Which of the following decades produced the best music?

[TDAS04]

I vote for the 1960s, with the 1950s as my second choice.

[Paul Kemp]

2000s [not "le wrong generation"]

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

The 1970s.  Queen, Pink Floyd, Yes, Emerson Lake And Palmer, Gabriel-era Genesis, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Rush, The Ramones... all kicking ass and writing the best rock music ever put to record. The 1960s are a close second, what with the Beatles and all the great psychedelic stuff?  2000s are third, as the putrid aftertaste of the 1980s had finally been completely washed away.  

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

70s  /thread

[Cranberry]

Anyone who voted for something different than 60s or 70s should be stoned.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" to Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks." So, 1965ish-1975ish.

[Starbucks Union Thug HokeyPuck]

Bob Dylan's "Blonde on Blonde" to Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks." So, 1965ish-1975ish.

If I had to pick a (approx.) ten year period...

I'd say Abbey Road from the Beatles started height of rock/pop music in Sept. 1969, and that peak finished off with Pink Floyd's The Wall in Nov. 1979.

I was thinking about starting it with Rubber Soul and ending it with Queen's A Day At The Races, but I think any "peak of rock" discussion has to include The Wall, which is basically (in my eyes anyway) THE album of rock, combining all the theatrics, bombast, political/social commentary, and styles into one package.  Most would say that album is actually The White Album, but I find it to be brutally filler-ish and a chore to sit through. 

[Del Tachi]

1960s

[Beet]

1990s

[MasterJedi]

1980s and it's not even close. The level of skill that developed in the rock and metal genres building on the great musicians that came before was unprecedented. Then sadly once Grunge came about it all just started to die. The best musicians today are the ones that were created in the 80s, nobody can really compare today, even the ones that are considered "good".

[muon2]

The love for the '70s is interesting, particularly as someone who lived the decade in HS and college and was a DJ at my college radio station. If you would have polled this question in the 1990's people would have dissed the '70s solely because it gave rise to disco which dominated the second half of the decade. Disco was such a downer for traditional rockers that radio stations held record smashing events with the records to be smashed from their disco collection. The 80's were loved in part because the New Wave washed away the disco era and returned rock back to some of it's 60's roots. Yet, as many of you note, as dire as disco seemed to the rockers then there was some tremendous rock that came out as well.

I know most here are focused on rock, but in jazz the 1950's stand out.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Anything up to (and including) the 1970s is an acceptable answer. Anything after is unacceptable and evidence of an appalling lack of taste. Happily this applies - at least with respect to the cut off point - to almost all genres.

[H. Ross Peron]

1930s/1940s

[DemPGH]

1980s with the 1960s a relatively distant second.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

1960s, with the 1950s just behind.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

1990s, followed by 1980s, I suppose.

I'm one of six people on this planet who don't think The Beatles is a great band (no, I don't need a lecture on their impact on music, I just could never get into their songs), so that and most other bands of the 1960s rank pretty low for me.

[Frodo]

The 1960s and '70s saw the peak of Rock n' Roll.  After that...   

[SWE]

Debating between the 60s and the 70s

[TNF]

1970s

[tik 🪀✨]

The fact that people only point to a handful of bands or musical trends in any given decade is pretty pathetic to me. Right now there is an obscene amount of new music accessible for everyone readily and easily - it blows any time period before it away. If you deny that you're probably either not looking very hard or are very comfortable listening to the same old albums you've always enjoyed - not that there's anything wrong with that necessarily (it does make you very boring though). Things are so diverse now, there is so much for your ears to explore. It's an amazing time.

Were I to then pick a decade, I'd choose the 2000's.

If I give in and use the same metrics and only go by what was popular and big at the time, I'd rank them much more in line with you guys. 60's, 70's, 90's, 50's, 00's, 80's.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

90s very quite easily. Without question.

[Eraserhead]

1960s. It's not a very tough call either.

[The Mikado]

Out of those?  1930s.  Give me an 1810s option, though.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foNKLggQ7E4

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

The fact that people only point to a handful of bands or musical trends in any given decade is pretty pathetic to me. Right now there is an obscene amount of new music accessible for everyone readily and easily - it blows any time period before it away. If you deny that you're probably either not looking very hard or are very comfortable listening to the same old albums you've always enjoyed - not that there's anything wrong with that necessarily (it does make you very boring though). Things are so diverse now, there is so much for your ears to explore. It's an amazing time.

Were I to then pick a decade, I'd choose the 2000's.

If I give in and use the same metrics and only go by what was popular and big at the time, I'd rank them much more in line with you guys. 60's, 70's, 90's, 50's, 00's, 80's.

I would argue that large downturn at the beginning of the noughties left a sour taste, even as it started to pick itself up by its midpoint. Incidentally I think the Tens might have a chance of being up there in the top ranking - the top hits are certainly more organic and interesting than they have been in a while.