A Global Army of Veteran Rockers
Good artists you just don't "get"....
Like most music snobs, I usually chalk up not liking an artist to the fact that they're, well, not very good. But there are a few artists that enter another realm for me.
Artists that, if we were ever to meet over a romantic dinner, would force me to say "It's not you, it's me" right before I bolt for the door. Artists that, intellectually, I know are talented, creative and passionate, and artists that a large chunk of the rest of the world loves. But artists that i simply don't get.
I'm about to give you a list of musicians that are firmly in my blind spot: And before you respond with "Are you crazy -- so and so is awesome! You don't know what you're talking about!", let me stop you. You're right. It's my problem, not theirs. There's just something in my DNA that prevents me from enjoying these artists and that's all there is to it. So if you're a fan of any of these artists, I respect your choice. If I was born with another brain, I'm sure i'd be right there with you joining their fan clubs.
Frank Zappa -- I love the guy's persona, I love his ethos, can't stand his music. I get irritated and jumpy when I hear it. It's like drinking five Monster energy drinks and then having to sit still.
Captain Beefheart -- Over the years, I've been tempted to call "Trout Mask Replica" a case of Emperor's New Clothes. But far too many people who I trust and respect adore this record. So I'm guessing they're right and I'm wrong. But really, i find it hard to listen to. Fortunately for the Captain, he doesn't need me to seal his legacy.
The Beach Boys - Yeah, i know. I'm a douche. And hey, I like Good Vibrations and Little Deuce Coupe as much as the next guy. I just never got the whole "Brian Wilson as Genius" thing. But let me once again say -- I firmly and unfacetiously accept that he really is one and I've just missed it.
Eddie van Halen - I'll take rory gallagher any day o' the week over EVH. The whole tapping thing? i dunno -- it just never worked for me. I put Eddie in the ranks with Steve Vai, Joe Satriani,e t al. fantastically talented technical guitar players who simply don't move me. That said, Eruption really is fucking cool.
So who's on your "blind spot" list? Who do you like, respect, heck maybe even revere -- but just don't enjoy listening to?
Artists that, if we were ever to meet over a romantic dinner, would force me to say "It's not you, it's me" right before I bolt for the door. Artists that, intellectually, I know are talented, creative and passionate, and artists that a large chunk of the rest of the world loves. But artists that i simply don't get.
I'm about to give you a list of musicians that are firmly in my blind spot: And before you respond with "Are you crazy -- so and so is awesome! You don't know what you're talking about!", let me stop you. You're right. It's my problem, not theirs. There's just something in my DNA that prevents me from enjoying these artists and that's all there is to it. So if you're a fan of any of these artists, I respect your choice. If I was born with another brain, I'm sure i'd be right there with you joining their fan clubs.
Frank Zappa -- I love the guy's persona, I love his ethos, can't stand his music. I get irritated and jumpy when I hear it. It's like drinking five Monster energy drinks and then having to sit still.
Captain Beefheart -- Over the years, I've been tempted to call "Trout Mask Replica" a case of Emperor's New Clothes. But far too many people who I trust and respect adore this record. So I'm guessing they're right and I'm wrong. But really, i find it hard to listen to. Fortunately for the Captain, he doesn't need me to seal his legacy.
The Beach Boys - Yeah, i know. I'm a douche. And hey, I like Good Vibrations and Little Deuce Coupe as much as the next guy. I just never got the whole "Brian Wilson as Genius" thing. But let me once again say -- I firmly and unfacetiously accept that he really is one and I've just missed it.
Eddie van Halen - I'll take rory gallagher any day o' the week over EVH. The whole tapping thing? i dunno -- it just never worked for me. I put Eddie in the ranks with Steve Vai, Joe Satriani,e t al. fantastically talented technical guitar players who simply don't move me. That said, Eruption really is fucking cool.
So who's on your "blind spot" list? Who do you like, respect, heck maybe even revere -- but just don't enjoy listening to?
Views: 41
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Bill Roland on -
I am so in agreement with those of you who mentioned Wilco. I often wonder whether I'm reacting to the "hype" by not caring for their music. But even when I hear one of their songs on XM, for example, and I haven't yet looked to see who the artist is, I don't like what I hear. For me, if I want to hear that style done well (imho), I'll pull out my Petty, Byrds or Gram Parsons stuff.
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Permalink Reply by Dave C on -
I'm glad someone (MrQwerty) finally mentioned Radiohead. Fake Plastic Trees and Creep are solid 4-star songs, but everything else is off the rails. Oasis is right up there for me too.
For a more recent group, Fleet Foxes has a pretty high WTF to critical acclaim ratio.
I generally like Power Pop, but I find that most of the early groups classified as such to be fairly medicore. Big Star, Cheap Trick, Badfinger, the Raspberries... I'll take Jellyfish, Jason Falkner, Matthew Sweet, Fountains of Wayne and Splitsville any day.
And for those keeping score at home, +1 for Dylan, Zappa, N. Young, B. Wilson, Pixies, and the Dead (who were more about the who scene than the music, can ya dig?)
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Permalink Reply by Andy S on -
Love the ones you'd take "any day" - right on the money. Badfinger and Raspberries good for two or three songs each. Gotta disagree with you in a major way on Cheap Trick. The older I get, the more I love them, in fact, way more than I did as a kid in their hey day. When I "re-discovered" them a couple years ago, I didn't realize what I had missed in the 70's.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Van Gorden on -
PAVEMENT
michael
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Permalink Reply by Thomas Cruz on -
I like Pavement well enough, but any band with the lyric "Lies and betrayals...Fruit cup of nails" is fighting an uphill battle with me.
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Permalink Reply by Julie Jurrjens on -
My short list:
Post-Syd Pink Floyd: It's like being at a party when Debbie Downer enters the room.
Springsteen: There are times when I admire him lyrically, but for the most part find he sounds like he's just herniated something. I have a very difficult time with listening. This was only exacerbated by "Born in the USA".
Zappa: Liked him as a character, curmudgeon, Flo and Eddie advocate and so on, but just can't listen to him for long.
OK, I'm expecting a verbal thrashing for this from the guys, but... KISS.
Yes, yes, I know the fire, the costumes, the swagger, the bass shaped like an axe... But the tunes, the playing? Meh.
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Permalink Reply by Stu Pope on -
Kiss always seemed to me like more of a Saturday morning cartoon than a band – but I later realized I really liked "Deuce" when I heard Redd Kross cover it live back in the '80s. Other than that, I've got to admit I enjoy hearing "Beth" (a guilty pleasure, to be sure) on the radio, but what a bummer the band has now ERASED Peter Criss' vocals and replaced them with somebody else's. That's just wrong.
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Permalink Reply by mike abernathy on -
Ok-I'm with Julie on Kiss-never ever got it ( you need good melodies after all) and Radiohead my goodness after The Bends what happened? And Rolling Stone declares their stuff genius. Now on to Wilco-I'm a post Yankee Foxtrot fan. Love their newer stuff. I'm With a lot of you on Clapton-Jon is right-I should but don't. After Layla--I simply don't like-If I have to hear I Shot The Sheriff Again I'll scream. I know I'll be on bad footing with many but I have never liked The Stones after their earlier (60's) output. Again as Jon said acording to all the "experts" we should but we don't. I think another discussion we could start would be bands we love but shouln't sort of our guilty pleasures. And another band I never got was Blur--I tried-I listened-I failed. There are so many of these Jon--What great link.
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Permalink Reply by Thomas Cruz on
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Mike, I come in peace bearing this gift of melody:
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Permalink Reply by mike abernathy on
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That is very funny-I respect your opinion.
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Permalink Reply by Mr. In Between on -
Great one! One of my favorites since I was a kid!
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Permalink Reply by Robert Stanley on -
For me, the following are highly overrated and I don't care if I ever hear anything else by them. Not saying some good things haven't been done. For the most part, this is just a list of the obvious ones to me. There are a lot more that I try not to think about.
U2 - Not as important as Bono apparently thinks. In a dead era, they defaulted to the heights.
Stevie Ray Vaughan - No doubt he was good, but not overly good. Unfortunately, the mystique of death has done this to many music artists over the years. He may have risen to the position some people hold him at had he lived. I wish he did. He was good for the cowboy hat industry though.
Paul McCartney - He has become a poster child for "Why work hard to do something relevant when I played with John Lennon a long time ago?" Goes through the motions and knows someone will buy it. Not me. After hearing "Freedom" after 9/11, I knew he keeps a close eye on opportunity knocking. I should have seen it earlier with "Give Ireland Back to the Irish".
That's my view and may only be valid to me.
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