I feel bad for GenX'ers that missed out on the 60s and 70s.

If you think you've missed out then you got stuck in your teens, like most people, and haven't kept pace with the great music that followed.

Remember, the 60's gave you a lot of songs like Yummy, Yummy, Yummy by Ohio Express which reached #4 on the charts. Pop was just as bad then as it is now. And "album rock" is also generally better now. The difference is the choices now are exponential compared to back then. You don't have to wait for a label to pick you up. Anyone with a $300 PC can release a well-produced album. You just have to dig a lot more to find the gems. For instance, I think the best rock guitar album in the last 30 years is Nick Johnston's Remarkably Human, and if I'm not mistaken, it's a self-release. So only other guitar players know about it.

It was the backdrop of what happened during the 60s and 70s that made the music of that era so memorable, along with what were at the time, some technological advances that helped fuel the fire (FM stereo, the lowly cassette), along with live events like Woodstock and the Monterrey Pop Festival. Social upheaval drove much of what made the music probably more relevant than it's been since.....the Kennedy/King/Kennedy assassinations, the Vietnam war, man landing on the moon (take that Elon Musk/Richard Branson!), the Kent State shootings, and Watergate all happened within a ten-year span. Throw in the deaths of some of the major rock-stars (Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Duane Allman and Jim Croce) in the early 70s and the hits just kept on comin'. A big cultural touchstone of the mid-60s that I left out was the Civil Rights Act, maybe the most important single event of that era. Make no mistake - the music played a big role in helping everyone survive that seemingly continuous $hitstorm, and even helped inform our moral responses to the madness. This is why the music from that period remains in the forefront of the memories of those who endured that particularly horrendous time-frame.

@jssmith - have to agree that pop music of every decade has/does suck. Pablum doesn't get better over time. I was born in '56 and was in high school before we even had an FM station - and the Rexall Rangers fire bombed it for playing that 'devil music'.  So...there was that as well. I happen to think much of the best music did come from that era, and by the 70's we started having some great concerts and venues locally. Saw Tull doing Benefit and later Aqualung, shows of a lifetime there (although we saw Ian Anderson probably 10 years ago with an incredible young violinist - Lucia Miccarrelli - doing a version of Kashmir that was to die for as well!). Also saw Led Zeppelin doing the second album, only to watch Bonham pass out halfway through the drum solo on Moby Dick...just the 3rd song, Clapton and Muddy Waters together, sound system so bad it was unlistenable.  So it was definitely a mixed bag back then. I listen to the music still, and a great deal in between, and in the last several years I have also become a huge fan of symphonic metal ala Nightwish (we have tickets to their LA show in May '22), Within Temptation, Epica, Evanescence, Theater of Tragedy, Sirenia, Delain, etc. Still a lot of great music being made today.  If, however, all I had to listen to were broadcast stations, and their Pop drivel, I wouldn't bother.  Now, if I can talk the wife into Wacken in the next couple of years...

@tostadosunidos,

There's a ton of 'new' lions out here in music. You just have to be open to hear them. For example, Erykah Badu, who's voice is hauntingly familiar to Lady Day's, Billie Holiday. Ericka can sing her face off. 

Esperanza Spalding. A massive young talent who can record in any genre of music.

D'Angelo, who single handedly brought back music soul back to music with him reintroducing us to the Fender Rhodes and the band actually playing and singing.

I feel bad for baby boomers missing out on their youth in the 80s. The generation that completely changed the music. Often referred to as Rocks First Wave.  The only thing that was good from the 70s was the birth of punk rock. Disco sucked, and the Beatles were horrendous. Rock was ok.
80s saw the birth of a new sound, New Wave, HairBands, Metal, Pop, post punk, Country music superstars,  raves, Acid House music, electronica, EDM, Rap becoming main stream by the end of the decade to name a few. Arena Rock was takin to the next level with better technology , stages, lighting, and special effects bringing the band closer to the audience than ever before.  Having freedom of music to listen on your own terms with Creating mix tapes then moving to CDs and it’s increased dynamics and bit rate and increased audio quality.  Newer and better technology for speakers, amps and CDs and cassette players. The 808 Synthesizer Was at the heart of this new sound and could be heard in any genre.  The birth of MTV that took music to the next level and completely redefined pop culture . 1982, 1983 the most influential years in music and for this new decades wave of music.  Then the clubs.  Bass that made your hair stand up on your neck, the eclectic style and nature that spawned more top artists than any decade combined. Period.

The 60s and 70s……..well you can have it with your 8 tracks, horrible fuzzy audio, shitty sound equipment, disco, and racist culture. I thank God I didn’t experience that time period.  It’s 2021 and the basic sound of music still closely resembles all from the 80d. So profound that we are still waiting for Rocks second wave to come along.