I never proclaimed them a great band, just preferred their version, and yes, I do remember Tesla's. Then again, I prefer the Guess Who's version of American Woman to the cover done by Lenny Kravitz.
IMO, the music (and movies, for that matter) of the past 25 years are mildly good, at best. Very little originality (BTW, patching samples is not "original") and staying power. Too many remakes and covers of more recent stories and songs.
I always tell the youngsters that if today's music is so great, why are 50/60 somethings still filling stadiums, dominate the TV specials (MTV shows are not "musical specials") and dominate the musical tags for many commercials?
I once ran into a couple of mid-20s "businessmen" who were elated they scored tix to the Dave Matthews Band at Veteran's Stadium in Philly. During the conversation, one asked the other, "Who is the other band, Santana?" The response damn near floored me. "That's just some party band that travels around opening for the big names."
Before I left, I told these guys not to miss the opening act. They couldn't believe that someone had actually heard of Santana.