Why does most new music suck?

Goose,
Your comment "As an example I was listening to the new Pink CD and the cymbals just about sawed off my ears with a compressed, distorted sound. The engineer and producer should be fired" reminds me of why I took a break from audio.

I use to own a system that was very detail and when the recording was good it was awesome. Well with this system I could only listen to about 5% of my entire collection. Now why in the world would I want to only listen to 5% of my collection? I took a break and built a new systems that just sounded good. I now enjoy my entire collection. Sure some recordings sound better than others but I find much more enjoyment listening than every before.

I find it laughable that sound quality is a mitigating factor in a decision to listen to otherwise substandard compositions of what music should actually be defined by. This is clearly not about the music but all about the expenditure. The joke's on you guys:)

There is a basic formula for excellent music....good songwriting + talent + engineering / production. If you miss any one of the elements, the music suffers.

I guess everyone defines what makes excellent music. Mine is different than yours Goose and that is OK.

For me if I like an artist I try to get all of their recordings and listen to them all. I have recordings from artist that span decades and you can imagine the quality of the recordings are vastly different. But I love them all and I listen to them all.

Do people only listen to recordings they feel are "great"? That just seems like a waste to me.

I actually have some poorly recorded music of artist I love and I actually take them with me to audio stores. I do this because if it sounds so bad that I don't want to listen to it, I don't want the system. Now I also take "Audiophile" recordings as well.

Goose , you asked for a list of some great music from the past few years, and I suggested 9 albums to listen to start.
By ignoring these great music selections you make it evident that you really only want to bitch and whine about the current state of music.
There is plenty of music being produced every year that is as good or even better than the Beatles ,Stones,Who, etc... IMHO
Most audiophiles on here are saying the same thing I am. You have two fellow detractors patting you on the back for your spirited negativity.
Goose listen to some music with an open mind. If you go into listening sessions with negativity and skepticism chances are you will dislike these awesome albums. If you don't want to trust my taste in music, go check the archives here for album of the years for the past ten years. There is plenty of great albums in there. Try the online magazine Pitchfork for their best albums.
Chances are you will ignore my past two post, not listen to any of the fine suggestions I've put forward . You will continue your pointless rant about the state of pathetic music today , while hundreds of fantastic albums/bands allude your closed mind.