[quote name='icastle' timestamp='1329238352' post='1539377']
I wasn't a punk 'fan' at the time and I'm still not.
For me, it was too noisy, too extreme and I felt it relied too heavily on shock tactics to distract from the lack of musical ability.
[b]But[/b], it did seem to wake up a music scene that had perhaps become a little stale and complacent.
After the initial thrashing about, screaming vocals and spitting at people died down it seemed almost as though there was a wholeraft of new sounds rushing in to fill that void, some of it from within the 'punk movement' and some of it from further afield.
So, as a musical genre, it's not for me, but from a 'clearing the decks' perspective I wouldn't want to go back in time and change a thing.
[/quote]
I'd agree with a substantial amount of the above.
The most appealing contribution of the era for me was the social trend towards individualism. It led to the only time in modern history where psychological tests of conformity demonstrated a generalised trend away from conformity. Artists of the time were not afraid to explore new ideas in dress, music, comedy, art etc.
Today, society as a whole seems more conformist than ever. Artists of all forms seem to operate inside accepted 'norms' these days. There doesn't appear to be much bravado towards self expression these days. Rather boring really.