Seems to be some discussion about generational differences in Hindi film music brought about an article about LP. The golden era had superior melody and lyrics in combo. However, you just cannot broad brush stroke compare MDs from different eras since their tools, their influences, and the demands for making music are so different. I feel today's best composers, ARR being the top, excell more in versatility, out of the box creativity and pushing stylistic boundaries, thicker arrangements and more complex rhythms, as well as fusing multiple musical forms. While I find the golden era of music to be moving melodically and lyrically, I find the instrumentation to be very repetitive, bound, templated, and stale. While I find ARR's music to be amazing in almost all areas, there are many songs of his where I don't appreciate the melody as much (which doesn't mean I regard him as less melodic......au contraire.....my favorite melodies of all times are from him).
About ARR's music and generally top composers today, my satisfaction comes from the richness of the instrumentation and the stylistic and formatic variability, not to mention some breathtaking melodies at times. Many years from now, many may call this time the "second godlen era" of film music simply due to Rahman.
