Musical opinions that you just don't understand

[grainger]

I think it's because I can hear very annoying pricks pronouncing which genre each band falls into.

[chveik]

I don't understand why people can be annoyed by that (those lists aren't even exhaustive btw)

[Polymorphia]

For both those lists at least half of the genres are fine, and I feel sound distinct, and the other half I'm simply unfamiliar with

[NoSleep]

When I see a list like that, I just want to throw all music onto a fire.

Fire Rock?

[ASFTSN]

Really specific genre names are brilliant, fun and have helped me find tons of music over the decades. Yeah even the really social media-y blatantly made up for one band ones.

[JaDanketies]

I think it's because I can hear very annoying pricks pronouncing which genre each band falls into.

It's great in extreme metal circles. For instance, proclaiming Cradle of Filth to be black metal will make people smash their keyboards. One guy on the internet once refused to accept that Deafheaven were extreme metal and insisted that they are alt-rock, like the Foo Fighters.

[jobotic]

Please, what is Power Violence?

I've always wondered, and I like a fair bit of noise.

[ASFTSN]

Please, what is Power Violence?

I've always wondered, and I like a fair bit of noise.

It's super fast/heavy hardcore that basically sounds identical to grindcore.....or does it?. Often has big dumb heavy breakdowns and gurning dad vocals.

Originators: Man Is The Bastard or Spazz I guess
New-ish: Endless Swarm, Weekend Nachos

[BeardFaceMan]

Please, what is Power Violence?

I've always wondered, and I like a fair bit of noise.

For me, Nails are the kings of Power Violence - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGGGh03jN4w

As for opinions you don't understand, my sister doesn't like music. At all. Doesn't own a single CD. When she was a teenager she was all over the boybands, loved Wham, Bros, New Kids On The Block etc, had the records, went to the shows, all that. Then she got to about 16 or 17 and just stopped. Ask her who her favourite bands are and she'll just say she doesn't like music. Mental.

[ASFTSN]

Ask her who her favourite bands are and she'll just say she doesn't like music. Mental.

The Herring Position.

[pigamus]

Richard Herring doesn't like music? David Mitchell doesn't either. Freaks!

[JaDanketies]

My step-mum thinks that the Disturbed cover of the Sound of Silence is great and better than Simon and Garfunkel. 

ooh wah ha ha ha indeed.

[The Mollusk]

Because it's marketed through very focused channels with specific demographics in mind, and done that way because a lot of money has been invested and they want to see a return? If it didn't have a target audience then the spending would be reckless.

Also, because a lot of the artists themselves are part of an artificial construction rather than simply 'person with talent got through on talent'. And even the ones they pluck from obscurity they mould into 'artists'. The artists becomes what the label wants them to be. Who knows, maybe Ed Sheeran is suppressing some really on-point opinions about Julian Assange.

I mean, this is before we get on to the lyrics contain that reference things young people identify with, that are about being young now, rather than nostalgically gazing at some wistful past.

You're still allowed to like it, no-one's saying that. And if you can like it despite knowing that it's cynically constructed to appeal to a very specific viable commercial market that doesn't really include mid-30s men, with lyrics that bear no relation to your life, then that's fine (it is!). Just like they're fine if people they didn't market the music to end up buying it.

In case you missed it, purlieu did cover this in a post before mine on page 2, which I wholeheartedly agree with:

And we've certainly reached a point where pop music doesn't have a 'target audience' of, say, teenage girls or whatever. The oft-cited example of Carly Rae Jepsen is a good one, someone who's had a couple of hit singles but mostly struggles to set the charts alight but does better on album sales and critical acclaim; who has complete creative control over her albums and makes them to sound how she (now in her mid '30s) would like to hear; who on her social media often talks about the likes of Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan as her songwriting inspirations.

Fundamentally, if you like the 'pop song' as a musical form - be it The Beatles, Madonna, Blur, The Smiths, ABBA - then there are numerous contemporary pop singers whose material could very easily appeal, regardless of the commercial potential of the music. I don't see why this should only be acceptable if the fans are of certain gender, age or nationality.

I was into pop music at a young age, and despite straying very far away from it until the last decade or so, I am now more into it than I ever was. I think the truth is that, despite pop primarily being marketed at children (moreover, young girls) for half a century, fundamentally it's no less enjoyable a genre to adults than jazz or country or anything else. The only thing that stopped it being more widely enjoyed by adults was the social stigma of grooving out to something that is primarily enjoyed by children. I know that is a direct result of it being marketed at a target audience, but that isn't necessarily the music's fault, it's merely the product of time and tradition; it's easier to market this thing like this to hit sales targets, even though we are aware it's not just children who enjoy it, and that's been the case from The Beatles to Bowie to Madonna to The Spice Girls to Britney Spears to The 1975 (all of whom I greatly enjoy).

To round back on my original point, the comment I made in response to Spiteface was understandably vague, but it was more taking issue with and challenging his apparent stance of "Of course I do not like pop music, for I am a grown man" which I think is a load of bollocks fuelled by social conditioning. For me personally, when an old housemate got me into RuPaul's Drag Race I suddenly realised some things I'd sort of known for a long time anyway: gender roles and other stigmas, including the notion that pop music wasn't made for me and therefore I couldn't enjoy it, were social constructs which I felt I needed to distance myself from or even make steps to destroy. As soon as I recognised that, I became a lot happier.

Some pop music wasn't made with me in mind, but then again, neither was Norwegian black metal or delta blues, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy it or even relate to it on a more emotional level; who's to say I can't listen to Beautiful by Christina Aguilera and feel uplifted and empowered by it? People like me, a heterosexual man in his mid-30s, enjoying pop music aren't some sort of awkward truth any more, and every year that goes by this becomes more apparent in the current pop market and by association spreads back through the decades of pop that preceded it. Capitalism is shrewd and cynical and evil but pop music fuckin' rules.

[JesusAndYourBush]

I'm disappointed that those two long lists don't contain any names that are too silly.  I was hoping they'd read like the wiki list of So Solid Crew members that'd been trolled mercilessly, but on closer inspection they're not too silly, mainly.

[pigamus]

who's to say I can't listen to Beautiful by Christina Aguilera

Me, to be fair.

[SpiderChrist]

As for opinions you don't understand, my sister doesn't like music. At all. Doesn't own a single CD. When she was a teenager she was all over the boybands, loved Wham, Bros, New Kids On The Block etc, had the records, went to the shows, all that. Then she got to about 16 or 17 and just stopped. Ask her who her favourite bands are and she'll just say she doesn't like music. Mental.

I have a work colleague who once asked me "What would you rather be, deaf or blind?". Ignoring the fact that it's an absolute turd of a question, I replied "blind" because I would hate not to be able to listen to music (since lockdown I've been working from home and listen for about 6 to 7 hours a day now, which is great). She was of the opinion that being deaf would be better as she could still watch telly and "wasn't all that bothered about music". Baffling.

[Clownbaby]

For me, Nails are the kings of Power Violence - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGGGh03jN4w

As for opinions you don't understand, my sister doesn't like music. At all. Doesn't own a single CD. When she was a teenager she was all over the boybands, loved Wham, Bros, New Kids On The Block etc, had the records, went to the shows, all that. Then she got to about 16 or 17 and just stopped. Ask her who her favourite bands are and she'll just say she doesn't like music. Mental.

My mam loved bands from the 70s and 80s growing up but she just generally can't be arsed with listening to music voluntarily anymore, saying it gets annoying and she just wants some quiet most of the time. I've played her a lot of stuff I like, and she often likes it, but still often says that music is bad now. I'm not really sure why.

[purlieu]

In case you missed it, purlieu did cover this in a post before mine on page 2, which I wholeheartedly agree with:

I'd probably want to add to that post by saying there definitely is pop music that's specifically targeted at kids, and it's very rarely the kind of pop that adults listen to these days. While I know some people who genuinely love some One Direction songs, most of the pop that gets mentioned, say, on this board tends to come from singer/songwriters who simply happen to write catchy music with electronic production. They're largely musicians in their own right, they executive produce their albums (ie select and hire producers based on their taste, decide the overall sound and direction of the album); many of them, and many of their producers, have worked in 'alternative' music in the past, and loads of them don't get huge amounts of airplay or singles chart action and have a fanbase largely consisting of album listeners in their 20s and above.

So yeah, to refine the opening sentence of my earlier post, pop music no longer has an inherent target audience. Certainly that monstrosity posted up-thread with the two lads in it is cynically made music marketed at teens, but there's a huge amount of current pop is simply music that happens to be in a certain style.

[JaDanketies]

Grimes is good pop music even if she had a baby with an evil supervillian.

[sutin]

Richard Herring doesn't like music? David Mitchell doesn't either. Freaks!

Richard Herring did have Terry Hall on RHLSTP because one of the few albums he likes is a TH solo record from the '90s. But yes, not being into music is something completely unrelatable. It's one of the things that makes life worth living.

[Jockice]

For me, Nails are the kings of Power Violence - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGGGh03jN4w

As for opinions you don't understand, my sister doesn't like music. At all. Doesn't own a single CD. When she was a teenager she was all over the boybands, loved Wham, Bros, New Kids On The Block etc, had the records, went to the shows, all that. Then she got to about 16 or 17 and just stopped. Ask her who her favourite bands are and she'll just say she doesn't like music. Mental.

Sounds like a cue for me to repeat my story about getting a lift to and from a funeral several hours drive away from my home from someone who had a punk compilation CD in his car. He's not got bad taste I thought until he told me that it was the only album of any type he owned and he only had it in the car because it was a present from a family member who was often in the car with him but he never played it otherwise because he just wasn't 'into' music.

He did play it for me though. I'll give him that.

[FredNurke]

For what it's worth, I'm not really into music either. I have a very patchy acquaintance with popular music up to the 1980s, but little knowledge of the 90s (despite the fact that that's when I was a teenager and therefore stereotypically most likely to be engaged) and virtually none at all for music newer than that. When that notorious thread about Adele's 'Hello' happened, it made me laugh, because not only did I not know the song (and still don't), but I was barely even aware of the existence of Adele. I can't stand background noise while I'm working or reading, due to terrible misophonia. I've never owned a portable music player of any kind (not even a smartphone), and I've never really listened to the radio. I can't remember the last time I played a CD (although I do own some), and I don't do streaming at all. I've been to precisely one (non-classical) musical event, ever.

I do quite like classical music, but I don't really go out of my way to listen to that, either. I get more enjoyment out of old TV and computer game music than I do out of pretty much anything else, and that's at least as much for the nostalgia as the music itself.

So I suppose the musical opinion that I just don't understand is "I care a lot about music".

You may now burn me.

[ASFTSN]

I can't remember the last time I played a CD (although I do own some), and I don't do streaming at all. I've been to precisely one (non-classical) musical event, ever.

I won't burn you, but I'd love to know what the one musical event was and what some of the CDs you own are though!

[sutin]

For what it's worth, I'm not really into music either. I have a very patchy acquaintance with popular music up to the 1980s, but little knowledge of the 90s (despite the fact that that's when I was a teenager and therefore stereotypically most likely to be engaged) and virtually none at all for music newer than that. When that notorious thread about Adele's 'Hello' happened, it made me laugh, because not only did I not know the song (and still don't), but I was barely even aware of the existence of Adele. I can't stand background noise while I'm working or reading, due to terrible misophonia. I've never owned a portable music player of any kind (not even a smartphone), and I've never really listened to the radio. I can't remember the last time I played a CD (although I do own some), and I don't do streaming at all. I've been to precisely one (non-classical) musical event, ever.

I do quite like classical music, but I don't really go out of my way to listen to that, either. I get more enjoyment out of old TV and computer game music than I do out of pretty much anything else, and that's at least as much for the nostalgia as the music itself.

So I suppose the musical opinion that I just don't understand is "I care a lot about music".

You may now burn me.

To be fair, i'm a lifelong music obsessive who watches live music about once a week, works as a DJ (when there isn't a pandemic) and runs a record label, and I don't know that Adele song either (or who she is really).

[Clownbaby]

There was a lass at my school who had never heard of Michael Jackson. She didn't even recognise him from pictures. Not an opinion but I just think it's a bit odd. There are some people of a certain level of fame/icon status/exposure that you just know of, whether they interest you or not. I'd say Jacko is one.

[Jockice]

There was a lass at my school who had never heard of Michael Jackson. She didn't even recognise him from pictures. Not an opinion but I just think it's a bit odd. There are some people of a certain level of fame/icon status/exposure that you just know of, whether they interest you or not. I'd say Jacko is one.

In the early 80s near where I lived there was a notorious family where the parents homeschooled their children and kept them totally away from modern culture. I saw them in real life once and the kids (a couple of whom were about the same age as me. Mid teens) were dressed like wartime evacuees from the 1940s. Wearing shorts and all.

I can't remember the exact details but there was a court case aimed at taking the kids into care, during which one of them admitted to never having heard of Michael Jackson, during the period when Jacko was the biggest popstar in the world. Someone sent me a newspaper clipping about the case a few years ago, but it seems not to be on the internet anymore.

I'm not sure what happened to the kids but it seems that the parents still live in the area. I know that cos I put the dad's name into 192.com. I'm sure it's him because there can't be that many Borises around. I hope.

(And as soon as I finished this post I put the name in again and something came up. Nine kids, seven of whom got taken into care. And with any luck got some decent clothes.)

[FredNurke]

I won't burn you, but I'd love to know what the one musical event was and what some of the CDs you own are though!

Brian Wilson and his band, a few years ago. He was as you would expect; his band was stellar. Al Jardine's voice is amazing.

The CDs are mostly 'classical' in the broad sense, going from Thomas Tallis to Rachmaninov. Then mid- to late-period Beatles; a selection of Beach Boys albums from Party! to Surf's Up (including the huge Smile boxed set); quite a few Vince Guaraldi albums. Do Flanders and Swann count for this purpose? Oh, and that recent-ish Monkees album.

[Brundle-Fly]

Richard Herring did have Terry Hall on RHLSTP because one of the few albums he likes is a TH solo record from the '90s. But yes, not being into music is something completely unrelatable. It's one of the things that makes life worth living.

If I recall, Richard Herring said he was really into the Sex Pistols, Public Enemy, Ben Folds Five among other things. He does like music but not to the huge extent his ex comedy partner did, which might be why there is this inference that he's not fussed. Music has featured a lot in his plays/shows. His 1996 Ed Fringe play Punk's Not Dead was all about his fandom for the Pistols.

[JaDanketies]

Rachmaninov

There's this guy call Leaf Fielding who used to be involved in LSD manufacturing and he got me on to Rachmaninoff - he said that he was amazing to listen to when you're tripping balls, and he was correct. He wrote a book called To Live Outside The Law that is actually well-written and interesting and shows literary skill and makes Mr Nice look like toilet paper.

[sutin]

If I recall, Richard Herring said he was really into the Sex Pistols, Public Enemy, Ben Folds Five among other things. He does like music but not to the huge extent his ex comedy partner did, which might be why there is this inference that he's not fussed. Music has featured a lot in his plays/shows. His 1996 Ed Fringe play Punk's Not Dead was all about his fandom for the Pistols.

Yeah, I think Herring just likes to make a point that his main lifelong passion and interest is comedy and everything else is secondary, including music. I don't think he's at a David Mitchell level.