One of the ironies of a song like ���The Golden Age of rock n��� Roll��� is that it is based on a bygone period that was unaware of its own status as a golden age (because busy living it) and furthermore had no interest in or consciousness of any previous golden age (because full inhabiting the country of Now). Retro is dependent on the existence of the un-retro: moments of newness and newness that get trapped for ever in the amber of the archives. Revivals never require earlier revivals; they must always re-enact what was new in its own time, the truly nourishing and vigorous stuff.

from Simon Reynolds, Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and its Legacy