Bands / Solo artists that are famous but you can't understand why.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

Here's a start-
Creed - Watered down Pearl Jam with messianic tendencies
Staind - All those miserable 'mom I wet myself' bands
Robbie Williams (not famous in North America, thankfully) - I just don't get it.

and some Canadians
Nickleback - awful meat and potatoes rock
Barenaked Ladies - They had a joke, it was funny, but that was 1992.

[Loonman]

1. Guided by Voices

Robert Pollard once claimed he could write an album a day.

After hearing his band, I believe it.

:evilgrin:

[CanuckAmok]

34. Hear Hear!

I have a friend who is a GBV fanatic, and everytime he comes over, he insists on subjecting us to GBV and Liz Phair.

Like it's his personal mission to convert us, or something.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

41. They're one of those Cult bands, emphasis on Cult.

[RandomKoolzip]

50. You people are insane.

GbV is the logical successor to the mantle of the Beatles, the Who, the Replacements, and any other great melodic rock band of the last thirty years. Who would you choose over them- Radiohead?!?! Don't make me fucking laugh.

Grow some ears, guys. Pollard IS a genius. If his voice doesn't hook you, you just don't like rock music.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

51. Your post seems to confirm my Cult Hypothesis.

But then, I don't like rock music, apparently.

[Loonman]

55. Pollard couldn't spit shine Westerberg's shoes

Puh-leeze....

:crazy:

[RandomKoolzip]

58. None have you have ever seen this band live.

If I'm part of a cult, good. I'd rather be part of a a small audience who appreciates good rock music than a mass audience of people jerking themselves off over Thom Yorke's miserable whining.

[Loonman]

60. Yes, I have

I kept wondering when they were going to either tune their instruments or play a different song.

[RandomKoolzip]

63. All their songs are incredibly short, and they play about 45-50 of 'em

in concert. Pollard has charisma and talent pouring out of him, and is the best frontamn since David Lee Roth. And that voice...Jesus, how could you not love that voice?!?!


And as far as tuning their instruments, ever seen "Woodstock" lately? The same criticism could be levelled at all of those bands.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

66. Best frontman since David Lee Roth?

I thought every frontman since David Lee Roth was better than him.

[RandomKoolzip]

68. I suppose you'd prefer some painfully shy wastrel who looks at his shoes

while he performs, and pretends to be consumed with the sadness of the world. Fuck that nonsense! I like stuff that kicks ass, that's just my personal preference. I have no time for the pretention of the "introvert rock" movement. If I pay money to see a band, I want to see a frontman doing high kicks, jumping around, twirling the mike, communicating to the audience, y'know, hamming it up, having a good time, showing charisma and a sense of humor. Rock has been too dour for too long.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

69. Didn't you just describe Guided By Voices?

Bunch of amateur has-been forty-somethings hammering away at something they hope is approaching the vicinity of a tune?

[RandomKoolzip]

71. No, I didn't.

I just described the Cure.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

73. I rather liked The Cure myself. Great Pop Songs.

Now there was a fella that could write a tune.

[Loonman]

75. Pollard suffers for his art, now it's your turn!

:freak:

[RandomKoolzip]

77. Ha.

Mr. Byron, I believe we're just going to have to agree to disagree here. Truce?

[Screaming Lord Byron]

78. I don't take offence, I was having fun there. Truce it is.

[Cooley Hurd]

127. I love both GBV and the Cure, but for different reasons...

I love The Cure because Disintegration is the most powerful "sum-total" album I've ever heard. I love GBV because they're a great guitar band and Pollard, love him or hate him, is an excellent writer...

[RandomKoolzip]

57. Radiohead.

It seems like people are patting themselves on the back for being so "daring" as to listen to music so fucking dreary, unrocking, and a-melodic as Radiohead. Funny that these people see Radiohead as so extreme; it's as if they purposefully limit their music purchases to only those CDs on major labels. C'mon people, wake up, Radiohead sucks.

Other musicians whose appeal I simply cannot understand:

Bruce Springsteen (100% cliche, the most offensive purveyor of "Baseball Rock" I can imagine)

Nine Inch Nails (funny how people always complain about "whiny rock stars" but seem to have a lot of time to humor Trent Reznor, who to me seems the absolute paragon of a whiny rock star; plus this man has done more than anyone to turn our nation's youth against Rock Music played on real instruments except maybe Prince)

50 Cent (is this guy a musician or a pro wrestler? An entire career based on how "street" one can be; oh, wonderful)

Jay-Z (see above; why the youth think that listening to some guy talking about his jewelry and the rims on his tires is interesting I'll never grasp)

REM (just stop putting out records, guys, please..your day is over, just admit it. Haven't made a good record since 1983 yet insist on keeping their name in the press; plus, have you seen a more dour collection of pseudo-profound pusses in your life? oh, wait, this brings us back to Radiohead....)

Any Rap-Metal (this was an original, if very limited and novelty-anchored idea in 1987, when Anthrax put out "I'm the Man." continuing the joke is like watching your best friend in junior high still trying to fit into the same clothes he wore 20 years ago)

Coldplay (again, why do people think the only music being made is on major labels?)

Liz Phair (great, you're horny and you can't sing. So am I, and I'm certainly not making any money off of it!)

DJ Shadow (I think we can extend this to anyone whose first name is "DJ." may turntablism burn on the scrappile of musical history, and fast)

Third Eye Blind (The ultimate paragons of "nyah nyah nyah rock." All of their melodies ound like playground taunts.)

The Dandy Warhols (see Coldplay. If they're so innovative, why are they on a major label? Whiny, insufferable trendy bullshit. Plus their band name is awful)

Tori Amos (does anyone else find audible panting btween words TOTALLY annoying? Ugh. An entire career based on "passion." Oh, fucking spare me!)

Morrissey (grow up. There are people with legitimate problems in this world. Kids starving in appalachia. Terminal cancer patients. Rwandans. And we're supposed to believe you, a priveliged, handsome white guy, have a legitimate reason to be so sad? Just go away. And Johnny Marr is the most overrated guitarist since....)

U2 (I still don't understand the appeal of these guys. I've never found their music moving, exhilerating, or even interesting. And the Edge (ha) can't play.)

Flame me at your own peril, mortals!

[ProfessorGAC]

80. Hey RKZ! I Admire Your Courage

I've never been a fan of Springsteen, and i never understood quite why he got so huge and so respected, in such a hurry. (I get the respect thing, now, since longevity is something that engenders respect in music, and that makes sense to me.)

I've always been afraid to express my disaffection for Bruce, since his fans are too rabid and would be most displeased to me. It's not worth the fight.

But, i will admit i too, don't understand why he is considered a poet. I don't dislike him, either musically or personally, but i don't get the worship he receives. I think his stuff is more listenable now, actually, since it's less bombastic and it isn't overproduced anymore.

But, the early stuff just never caught my ear as anything other bar band deluxe.
The Professor

[Screaming Lord Byron]

81. "Born to Run" is great, the rest I can take or leave it.

[RandomKoolzip]

83. It's the politics.

Nobody wants to be seen as dissing the working class. As a member of the working class (My family has never earned more than 30,000 dollars a year collectively, postal workers, librarians, cooks, musicians, etc.) I can't say that Springsteen speaks for me.

I've always found his music drab and overblown at the same time, like a broadway musical as directed by John Steinbeck. I just don't get the worship of the guy. It's pure "Baseball Rock."

[Braden]

56. you summed up GBV in two lines!

[brainshrub]

2. Celine Dion

I hate her chest-thumping melodramatic posturing. She doesn't have a real job, so she should stop trying to make it look hard.
A true pro makes the impossible look easy.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

48. There is something deeply sinister about Celine.

[dolo amber]

85. I think

Celine Dion belongs to the same "I used to have a willie, ask me anything!" club as Ann the Man. :D

Tori Amos is THE. SINGLE. MOST. HORRIBLE. WRETCHED. VILE. OVERRATED. UNTALENTED. SELF ABSORBED. THING. EVER.

*ahem*

Sorry.

Also, GBV OWNS, so shut it you. :P

[sendero]

93. Well....

.... I don't know about THE MOST, cuz there is a plethora of candidates from which to choose.

But watching her on a video the other night I was struck with something I'd never noticed before... and that is that she is a total and complete Kate Bush clone. Her vocal style is KB exactly and her physical presence even echoes KB.

I think KB has done some really great stuff in the past, but we don't need two of her.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

94. You never noticed that before?

That's her whole thing!

[blondeatlast]

103. EGGZACTLY! Thanks.

[Philostopher]

125. She started her career ripping off Kate Bush

Right after 'Y Tori Kant Read' -- her hair metal, leather and artistically ripped jeans album, which flopped bigtime because ... I don't know why, I admit I never listened to it. But I'm guessing it might just have failed because singing true songs about being abused by the men in your life didn't sit too well with the people who bought the preponderance of hair metal albums -- i.e., guys. Her fans pretend like it didn't exist, and they go all gooey when you tell them she's just ripping off Kate Bush -- 'oh, but Kate doesn't mind! Isn't imitation the sincerest form of flattery?' So they say, but plagiarism gets lots of people sued every year in that industry, and I think Kate should kill her agent for missing an opportunity.

I'd have let her off the hook, but she still swears in interviews that she hadn't heard any of Kate's stuff when she started ripping her off. I could give her a bye if she'd admitted any part of it, but she outright refuses to admit she even knew who Kate was when she started doing Kate's shtick almost note for note, right down to the bodysuits and the red hair.

I had a friend once who liked Kate Bush well enough, and female singers, but he said he couldn't listen to Tori Amos. Not, interesting enough, because he didn't like the songs but 'because I just have this feeling that she hates me. Not just that she hates men -- I get the feeling she hates me, in particular.'

[blondeatlast]

102. THANKYOU GOD! I thought I was the only one who couldn't stand

Tori Amos.

Edit: Basically the so-called "alternative" Celine Dion. 'Nuff said.

[RandomKoolzip]

114. Hey, thanks for the support on the GbV front....

A Salty Salute to you, Dolo Amber!

[demnan]

3. Mine (dated to my generation)

Cher - never could sing worth a damn and wasn't pretty either
Barry Manilow - too corny for anybody but my sister-in-law
Almost anybody in the 90s on or late 70s (but then I'm an old fart, did like some of the groups in the 80s though).

On edit: Britney Houston - sings every song in the same way in the same key. You can't tell me how great she is, just don't see it.

[politicat]

31. Britney Houston!!!! ROFLMGDAO!!!!!

Tho it sums up all that is wrong with women's pop music!!!!

Thanks for making my day!

Politicat

[Dees]

49. Britney is a product of some very

sophisticated recording software called Pro Tools. It's amazing what you do with a monotone, off key, gravel voiced, no talent artist.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. I Don't Have Time For A List That Long

Your list is a good start, but there's lots of others.

I'll give you one, and then get off this post before i really start wasting time.

I don't get The Black Crows, at all. I liked that band when they were called The Faces!
The Professor

[Philostopher]

13. I've said that about them before, too.

At least Steve Marriott is dead.

I can't figure out what the fascination is with the Strokes. They sound to me like a mediocre pastiche of early Stones and Velvet Underground, two bands I will credit for their influence but never really enjoyed listening to all that much.

[ProfessorGAC]

20. The Whole "Garage" Thing Escapes Me, Too

I don't dislike "White Stripes" and so they're probably the best of the crowd, but it's all so derivative and sloppy.

I'm not an adherant to the theory that polish means lack of soul or that slick means it doesn't rock. That's horsehockey. So, i'd agree on the Strokes. I've heard much more polished bands that had more energy, so the appeal escapes me.
The Professor

[Screaming Lord Byron]

24. Ooh, The White Stripes, I'd forgotten about them.

They just reek of hype, and I don't like their lack of a bass player.

[CanuckAmok]

36. You mean "The White Hypes"? n/t

[Khephra]

45. I missed out on the recent "garage" thing

But I discovered the White Stripes quite by accident. Maybe because I missed the hype, or maybe it's because they seem to enjoy playing music so much every time I've seen them...:shrug: but I can't get enough of them.

[RandomKoolzip]

59. Yeah, sure they lack a bass player, but at least they fucking rock!

And Meg White is a kick-ass drummer.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

70. One and a half good songs, and whole albums worth of wanking.

zero originality, 100% hype.

[Loonman]

72. Aren't the White Stripes and The Strokes the same band?

They just look different on different days?



I don't know......college rock and indie wanking died a well deserved death around 1991.

[mitchum]

99. she sounds like a one-armed Moe Tucker!

and that's not a good thing

[av8rdave]

108. Yeah, but some of the earlier garage stuff was great

Meat Puppets, Live, Goo Goo Dolls (in their earlier years, Alice in Chains....

It's all subjective anyway.

av8rdave

[Capn Sunshine]

101. hey prof, they were also Humble Pie!

[BigMcLargehuge]

5. Hey I like Robbie Williams!

I just ripped his two stateside CDs to my iTunes playlist. He's far more interesting that dorks like Clay Aiken and the rest of those American Idol goobers.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

6. Yeah, Robbie is better than Clay.

Although, that is like saying a Big Mac is better that Rat Poison. Williams has this whole arrogant smugness that just makes me want to hit him repeatedly with large blunt objects

[BigMcLargehuge]

8. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

As far as smug pretentious asswipe musicians goes I vote to save some of that blunt objectness for:

Sting
everyone in Oasis
That twit who sings for Jamiroquai

[Screaming Lord Byron]

9. I wholeheartedly concur.

Particularly The Twat in the Hat from Jamiroquai

[rjbcar27]

10. JK is cool

Anyone who has a deep seated love for fast cars is OK by me.

[info being]

15. Jamiroquai is good

.

[blondeatlast]

104. Sting. God, oh God, Sting. BARF!

Can someone please put US out of our misery???

They worst part of the Police becomes the worst part of everything.

[ronnykmarshall]

54. He's also hot!

[vi5]

7. I'll agree with all of those but with 2 clarifications...

1)I Like Robbie Williams. He's not a genius but he has a decent enough sense of a pop hook and doesn't take himself too seriously. But again, maybe that is because I'm American and he's not too big here.

2)I do understand why the other bands are big. Because the american record buying public are morons.

[Oberst Klink]

11. Huey Lewis and the News

Did this guy make a pact with Satan, or what?

[vi5]

12. I always thought that until I saw his Behind The Music...

And he seems like he totally had/has his success in perspective and regards himself as the luckiest bar band leader ever.

I still don't understand how they became famous, but I can't say I begrudge him the success that they had given that they all just seem to love playing with each other and know how lucky they are.

[Red_Storm]

22. Definitely........

Oasis - thank god they had very little success here in the U.S.

The Spice Girls - ...............

American Idol - the CD's are selling in the millions.....why ?

Kid Rock - ??????????

[Red_Storm]

47. hey come on now ...........

I know I wasn't the only one that was feelin "Heart Of Rock n Roll" back in the 80's :D

[info being]

14. Robbie isn't that bad

Out of the one's you listed, he stands out as someone who doesn't fit on your list. Have you seen any of his live performances?

[Screaming Lord Byron]

19. Whenever I see him, I just get this uncontrollable urge to slap him.

I really can't help it, something about the guy makes me want to commit acts of massive violence against him. So I may be biased. It's my list, I'm sure everyone has their own personal list, which I'd probably disagree with massively, music being the subjective beast it is.

[BigDaddyLove]

16. I like the Barenaked Ladies..................

I do however wonder how Kiss is still on the radar.

[info being]

17. there are way too many to list

I'd say that 90% of the Top 100, at any given time, fall into that category.

[Cat Atomic]

18. Lenny Kravitz

He seems like he's doing a bad Hendrix/Marley impersonation.

[Redleg]

74. Kravitz is not all that bad but he "ain't all that" either.

I'll give him some credit. There are a lot of other bands I like less than him.

[mitchum]

100. He's a hack...a mulatto Steve Miller

[blondeatlast]

105. HA! You nailed it!

[Blue-Jay]

21. OK, I'll say it..... RADIOHEAD!

What's so damn great about 'em, aside from their ability to depress me? I guess I just don't "get it". They don't suck or anything, they're just unremarkeable.

Oh, and Creed sucks.

[Meshuga]

25. Boo!!!

Radiohead is the only band that matters! The rest all sound the same.

My wife also doesn't like Radiohead because it depresses her. She appreciates the musical talent and the unique sound though.

[RandomKoolzip]

62. LOL!

"Unique sound!" That's quite hilarious...

[Red_Storm]

26. "What's so damn great about them"

1. the songs
2. the songwriting
3. the musicianship
4. creativity
5. great live performances


and yes Creed does suck

[RandomKoolzip]

61. Oh please....

What "songs" are we talking about? THe last halfway decent Radiohead song was "Electioneering."

What songwriting? Heres' a challenge: go into the shower, sing in a loud whisper with lots of vibrato, have a rinky-dink, glacially paced "atmospheric" synth track in the background, and make sure everyhing goes REAL SLOW. Voila! You've just become Radoiohead!


God, I can't wait till people drop this "Radiohead is the only band that matters" nonsense. You're all unwitting dupes for the record industry....

[Red_Storm]

79. What songs ?

well hater, don't even know why I bother responding but in the majority of their albums you'll find lots of great songs, songs that rock,that are melodic, that are inventive, that have lots of feeling,..........

Songwriting ?

The Bends or OK Computer



I've been lucky enough to see the group live, what an experience, they are even better in concert, very gifted musicians and they rocked the house !!!!


So name some of your favorite groups, lets see which groups you think are good......go ahead.....

[RandomKoolzip]

86. A list?

Okay, you asked for it...

Karate
Sleater-Kinney
Forget Cassettes
The Features
Ben Folds Five
Soul-Junk
The Soft Boys
The BellRays
The Wrens
Pere Ubu
The Minutemen
Husker Du
Joe Jackson
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
The Misfits
Toots and the Maytals
Lotion
Jellyfish
Jason Falkner
The Greys
New Bomb Turks
The Hollies
76% Uncertain
The Coup
The Dismemberment Plan
The Stereo
American Music Club
Shudder to Think
Jawbox
Burning Airlines
Lydia Lunch
Black Flag
The Zombies
The Shins
Bongwater
Hatfield and the North
Slapp Happy
King Crimson
The Kinks
Steeleye Span
Fairport Convention
The Flying Lizards
Lora Logic
Van Der Graaf Generator
Graham Parker
Black Sabbath
Senator Flux
Truth and Janey
The Faces
Split Enz
Squeeze
Sparks
All
Ruth Ruth
New Bad Things
El-p
THe Roots Radics Band
Ornette Coleman
Defunkt
XTC
King Sunny Ade
Fela
Bad Brains
Elliot Sharp
Five-Eight
Mission of Burma
The Replacements
Marvin Gaye
Verbal Assault
Lightning Bolt
Soixante Etages
Television
James Brown
The Frogs
Zumpano
The New Pornographers
The Germs
New Rob Robbies
The Saints
Moondog
Can
Guru Guru
The Pretty Things
The Motors
The Boredoms
The Numbers Band
Soft Machine
Robert Wyatt
Egg
National Health
Captain Beefheart
Todd Rundgren
Y. Bhekhirst
The Shaggs
Open Mind
The Smoke
The Byrds
The Magnolias
Roxy Music
Gentle Giant
Procol Harum
Government Issue
Squirrel Bait
Pell Mell
Tortoise
Sea and Cake
Nig-Heist
Monks of Doom
MDC
Alice Cooper
The Scientists
The Incapacitants
KK Null
White Heaven
Hampton Grease Band
Nurse With Wound
Rocket From the Crypt
Rocket From the Tombs
Chainsaw Kittens
Cheap Trick
Jesus Lizard
Superchunk
The Grifters
The New Constitution
The Decemberists
Mineral
Ngativland
Chisel
Ted Leo/Pharmacists
Glass Eye
K. McCarty
Shirk Circus
The Who
Skeleton Crew
Ricjhard Thompson
Bazooka
Wire
Motorhead
The Jam
Slovenly
The Dead Kennedys
Meat Puppets
Saccharine Trust
The MElvins
Alternative TV
TV PErsonalities
Felt
This Heat
The Only Ones
Saduharu
The Gorillas
MX8 Sound
Slickee Boys
The Haskells
Dr. Feelgood
The Count Bishops
The Choir
Nick Lowe
Eddie and he Hot Rods
Brinsley Schwarz
Pink Fairies
The 101ers
Mahogany Brain
Faust
Danzig
The Creation
The Small Faces
The Big Boys
The Dicks
Royal Trux
Willie Alexander
The Suburbs
Monochrome Set
Chris Knox
Saint Vitus
x
Prefab Sprout
Nicolai Dunger
Neutral Milk Hotel
Strapping Fieldhands
God is my Co-Pilot
Amon Duul II

and about six hundred others who all collectively get less press ateention than Radiohead has gathered in the last six months.

I simply find it very odd that people limit their choices in music to whatever gets promotional pushes from major labels. Judging from everybody's posts, it seems as though the only options for listening are Radiohead, the Strokes, U2, Britney, The White Stripes, Celine Dion, Limp Bizkit and maybe two or three officially corporate-sanctioned others. People, it is a wide universe out there. There are literally thousands of other bands/artists which give me more pleasure than Radiohead. I find it odd that they get so much attention, when there so many other worthies out there. Most people just aren't very adventurous in their choices of listening material.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

87. Got to agree on Jellyfish.

There was a band that got absolutely no breaks whatsoever.

[RandomKoolzip]

88. Tell me about it!

I think power pop in general gets short shrift. People loved the Beatles, but seem to hate anybody else who sounds REMOTELY like them in any way. What is it about Beatlesque melody that pisses so many people off? I will never understand.

[sendero]

96. awright...

....now you are just showing off :)

[RandomKoolzip]

97. No, seriously, that's the list of artists I LOVE...

The list of artists I merely LIKE is a lot longer. There's a lot of great non-Radiohead music out there. And for every artist I say I hate, I can name ten that I love. So calling me a "hater" is kinda off.

[blondeatlast]

106. X, Lydia Lunch, Sparks? Wanna come over and play records

sometime?

Pere Ubu?
Alice Cooper?

Would you please get the hell out of MY brain???

Excellent taste, RKZ. Kudos.

[RandomKoolzip]

107. Baby, you can't HANDLE my record collection.....

Tee hee. I am kiddink, bebby....

Lydia Lunch is my muse. I almost made a T-shirt for myself that said "What would Lydia Lunch do?: WWLLD"

[blondeatlast]

116. God, the HOLLIES?! I could just die!

Loved 'em, even though they were slightly ahead of my time.

[RandomKoolzip]

118. Oh yeah, I've got "Carrie-Anne" on the box as we speak...

"What's your game now, can anybody play?"

Love the Hollies. Out of all the non-Beatles British Invasion bands, they're my favorites.

[Uzybone]

109. No, people just dont agree with your crap taste :)

I find it odd that they get so much attention, when there so many other worthies out there. Most people just aren't very adventurous in their choices of listening material.


Seriously one mans meat is another mans poison. People in general dont like the mostly obscure bands that you blathered in your post. Shitting on other peoples taste shows some insecurity in your own, dont you think?

I like some non popular shit myself, but damn if I say everyone else is clueless for not agreeing with me.

[RandomKoolzip]

113. Ah! Slings and arrows!

I never said everyone was "clueless:" that's putting words in my mouth. The whole thrust of my tangent was to express my befuddlement at music fans not breaking out of their self-imposed major label cocoons. Why would you want to listen to only the artists that Bertlesmann, inc, etc. says is your duty to listen to?

Radiohead, U2, etc. get a whole lot of press and radio airplay. The increasingly incestuous nature of the music business makes for a decreasing number of listening choices in the mainstream resulting in a kind of all-purpose soundalike noise being pushed by record companies. For instance, Christina Aguilera's entire career is based not in true grassroots support, but by stealth marketing. Pr legworkers at her record company deigned to give her a huge promotional push by posing as posters on music message boards and elsewhere on the net, creating a fake "buzz" about her music. This is a well-trod path for PR advertising, used since the days when beer companies used to pay "plants" to walk into bars across the nation to loudly demand their brand of beer. Enough paid hacks shouting "Ballantine, " and soon enugh, what you got s a whole bunch of people hopping on the Ballantine bandwagon in the hopes of keeping up with the crowd.

On MTV's call in show, TRL, the only calls tabulated by those operating the phones are the ones logged from record companies themselves; in essence, the radio, MTV, and mainstream press are now broadcasting nothing but payola, nothing but "bought" acts. Mostly these acts fall into a solid "pop" category, i.e. Britney, etc., but to give off the appearance of diversity, the officially-sanctioned musical acts often come in a "rock" flavor to placate those boys (and occasional gals) who demand a somewhat more aggressive muse. Often to give off the appearance of a truly "grassroots-supported" act, the record company plants stories in Rolling Stone, Spin, etc. claiming rebellious intentions on the part of the musician, ie. Radiohead's supposed "difficult" and "avant-garde" qualities, their supposed SIGNIFIGANCE and IMPORTANCE and SPOKESMEN OF A GENERATION status. This too, helps sell the act to the public, but not the mass public; the audience being sold a bill of goods here is the self-described "adventurous" listener, the "non-conformist," the kind of music fan who will pat him/herself on the back for being "hip" to the "newest" sounds and trends before they "sell out."

Remember CBS advertising slogan in the late sixties: "The man can't bust our music?" It's working all over again. And while in the case of Radiohead there are occasional bright spots of real creativity in their back catalogue (I'm thinking here of "Electioneering," specifically), the product itself is a corporate item, through and through. And when we see a Band like Radiohead change the direction of their music to incorpoarte sophisticated studio technology like ProTools, drum machines, samplers, etc. what we are seeing is a band buying credibility in the form of "experimentation" when in fact, all they are doing is making their music more impersonal, colder, to match the feelings engendered by its means of production: an Anti-Rock move.

When we see the popularity of a group like Radiohead, what we are seeing is the product of a corporation PR department working overtime. And when the media outlets are clogged with multi-page reviews and interviews of Radiohead, even, in a kind of cynical in-joke, quotes of Thom Yorke bemoaning the profusion of corporate influence in daily life (ha ha), what you also have is a press blackout for any other musical act who may be great but don't have the monetary backing of a gigantic multinational. What results is the officially chosen act gaining a mass audience while literally thousands of others are left waiting at the gate.

I think this sucks.


There is a world of music out there untouched by the realm of the corporate wolves, and it is that world I choose to partake of. If you think Betlesmann, BMG, Sony, etc. should all be richer, so be it.

By the way, you are witnessing the reason why I no longer work as a Rock Critic; I used to make a living off this stuff but I got tired of playing the corporate game at the expense of the music itself.

[mindless]

126. I personally think Puddle of Mud is for real.

I have to go to bed soon but I would like to have your thoughts on Wes Scanlon and the boys?

[RandomKoolzip]

128. Given that listening to Clear Channel radio is about as fun as getting

electric shocks to the taint, I know of only two tunes by Puddle of Mudd. And I only know that they were by Puddle of Mudd because the DJ said so. They are perfectly anonymous Clear Channel product aimed at the young male listener, able to blend in with all the other stuff by Staind, Creed, Three Doors Down, etc. The only differences I sense between any of these bands are in the vocals and dress. The bands themselves are faceless and pretty forgettable. No timbral differentiation, no variation of tempo, nothing that would make me go, "hey, that's Puddle of Mudd!"

I suggest Queens of the Stone Age if ya gotta buy major label metal; at least you can HEAR them kicking ass, in real time, and the songriting is kinda peculiar and entertaining for the genre.

What do you mean by "for real?" Yes, they exist, I agree.

[last_texas_dem]

92. Amen

On Radiohead... I sometimes think my taste in music is simply the pure and total opposite of that of the music critics'. Not just 'cause I love progressive rock, but because the only Radiohead I have any use for is Pablo Honey which is a better-than-average work by a one-hit-wonder grunge band. Naturally, it's the only Radiohead album the critics find sub-par, since all the others they've released since the band seems to have forgotten what the concept of a melody is (yes, I'm being sarcastic... sort of) have been hailed as the best thing since sliced bread by the critics.

[Red_Storm]

23. and my Number 1 All Time ..............

KISS

[ProfessorGAC]

35. I Don't Care For Them Either, But. . .

. . .the question is based upon why they're famous. I understand why the masses liked them. I don't think much of them, but can understand why they became hugely popular.

I loathe Britney Spears and the whole genre from which she oozed, but i understand why that is popular. The sex draws the 13 - 17 year old boys (and the dirty old men), and the stardom (famous for being famous) is appealing to young girls. (Dreams of stardom can be reinforced by being "just like Britney" and other more subtle reasons.) So, i wouldn't put her on this list.

In Kiss's case, it's pretty easy to see why people who don't listen to music deeply or carefully would find it good, rockin' stuff and they're attempt to create the larger than life image made for marketability. So, it all makes sense. It might not be good, but it makes sense.

For me the question is, (and my example of The Black Crows), "Why does anybody find this appealing?" They're not good, the songs are derivative, they're nothing special to look at, their image is bland, and it's all been done before. I just don't get them, at all.
The Professor

[Meshuga]

27. Mya

How uninteresting is she? She should be a backup dancer on Broadway. Tops!

[Red_Storm]

28. not uninteresting at all.................

at least not to my eyes B-)

[RebelOne]

29. Counting Crows

I don't know how anyone can listen to them for too long.

[ProfessorGAC]

37. First Two Albums, Good. Last Two, Not So Good

I really liked the two major label releases (October and Desert Life). Smart lyrics, great vocal phrasings, and clean production. But, now they're just wallowing in self-importance. And, they're not that big anymore, so i'd disqualify them from my list.
The Professor

[HEyHEY]

30. excellent list I'll add

Linkin Park....actually almost the entire modern music scene

LL Cool J

[Redleg]

76. Ditto on "almost the entire modern music scene."

I haven't heard much that I have liked in modern rock, pop, alternative or whateveryouwanttocallit. A few songs here and there stand out. I guess I just ain't hip. I'm stuck with the likes of the Who, the Stones, Jimi Hendrix, the Police, the Kinks, the Beatles....

[terrya]

32. "The Dave Matthews Band"

WHY are these people famous? I just don't get it. Nothing special, IMO.

[Character Assassin]

33. Pearl Jam, the Grateful Dead, Aaron Neville, etc...

[ikojo]

112. Character Assassin you have entered dangerous

territory....

The Nevilles are awesome...I don't like Aaron Neville alone but with his brothers he is awesome.

Um....the GRATEFUL DEAD? They have worked their tail off at becoming the success they are today. They have treated their fans with respect (even when local towns do not) and don't repeat a show.

The Grateful Dead are AWESOME and worthy of respect.

Bands/Performers who are famous and should not be...
Christina Gagalueira
Britney Spears
Any of the Boy Bands
Spice Girls
Hillary Duff
Lil Kim
50 Cent and any of the gangsta rappers---I like rap but not the stuff that glorifies violence.
Almost anyone played on MTV
David Lee Roth
There are more but I wanna read more of the thread....

[Cat Atomic]

38. Even Jesus hates Creed.

That was on the t-shirts our local alternative music station was handing out last year. Har har.

[MissMillie]

39. Much of my list is pretty unpopular around here

Bob Seger

Tom Petty

Jennifer Lopez (I guess if we're just looking at her, it's not hard to understand why she's popular, but musically....?)

Britney (of course)



I'm sure I could think of others as well, but they're not coming to me right now.

[CanuckAmok]

40. My comprehensive personal list:

Creed.

Live.

Pearl Jam.

The Strokes (could be famous because daddy owns the one of the largest talent agencies in the world? Could be!).

Lenny Kravitz (rich parents, completely packaged and manufactured for MTV. Lenny is whiter than Arsenio Hall!).

The White Hypes.

Cher.

Elton John (has shown over and over that music is nothing but a commodity to him).

Grateful Dead.

Nine Inch Nails.

Linkin Park (and that whole genre of pop/rap/metal, excelt System of a Down, who are brilliant).

Dave Matthews Band (like we're supposed to know who Dave Matthews is? Nice, creative name there, guys. Sort of indicitive of your level of creativity).

Matthew Good Band (see above--Dave matthews Lite).

The Tragically Hip (worst example of pretentious lyrics since The Doors, and a mediocre, bar-band sound which, while sounding like any band doing the circuit between Pittsburgh and Buffalo, manages to stay on the air thanks to Can-Con laws).

Nickelback. (See above).

Barenaked Ladies.

Crashtest Dummies (is there some sort of stupid name quota for Canadian bands?!).

Oasis.

Phish.

Boy bands.

Any female vocalist who feels it's necessary to punctuate every stanza with a full tour all over the scales which makes her sound like Maria Callas on mescaline. See Whitney Houston. See Mariah Carey. See Celine Dion. See Britney Spears. See Christina Agu-however the hell you spell it. Why do they feel that demonstating their commitment to the emotion of each song must be proven by a demonstration of their technical range? It chills me that they might sound like that during sex.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

43. Don't particularly object to anyone there. I really dislike Live.

The most pretentious band around?
I don't think the Matthew Good Band count as famous though, thankfully.
Where's Our Lady Peace - Worst.Canadian.Band.Ever.

[CanuckAmok]

46. Oh, and how could I forget Tori Amos?

OHHHHH! She's playing the piano with her legs open! Take THAT, patriarchy!

[RandomKoolzip]

65. OMG! you just made me spit water all over my keyboard!

I gotta remember that one.

[HEyHEY]

67. yes OLP sucks longer than an indian summer

that whiny shrill voice....urgh

[CanuckAmok]

91. Yay! A new bear!

Lynching Party, you may stand down. Situation resolved.

[HEyHEY]

111. yeah and this one flies!

[HEyHEY]

64. The strokes? You mean "Those guys who think they're the stooges"

I like the hip though, that's why they are called "the world's greatest bar band"

The new stuff sucks but stuff wheat kings and three pistols I always liked....funny though looking at the obviously stuck in the 80s style of the hip one would come to decide they are tragically un-hip

[ProfessorGAC]

82. Britney Has Technical Singing Skills?????

You had me, had me, lost me! I agree that there's too much oversinging and the root problem is that these women, with great vocal skills, have chosen to do really cheesy material.

So, they oversing at every little opportunity because they're compensating for the lack of artistic merit in the material itself.

We completely agree on the problem: However, Britney has no vocal skills to show. In her live performances (TV, halftime of football games, et al), she misses notes badly, has no pitch control, can't work around the beat, and can't hit two notes on the same syllable. So, you overextended your example.

Sorry, i can't let anything regarding that little twit go by without commenting on her lack of discernable talent. (Yeah, i know, i can see the medically altered chest. I guess that is her discernable talent.)
The Professor

[dwckabal]

42. A few more

Radiohead
Creed
Dave Matthews Band
Linkin Park
Limp Bizkit
P.O.D.
Tori Amos
Liz Phair
Insane Clown Posse
Eminem
Staind
Third Eye Blind
Puddle of Mud
Saliva
Sheryl Crow

ugh--now my brain hurts.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

44. Sheryl Crow - dull, dull music, yet quite the fox.

Maybe that's the secret there?

[bbernardini]

110. Everything she did after she used Kevin GIlbert was crap...

There. I said it.

[bif]

52. Wilco

Just don't get it. They're okay. But the local public radio station plays the crap out of their music.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

53. Last album wasn't up to par with Being There or Summerteeth

[Nlighten1]

84. Eric Clapton

Sorry fans of Eric but I can't listen to him.

[RandomKoolzip]

89. Yep.

There's another dude who shoulda vacated the stage eons ago. Gave up on significance after the demise of Derek and the Dominoes. The very soporific laid-backness of Clapton's output since 1973 is one of the primary reasons why Punk Rock was necessary. Fucker puts me to sleep.

[BackDoorMan]

98. Absolutely...Clapton is for people who missed the boat,

of the past, missed the sixties and early seventies and really think Clapton is hot, what a joke!

Long gone are Claptons days in the Yardbirds, John Mayall, Cream, Derek & dominoes and a hot blues band. Even back then (and now)

Listen to much more superior guitarist like Jeff Beck or Page (Yardbirds) --Peter Green (Mayall) --Jimi Hendrix’s (as opposed to Cream)-- Duane Allman (Derek and the Dominoes) --Stevie Ray Vaughn (a hot blues band).

How's it go? A Jack of all trades, a Master at none!

[Redleg]

90. Springsteen- I don't care for him but I can see why others do.

What would be a good Springsteen album to convert me? My favorite rock bands are the Who and the Rolling Stones. I like the blues, especially Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Lightnin' Hopkins, Buddy Guy, and others.

[RandomKoolzip]

95. Springsteen was and is as pretentious as Yes and Supertramp

but since rock critics were all friends and getting paid by certain record companies to push certain bands/artists in the seventies (lots of former rock critics, ie. Jon Landau gave up writing to be PR/ A&R hacks, and used this clout to strongarm company honchos to sign their friends) Springsteen was given a promotional push all out of proportion to his talent. Look at Springsteen's biographer, Dave Marsh. His wife WORKED for Bruce! I used to wonder why Springsteen was so beloved by critics, then I did some research.

Don't bother trying to suck from the dry teat of that lame Van Morrison/Woody Guthrie wanna be.

Stick with the blues.

[blondeatlast]

115. The Doors. Missed 'em the first time around, but all my

friends in the '80s swooned of Morrison. I had to keep reminding them the guy was/is/now and forever shall be

DEAD.

If someone could explain what made him sexy, I'd appreciate it. Or is it just me?

Edit: Consider my head ducked.Blame it on the haircolor if you will. Just hated them. Yecch.

[RandomKoolzip]

119. Do you have the other half of this amulet?

We seem to have a lot in common.

The Doors. Ugghh. Dreadful stuff.

Jim Morrison always reminded me of that one kid in high school who always tried to come off as dark and enigmatic and who wrote terrible poetry and wanted everybody to take him seriously. His modern equivalent would be Trent Reznor. Both are equally vacuous, yet come off as "dark poets" simply because a lot of people are really gullible.

[LastKnight]

117. my list of musical no-nos...

number one, first and foremost any modern PUNK(the pioneers like the sex pistols are ok)... no one will ever change my mind that punk is indeed the scum of the music world. just my opnion, my friends listen to punk, i could care less, as long as they dont make me try to like it or anything.

number two, alot of the post grunge nu-metal stuff (staind, creed, ect all the 'poor me' rock/metal stuff) while one cd is ok, but it all sounds the same, they should all just merge into one band and make one cd and then it would all just save us time and vh1 could save time and make only one behind the music.

and the rest i can tollerate, except country. country=bad

sorry if i offended anyone.

-LK

[bywho4who]

120. Coldplay

If this is good i'm out of the loop :shrug:





:smoke: :hippie:

[RandomKoolzip]

121. Ooooohhh...

They're not HORRIBLE, but Chris Martin's lyrics are WRETCHED!

"Look at the stars. See how they shine for you. They were all yellow."

Then he goes on to list abunch of other stuff that's "all yellow." But it's not!

[Sting]

122. Britney Spears....

other than she's hot, she has no singing talent.

[RandomKoolzip]

123. Say what you will, but....

"As always with Britney, It's all about the music."
-Adam Schlessinger of Fountains of Wayne

[BBradley]

124. Nirvana, The Doors, Radiohead, John Mayer, Creed.

Your music sucks =) deal with it.

Oh, and Dave Matthews Band has one of the best drummers in the world, so they are something special. Eat me...