Bands You Don't "Get."

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Metallica - people worship this band and the only album which I thougt was somewhat decent was the Black album, which most die hards hate...

Sex Pistols - I don't get it at all.
 
elevation2u said:
bob marley!!

my whole damn college were infatuated with mr bobby, the shirts, the damn music playing all day, the dreads!!!

it drove me nuts,
white people shouldnt have dreads period.


i dont understand what there isnt to "get" about radiohead, theyre just brilliant:drool:

but im sure thats what people say about nirvana and led zeppelin:huh:


at least they're listening to the music. the college students you see walking around campus here with bob marley shirts aren't actually infatuated with the music. they don't give a rat's ass about the music. maybe they know "buffalo soldier" and "redemption song". but with some of them, that's pushing it. no, a bob marley shirt is just a way of saying "i like to smoke pot everyday".
 
i don't get this thread.

are people just listing bands they dislike, or has everyone here really, honestly tried to get into all the bands they're listing? i don't mean you heard "smells like teen spirit" 90 times a week on the radio at work, and you're so fucking sick of it that you can't understand why anyone would like nirvana. i mean have you sat down and listened to everything you claim to not understand? i'm not looking to come off as a self-righteous asshole here, although i'm sure that's what's happening, i'm just curious.
 
^But it's all a bit of a catch-22 don't you think? I mean you hear the singles on the radio/on compilation albums or wherever and think, "I hate that". Therefore you have no motivation to buy their albums and you never hear the songs that the fans say would 'convert' you.

For the bands I listed I'd definitely fall into the 'heard a handful of songs and it was hate at first listen so I never gave them another chance'. There's just too many bands' albums that I want to hear before I start moving on to the ones I don't! Nonetheless you are absolutely right in what you say about 'giving them a chance', I'm just explaining why I haven't. And surely the whole point of singles is to entice you into buying the albums anyway? So if some bands' singles don't entice me to do so then perhaps that's a failing on their part in my eyes?
 
TheQuiet1 said:
^But it's all a bit of a catch-22 don't you think? I mean you hear the singles on the radio/on compilation albums or wherever and think, "I hate that". Therefore you have no motivation to buy their albums and you never hear the songs that the fans say would 'convert' you.



not necessarily. lots of people are listening bands considered to be classics. for years, i hated the rolling stones from the stuff classic rock stations/oldies stations played. i took some time, and looked into some of the stuff that i didn't know (big thanks to mrbrau because he burnt me copies of exile on main street and sticky fingers) to see if i could try to figure out what i was missing. my feelings about the music now aside, i really did hate them. my whole family is quite anti-stones and i grew up being told to hate them like the new york yankees.

as for popular bands like franz ferdinand or the killers, the hype piques my curiosity, and i go check out this stuff.

maybe i'm just a masochist. i'm guilty as anyone of saying "i hate so-and-so" based on a hit single, or not listening to an album becasue everyone is hailing it as the second coming of [insert musical diety here], but that's a matter of taste rather than musical bafflement.

that being said, i don't get (after trying very hard over the course of several years) led zeppelin.
 
You've got way more dedication than me! What about the other side of the coin, have you ever hated the songs you've heard, got more of their stuff then discovered you actually liked them?

I used to tend to do that but in reverse. I love the songs I've heard, buy the album then discover I actually hate every other song they've done!

(When I say 'their' I obviously mean any band, not the rolling stones)
 
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i've hated most of my favorite bands at one point or another. u2, springsteen, the beatles, dropkick murphys, the clash, blood for blood. all for a variety of reasons. the band live? hated them. 1999/2000-ish they were my favorite band. the barenaked ladies - the first band i listened to after i decided that there was more good music out there other than the beatles. despised, loathed, hated them for at least a year. it's pretty rare that any band i like from the get-go has any staying power in terms of being one of my favorites.

i don't hate the stones at all now. and i've been listening to them a lot in the last couple months.

i'm really hoping someone says they know what i mean with that. i'm not so sure it makes sense. i am weird.


not to say i haven't bought albums because i loved the song i heard, only to find out that the rest of the songs were utter crap. that's happened. but i've bought albums for one song, written them off as crap, and then put them into the cd player a couple years later and thought they were great. what the hell was i missing before? i guess that sort of falls under the favorite bands that i hated at one point category.


sorry, it's 5am here and i tend to get long-winded at weird times of the day.
 
with reference to the point IWab Bored is trying to make, i'm only gonna list bands that i've actually properly tried to like but just don't get - there are loads that i've heard a song for and instantly disliked for whatever reason and never ecen bothered to try so i won't count them.

rolling stones - i like the odd song here and there, some are great, but most of it just doesn't do anything for me.

greenday - I just don't get "American Idiot". I was all open ears to it when i t came out, i had liked the singles i had heard and the album was getting all these rave reviews so i borrowed it off my mate and listened to it... and listened to it again, and again and again in a desperate attempt to understand. i still don't get it. and yes, 1 album doesn't constitute a band and honestly the only other album i've heard was Dookie which i adored as a 13 year old (as most 13 year olds did at the time) and still have fond memories when i hear it on the radio, but wouldn't actually spend the money on the album to listen to in my own time. i just don't get green day :shrug:

Pearl Jam - i don't doubt pearl jams greatness, they're highly revered for good reason i'm sure, but i just dont get it

if single artists count: Madonna - I know sh'es huge and i don't understand why except for the fact that shes Madonna. i just don't like that much of her stuff. it would be a struggle for me to listen to a whole Madonna album and believe me I've tried.

Keiser Chiefs - i listened to the album and i like a 1 or 2 of the songs but all in all i'm completely uninspired. And something about Keiser Chiefs annoys the hell out of me, I don't know what it is but I really would love to break the lead singers nose for no particularly good reason what so ever :shrug:
just one of those things i guess
 
The Libertines. i don't get them at all. so overrated it's not even funny. a friend of mine the other day described them as "the best British band of the last 10 years" :|

probably the most ridiculous statement i've heard in a loooooooooooong time
 
well he's quite clearly deluded. i think he is just bitter that they have broken up so his only way of combatting it is throwing ill-thought out superlatives at them and remembering "the good old days".

the libertines are an ok band but nothing more.
 
elevation2u said:
nirvana... i didnt like them while kurt was alive and i dont like them anymore after he died. i think the music is crummy , his voice is horrible and they're way too overrated.


I totally agree. I can't understand the allure of this group whatsoever.
 
I know my ass is going to get kicked for this but I don't get the Beatles at all. I listened to some of their songs and I can't really understand why they were so big. Maybe I just need to get one of their records and try to get into it. I don't know. The same for Nirvana.

If I was to name a solo artist I don't get, it would have to be Britney Spears. She does not make good music. AT ALL. And yet she's sold billions of records. :huh: She's just so disgustingly trashy and fake it's so laughable.
 
I think the problem a lot of people have in appreciating The Beatles is one of context. I mean, if you don't know what music was like before they came around, musically and lyrically, it's hard to truly understand the magnitude of their importance. Their ability to write great pop songs is a given, but knowing the whole story is what will more than likely lower your reservations.
Until they came around, rock and roll wasn't taken seriously as an art form at all.

I'd suggest trying to check out one of the documentaries made on the band--The Compleat Beatles is an older one that's just a collection of clips showing their history, and there's the longer miniseries The Beatles Anthology, which is pretty definitive but requires a commitment. If you want a real music history lesson the latter is well worth watching.

For beginners wanting to check out a single recording, I'd say start with The White Album because it shows the full range of what the band was capable of. After that probably Revolver, because the individual songs are stronger than the stuff on Sgt. Pepper's.
 
GibsonGirl said:
Here we go.

Pearl Jam - Most people I know outside the online world heap piles and piles of adoration on Pearl Jam. And I just...don't...get it. Eddie Vedder's voice makes me want to hurl myself off a cliff.


:ohmy:

:evil:

Try listening to Vitalogy or No Code...those feature Pearl Jam at their quirky best. For me they complete my holy trinity of favourites, with U2 and Radiohead coming in at number 1 and 2 respectively (Pearl Jam were number 2 before I started listening to certain posts by Radiohead freaks here...:wink:).

And Eddie's voice? Well, that's just golden to me...:angel:...but I could see your point if you were stuck on the first album only, which was overproduced in my view. Its massive success fuelled such crap as Creed and Nickelback. Pearl Jam are so much more than these 'rock monsters'...I think at their core, they are a great blend of folk rock/punk.

Everything else I agree with...except REM. They've had a few great albums, with New Adventures in Hi-Fi being the best, in my opinion.
 
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The White Stripes.

And The Rolling Stones. I have no desire to see them in concert ever again...I went once in the late 70's, and that was enough.

About two months ago, Radiohead would have made this list, but I'm starting to like certain songs, like Idioteque and Fake Plastic Trees.
 
Jason Mraz. All my friends love him. I gasp in horror everytime I show up at a party and he's on the CD player.

Keane. I'm sorry, but the no guitar thing isn't cool, and the lead singer sounds like a girl.

Jack Johnson. There's nothing to his music, and even if there was, Ben Harper did it better years ago.

John Mayer. He just sucks.

Audioslave. Boring, boring, boring rock.

Gwen Stefani. How did her music ever get popular???

And yes, I've given all of these guys their fair of listening, so I can say I really don't "get" them.
 
IWasBored said:
i don't get this thread.

are people just listing bands they dislike, or has everyone here really, honestly tried to get into all the bands they're listing? i don't mean you heard "smells like teen spirit" 90 times a week on the radio at work, and you're so fucking sick of it that you can't understand why anyone would like nirvana. i mean have you sat down and listened to everything you claim to not understand? i'm not looking to come off as a self-righteous asshole here, although i'm sure that's what's happening, i'm just curious.

Under this definition, Radiohead count. I heard one too many times someone say "you have to keep listening to get it - give them a real chance" that I asked zoomerang for about 5-8 of his personal favourites. I downloaded them all, and honestly I cant even remember what they sound like. And the problem I have with Radiohead is exactly what everyone says "keep listening, you'll get it eventually, give them a go"....who the hell does this with music? Who sits there and thinks 'gee, I really dont like this, but I wont be beaten, damnit! I'll keep listening until I understand/get it/it becomes so familiar I convince myself it must be love!' You just leave it and decide you dont like it. What makes Radiohead so different is beyond me. But people only say this about Radiohead, no one else. Dislike for any other group is much more accepted, overall.

Anyway, under the loose definition of this question I have to say I've never seen the appeal of Gwen Stefani. At first I disliked her as a joke feigning jealousy, but then I realised I actually dont like No Doubt and her solo stuff is exactly the pop Australian/American/Swahili Idol garbage I cant fucking stand. Chart lagging shit which poisons youth. Terrible.

Coldplay, Kasabian, Franz, The Killers, all of them...blah. Dont like what I've heard and have no intention of delving more to find out if this is fair.
 
U2Girl1978 said:
I know my ass is going to get kicked for this but I don't get the Beatles at all. I listened to some of their songs and I can't really understand why they were so big. Maybe I just need to get one of their records and try to get into it. I don't know. The same for Nirvana.

If I was to name a solo artist I don't get, it would have to be Britney Spears. She does not make good music. AT ALL. And yet she's sold billions of records. :huh: She's just so disgustingly trashy and fake it's so laughable.

Marketing.
 
Angela Harlem said:


Under this definition, Radiohead count. I heard one too many times someone say "you have to keep listening to get it - give them a real chance" that I asked zoomerang for about 5-8 of his personal favourites. I downloaded them all, and honestly I cant even remember what they sound like. And the problem I have with Radiohead is exactly what everyone says "keep listening, you'll get it eventually, give them a go"....who the hell does this with music? Who sits there and thinks 'gee, I really dont like this, but I wont be beaten, damnit! I'll keep listening until I understand/get it/it becomes so familiar I convince myself it must be love!' You just leave it and decide you dont like it. What makes Radiohead so different is beyond me. But people only say this about Radiohead, no one else. Dislike for any other group is much more accepted, overall.


I usually give a song/album a 2-3 listens and if I don't like it at all, that's it for me. I've found that I pretty much know what I like and don't like within that time. Sometimes moving from "like" to "love" for a song takes many more listens, but I don't find that I dislike a song for 20 listens and then start to like it...hell, I'm not going to listen to a song I dislike 20 times...no matter how much other people love it. :shrug:
 
Radio Head - just noise to me
Def Lepard - Sooooo over rated
ACDC - praised way too much
DMB - they're good, but not THAT good
Grateful Dead - I don't see the fuss


I'm sure there are more, but my head hurts thinking about these bands:banghead:
 
Jack Johnson
John Mayer
Audioslave
DMB :scream: :banghead:
Pearl Jam (used to love them. now they put me to sleep)
Linkin Park
Any emo band
Bloc Party :scream:
Trance
Beatles (I get why they are massive. I just don't give a shit about them and never have.)
Green Day (loved them when i was a kid. as an adult, i feel sorry for them.)
Toby Keith
Sheryl Crow
The Black Eyed Peas :banghead:
Sean Paul
Neil Young :reject:
Keane :yawn:

I'm sure there's more.

Oh yeah. Late career Madonna. jaysus. :|
 
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