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I'll offer another possibility of why, perhaps, recent rock isn't as appealing to people over (pick the age).
At one time, the target medium was 45's, either played through a small console/record player or through an AM radio. The engineering and mastering was targeted toward those devices. Later, the target was LP's played on somewhat modest home "stereos". That and via cassettes in cars. Fast forward, and the target is now through personal devices and headphones.
The people who did the engineering for all those recordings knew and know exactly what they needed to do to make the music sound most appealing - and sellable - through those devices. See, for example, the so-called Loudness Wars.
Not being snooty here - just saying that rock music engineered for playing on 70's vintage systems may not be a good match for a 21st century system. Music destined for a market of fans listening through earbuds may not sound great at all when played through the kinds of systems Stereophile readers listen to.
So, even accepting all the changes in the listeners as they age, there still is a technology boundary that you're trying to cross. May not be realistic.
In addition, an awful lot of modern rock was created by people in various parts of the world and spliced together by somebody someplace else. Often individual parts of a single song are a composite of dozens if not hundreds snippets taken from a zillion takes. So, if you're expecting to hear what you think the performers would sound like if they played in your room, forget it! That's not the artist's intent.
Personally, I've taken a different approach. Rather than worry about the newest music, I explore music that is new to me. I didn't grow up listening to Big Band music - my parents did. There's a lot of great stuff that I'm finding exciting to listen to from that era. All new to me! There's more music that can be mined from the past, and even the very recent past, than I'll ever be able to listen to in my lifetime. So, that's what I trying now. YMMV, etc.