Back in 2007, my mom was cleaning out the basement, and she found several boxes of old CREEM magazines from the late 70s and early 80s. They were slightly damaged, but I didn't care; this was the mother lode. As someone who had just started writing about music, I was beyond thrilled for the opportunity to see what legendary rock critics like Lester Bangs, Rick Johnson, and Robert Christgau thought about all the albums I had recently discovered when they first came out. What really struck me, though, was how many of the bands they featured then have all but disappeared from view. I mean, the Jim Carroll Band was the lead review in one issue. Who still thinks about them in 2013?

Looking back on that, it's hard to not wonder about which of current crop of artists will be churning out masterpieces 25 years from now, and who will quickly fade from memory. We've already seen some surprises in that area. Back in 2008, while Vampire Weekend's debut was certainly acclaimed, folks weren't sure about how long they'd be around. To some, they felt like a flash-in-the-pan that would suffer the same tragic fate as Tapes 'N Tapes and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.

On the other side of the coin, look at MGMT. Don't get me wrong, they're certainly still popular, and it's not inconceivable that they could have a lengthy career, but the excitement around them has died down considerably since 2008. Their last two albums have decidedly polarizing, and the idea that they'll be a defining band of their era is starting to fade from view. Of course, they may not want that type of designation. They might want to simply be a weird band who makes weird albums that are appreciated by a somewhat small but undoubtedly devoted fan base. And that's cool. It's just not what we expected when "Kids" and "Time To Pretend" entered our lives.

Sometimes, bands can be underestimated for reasons that seem foolish in retrospect. Look at The White Stripes. They were considered gimmicky because of their candy cane aesthetic, and their lo-fi sound lead to many foolish "purists" to accuse them of playing poorly on purpose. Of course, now that Jack White's guitar god status is undeniable, this seems silly, but when White Blood Cells emerged in 2001, there was a surprising amount of doubt surrounding this band. Now, while they may have broken up, their legacy is more than assured, and Jack White will be churning out brilliant solo records for decades.

Basically, determining how much staying power a band will have is a crapshoot. Sometimes, it only takes one record - look at the Sex Pistols - for a band to be remembered forever. For now, all we can do is enjoy the music we get and let time decide whose work will be remembered forever, and what albums that seemed great at the tie will fall by the wayside.