it wasn't the same.

Very disappointing. That is until Elton and his band hit the stage and absolutely killed it for 2+ hours.

@curiousjim 

"1971, the year the music died? I don’t agree,"?

Did you even read the question?

I said nothing about music dying after 1971. All I said is that 1971 was a great year for music.

@curiousjim 

"And I understood it to mean you’re saying there will never be a year where music was good as in 1971. Am I missing something?"

Yes you are.

I said that, up to now, "in my opinion", 1971 had the highest number of great albums.

I never said there would never be a better year ever.