What bands just don't click with you?

[bono_man2002]

REM - Aside from the hits, they have never really clicked. I'd nearly say the same about the Rolling Stones.

The Beatles - Maybe I was born in the wrong era, too late. But they've never really clicked with me.

Radiohead - I like them a whole lot, but I don't get the hype, sometimes.

Arcade Fire - Used to really dig them, but otherwise, see above response.

 

[cobl04]

Pavement. Admittedly, my dislike for Malkmus and co is more of a reaction against the endless fawning of Pitchfork, but I have tried Slanted and Enchanted three times, never having been able to get through more than three or four songs. I've also heard several other of their acclaimed songs, such as Gold Soundz, but have never been able to recall them after they have finished. Something about the way that Malkmus keeps laughing in the middle of songs, as though he is aware that the band will be over-hyped for years to come, is extremely unappealing to me. In general, I think that they are the quintessence of a band whose influence in terms of approach is much greater than the quality of their music.

I think for me, I just reckon Pavement are a pretty good band, no more, no less, really. There's certainly nothing remarkable about the music, I agree, but the some of the tunes I love are just really strong songs. They get stuck in your head quite easily. I'm singing Summer Babe right now, though I haven't heard it in weeks. I can definitely see how the hyperbole could spoil them for you though.

 

[lazarus]

I always hear from dissenters that the Beatles' music is "slight" and about 1/3 of that lengthy record is slight. I find those tracks charming personally, but it probably would piss off those who look for greater substance in Beatles music than Piggies.

Abbey Road is probably the best single Beatles album to start with, that or Revolver.

Yeah, Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Octopus' Garden don't sound slight at all.

And it's arguable that the medley might have the same effect as they're mostly incomplete songs/sketches.

 

[lazarus]

I think for me, I just reckon Pavement are a pretty good band, no more, no less, really. There's certainly nothing remarkable about the music, I agree, but the some of the tunes I love are just really strong songs. They get stuck in your head quite easily. I'm singing Summer Babe right now, though I haven't heard it in weeks. I can definitely see how the hyperbole could spoil them for you though.

Sounds like someone else needs to listen Brighten to Corners as well...

 

[bono_212]

And exactly what is it you hate about the Beatles that is so well-represented here?

I feel like every one takes them so damn seriously and hold their music in such high regard and then you listen to The White Album, which seems to be presented as this Stoic super, important album, and then you hear it and it feels like there are so many cheesy pointless songs on there, I find it really frustrating. I know you love the album, it's just not a favorite of mine.

Also I agree with a lot of what Travis said.

 

[lazarus]

None of their albums sound particularly "important". They had great ears for melody and were very innovative in the way they recorded their songs, and yet they sound a lot fresher today than most of their contemporaries. Abbey Road, Revolver, Rubber Soul, Sgt. Peppers...all of these albums have a couple tracks that could be labeled as "cheesy and pointless" as I demonstrated above.

The White Album may be inconsistent and/or incoherent, but I still believe it's the greatest example of their range. I'd put the best 14 songs from it up against Revolver and it would be no contest. I can do the same against Abbey Road. Same for almost every album ever recorded.

You can't judge an album with 30 songs as spotty when it has so many killer tracks on it.

 

[LemonMelon]

Yeah, Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Octopus' Garden don't sound slight at all.

And it's arguable that the medley might have the same effect as they're mostly incomplete songs/sketches.

If the medley has that effect, the listener has no concept of how composition works/no respect for studio experimentation/is a moron

None of their albums sound particularly "important".

Your explanation still doesn't justify this statement. It's also something you probably can't judge properly if you're under the age of 50; each album had incredible cultural impact in its day that we take for granted. "Sounding important" is a weird subjective statement I don't quite follow.

 

[intedomine]

It's weird to think that the Beatles encapsulated all that reinvention, all those different songs, as well as all the other goings on, within just 10 years. Surely a few playful (Piggies, Why Don't We Do It In The Road, Honey Pie) songs and fragments of songs can be forgiven.

The White Album is just throwing almost everything you've done in the studio out there. All 30 songs. Damn prolific, and a showcase of unheard of forays into different styles as well (Good Night, Honey Pie, Bungalow Bill, Obladi Oblada) Imagine the quality of the thing if you condense it down to 12.

It's like Radiohead slamming Kid A, Amnesiac and a handful of b-sides on a release all at once. There's gonna be crap no one really cares for (Hunting Bears, Treefingers, Pulk/Pull) amongst the gems.

 

[lazarus]

Well said.

And LM, I'm just trying to understand how The White Album sounds any less important than its predecessors or follow-ups out of context.

I'm not sure where Ashley was reading that this was some kind of austere, heavy masterpiece, but no one writing about the album would describe it as such. Its biggest champions describe it as all over the place.

 

[LemonMelon]

If you like the Beatles, you'll like the White Album. If you love the Beatles, its meta approach to songwriting will thrill you. If you hate the Beatles, you'll find a lot to pick on.

Again, I'm not sure what "sounding important" means, but I would say the production is attractively lo-fi in a way that has dated it gracefully; you can hear that it influenced indie rock heavily. It still sounds good, but literally all Beatles albums do.

 

[iron yuppie]

The best way that I can describe The White Album is a beautiful mess. I think that its brilliance lies in the manner that it balances frivolity like Honey Pie with profundity like Revolution, self-parody like Glass Onion with ultra-seriousness like While My Guitar Gently Weeps. It's a panoply of emotions and styles that maybe has never been matched.

Ultimately, for me, every Beatles album is marred in some way, but the overall impression is so strong that the flaws seem complementary and almost intentional within the scope of the album.

 

[lazarus]

If you like the Beatles, you'll like the White Album. If you love the Beatles, its meta approach to songwriting will thrill you. If you hate the Beatles, you'll find a lot to pick on.

Again, I'm not sure what "sounding important" means, but I would say the production is attractively lo-fi in a way that has dated it gracefully; you can hear that it influenced indie rock heavily. It still sounds good, but literally all Beatles albums do.

I'm not the one who introduced the term. Ashley did. Your equivalence and mine cancel each other out.

And not all of the album is meta. Writing-wise, I'd argue that this was the most personal album of theirs to date, if you consider the autobiographical/topical content found in Sexy Sadie, Julia, Dear Prudence, Martha, Revolution, Good Night, etc. Plus, they were already doing the self-referential thing on Magical Mystery Tour.

 

[bono_212]

Well said.

And LM, I'm just trying to understand how The White Album sounds any less important than its predecessors or follow-ups out of context.

I'm not sure where Ashley was reading that this was some kind of austere, heavy masterpiece, but no one writing about the album would describe it as such. Its biggest champions describe it as all over the place.

It wasn't me reading it so much as everything about it made me feel that way. The lack of cover art and title for starters. The way people talk about how great it is for another. The way Yoko is portrayed in parodies and what not. It all led to me, at least, having this mental image for the album, and it didn't turn out to be so.

And yes, there are definitely 14 great songs on it, but the thing is there are far more than that on it, so, no I don't return to it often. Not due to length but quality of the remainder of the album, again, to me.

Now I'm going to throw everything I just said on its head and say that, actually, I love Octopus Garden and Maxwell's Silver Hammer, lol. Who ever knows what I'm thinking. I never do.

 

[Reggo]

What bands don't click with me?

Coldplay, REO Speedwagon, Styx, Boston, Weezer, The Grateful Dead, Foreigner, Panic(!) At The Disco, Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, INXS, NOFX, MxPx, Angels and Airwaves, Plain White T's, Kanye West (most hip-hop in general), LCD Soundsystem, Depeche Mode, Jimmy Eat World, The White Stripes/Raconteurs/anything with Jack White in it, Yeah Yeah Yeahs...

That's about all I got for now. I've heard multiple songs by all of these bands and nothing has ever really intrigued me from any of them, and for a lot of them, their biggest singles are songs that make me stabby. Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle", for example. Or Weezer's fucking Sweater Song.

 

[bono_212]

But the question is have you ever given full albums a listen? Weezer's Blue album, for example, is worth anyone's time, IMO, even if I'm not much of a fan of that particular band.

I'm not saying the above about all of the bands you listed, but a few of them, Boston in particular I am quite fond of.

 

[lazarus]

Bit of an offshoot from the unpopular thread. What bands, that everyone else seems to adore, do you just not get the love for?

I think this thread should create some good discussion!

REO Speedwagon, Styx, Boston, Weezer, Foreigner, Panic(!) At The Disco, Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry, Britney Spears, OFX, MxPx, Angels and Airwaves, Plain White T's

Now I'm going to throw everything I just said on its head and say that, actually, I love Octopus Garden and Maxwell's Silver Hammer, lol. Who ever knows what I'm thinking. I never do.

 

[bono_212]

What can I say? I could fill a thread with my unpopular Beatles opinions.

 

[purpleoscar]

Van Halen - I like a handful of songs but the rest is crap
Green Day - boring
Rush - boring

 

[lazarus]

What can I say? I could fill a thread with my unpopular Beatles opinions.

There's unpopular, and then there's completely hypocritical.

I can't think of many Beatles songs that are as "cheesy and pointless" as the two you professed love for.

 

[bono_212]

There's unpopular, and then there's completely hypocritical.

I can't think of many Beatles songs that are as "cheesy and pointless" as the two you professed love for.

To be fair, I never said I had a problem with the Beatles being cheesy so much as I was saying I think there is far too much cheese on The White album.

 

[purpleoscar]

To be fair, I never said I had a problem with the Beatles being cheesy so much as I was saying I think there is far too much cheese on The White album.

It's true that if you remove the cheese you get a really solid Beatles album but then you lose some of the humor and personality.

 

[cobl04]

The White Album is perfectly imperfect. Wouldn't have it any other way, rubbish as some of the songs are.

 

[LemonMelon]

There's unpopular, and then there's completely hypocritical.

I can't think of many Beatles songs that are as "cheesy and pointless" as the two you professed love for.

If one can be inconsistent in the way they judge "selling out," surely one can be inconsistent in their taste.

 

[The Sad Punk]

I never understood the rabid internet love for the Soup Dragons.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I'll tell you what I don't get.

Most Australian 'indie' music. Wall-to-wall boring folk-pop. Boring, inane, bland and oh so mannered.

Crowded House (themselves capable of greatness occasionally) have a lot to answer for.

 

[cobl04]

I'll tell you what I don't get.

Most Australian 'indie' music. Wall-to-wall boring folk-pop. Boring, inane, bland and oh so mannered.

Crowded House (themselves capable of greatness occasionally) have a lot to answer for.

Of course, I completely agree. Though I think Crowded House are great far more often than they are not. How Big Jet Plane is one of the most popular songs to come out of this country in recent times is beyond me. Boring, inane, bland and oh so mannered.

 

[intedomine]

Boy and Bear. Why are these bores big in Australia? Because JJJ said so?!

 

[cobl04]

You answered your own question lol. Ludicrous.

People say to me, "hey do you like Art vs Science?" and I say "fuck no". And they say "why there sick [sic]" and I say "because there's plenty of other bands doing a much better job at making dance music. LCD Soundsystem for example".

Then their brains usually fly out of their heads.

 

[Vlad n U 2]

I generally agree with the posts above regarding Australian 'indie' music. It just seems so, ugh, lacking in any sort of excitement.

 

[Kieran McConville]

I still maintain, a lot of these guys (and gals) have taken entirely the wrong lessons from Crowded House. They amplify the twee, mannered aspect, wherein every song lives or dies on the perfect hook/chord progression/vocal lilt. They neglect the important shit. It's very polite music.