I think you've summed it up - 80's style (hard) rock may still exist but it will never get out of the doldrums again - certainly not when bands like Ratt, L.A. Guns, Warrant, etc. have weekly line-up changes and put out average or crappy albums. My personal nostalgia cravings are limited - still play the old albums and love them for the most part, but I have no desire to relive all that stuff at the bar down the street. Music is an everchanging thing and I personally love discovering new stuff, bands that add new flavors, etc.. That's what music is all about to me. Every generation has 'their bands', we certainly had ours, but only a handful of artists have every transcended trends and generation gaps. Let's face it - a lot of 80's music was incredibly superficial and not made to last an eternity - it reflected a time, and that time, that 'collective mindset', no longer exists, which is why today's generation can't relate to Bon Jovi and Def Leppard (and I don't blame them). I couldn't either I'm sure. Not that the 90's were 'all that', but one thing I'm convinced of - a record like 'Ten' or 'Superunknown' will still be talked about in 25 years because they connect on a deeper level. This isn't fluff - this is heart and soul music. Lots of 80's music, and not just hard rock, was severely lacking in that regard, which is why it is so easily dismissed by many. Still, I do hope that the great stuff out of the 80's will eventually be acknowledged as 'classic rock' and played alongside Zep and Rush, instead of ridiculed as dumb hair metal. Leppard may be irrelevant now, but 'Pyromania' is a gem; Queensryche put out some incredible stuff - give them their due. And there is more to Metallica than the last 2 turds and the Black Album. I could go on...