artists you don't get

[Toshiaki Koala 0]

They're pleasant enough, but I really don't know.

[Special K 0]

Modest Mouse sucks ass in concert as well, saw them at a festival.

 

As to Supertramp, I've never met anyone who doesn't outright hate their music.

Edited December 1, 2005 by Special K

[Coffin Surfer 0]

Dream Theater-Grow a fucking pair. And this is coming from a Edguy fan.

 

Jeff Buckley-He's not bad but he was a very blah song writer. The only stand out on Grace was a cover that towers over his original material.

 

 

As far as Black Metal goes, check out the first Ulver album. If you like Agalloch their the main band that influenced them.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Dream Theater-Grow a fucking pair. And this is coming from a Edguy fan.

 

Jeff Buckley-He's not bad but he was a very blah song writer. The only stand out on Grace was a cover that towers over his original material.

 

 

As far as Black Metal goes, check out the first Ulver album. If you like Agalloch their the main band that influenced them.

Actually, Ulver are about the only Black Metal band I enjoy.

[5_moves_of_doom 0]

And yeah, John Cale was really the brains behind the Velvets, I think. Take him out of the equation (which Lou did) and you've just got vaguely edgy pop songs.

 

I don't think this statement is quite fair. The two post-Cale albums are great, in my opinion, and the reason that they resemble "vaguely edgy pop songs" has nothing to do with Cale leaving. Right around the time Cale left the group, in a Sonic-Youth-esque occurance, the band got all of their equipment (electric guitars, distortion units, amps, fuzz boxes, etc.) stolen. That's why The Velvet Underground is a much softer, reserved affair; not because Cale left the group. After that, Loaded came along, and as is widely known, that album was a very deliberate and almost sarcastic take on pop music and #1-single-material. That's why it was called Loaded -- it was "loaded" with hits.

 

Doug Yule is a total wanker, though.

 

But yes, I'd say that the contributions of Maureen, Sterling, and John are greatly underrated... but it definitely was Lou's show a lot of the time. He had a lot to do with the band's sound, and his "charging the members of the band fifty-cents every time one of them plays a blues lick" approach was a lot of what made the band so original. If you want kind of average pop songs, sometimes of the "vaguely edgy" sort, pick up Vintage Violence by John Cale. If you want an innovative, edgy and interesting piece of music, pick up Berlin by Lou Reed.

 

Don't get me wrong -- I love John Cale like any other guy, and he definitely had an effect on the band's sound, but going all out and calling him the Velvet Underground's "brains" simply isn't true. Especially since a lot of the songs on The Velvet Underground & Nico were written alone by Reed a little bit before he had even met any members of the group.

 

And finally, "Stephanie Says" is one of the band's weakest songs, but they also have some harmless semi-shitty throwaway songs from the Cale period, too.

Edited December 2, 2005 by 5_moves_of_doom

[Slayer 0]

Dream Theater-Grow a fucking pair. And this is coming from a Edguy fan.

Haha

[Ravenbomb 0]

I don't get The Misfits

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Ooh, good one.

 

Some of the early Danzig stuff is fun, I find, but I will never get why there's such a cult following. Horror movies are fine when they're horror movies, but music that just isn't very scary or gory along those themes does nothing for me.

 

When I think horror movie, I'm thinking porngore death.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Modest Mouse - what on earth do people see in this band to love them so much?

Generally? Good songwriting. They were once the best sometimes-frantic/yelping indie rock band out there, outside of Pavement. Their music is very often the sound of desperation, but they do a lot of beautiful pop songs too. Specifically? Their earlier albums, This is a Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About, Building Nothing Out Of Something, and especially The Lonesome Crowded West. If someone's working off their mediocre live shows of late and just the most recent album, which is at best decent with a few high points, then I agree that he'd have little reason to love them. The back catalogue's fantastic, though, and I think that's where a lot of people--myself included--got hooked.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Ooh, good one.

 

Some of the early Danzig stuff is fun, I find, but I will never get why there's such a cult following. Horror movies are fine when they're horror movies, but music that just isn't very scary or gory along those themes does nothing for me.

 

When I think horror movie, I'm thinking porngore death.

 

When you say "Early Danzig stuff", do you mean his entire career (including the Misfits & Samhain) or just his Danzig (the band) stuff?

[The Czech Republic 0]

I don't get how Tindersticks aren't more popular. In fact, some of my friends think they're awful. I'll concede that Stuart Staples's voice can be a polarizing element, but they're all outstanding musicians and do an exemplary job of painting a picture with their music. Some of Simple Pleasure is a little jarring, because they were overdoing the soul factor (HANDCLAPS?!?) but there are so very many perfect songs. Maybe actually having a musical background helps one appreciate them.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Ooh, good one.

 

Some of the early Danzig stuff is fun, I find, but I will never get why there's such a cult following. Horror movies are fine when they're horror movies, but music that just isn't very scary or gory along those themes does nothing for me.

 

When I think horror movie, I'm thinking porngore death.

 

When you say "Early Danzig stuff", do you mean his entire career (including the Misfits & Samhain) or just his Danzig (the band) stuff?

 

I meant the Misfits specifically, Danzig's time in the group. I loved Danzig the band when I was 15, so I know why people like him.

[Black Lushus 0]

Kiss is a group I have never been able to get into...

[The Czech Republic 0]

There's nothing to get with KISS.

[Matt Young 0]

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but KISS is 99% about image, rather than the music. Their music is mediocre... not bad, but nothing special either.

[BUTT 0]

I've never liked KISS, and I like that kind of music. I just don't enjoy their melodies.

[Coffin Surfer 0]

I always found the Misift era Danzig's approach to the horror themes to be one of their most unique and appealing qualities. His lyrics and vocal delivery treated the material with such emotional sincerety that these absurd songs came off more passionate and honest than some artist's most personal inward works. As silly as some of the songs were they never come off as tounge in cheek or camp, you end up taking them seriously. Just listen to something like "Horror Business", where Danzig delivers the Psycho inspired lyrics with such exhausting desperation that you get the impression that he's treating the Norman Bates character as seriously as Anthony Perkins did without every coming off cheesy, it's an incredible accomplishment really. Or even in a song like "Skulls" where the horror isn't in the gore but the way he convincingly sings the lyrics.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Forgive me for stating the obvious, but KISS is 99% about image, rather than the music. Their music is mediocre... not bad, but nothing special either.

You'd think a band with demonic face paint and rumored to be "Knights in Satan's Service" would be, y'know, more evil than "AND PARTY EV-ER-Y DAY!"

[Anorak 0]

I'll concede that Stuart Staples's voice can be a polarizing element,

 

That's always the complaint I hear concerning Tindersticks. I've read more than a few snidey comments about Stuart Staples voice by some music critics.

[Ravenbomb 0]

The Grateful Dead. I haven't heard one song from them that I like. Why the crap are/were they so popular?

[The Czech Republic 0]

The Grateful Dead. I haven't heard one song from them that I like. Why the crap are/were they so popular?

Drugs? No life?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I've done tons of both and never liked the Dead, though I did pass out face first in mud prior to their performing, then flipped the fuck out, went charging across a muddy field and stared at a wet tarp flapping in the wind for a few hours. Then Ween and Primus went on and I was alright. Tripping balls, but alright..

[nl5xsk1 0]

The Grateful Dead. I haven't heard one song from them that I like. Why the crap are/were they so popular?

Drugs? No life?

 

I'm not a huge fan of the Dead, but I was a huge fan of other hippie bands, so I can kind of get why people like them. Very good live shows, with an evolving & ever-changing set-list and songs that are laced with improvisation, meaning that you - the listener -really don't know what to expect. (for example, I got dragged to a Billy Joel show one time, and as soon as the second set ended the fans started chanting "Piano Man", since they all knew that it was going to be the encore. Talk about anti-climactic, seeing him play the exact version of the exact song that he always played as an encore.)

 

And having said that, I'm actually a fan of about half-a-dozen Dead songs now (Eyes of the World is good, Scarlet > Fire, China > Rider). I find that I dislike most of their songs, but the ones that I like I really like.

[Slayer 0]

Speaking of the Dead, another group I don't get: Phish

[Black Lushus 0]

Speaking of the Dead, another group I don't get: Phish

 

Indeed..theyhad a concert special on one of the INHD channels and I couldn't watch more than 5 minutes of it...

[The Czech Republic 0]

songs that are laced with improvisation, meaning that you - the listener -really don't know what to expect.

 

What if I said "I expect them to uninterestingly noodle over the same two chords at about 110 bpm for like 45 fucking minutes"? I bet they wouldn't catch me off guard then! I hate jam bands, and I hate the concept of jamming. Back in my days of high school jazz combo, there was nothing worse than when we'd kill time with Mercy, Mercy, Mercy or Chameleon for like 25 minutes. Sapped the enthusiasm right out of me. At least we were all good at improvising; people whose idea of a solo is to just blaze up and down a chromatic scale are annoying. I tried to be expressive in my trumpet solos during performances, and only did the frenetic notes-for-the-sake-of-notes in rehearsals now and then to prove I knew how.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Seeing as neither band "I expect them to uninterestingly noodle over the same two chords at about 110 bpm for like 45 fucking minutes"? you probably would be wrong with your expectation. They don't take a 5 minute song and play it for 10x longer than it's written. Phish did have a stretch where they dragged some songs on for too long - I saw one show that had a 58-minute song but the song did NOT just repeat itself ad nauseum. (It was more comparable to listening to an entire thematic album than just one song.)

 

I fully recognize that someone might hate "jam bands" (and believe me, there are more that I hate than like) but the idea of hating improvisation is something that I don't get.

[Slayer 0]

Niskie likes Phish? Surprise

[nl5xsk1 0]

Niskie likes Phish? Surprise

 

Is that sarcasm?

[The Czech Republic 0]

I fully recognize that someone might hate "jam bands" (and believe me, there are more that I hate than like) but the idea of hating improvisation is something that I don't get.

There's nothing wrong with improvisation, but you gotta have the chops for it.