Tantalums were usually used back then due to low ESR and tighter tolerance in these circuits. Often used in audio circuits due to the tight tolerance.

Tantalums do not go bad with age...period. Age has nothing to do with these.
The thing that does kill tantalums is repeated over-voltages or reverse voltages over the years. An electrolytic tends to have a higher voltage rating and just 'skates' over the over-voltages.

The downside to tantalums is their failure mode. As you have witnessed, they don't die gracefully.
The upside is their lifespan (if they are repeatedly hit with spikes) and their tolerance.
In a proper circuit - they last forever. We have worked on lots of 1970s and 1980s military equipment where tantalum cap failures are unheard of.

The downside to electrolytics is their short life span (even if just sitting on shelf), huge tolerance (as much as 80% tolerance) and high series resistance for standard parts.
The upside is their low cost and high capacitance values.

Improvements to ceramic and electroltyic capacitors have been tremendous in the past 20 years. Electrolytics are now available in very low ESR and have longer life spans but still suck in tolerance. Tantalums have pretty much stood still and are losing ground to high capacitance ceramics.