Unpopular Musical Opinions

[Silent Alarm]

The Beatles are shit boring and people who list them as their favourite band are too.

Hey Ya is not the best song so far of the 21st century. Feel Good Inc and Young Folks are as good as or better. Hey Ya's start and hook is incredible but after that it just gets boring. The lyrics are fine for what it is but for a song so great everywhere else, it lets them down. If you want to talk about great melodies and choruses it's still not up there – Amerie's 1 Thing is heaps better, and if it went to a few more places, it'd be the best song of the 2000s.

A pop song should be measured in its cultural impact by as much as it is its intrinsic, independent 'good.' The zeitgeist is its biggest complement, not it's 'timelessness.'

People will remember Miley Cyrus and Blurred Lines more than any other artists in the 2010s.

Damon Albarn is criminally, painfully underrated considering the breadth of his projects and their success commercially (Country House, Demon Days, Girls & Boys) critically (13), and socially (Feel Good Inc., Song 2, Girls & Boys). He is the most significant aid to music and music culture since hip hop.

Radiohead will never make another album above 'yeah, it's alright' again. Thom Yorke's too happy. Conversely, Weezer will make an album as good as Pinkerton and Blue again one day.

Go.

Criticism welcome.

 

[HugeJohnson]

I like St. Anger.

 

[IAMDASH]

Nick Cave is shit.

 

[Beetlebum]

Damon Albarn is criminally, painfully underrated considering the breadth of his projects and their success commercially (Country House, Demon Days, Girls & Boys) critically (13), and socially (Feel Good Inc., Song 2, Girls & Boys). He is the most significant aid to music and music culture since hip hop.

Nothing unpopular about that statement. Damon doesn't get half the respect he should. Nor for that matter does Graham Coxon probably the most underrated guitarist of the last 20-25 years.

I like synthesizers in rock music.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

Blur were shit.

Actually "Britpop" was shit.

Music is as good now as it was in the 60's. Yes people there were a heap of shit songs released back then.

 

[Pweter]

Heavy metal is more than noise, and metal musicians are talented in their own right.

 

[Dory_77]

I like St. Anger.

Me too.
Agree about the Radiohead and Beatles points in the OP too.
Mine: Nickelback and Foo Fighters are equally generic. Both make bland rock songs, only Nickelback seem to embrace their mediocrity more by writing dumb lyrics to go with their boring music.
Also Dave Grohl is not God, or a musical genius.

 

[JD11]

Animal Collective are just OK. Some cool tunes.

 

[Beetlebum]

Blur were shit.

Actually "Britpop" was shit.

Music is as good now as it was in the 60's. Yes people there were a heap of shit songs released back then.

I pretty much agree with points 2 and 3. Overall the "Britpop" era did unleash a lot of shit onto the airwaves.

Agree with the point about 60's and nowadays, though I think the top end music of the 60's is better than the top end music of now. But yeah there's as much shit then as there is in 2014.

Obviously I disagree with the opening point

Saying that I'm not entirely sure that it's all that unpopular to call Blur shit, most people did back in the day, Oasis were the "authentic lads" and Blur were a bunch of "mockney cockneys" I used to cop a lot of shit for liking Blur as a teenager.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

...Nickelback and Foo Fighters are equally generic. Both make bland rock songs, only Nickelback seem to embrace their mediocrity more by writing dumb lyrics to go with their boring music.
Also Dave Grohl is not God, or a musical genius.

I love you man.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

I pretty much agree with points 2 and 3. Overall the "Britpop" era did unleash a lot of shit onto the airwaves.

Agree with the point about 60's and nowadays, though I think the top end music of the 60's is better than the top end music of now. But yeah there's as much shit then as there is in 2014.

Obviously I disagree with the opening point

Saying that I'm not entirely sure that it's all that unpopular to call Blur shit, most people did back in the day, Oasis were the "authentic lads" and Blur were a bunch of "mockney cockneys" I used to cop a lot of shit for liking Blur as a teenager.

Blurs debut album was actually ok. "There's no other way" is an all time favourite song of mine. IMO it all turned to shit after that. Yeah don't worry even as a Man City supporter the Gallagher brothers are dead to me. I did like the couple of songs Noel did vocals for with the Chemical Brothers though.

 

[timtamWB]

People will remember Miley Cyrus and Blurred Lines more than any other artists in the 2010s.

It's not even halfway through the 2010's so I think it's too early to say this.

Also a lot of the technical guitarists or bands that the whole music community blow their load over are just boring. Not to say they're not technically talented, but their music is just boring and no, if I don't like it it's not because "I don't get it". It's because it's just flat out boring.

There's as much bad music now as there was back in the day, the problem is we have a lot more exposure to it due to the internet. That being said the shit music now is a lot worse than back then.

Knowing music theory or how to play an instrument doesn't make your opinion better than anyone else's. And it doesn't make you a better musician if you only listen to progressive or metal bands that "are so much better than that shitty music you listen to" (actual quote from a classmate). I probably know more about music theory than you do, and yet my favourite bands are include Blink 182 and Mayday Parade. And their music is ridiculously ****ing simple. But objectively, I'm more qualified than those people are to teach a music theory class.

People need to listen to more jazz and classical music instead of dismissing it instantly because "it's for old people".

Not all pop music is the devil.

 

[WALDENPOND]

Radiohead are too commercial to be respected, yet too bland to be enjoyed as a guilty pleasure.

 

[Eddie Dingle]

Radiohead are too commercial to be respected, yet too bland to be enjoyed as a guilty pleasure.

So they are The Eagles?

 

[timtamWB]

A couple more:

While there have been a few, and I mean very few, parts that have been good for the industry, the majority of avant garde and music concrete are both detrimental and a disgrace to music.

Anyone who doesn't respect a band because they're too commercial, mainstream, or sold out is just silly. Don't like the band, fine. But to not respect them is stupid. I don't like the Beatles, but I respect them a hell of a lot for everything they've done for music.

You have to listen to at least 5 songs by an artist to say whether they're bad or not. And to completely cast aside a musician because it's cool to hate them or because it's a genre you don't usually like is being close minded and robbing yourself of finding new artists.

 

[Roobs321]

The Beatles are shit boring and people who list them as their favourite band are too.

Hey Ya is not the best song so far of the 21st century. Feel Good Inc and Young Folks are as good as or better. Hey Ya's start and hook is incredible but after that it just gets boring. The lyrics are fine for what it is but for a song so great everywhere else, it lets them down. If you want to talk about great melodies and choruses it's still not up there – Amerie's 1 Thing is heaps better, and if it went to a few more places, it'd be the best song of the 2000s.

A pop song should be measured in its cultural impact by as much as it is its intrinsic, independent 'good.' The zeitgeist is its biggest complement, not it's 'timelessness.'

People will remember Miley Cyrus and Blurred Lines more than any other artists in the 2010s.

Damon Albarn is criminally, painfully underrated considering the breadth of his projects and their success commercially (Country House, Demon Days, Girls & Boys) critically (13), and socially (Feel Good Inc., Song 2, Girls & Boys). He is the most significant aid to music and music culture since hip hop.

Radiohead will never make another album above 'yeah, it's alright' again. Thom Yorke's too happy. Conversely, Weezer will make an album as good as Pinkerton and Blue again one day.

Go.

Criticism welcome.

Part 1 - IRL, I've actually found that opinion rather common among young male music enthusiasts. Also judging people on their favourite band is a little immature.

Part 2 - Hey Ya was a massive zeitgeist song at the time, I remember after it had been around for 2-3 weeks everyone was suddenly prone to spontaneously singing along to the whole song, and not liking Hey Ya became rebellious. To me, the Hey Ya as best song is just a music culture default choice that no one takes all that seriously, and it's certainly less irritating than the similar claims regarding Gnarls Barkley's Crazy. As far as pop music goes, Hey Ya was an unforgettable moment. Kind of like a lesser Gen Y Bohemian Rhapsody in some ways.

Part 3 - Honestly, I don't even know any Miley Cyrus or Blurred Lines songs, other than Miley having a song about a wrecking ball. To me, that says it all. I think MC and Blurred Lines would have to really do something remotely trail blazing and defining to warrant being remembered in that way.

Part 4 - Damon Albarn imo gets a lot of respect, particularly among Gen X & Y, but music culture and its canonization has changed a lot over the 21st century, and it's also currently going through a less identity-centric, collaboration-intensive phase.

Part 5 - I think most people who like Radiohead would have the same opinion (they are all now well into their 40s, for one). They'll never receive unanimous acclaim again, and honestly I don't see them together for much longer (too many solo interests and side projects are of equal interest nowadays). Arguably, they are now more interesting separately (even if I enjoyed The King of Limbs).

 

[Cursed Cat]

Everything that people generally think is shite is actually good.
Everything that people generally think is good is actually shite.
/thread.

 

[mellowyellow]

ACDC have always been bland musical tripe, enjoyed only by classless urban/rural bogans

 

[WALDENPOND]

People need to listen to more jazz and classical music instead of dismissing it instantly because "it's for old people".

I don't think I've heard "it's for old people" but I think some people can be put off by how complex some classical music is, I am.

But I agree most of the music I listen too is just for a bit of enjoyment or to soundtrack something I'm doing. But if I ever want to really appreciate a piece of music, jazz and classical are up there.

 

[HeavyPop]

A lot of the best music coming out recently have been film scores.

Tom Waits > Bob Dylan

 

[Roobs321]

In terms of electronic music, and as an Autechre fan, I always find the comparative adoration for (and name checking of) the likes of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, James Blake, Skrillex, etc. to be bemusing. The routine reviews of the latest Autechre albums on pitchfork are a bit of a joke, and I feel they suffer from being true to themselves, always pushing their own boundaries and exploring something new, and also reliably and prolifically releasing albums of a decent standard every 2-3 years. You aren't supposed to do that. But hey, people have different tastes, views and perspectives, and they approach and appreciate music acts and their music for different reasons.

Even if I was to hold unpopular musical opinions, it doesn't really impact on my experience with music. I don't really talk about music a lot IRL, it's mostly been personal or a shared interest between me and my brother. Even things I disagree with in popular music can still be understood by tracing it back to a certain origin.

There are artists where my favourite album from them, or even the only album I like from them, is one of their most overlooked or disregarded, but that's universal.

 

[Engimal]

The Times They Are a-Changin' shits all over Like A Rolling Stone and doesn't get half the respect it deserves.

 

[james Dean]

Radiohead will never make another album above 'yeah, it's alright' again. Thom Yorke's too happy. Conversely, Weezer will make an album as good as Pinkerton and Blue again one day.

Go.

Criticism welcome.

Thom Yorke and happy is an oxymoron. Seriously though TKOL was a bit 'meh' I'll admit that, but In Rainbows came before that and surely you can't say that, that was an average album.

As for Weezer, I'm liking Back To The Shack, but Blue and Pinkerton were written by a guy in his 20's, and Rivers just doesn't write personal shit anymore. I can't see any album coming close to those two

 

[HARKER]

In terms of electronic music, and as an Autechre fan, I always find the comparative adoration for (and name checking of) the likes of Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, James Blake, Skrillex, etc. to be bemusing. The routine reviews of the latest Autechre albums on pitchfork are a bit of a joke, and I feel they suffer from being true to themselves, always pushing their own boundaries and exploring something new, and also reliably and prolifically releasing albums of a decent standard every 2-3 years. You aren't supposed to do that. But hey, people have different tastes, views and perspectives, and they approach and appreciate music acts and their music for different reasons.

Interesting..........I like Autechre but the depth of Boards of Canada make them somewhat lightweights to me.
Anyway not every band is there to stimulate the mind and even AC/DC have their place in the scheme of things.

Unpopular opinions:

Coldplay are supremely contrived and piggy back much more original bands.
Stairway to Heaven owes itself to early King Crimson ideas but nowhere near as good.
Shawshank Redemption is an average movie.

 

[james Dean]

I'll throw one out there.

Too much emphasis is put on a song's lyrics. (I'm looking at you Pitchfork)