Before I get into my actual post I do have to say that I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings, irritate anybody or get on anybody's case. I think we're all entitled our space on this board and I don't want to ruin the general civility we all enjoy. That said, I'm going to say exactly what's on my mind...
Brace yourselfs.

My first comment is that anybody who thinks that their's a lack of great music now or that their ever was a musical golden age is completely out of their minds. We all have a time, place, and genre in music that we love more than any other, a little peice of musical heaven that we latch onto for one reson or another. We're all entitled that and I'll suspect that 99% of us (myself included) have just such a time, place, and genre we hold dear. But think back, especially those of us who lived through the 60's, 70's, or even before; their was always crap, and ample quantities of it. 400 years ago someone could get exicuted for playing a triad, or even out of a strict major/minor arrangement. Bach had to make his music to please wealthy sponsors, Duke Ellington had to play special shows at the Cotton Club just for white people... Their are always compromises, and we very rarely see pure music flowing from the heart. Any of us who write original music for a band know what it is to give and take so that the band as a whole can live and work with the song. We shouldn't be quite so cynical; just because we don't get the music it doesn't mean it isn't good. Their are also countless underground bands out there doing some amazing things, we just have to get out more and take a closer look at the world around us.

On the other hand, we shouldn't be so naive: One of the above mentioned bands (here I go...) always gets a rise out of me. Godsmack. Lets just say that every time I hear VooDoo I start singing either Angry Chair or Over Now by Alice in Chains because I can pick out parts of both songs from the main riff. Of course, that isn't as bad as Everclear sampling the rythm and horn parts to "Mr Big Stuff" and rapping about the 70's over it. At the other end of the spectrum we see bands like Primus where you can hear a touch of Rush, Pink Floyd, and King Crimson, but mostly a whole lot of originality. That's not to say we all have to be 100% original all the time (AiC did borrow a Maiden riff after all, and Eclectic Electric by Primus is very Floyd-ish, and we all can think of other examples).

What I'm trying to get at here is that we all need to elevate our awareness of that which has come before and that which is around us. If we go and lock ourselfs into "this is my thing, all else sucks" or "man, their ain't nothing out there that's any good any more" or "[insert Metallica Chat come back here]" [insert band here] ROX!" then all that has ever made music great means nothing any more. Lets become accountants.