So here is my question. What qualities are universally disliked in music? Is there a set criteria that prevents a band from becoming well liked? Or rather is musical interest fractured like spaghetti sauce preferences and gregorian chants may have actually been cool at the time? What is your least favorite band?
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Well, there are really two things that kill it for me in terms of liking or hating a band:
ReplyDelete1. The sound of the singer's voice. This kills a lot of bands for me...everything from metal (GRAR RYAYAA RUUURRAAAA) to pop music, people have annoying voices that prevents me from liking them. I also prefer male vocals for the most part, so female voices usually don't help.
2. The lyrical content. Working in retail right now, the words to these songs are just so bland, the rhymes painfully obvious, and the messages trite, simple, or boring. On the flip side, lyrical content is the biggest reason I'm not into most hip hop...I just can't relate to it, and it doesn't make me feel anything.
I probably have never heard my worst band, but I can't tell you my least favorite song, which is now stuck in my head... "Piano Man" by Billy Joel. I fucking hate that song, mostly because I have a negative association with partiers during my Junior year of college, but still...annoying lyrics designed seemingly on purpose to become a drinking song, pandering to the drunk audience, Billy Joel's annoying voice, and that FUCKING harmonica.
Repetition. Hearing a song too much can ruin any artist or band. Even my one time favorite band, blink 182, started to annoy me because of too much radio play.
ReplyDeleteDepth. Here, I mean musically and lyrically. My favorite band for the last couple of years is Kaddisfly, and two big reasons for that are the instruments are performed expertly and the lyrics are more akin to poetry than song. I have yet to find an artist than can engage me as well as Kaddisfly... well, maybe, Lupe Fiasco. If one can read lyrics and gain meaning without the music, props to the band.
Fun factor. Sometimes, I just need to have a good time with my music. I've slowly given ground on some pop music simply because the songs are fun. Katy Perry is an example. It would seem I'm the opposite of you, Matt: I don't need lyrics to be good all the time. I have two sets of music in my library: the music I take seriously and analyze and the music I put on to rock out or get my groove on (sometimes they intermingle). That's why I have anything from Billie Holiday and Michael Buble to Armor for Sleep to Ludacris and Snoop Dogg. Basically, if the band/artist cannot make me dance, they better have the first quality of depth.
What's my least favorite band? Hrm. That's a tough call. I guess, anything that I've heard way too much or just plain doesn't interest me. Lynyrd Skynyrd is an example of something I've heard too much and Jordin Sparks is an example of something that just doesn't get me going.
Note: I have to agree with your friends, Boardman. Hinder, Nickelback, etc. are some of the worst bands to come out in awhile.
I'm sure this was implied but you've gotta know that all people have different tastes in music and some of the stuff we hate, some people love and it changes their lives or whatever, so to each his own and my wave and all that. As for me, i think most of the music i really love has one thing, a good dance beat. Not all the music i like, just a lot of it has a good solid dance beat. I'm not much for dancing but for some reason i really love music i can bob to.
ReplyDeleteJared knows how hard it is to get matt and i into new music though, it's like a glacier.
That's a good point about "fun factor", Jared...and now that I think about it, a lot of music I like to listen to has few or no lyrics. Specifically, I love trance and good techno that makes me bounce my head, and obviously lyrics aren't really important there.
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, we all love "P.Y.T." even though it had ridiculously bad lyrics because it's so hilarious and awesome. Tenderoni you've got to be!