"I don't fit in because..." [Archive] - Absolute Write Water Cooler

poetinahat

11-30-2009, 07:08 AM

Tell the world why you're not like them, how they'll never understand you... after all, we are all Individuals!

Give us:

- one artist/group that everyone else seems to love, but just doesn't click with you (not that they're bad, necessarily, but you just don't feel the love)
- one artist/group whose music moves you, but no one else seems to get

I'll start:

- Everybody loves, but not me: Queen
Yes, Freddie had a great voice, and the musicianship was much more than sound. But they never got my pulse racing... just no love connection for me, Chuck.

- Hardly anybody likes, and it's their loss: Devo
Okay, they hit their use-by date in 1982 or so. But their first several albums were fantastic. "Whip It", fun as it was, wasn't their best at all. Quirky, sardonic and visionary at their best. Outlived their usefulness, sadly.

dolores haze

11-30-2009, 07:17 AM

Radiohead has millions of fans and great critical acclaim. There are a couple of songs I like, but for the most part they leave me cold. I don't get their enormous popularity at all.

I adore the late Billy McKenzie. Everyone in my life laughs at me and his mournful wail, but I wish he'd never bloody well killed himself.

Ken

11-30-2009, 07:43 AM

... Van Halen (except for their first album) and Aerosmith. Will come back and state my reasons for such sacrilege after some contemplation on the matter.

cptwentworth

11-30-2009, 08:13 AM

Pink Floyd *ducks head* (I was going to say the Beatles, but then I'd have to really watch my back.)

I really like Dead Can Dance. Never heard of them? Not surprised.

RG570

11-30-2009, 11:01 AM

Everyone likes Led Zeppelin but I think it's insipid bourgeois poorly-played nonsense . . .

I don't know, what does everyone else hate that I DON'T like? Everything I have is stuff nobody likes . . .

Probably some prog . . . people tend to hate Tool unless they're musicians, but then they won't call themselves prog . . . Rush? Most people nowadays don't like Rush. I'll go with that, as unimaginative as it is. Almost want to go with Yes, because nobody really likes them, except other musicians. Yeah, one of those.

Oh, and I have heard of Dead Can Dance. It's sweet.

Medievalist

11-30-2009, 12:09 PM

I really like Dead Can Dance. Never heard of them? Not surprised.

HAH!

Two of them are medievalists :D

We're everywhere.

Samantha's_Song

11-30-2009, 12:38 PM

i absolutely hate Janis Joplin: She can't sing at all, to me her voice is like someone scraping six inch nails down a blackboard.

Ever since I was a little kid I've always loved the Bee Gees, but people always seem to remember them for singing their red hot pokers shoved up the arse stuff instead of the beautiful songs they used to sing in the 1960's and very early 70's: Don't forget to remember, Daytime girl, Indian Gin and Whiskey dry, One million years, saved by the bell, I am the world etc, and the albums Odessa and Cucumber castle are absolutely beautiful. - Stuff like the songs from Saturday night fever ruined the Bee Gees for me and made me ashamed of them.

Oh, and besides three songs, I don't like the Beatles either.

ChunkyC

11-30-2009, 09:38 PM

LOVE Pink Floyd. David Gilmour is my guod.
LOVE The Beatles. Best pop band ever.
LOVE early Bee Gees.

Okay, to answer the original question....

Band that I love, that many don't: Phil Collins era Genesis. Mind you, I love the Peter Gabriel era Genesis too, but I didn't stop loving them just because Gabriel left the band.

Band that many love, that I don't: The Rolling Stones. Sure, some of the tunes were catchy, but I don't get the fervour - especially the fanaticism over the Stones in concert. Keith Richards is one of the laziest performers I've ever seen, Charlie Watts is one of the most boring drummers I've ever heard, and the whole band (Richards/Woods/Watts) is sloppy (otoh, the 'hired-gun' sidemen are killer players). The only bright spot performance-wise is Mick Jagger, and his voice grates on me.

*NeW*WrItEr*

12-01-2009, 01:09 AM

I don't like Metallica. A lot of my friends do...but I just don't like them. I've tried to put up with their music and failed miserably.

But I love Jeffree Star. He's the kind of guy you either love or hate

Fran

12-01-2009, 03:41 AM

I don't get most of what comes out now, but I particularly don't understand why The Arctic Monkeys are touted here as the future of music.

I love Jellyfish, but I don't mind that most people haven't heard of them. It makes them feel like they're mine. :D

Samantha's_Song

12-01-2009, 12:05 PM

I've seen Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones at Wembley. Pink Floyd, 1988, they were brilliant and that was the best day of my life so far. Rolling Stones, 1990, they were boring and complete shite. :D
LOVE Pink Floyd. David Gilmour is my guod.
LOVE The Beatles. Best pop band ever.
LOVE early Bee Gees.

Okay, to answer the original question....

Band that I love, that many don't: Phil Collins era Genesis. Mind you, I love the Peter Gabriel era Genesis too, but I didn't stop loving them just because Gabriel left the band.

Band that many love, that I don't: The Rolling Stones. Sure, some of the tunes were catchy, but I don't get the fervour - especially the fanaticism over the Stones in concert. Keith Richards is one of the laziest performers I've ever seen, Charlie Watts is one of the most boring drummers I've ever heard, and the whole band (Richards/Woods/Watts) is sloppy (otoh, the 'hired-gun' sidemen are killer players). The only bright spot performance-wise is Mick Jagger, and his voice grates on me.

KTC

12-01-2009, 01:57 PM

bad lead-off example, Poet. I have two Devo cds in the car, son.

people self destruct when they look through my cds.

everybody loves Muse but I can't friggin stand them. Vehemently. If I hear that Billy Idol White Wedding knock-off song one more time, I'm going to drive into a bridge abutment.

almost nobody likes Haysi Fantayzee, but they are sadly misunderstood. Chizoola, all. Shoofly love. The world needs more new wave hootenannys, by the God! They are brilliant in their irrelevancy. They mock the world as they force them to dance and sway. I'm a Haysi.

Priene

12-01-2009, 02:26 PM

almost nobody likes Haysi Fantayzee, but they are sadly misunderstood. Chizoola, all. Shoofly love. The world needs more new wave hootenannys, by the God! They are brilliant in their irrelevancy. They mock the world as they force them to dance and sway. I'm a Haysi.

Watching Top of the Pops with my Mum and Dad while Haysi Fantayzee performed the world's most suggestive dance routine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXu8hd49ZZM) was a defining moment in my adolescence.

KTC

12-01-2009, 03:09 PM

i had jeremiah's hair. we'd sometimes get-up in punk bumpkin when hitting the clubs.

SirOtter

12-03-2009, 01:05 AM

LOVE The Beatles. Best pop band ever.

A priori. Easiest way to spot someone whose opinion on virtually any topic can be discounted is if they hate the Beatles.

Band that many love, that I don't: The Rolling Stones.

At the risk of getting my 60s childhood ret-conned out of existence, I'm forced to partially agree. Love the early stuff, but their last good album was Exile on Main Street. Everything from Goats Head Soup on has been pure shit.

ChunkyC

12-03-2009, 02:18 AM

Celia Cyanide

12-03-2009, 02:26 AM

Pink Floyd *ducks head*

I only really like Syd Barrett. Yes, I'm a music snob.

I really like Dead Can Dance. Never heard of them? Not surprised.

I have. I actually saw Bauhas live, and they performed a cover of Dead Can Dance's Severance. I also love This Mortal Coil and the Cocteau Twins, although all of that music was more high school for me.

Shadow_Ferret

12-03-2009, 02:27 AM

Bruce Springsteen. I.just.can't.stand.him.

Throw Tom Petty into that, too. Don't get either one.

But I really can't think of any bands that I like that others' loathe. Black Sabbath? Gentle Giant? Nektar? Hawkwind? Frank Zappa? Rob Zombie?

Celia Cyanide

12-03-2009, 02:33 AM

Band that many love, that I don't: The Rolling Stones. Sure, some of the tunes were catchy, but I don't get the fervour - especially the fanaticism over the Stones in concert. Keith Richards is one of the laziest performers I've ever seen, Charlie Watts is one of the most boring drummers I've ever heard, and the whole band (Richards/Woods/Watts) is sloppy (otoh, the 'hired-gun' sidemen are killer players). The only bright spot performance-wise is Mick Jagger, and his voice grates on me.

You know, it's funny, I was going to say this in response to the second question...many people like the Rolling Stones, but I LOVE them. I know many people who love the Beatles and get really fanatical about them, read every book about them, watch every rock doc, etc. Most people seem to think the Stones are cool to listen to, and they own an album or two, and that's about it. Me? I LOVE them. I've never had the chance to see them live. I just love listening to their music. Their later music wasn't that great, but I enjoyed it when I was a young child.

And, Mick Jagger is the sexiest ugly person who ever lived.

SirOtter

12-03-2009, 02:47 AM

Sort-of-related story....

When I was in grade six, The Monkees TV show was in its first run on the boob-tube. In my class were identical twin brothers; one adored the pre-fab-four, the other despised them. When you're ten, stuff like that is either hilarious or makes you decide to be a geneticist when you grow up.

That would make you about three years older than I am. It's a comfort to know I'm not the oldest one here. :)

I was so-so on the Monkees at the time. Years later, I discovered Mike Nesmith's First National Band stuff, which is by-and-large damn good, and went back to take another look at the Monkees. I liked them better the second time around. I saw the truncated version in concert in the late 80s, with a few other ancient acts. It was a good show.

When I was in 8th grade, in 1971 or 1972, there was a kid in my shop class who was a Donnie Osmond fanatic. Very strange dude.

Celia Cyanide

12-03-2009, 03:42 AM

I think the Monkees are a very talented band who were never really appreciated in their own time. They were told that they were only actors on a TV show and not musicians, but they said, "Screw you, we're going to write music and play our own songs, whether you like it or not." They fought to become a real band, and that's freaking cool. There has never really been another group who has done anything like that before or since. Their being manufactured actually made them something special. They were four people from very different musical backgrounds who never would have formed a band together on their own, and they each brought something unique to the table.

Little Red Barn

12-03-2009, 03:55 AM

Never ever liked the Beatles. ETA: collects their albums for the 'hunt' only.

Loved loved Janis Joplin ... but best when sober

Celia Cyanide

12-03-2009, 03:55 AM

All the things I envy you for. Now you're just piling on! *steam*

What else do you envy me for, besides being married to Lantern Jack? ;) Don't worry, I saw Bauhaus on their reunion tour, I wasn't cool (or old) enough to see them when Flat Field came out. :)

dolores haze

12-03-2009, 04:07 AM

KTC

12-03-2009, 04:17 AM

KTC

12-03-2009, 04:21 AM

What else do you envy me for, besides being married to Lantern Jack? ;) Don't worry, I saw Bauhaus on their reunion tour, I wasn't cool (or old) enough to see them when Flat Field came out. :)

how the hell is jackie, anyway?

i saw bauhaus before the reunion tour. i saw them sometime in the beginning. it's all foggy now, but it was between 79 and 83. somewhere in north america. god was there, smoking an acid laced licorice stick. she shared it with me. it was sweet and icky all at once. the music was heavenly...the lighting, hellish.

KTC

12-03-2009, 04:26 AM

Uh-oh.

*hires huge dumptruck, strides out the front door of his glass house, heads for the quarry*

But really, I sympathise. I will say that neophytes should hear the studio albums first - there's only so much jam-band anyone can take. But the studio songs are a very different deal; then again, my Dead collection runs into the dozens.

New Order gets a free pass from me forever, because they used to be Joy Division, and everything up through Low Life is wonderful. After that, they had moments of sparkle scattered among fruited plains of forgettable easy-listening fare.

i love the dead. i saw them. i smoked miles of drugs under the aquarium of their musical notes. i heart them. really. but i could give them up forever for an old scratchy new order album. and god knows i heart joy division. i heard them as recently as yesterday. their cd goes in at least a couple of times a month...and they also peek up out of my mp3 player every now and again while i'm tramping through the muck of the forest. joy division screaming and lulling darkly and solemnly and baritonally while you're in a forest surrounded by the austerity of monk-like trees is a treat. everybody should find the orchestral maneuvers of joy trilling into their eardrums while they are surrounded by the moribundness of serious monktrees. it's a joy.

Celia Cyanide

12-03-2009, 05:09 AM

Shadow_Ferret

12-03-2009, 05:15 AM

Yeah, can't stand the Dead either.

Or... U2.

KTC

12-03-2009, 06:23 AM

Round 3 for me (takin' my Dead albums and goin' home...):

Don't make me listen to: Blondie

Instead, I'll take: Haircut 100

Le sigh! They're my favourite shirts!

dolores haze

12-03-2009, 06:24 AM

I love them +1.

KTC

12-03-2009, 06:26 AM

I love them +1.

oh. snap!

SPMiller

12-03-2009, 06:27 AM

I'm a metalhead, but I heard Metallica on a classic rock radio station a year or two ago, and I realized they fit in just fine with all the other classic rock bands that bore me. Heavy metal has come such an unimaginably long way since the 80s. And now I've gone and committed heresy.

I can commit another act of heresy by stating that Carcass' later albums were better than their early ones. I don't know anyone who agrees with me on that.

TerzaRima

12-03-2009, 07:20 AM

I don't get the Bruce Springsteen love. Yeah, I said it. So much sweaty americana rolled up T-shirts and pickup trucks and beer and death symbolism and Jersey girls and doesn't all this shit sound exactly the same to you people?

I always have always been nuts for ABBA and I'm beginning to like Lady Gaga, so you can draw your own conclusions about my shitty taste.

benbradley

12-03-2009, 09:23 AM

Does "Underground FM" count as a "band" I like that others don't seem to understand? I've mentioned WPLO FM before, circa late '60's to mid '70's, ISTR they played Dead songs ("Truckin'" was their almost-hit song back then), Steppenwolf's "Monster" and lots of other stuff I forget, but hope to hear again.

There was the Zombies song "I Love You" covered by a band named People, and "Hot Smoke and Sassafras (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGG3DtAq6dI)." I'm still not sure if I heard that last one on WPLO or on top 40 radio. It was likely on both.

Some of that music was from "The Psychedelic Era" which lasted about a year, but was quite influential - it seemed every band/performer at the time at least did a "psychedelic" song if not a whole album. A few bands such as Pink Floyd and Jefferson Airplane didn't count as making psychedelic songs to fit the era, because they were already psychedelic bands from the beginning. I heard "Astronomy Domine" on WPLO, and I don't think that one was ever played on top 40 radio.

benbradley

12-03-2009, 09:32 AM

Derailing the thread for a moment...
...
I always have always been nuts for ABBA and I'm beginning to like Lady Gaga, so you can draw your own conclusions about my shitty taste.
Doesn't that "Poker Face" song sound a lot like Madonna, or at least a song Madonna would sing? Sure seems so for me.

Priene

12-03-2009, 01:02 PM

Instead, I'll take: Haircut 100

I've been in swimming pools that were less wet than that bunch of saps.

New Order gets a free pass from me forever, because they used to be Joy Division, and everything up through Low Life is wonderful.

Which brings me to my overrated nomination: any band/artist who thinks it's cool to use Nazi iconography, take Nazi catchphrases as their names, give Siegheils (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1SxU83bpkU) in public or make racist speeches (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg9IZyx_-Os). Flush them down history's toilet, along with their idols.

Hardly anyone likes, and that's their loss: The Blue Aeroplanes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWF09T_62Bk). The best lyrical band of the last thirty years, and it's not even close.

Fran

12-03-2009, 01:43 PM

I hate, hate, hate the Stone Roses. All my friends tell me they were the greatest Madchester band and I hate them, so it must be me. I pretty much loathed everything to do with Madchester, though.

I love The Bangles. I freely admit Walk Like An Egyptian and Eternal Flame were absolute pish, but their first album in particular was quite rockin'. Susanna Hoffs was the fourth best singer in The Bangles, but I read years ago the record company released her songs as singles because she was da pwettiest. Nice, huh? If it's true... Then there was L7, who were like a mutated version of The Bangles. The Bangles gone bad! I love them too.

Which brings me to my overrated nomination: any band/artist who thinks it's cool to use Nazi iconography, take Nazi catchphrases as their names, give Siegheils (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1SxU83bpkU) in public or make racist speeches (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg9IZyx_-Os). Flush them down history's toilet, along with their idols.

I remember reading about Kula Shaker hanging a swastika at the back of the stage at Glastonbury and then blabbering on about how it's a 'hijacked peace symbol'. How many people make that association (and not the one, in my view, they were actually going for, which is 'We're a bunch of fucking Nazis but we're too scared to defend our position so we'll suggest anyone who sees a swastika and thinks 'Nazi' is an uneducated lout')? If I were Crispin Mills, I'd have STOPPED giving people reasons to poke me in the eye, because God knows there were enough in the first place without trying to encourage it. Still, they shut the fuck up years ago, and I'm very grateful. But I was agreeing with you, Priene. At some point... :)

Priene

12-03-2009, 01:59 PM

Ah, Kula Shaker. That was quite a fall. With bands like them, I think the Nazi thing is like the 'Don't Press' button to Father Dougal. They know they shouldn't, but they just can't help pushing it. Hey! We're iconoclasts! Just because I have a swastika backdrop doesn't mean I'm a Nazi! I'm being ironic!

No, they're being fuckheads. And should fuck off.

But I hate Joy Division. The name disgusts me, and the singer sounds like a misfiring central heating system. That Eric Clapton transcript on youtube is the worst, though. As I recall, he and David Bowie were the inspiration for 'Rock against Racism'.

KTC

12-03-2009, 02:51 PM

Wow. now it's a polical correctness thread. didn't see that coming. look at me...i can't find my moral highground.

Priene

12-03-2009, 03:05 PM

If you call disliking artists who embrace Nazism and racism the moral high ground, I guess it is.

KTC

12-03-2009, 03:08 PM

I was referring more to your need to shit in somebody else's cornflakes.

Celia Cyanide

12-03-2009, 07:32 PM

I think that is probably another thing I love that many people hate. Bands who embrace Nazi iconography, but are not Nazis themselves. I love Death In June and Current 93. I saw them in London.

ChunkyC

12-04-2009, 03:36 AM

Another band that has a bazillion fans and I have no idea why ... Guns n Roses. Axl Rose has the most gawdawfully nasal voice in rock history. I'd rather listen to a hundred kids taking their first bagpipe lesson.

Celia Cyanide

12-04-2009, 08:26 AM

Can so get with you on that.

SPMiller

12-06-2009, 07:03 PM

Has Guns n Roses even been relevant at any point in the past, oh, two decades?

Fran

12-07-2009, 12:25 AM

Has Guns n Roses even been relevant at any point in the past, oh, two decades?

I think they released an album recently... maybe. But did anyone buy it? ;)

Celia Cyanide

12-07-2009, 09:13 PM

when they tour, the play arenas. They should be playing casinos.

Shadow_Ferret

12-07-2009, 09:27 PM

Bob Dylan. Can't stand him either.

Strange Days

12-07-2009, 10:20 PM

Well, majority of people who don't even like hip-hop tend to admit the talent of the Eminem, his songwriting skills and smart lyrics... Except for ME!!! :D Absolutely hate the guy and everything he does... Just sooo rubs against my fur...
Rare people know the Dutch band called "Shocking Blue"... And the ones who know tend to make fun of them for writing "Venus". I'm not the biggest fan of "Venus" either, but the rest of their stuff is absolutely amazing!
Many rockers and metalheads also hate electronic music, while I can't get enough of Space, Secret Service, Kraftwerk and Depeche Mode...
And... The Pogues, Wolfe Tones and the Dubliners. Love them all. Yes, they are/were extremist, polarizing and militant. I fancy, many hate them for that. But then- I'm not taking sides, I'm just listening to the tunes and enjoying the spirit, right? :D

Celia Cyanide

12-08-2009, 06:13 PM

SirOtter

12-08-2009, 06:42 PM

Not a big Elton John fan, never have been. Guy sings like his mouth is full of marbles.

Strange Days

12-08-2009, 08:37 PM

I love Eminem, but if he didn't rub some people the wrong way, he would lose his charm.

The only thing I really know about Shocking Blue is that Nirvana covered one of their songs, and it's quite cool. Love Buzz. Krist Novoselic is a fan.

Yeah, I knew about "Love Buzz". Nirvana also altered the lyrics a little bit. Even though it's not the best song either written by Shocking Blue or performed by Nirvana, I did quite enjoy both versions.
As for Eminem- I didn't really mind his earlier (or was it later?) stuff when he tried to be funny and self-ironizing, but after that... Depression is a clinical desease. The guy should've gone to a doctor. Instead, he started selling his deasease. Not the creative product of the disease, no. He sold the disease itself... :evil It's like you can almost see it in his songs: "Now I'm going to sit down, get depressed, write Another Sad Song and get some cash for it..."

Adam

12-08-2009, 08:49 PM

I've never liked The Beatles, no matter how many people prattle on about how "X, Y + Z wouldn't exist without them." Pfft.

I love Eminem, but if he didn't rub some people the wrong way, he would lose his charm.

Ditto. :)

ChunkyC

12-10-2009, 07:35 PM

I've never liked The Beatles, no matter how many people prattle on about how "X, Y + Z wouldn't exist without them." Pfft.
Pfft? ;) It's simply the truth. Whether you like the Beatles or not, their influence on modern music was and is still monumental. Just as the Rolling Stones have had an enormous impact, which I can see despite not being a rabid Stones fan. :)

SPMiller

12-10-2009, 08:16 PM

As far as I know, the musicians with the most direct influence on music I like would be:

- whoever popularized the electric pickups/amplification/distortion;
- whoever popularized the power chord;
- whoever popularized the rock-and-roll beat (bass-snare-bass-snare);
- and whoever popularized the drumset/guitar/bass guitar/singer combination.

I believe three of these people are black, and none of them are Beatles members.

Adam

12-10-2009, 08:18 PM

Pfft? ;) It's simply the truth. Whether you like the Beatles or not, their influence on modern music was and is still monumental. Just as the Rolling Stones have had an enormous impact, which I can see despite not being a rabid Stones fan. :)

The "pfft" was aimed at the people who insist that I must like the band. I'm well aware that they had a great influence on current music, but that doesn't mean I have to like 'em. :)

Priene

12-10-2009, 08:20 PM

- whoever popularized the electric pickups/amplification/distortion;

That'd be Les Paul.

ChunkyC

12-10-2009, 11:50 PM

The "pfft" was aimed at the people who insist that I must like the band. I'm well aware that they had a great influence on current music, but that doesn't mean I have to like 'em. :)
I agree with you there, wholeheartedly. I get annoyed when someone insists I become a Waylon Jennings or Merle Haggard fan. I can't listen to most old-school country music, but I certainly recognize that it is a true musical art form.

That'd be Les Paul.
Yes indeedy. As for the others mentioned by SP, the power chord's rise to fame could be attributed to the kick-start it got from The Kinks "You Really Got Me". Pete Townsend of The Who certainly is the most famous power chorder. The guitar/bass/singer combo lineup is an interesting question. Certainly some 50s acts brought it to the forefront, my guess would be it became a popular lineup sometime around then. The 4/4 rock n roll beat probably dates from then too.

Shadow_Ferret

12-10-2009, 11:56 PM

Celia Cyanide

12-11-2009, 12:05 AM

No, they probably didn't originate anything. But it was their own spin that made it special. They experimented with many musical genres and did well at all of them. I can't say that for the Rolling Stones, even though I like them better.

SirOtter

12-11-2009, 03:54 AM

I read an article years back that argued the Beatles never originated anything. They were great at taking what was already there and popularizing it and making it seem like they invented it. While other bands, more obscure, were creating psychedelic music, or use of sitar, or what have you, the Beatles merely borrowed and added their own spin to it.

That's one of those snarky judgments that is redolent of sour grapes. It's a non-sequitur because it is true, but meaningless. The last original musical act was two million years ago when Og the Caveman discovered he could inspiere the other pithecanthropi to dance by banging rocks together. Everything since, Bach, Mozart, Benny Goodman, the Beatles, has been a variation on and refinement of that.

Did the Beatles build on the achievements of others? Sure. So did Einstein. So did Freud. So did everyone who's ever done anything worthwhile. Tolkein merged George McDonald, William Morris and E.R. Eddison's fantasy style with the Icelandic Eddas and wound up with Lord of the Rings. Ta-Da! That's how it's done, folks.

The statement is ludicrious because it not only avoids but tries to discount the issue of how brilliantly innovative the Beatles were. They took bits and pieces from all over the place and put them together in a manner so far ahead of their time nobody else has been able to catch up with them. Maybe the biggest fault we can lay at their door is that they were TOO innovative, since modern popular music seems to have given up and regressed back towards Og's rocks, rather than continued to build on the masterful foundation the Beatles assembled.

Like them or not, although disliking them strikes me as comparable to disliking architecture, their music is one of those benchmarks against which all others of its type will be measured for a very long time, in the same way the Mona Lisa, Michaelangelo's David, Notre Dame, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony and Citzen Kane are benchmarks for their classes of artistic endeavors.

SirOtter

12-11-2009, 04:03 AM

I love Eminem, but if he didn't rub some people the wrong way, he would lose his charm.

He's one of the few acts my kids listen to I can stomach, because he actually says something of substance on occasion, and seems to recognize that his genre should every once in a while actually include something recognizable as music. I'm all for creative folks saying whatever is on their minds, but I prefer it to be said well. (Oscar Wilde's comment that the only obscene book is a badly written one comes to mind here)

Jim Colyer

12-11-2009, 09:18 PM

I don't fit in because I am a songwriter in Nashville with no job. I am a good father though, and that makes up for it.

SirOtter

12-11-2009, 09:53 PM

I don't fit in because I am a songwriter in Nashville with no job. I am a good father though, and that makes up for it.

Yes, it does, Jim. :) I've been jobless in Nashville, too, although I'm not a songwriter. I got over it. I expect you will too. Hang in there.

Celia Cyanide

12-11-2009, 10:22 PM

He's one of the few acts my kids listen to I can stomach, because he actually says something of substance on occasion, and seems to recognize that his genre should every once in a while actually include something recognizable as music.

He's one of the few mainstream rap artists who manages to do that. There is some great indie and underground hop hip, but most of what gets airplay on mainstream stations lacks the lyrical intricacy that Eminem has. I put off listening to him for quite a long time, because I assumed he couldn't possible be a talented rapper when he was that famous. When I heard "Stan" for the first time, I became a believer.

Jcomp

12-11-2009, 10:58 PM

I actually haven't been digging Em of late. He seems to have descended into an incessant dependence on "shock value" and re-treading the same subjects over and over again. I thought The Eminem Show was great and underrated but in the last several years since he hasn't really impressed me. He's still better than virtually anyone else you'd hear on the radio, but that's just a testament to how unimaginative, "safe," stagnant and dreadful hip-hop radio has become.

Celia Cyanide

12-11-2009, 11:49 PM

Oh, I agree that his recent music hasn't impressed me in the slightest. I still like some of it, because I like his voice and delivery, but he is lacking in what once made him unique. Oh, well. The Rolling Stones haven't put out a good album in a while, either.

indiriverflow

12-12-2009, 03:53 AM

Round two? OK, here goes...

Having shared a house with a bunch of deadheads for two years, and having listened to every long-ass version of every boring-ass song, I am qualified to call the Grateful Dead one of the most overated bands ever. Let the stoning commence!

I'll take New Order any day or, preferably, every day of the week.

You're qualified to say what ever you want, but you haven't a clue. Two years? I've been into it for nearly two decades, and I am still finding new gems, especially following the 2009 Dead tour and Furthur, the latest incarnation. I am still being surprised, and I listen nearly every day.

Like fine wine, appreciating the subtleties of GD music requires a fanatical commitment to familiarity. The average drinker might just taste dry or tart and leave underwhelmed, while the experienced taster can detect the rare scent which distinguishes a truly fine vintage.

Some, like me, just think wine is overrated and never bother with it. Turned down a glass just a few nights ago because I can take it or leave it.

Long songs is a common complaint. People who expect radio pap may get bored, but the public's short attention span is not a fault of the Dead. In fact, it is a testament to the depth with which these songs are lovingly explored during 45 years of exceedingly well-documented live music.

Multiple academic programs have studied the poetry and musical legacy of the Dead and added the work of Robert Hunter, John Barlow, Robert Petersen, Peter Monk and other contributing lyricists to the literary canon.

http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/AGDL/

They are still at it, under various names. Here is a new song, played only three times so far, by 70-year old Phil Lesh, who is on his second liver and still playing strong:

Welcome to The Dance (http://www3.clearlight.com/%7Eacsa/introjs.htm?/%7Eacsa/songfile/WELCOMDA.HTM)

Maybe the dark is from your eyes....

Just because you don't get it doesn't mean it's overrated. I used to feel that way about Rush, until I saw some vintage footage and googled some lyrics.

dolores haze

12-12-2009, 04:45 AM

Oh, no! It's one of my former roomates!

*flees*

indiriverflow

12-12-2009, 01:59 PM

Oh, no! It's one of my former roomates!

*flees*

We're everywhere...we live in a bus, so we have "roommates" (people with bathrooms and/or driveways) in every town we visit, and we drive them all nuts, even other Deadheads.

What town did you say you lived in, again?:D

S.J.

12-30-2009, 09:18 PM

I do not like Michael Jackson's songs. Whenever I say that, I'm met with "WHAT?" and "You can't be serious!" and "Have you ever heard 'Billie Jean'?" Yeah, I have, but I don't like it, although I've tried to.

On the other side of things I've loved Kate Bush's music since I was twelve. Many people I know really hate her - but maybe that's just the age group I hang out with? Probably.

ChunkyC

01-01-2010, 12:09 AM

On the other side of things I've loved Kate Bush's music since I was twelve. Many people I know really hate her - but maybe that's just the age group I hang out with? Probably.
Kate Bush is incredible. Intelligent music written and performed with consummate talent and skill.

On the other hand, some folks rave about Tori Amos being oh so original when most of her stuff sounds like Kate Bush did a decade earlier. Mind you, if you're going to be derivative, you could do a hell of a lot worse than to be influenced by Ms Bush.

Celia Cyanide

05-04-2010, 02:18 AM

I just thought of one I can't stand! The Beach Boys! YUCK!!!

Chris P

05-04-2010, 02:25 AM

People are going gonzos over Kings of Leon lately, and I just don't see it. To me, their songs are boring.

My favorite 80s group was Zebra (not Zebrahead, but Zebra. Yeah. Them) and I've recently rediscovered the Moody Blues. No, I'm not cool. Never have been. Don't pretend to be.

SirOtter

05-04-2010, 05:30 AM

and I've recently rediscovered the Moody Blues. No, I'm not cool. Never have been. Don't pretend to be.

How someone whose avatar is one third of the Nairobi Trio could be not cool is beyond comprehension. And the Moody Blues are beyond cool. Cool is much too small a word and too insignificant a concept to encompass their wonderfulness.

SirOtter

05-04-2010, 05:32 AM

I do not like Michael Jackson's songs. Whenever I say that, I'm met with "WHAT?" and "You can't be serious!" and "Have you ever heard 'Billie Jean'?" Yeah, I have, but I don't like it, although I've tried to.

Divorced from the videos, they are pretty thin, aren't they? Much more presentation than substance.

poetinahat

05-04-2010, 05:46 AM

There's an Australian radio presenter who had a Musical Challenge segment to his musician interviews - he'd ask the artist to play another random song. On the show, Neil Finn did an acoustic version of Billie Jean - it was beautiful. I'm not a one-eyed Michael Jackson fan by any means - yes, plenty of his songs do nothing for me - but Billie Jean, I like a lot.

Sometimes a different artist's interpretation changes things entirely; Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time, for example, when redone by Miles Davis or Everything but the Girl - or With A Little Help from My Friends, when redone by Joe Cocker. Or, IMO, anything redone by Grace Jones.