In the spirit of Throwback Thursday, we’ve got quite a hybrid playlist for you. If you’re missing 80’s music (I am, I always am), just take a closer listen to some of today’s music.
A large part of what makes 80’s music is the [overuse] of the synth drum, or gated reverb. If you aren’t familiar with a synth drum, watch this video for an explanation of what exactly this sound is and how it overtook 80’s music, just to reappear about 30 years later now. You’ll never be able to “unhear” this sound.
This sound trademarked 80’s music. Looking back now, we might even regard it as the zeitgeist of the 80’s itself. As this sound has come back, it has taken a new form, one to fit that of the 21st century.
Of course, the 80’s was marked by other sounds like overuse of a keyboard and “beachy” guitars. Nevertheless, a comparison between 80’s music’s style and today’s music style can be made quite easily.
To show you the similarities and centurial differences between these two subgroups of music, listen to this playlist. Not every song features a gated reverb, but it can still be closely linked to that of 80’s music. We hope this satisfies your Throwback Thursday craving, while still showing you just how present the throwback style is today.
