Unpopular Musical Opinions: What are Yours?

[BassTractor]

1 hour ago, leftybassman392 said:

I feel fairly sure most around here won't have the stomach for them (they're both over an hour long). No offence intended, but they require plenty of commitment to get through.

 

Over an hour of Steve Reich and over an hour of Karlheinz Stockhausen?
You just made me realise they require much less commitment from me than an hour of ClassicFM.
So really, ClassicFM is for the committed elite.
Demn elitists! 😄

[nekomatic]

Delighted to see the Derek Bailey and Stockhausen fans representing. You should check out Ruth Goller’s SKYLLA who I may get round to writing up in the gig review thread. 

[jazzyvee]

10 hours ago, Bunion said:

I take it you didn’t get on the list this year? 😳

 

 

 

 

just teasing you 😂🤣

I completely agree about the lists 

No offence taken at all. 👍🏾😂

 

[JottoSW1]

13 hours ago, BassTractor said:

 

Over an hour of Steve Reich and over an hour of Karlheinz Stockhausen?
You just made me realise they require much less commitment from me than an hour of ClassicFM.
So really, ClassicFM is for the committed elite.
Demn elitists! 😄

Try a bit of Glen Branca's music for 100 geetarz, now that takes commitment/committal, sectioning.

[Fishfacefour]

I was always underwhelmed by recordings of Glenn branca. On paper the idea sounds amazing. I've never managed to see it live though. 

 

 

[BassTractor]

7 hours ago, JottoSW1 said:

Try a bit of Glen Branca's music for 100 geetarz, now that takes commitment/committal, sectioning.

Ha! Good call. I suppressed mentioning him for the sake of attempted brevity.
See below.

 

 

1 hour ago, Fishfacefour said:

I was always underwhelmed by recordings of Glenn branca. On paper the idea sounds amazing. I've never managed to see it live though. 

Must say the same, without the word "always".
I loved the ideas, liked the music initially, but that soon faded - giving me thoughts about lacking meat to chew on. This is mid 80s, so things may have changed since.
Similarly with Henryk Górecki's Symphony no. 3 "of Sorrowful Songs", which I loved right away but which soon became one negative answer to the question: "Can you compose emptiness and still write a good composition?". 

This thread has led my thoughts to areas where brevity becomes an impossibility, but I'll attempt it anyway:
Why do I love really old blues and love BB King, but can't listen to Freddie King?
Why do I love honky tonk and some C&W/Country rock (some Carrie Underwood,  Dixie Chicks,  Lady A,  Little Big Town etc.) whilst strongly disliking most of the styles?

I think part of the answer is in having sensitivities for certain aspects of the songs, and another part, with certainty, is that I don't expect Mozart's 42nd symphony from Taylor Swift.

Taste? Has to do with it, I think, but to me seems overrated.

One thing I do know: today I might "need" to hear Taylor Swift, and tomorrow it might be Iannis Xenakis.
A friend of mine exclusively listens to the Grateful Dead. I like them, but that sounds like a prison to me.
 

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by BassTractor

[FinnDave]

48 minutes ago, BassTractor said:

A friend of mine exclusively listens to the Grateful Dead.

At last, a post I understand!

[Quilly]

I'm approaching 50 and I still think that some of the indie bands from the 80s and 90s are overrated sacred cows and that there's great alternative music around now, if people just got off their butts to try and find it, and there's no excuse now with Spotify and what not.    

Edited May 30, 2022 by Quilly

[FinnDave]

9 minutes ago, Quilly said:

I'm approaching 50 and I still think that some of the indie bands from the 80s and 90s are overrated sacred cows and that there's great alternative music around now, if people just got off their butts to try and find it, and there's no excuse now with Spotify and what not.    

I'm in my mid 60s and couldn't name a single band from the 80s or 90s of any genre.

[BigRedX]

11 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

I'm in my mid 60s and couldn't name a single band from the 80s or 90s of any genre.

 

I'm only a few years younger than you and IMO that opinion is nothing to be proud of if you call yourself a musician.

[neepheid]

15 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

I'm in my mid 60s and couldn't name a single band from the 80s or 90s of any genre.

 

You've never heard of U2?  I'm looking to build a nuclear bunker, are you finished with the rocks you've been hiding under?  They seem to be impenetrable!

 

[Dad3353]

23 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

I'm only a few years younger than you and IMO that opinion is nothing to be proud of if you call yourself a musician.

 

For those decades I was out playing in variety bands, and didn't listen to UK radio. I consider myself to be a (modest...) musician, and could name no bands from that era, either. On the other hand, I could reel off a list of certainly 50, maybe more, classical composers, most of whom I listen to and appreciate often. Not everyone attends clubs, discos, raves, parties and such. My own listening, at the time, was either my own, and my groups', compositions, or West Coast acid stuff, Brazilian sambas, 'typique' music from the West Indies and African tribal stuff. I cannot name one single Japanese band, either. The World is a very wide range of stuff, and UK 'indie' is only a speck of what's out there. 

Edited May 30, 2022 by Dad3353

[FinnDave]

33 minutes ago, neepheid said:

 

You've never heard of U2?  I'm looking to build a nuclear bunker, are you finished with the rocks you've been hiding under?  They seem to be impenetrable!

 

I've heard of them, but couldn't say which decade they are from.

[FinnDave]

39 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

 

I'm only a few years younger than you and IMO that opinion is nothing to be proud of if you call yourself a musician.

I didn't say I was proud of it, nor did I say I was ashamed. It is a simple statement of fact. I see no need to keep up with the current fashion.

[neepheid]

8 minutes ago, FinnDave said:

I've heard of them, but couldn't say which decade they are from.

 

In that case, I shall pass on these rocks and look elsewhere - they don't seem as solid as I first thought, thanks anyway

 

Please excuse my sense of humour, sometimes I just can't help myself.  One person's droll is another person's "who is this gobs#!te"?

[xgsjx]

1 hour ago, Quilly said:

I'm approaching 50 and I still think that some of the indie bands from the 80s and 90s are overrated sacred cows and that there's great alternative music around now, if people just got off their butts to try and find it, and there's no excuse now with Spotify and what not.    

I have to say, I agree. Many of the indie albums were 2-3 ok songs & the rest was poor quality filler.

 

Paul Weller’s solo stuff is meh. 

[Quilly]

35 minutes ago, xgsjx said:

I have to say, I agree. Many of the indie albums were 2-3 ok songs & the rest was poor quality filler.

 

Paul Weller’s solo stuff is meh. 

Yes and the fact that the LPs and CDs at the time were £15-20ea (which is really expensive in 1990s prices) meant that you probably told yourself that these were great albums...because the "musos" in NME told you that they were. Many a mediocre band was made on the whims of fickle journalists and many great bands were too often overlooked.  

[zbd1960]

2 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

For those decades I was out playing in variety bands, and didn't listen to UK radio. I consider myself to be a (modest...) musician, and could name no bands from that era, either. On the other hand, I could reel off a list of certainly 50, maybe more, classical composers, most of whom I listen to and appreciate often. Not everyone attends clubs, discos, raves, parties and such. My own listening, at the time, was either my own, and my groups', compositions, or West Coast acid stuff, Brazilian sambas, 'typique' music from the West Indies and African tribal stuff. I cannot name one single Japanese band, either. The World is a very wide range of stuff, and UK 'indie' is only a speck of what's out there. 

Have to agree. This has been an interesting thread for numerous reasons. I became 'classical only' around age 10, maybe 11.... Started with mainstream classical/romantic composers (usual suspects). Apart form odd bits of Mahler, Richard Strauss, Stravinsky, I always struggled with C20th composers in those days. I moved earlier to the baroque through late teens and twenties.

 

Move on a bit more and early music - renaissance and medieval start to become key. More C20th is slowly added over the years. The big change comes in my 30s when I start singing lessons and performing in concerts which exposes me to a much larger repertoire.

 

Around this time I start to be interested in some jazz and some New Age music.

 

I have not listened to 'pop' / chart music since about 1970. I am 'aware' of the names of various bands, I might have heard various pieces, but I tend to not have a clue about them.

 

It's a conversation point between my bass teacher and myself when whatever piece we're working on for 'Rock School' I'll have either never heard of it, or I might recognise it, but no idea what it's called or who wrote it...

 

Music is a large universe and we can't know everything. Is it odd that I'm not familiar with some popular genres/bands of the last 40 years? Perhaps, but we're all different and I'm an individual.     

[Barking Spiders]

5 hours ago, Quilly said:

I'm approaching 50 and I still think that some of the indie bands from the 80s and 90s are overrated sacred cows and that there's great alternative music around now, if people just got off their butts to try and find it, and there's no excuse now with Spotify and what not.    

 Hmm I'm just over 50 and have got off my butt to find interesting recent and current indie/alt rock and to my ears most of it sounds derivative of post-punk/indie/alt rock bands of the 80s ands 90s. That said, I agree that many of the 'sacred cows' are overrated and not as good as many less celebrated ones from that era.

Edited May 30, 2022 by Barking Spiders

[Barking Spiders]

The problem I have with western classical music culture is that many of its followers  often refer to it as 'art music' which is gag inducingly pretentious. I've also heard and read many also claiming it's superior to all other music, which is both elitist and ignorant as I bet most haven't given say 'classical' Chinese, Indian or Indonesian music a fair crack of the whip

[Stub Mandrel]

I got a bit distressed on Sunday when my partner couldn't understand why this is a perfect pop song...

 

Strange, as we have most of our musical taste in common.

 

 

[Dad3353]

Contrast, compare and comment...

 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

There's also this of course:

 

 

But I don't think there's actually a bad version out there...

[Greg.Bassman]

I’m tried of hearing about the beatles… there I said it. Some nice tunes, but for f*ck sake, there was more to the 60’s than those guys! 😝😉

[Mykesbass]

4 hours ago, Greg.Bassman said:

I’m tried of hearing about the beatles… there I said it. Some nice tunes, but for f*ck sake, there was more to the 60’s than those guys! 😝😉

Popular opinion with me, but I know we are in a minority.