The Zero Decade and Music

Update: Now that I think of it, rock-umentarians will probably include Weezer in this history, but will they consider the group as a '90s or '00s band? The band's best songs came in the '90s, however, it released twice as many albums in the '00s and retained greater popularity in this decade. Oh, and, in case you are wondering, I am only focusing on mainstream groups because, come on, even I know indie bands are often forgotten.

Bands from the sixties and seventies have maintained legendary statuses. Everyone still knows the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, the Eagles, the Who, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, etc.

Very few people remember the names of the bands from the '80s. However, the decade did produce a lot of one hit wonders that are still on a lot of playlists (i.e. "Take on Me"). I'd say the only '80s artists that people will still remember in future decades are the Police, U2, Madonna, Van Halen and Michael Jackson. The Cure and Depeche Mode may retain a cult status, but they will not be as high up there as those musicians and singers. Ok, ok. Duran Duran and Genesis may also survive.

Now, the '90s has plenty of bands that, yes, our grandkids will probably have downloaded to their brains. (I assume in the future that we install chips in our brains and skip the whole "having to learn crap" phase. See #4.) People will probably still remember Radiohead, Green Day, Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam--ok you get the point. I say this because this was actually a very inventive stage for rock music in the same creative vein of the '60s and '70s. The alternative rock movement broke away from the mostly superficial music of the late '70s to late '80s (disco and new wave) and encouraged *gasp* songwriting. Unfortunately, finally bringing up all this teenage angst brought us...

The emo-whining of the Zero Decade. No one will remember such "gems" as Staind, Nickelback, P.OD., Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance or whatever band involves traditionally bad singing over generic guitar shredding.

So, who might last from the Zero Decade? Well, it seems that Radiohead and Green Day have again claimed this spot. However, I will maintain that Green Day will always be considered a '90s band. Radiohead, on the other hand, is a little more difficult. I predict that future generations will call Radiohead an '00s band and not a '90s band. While its biggest hit single to date, "Creep," came out in the '90s, Radiohead didn't really score on any top ten U.S. album charts until the '00s. All four Radiohead albums released in the '00s (not including the live album) made it to the top ten. Radiohead only released three albums in the '90s and I do not believe they made it on the U.S. top ten. Thus, I conclude the band is more popular in this decade than the last.

Still, how about bands that are indisputably '00s? These (although they are not exactly on my playlist) I predict will have a long shelf life: the White Stripes, Incubus and Jack Johnson.

Well, actually, I do like the White Stripes.

Now, one '00s artist is on my playlist and will actually be considered THE rock star of the '00s... and he doesn't even play guitar:

Kanye West.

Did I miss anyone? Could the Strokes, Interpol or Franz Ferdinand have long shelf lives? The Shins?