Ah-ha -- but I happen to listen to largely the same music as my parents, so I can safely conclude that music has indeed gone to shit with my generation!
...actually, this isn't true. The reason older music is often seen as better is that time has filtered out the generic crap with no staying power. And so I second the recommendation to check out older music; it's easier to find quality stuff. And, like watching a TV series after it finishes airing, when you find something you like, you don't have to wait to check out the rest of it.