I was just thinking about how different a lot of the music I like today is from what I was really into in the '80s. I mean, back then, I really liked hard rock and metal, and that hasn't really changed. But the music itself has grown quite a bit, in my opinion. And you have people today who do things people back then didn't really do. I mean, you had great singers who claimed to be "operatic," but you didn't really actually see much actual opera-style singing like you do in some of the more symphonic metal bands. And you had fantastic guitar players back then, but some of the stuff you see nowadays is just insane and wouldn't really have even been thought of back then. But overall, although pop music and the more radio-friendly stuff that is mass consumed will always be a bit formulaic, I think there have been a lot of interesting changes in music that I've seen.
One thing that jumped out at me the most would probably be drums. I mean, you had some drummers doing interesting things back then. But few drummers that I can recall from the '80s were all that interesting to focus on. Now, IMO, that has changed. Drumming seems a lot more dynamic nowadays, and I'm not really sure what the ultimate cause of it is. Maybe one argument is that the rap/hip-hop scene that grew up in the late '80s and early '90s contributed as you had bands that, instead of turning up their noses at genres outside of their own, collaborated with other artists to incorporate different elements into their music. A lot of people didn't really know what to make of the Beastie Boys incorporating heavy guitar riffs into their rap songs and collaborating with Slayer, or Public Enemy and Anthrax working together. I think that not only infused rap with some metal elements, but also influenced metal to embrace more grooves and complex drum beats. Eventually, you started to see a lot more interesting drumming in metal than before, whether it be the actual drummers, incorporating programmed drum loops, or both. When I was younger, I was definitely guitar and vocalist focused and didn't really care about the drumming. But drumming, to me anyway, has gotten a lot more interesting over the years, and I often find myself focusing a lot more on the drummers nowadays. In fact, I was even inspired to buy a kit about a year ago and start learning to play. So, not to take away from other instruments, but my answer is definitely drums. Your thoughts?