Big influential acts you have no desire to ever listen to

[The Mollusk]

Because let's face it, you think they're shite and boring. Maybe they haven't aged well, maybe you can't put yourself in that point in time and imagine how much they were changing the game, maybe you just think they're shite and boring.

The Fall

I keep trying to convince myself I appreciate this band since every time I listen to one of their seminal albums I twitch a wry smile at a couple of the lyrics, but nah, I get next to nowt from them otherwise. I love scrappy, messy proto/post/whatever-punk - "Spiral Scratch", Swell Maps, The Mentally Ill - and without The Fall there'd almost certainly be no "mclusky do dallas", one of my fave noisy guitar albums ever, but I am nevertheless supremely not arsed about The Fall.

Kraftwerk

Been years since I copped their early non-electronic stuff but as far as the late '70s onwards is concerned... well, I stuck "The Man Machine" on the other week and fuck me that album is dull. All the other exponents of experimental music coming out of Germany around that time were so much better than this. Rother and Dinger had the right idea fucking off early, Neu! are vastly superior from an objective standpoint even just with their first and third albums.

Techno is an amazing genre that never stops surprising me and the late '50s/early '60s output of the Radiophonic Workshop and Raymond Scott are wonderfully immersive, beguiling and bizarre, but in the middle of these there's Kraftwerk. Obviously I get it, everything they stood for in deconstructing pop music and rigidly enforcing repetition is incredible and their impact is undeniably huge... but as a 34 year old in 2021 I'm here to tell you their music sucks.

[sevendaughters]

can almost feel the vibration of several bald men typing up a fury

[Pauline Walnuts]

Well, you're clearly listening to the wrong albums by them.

Actually.

[DrGreggles]

U2

Don't understand the fuss.

[Brundle-Fly]

Bob Dylan. Again. I don't think he's shite and boring though, it's just his musical palette is not for me.  I don't like Greek food either.

[The Culture Bunker]

Sonic Youth and Nirvana. I can enjoy noisy guitar stuff, but those two for whatever reason just bore me - it's an issue I have with quite a lot of American alt-rock (or whatever label you wish to use).

[Astronaut Omens]

Kraftwerk are a funny mixture. There are some songs like Neon Lights or Radioactivity which are a bit too babyishly simple- if you sang either of those songs with an acoustic guitar, they'd sound like nursery rhymes, and not particular good nursery rhymes, either. But then you have some really funky stuff which has lots going on- I think all of Side 1 of Computer World was the highpoint.

[sevendaughters]

Steely Dan About ten years ago I wrote a horrible review of The Nightfly on Amazon and for the decade since I have been receiving aghast correspondence from Dan fans. So, admittedly, I've sort of painted myself into a corner with them where I won't ever give them a fair shake. But their meta approach to doing overly sophisticated and 'well-recorded' pop rock leaves me ice cold. It's always a strange thing when undeniable talent fails to hit the mark. There's nothing anyone can really say to dent this: I've tried their music, and I've listened to Gregg Turkington talk about his recent conversion to them after years of entrenched hate, but I remain unmoved.

[buttgammon]

I'm at a point now where there's such an over saturation of music that I don't feel the need to fill in all the blanks any more. It's absolutely impossible and besides, there's loads of older stuff that I know I would love and simply haven't got round to, and I'd much rather seek out stuff like that than listen to big names because of a sense of obligation. I'm not sure if I've ever heard a full Rolling Stones or Led Zeppelin album, for example but would I really get as much pleasure from them as I would from the dozens of great recommendations in the recent jazz thread?

Bob Dylan. Again. I don't think he's shite and boring though, it's just his musical palette is not for me.  I don't like Greek food either.

I have listened to Bob Dylan in the past, I just never enjoyed the experience or got the fuss and decided it wasn't one of those things where it would take effort on my behalf, but that I simply didn't like his music. All of my peers and colleagues seem to be huge Dylan fans, to such an extent that I actually had to add his name to my mute list on Twitter at one point.

[The Mollusk]

Steely Dan About ten years ago I wrote a horrible review of The Nightfly on Amazon and for the decade since I have been receiving aghast correspondence from Dan fans. So, admittedly, I've sort of painted myself into a corner with them where I won't ever give them a fair shake. But their meta approach to doing overly sophisticated and 'well-recorded' pop rock leaves me ice cold. It's always a strange thing when undeniable talent fails to hit the mark. There's nothing anyone can really say to dent this: I've tried their music, and I've listened to Gregg Turkington talk about his recent conversion to them after years of entrenched hate, but I remain unmoved.

I've only ever really given "Aja" a few spins but I broadly agree with what you're saying. I find their music inescapably bloated and pompous. A lot like Roxy Music in that regard.

[phantom_power]

Kraftwerk are a funny mixture. There are some songs like Neon Lights or Radioactivity which are a bit too babyishly simple- if you sang either of those songs with an acoustic guitar, they'd sound like nursery rhymes, and not particular good nursery rhymes, either. But then you have some really funky stuff which has lots going on- I think all of Side 1 of Computer World was the highpoint.

Neon Lights is a gorgeous song you absolute monster

For me it is Frank Zappa. When I hear his music described it sounds amazing and then when I listen to it I find myself bored within the first few bars

[sevendaughters]

I love Kraftwerk but I also get it: their sound is both pioneering futureworld and also a bit camp and simplistic.

[Pauline Walnuts]

I think the streamline simplicity was kinda the point.


That said last time I listened to Radio-Activity it sounds very period. And not in a good way.

[The Mollusk]

A lot of early hip hop like Run-D.M.C. is far too rigid and barebones for it to have any listenability to me. It's grating, there's a distinct lack of smoothness that feels like I'm constantly being prodded by every huge 808 clap and scrrratched guitar chord sample. It must have been thrilling at the time but if I ever heard that stuff in a club nowadays I would find it very jarring. Ain't nobody gonna stick around and dance to the whole 5 minutes of the original "It's Like That".

Similarly "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash, whilst having a much more involved and soulful groove behind it, is a serious trudge. That was a lot of important stuff that needed to be heard back then - arresting, bold, and ultimately very cool - but I find it incredibly tedious.

The first Beastie Boys album was panned for not-too-dissimilar reasons in the "prefer their later stuff" thread, and aside from the highly dated juvenile antics that they themselves quickly grew out of, the song structure there does leave a lot to be desired in retrospect. They hit their stride immediately afterwards once they realised they could get totally freaky.

[The Mollusk]

I think the streamline simplicity was kinda the point.

It definitely is, I mentioned that in the OP. But as I'm sure you understand, that doesn't necessarily make it good.

[idunnosomename]

U2

Don't understand the fuss.

i agree with most of this thread, except this. U2 are simply dogshit that should never be listened to by anyone.

[jobotic]

Millions of 'em. Led Zep and all those other rock bores.

There's loads of bands that come up on here that people rate and I listen to and just don't get it. Just another indie band, just another bloke whining and millions of things that sound like they would have been Dannii Minogue b-sdies played in Top Shop in the late eighties but are, perhaps ironically, really good as they've been made now by someone really cool. 

Having said that I'm not slagging off oscillations or you lovely lot on here - I've discovered some wonderful stuff that I very much doubt I would heard anywhere else.

[Pauline Walnuts]

It definitely is, I mentioned that in the OP. But as I'm sure you understand, that doesn't necessarily make it good.

As I forgot to say in the original post, it's was why it sounded so modern. 30 years ago.

And also, true dat.

[The Mollusk]

Massively agree about Zep - they are, by and large, turgid, self-important and insubstantial fucking drivel. In fact that is my first port of call when explaining why I dislike them, before even considering the whole massive plagiarism thing. The Yardbirds always come under similar scrutiny from me as well.

[sutin]

David Bowie. I was well into my 30s before checking him out and it all felt like weaker versions of music I already loved. Maybe if i'd heard him properly decades earlier i'd feel different, but I didn't. Liked him as a dude though, i'd much rather listen to Bowie interviews than any of his records.

*runs away*

[lankyguy95]

A lot of early hip hop like Run-D.M.C. is far too rigid and barebones for it to have any listenability to me. It's grating, there's a distinct lack of smoothness that feels like I'm constantly being prodded by every huge 808 clap and scrrratched guitar chord sample. It must have been thrilling at the time but if I ever heard that stuff in a club nowadays I would find it very jarring. Ain't nobody gonna stick around and dance to the whole 5 minutes of the original "It's Like That".

That's the hip-hop I'm more likely to gravitate towards. I was listening to Born To Mack by Too $hort today and that record sounds so good to me, even though it's so minimalist.

[daf]

Joy Division - Depressing
The Velvet Underground - Depressing
The Clash - Hectoring
Sex Pistols - Aggressive
Radiohead - Aloof

(I never like arrogance or rudeness - I always feel like Lou Reed or Johnny Rotter is having a go at me personally!)

[holyzombiejesus]

Bob Marley. Probably wouldn't mind his music if I'd never previously encountered it being played or the man being rhapsodised so much but I just can't be arsed.

Most classic rock, especially the more 'manly' stuff like Led Zep and The Doors.

Metal

Also, any dance act that you can only really appreciate if you're wankered in a club/ field.

[Kankurette]

Another person who just cannot be arsed with The Fall. I've tried, I cannot get into them and there are so many albums and I have neither the time nor the patience to explore them. I also get sick of the MES worship in indie circles. The guy was an abusive cunt.

Most of the bands on here I can at least tolerate. Bob Dylan has a few songs I like, though I think he's overrated (and prefer Joni Mitchell's lyrics by miles). Sonic Youth I feel I SHOULD like because they moved in the same circles as other bands I like, such as Nirvana, but again, could never get into them. Bull in the Heather is a tune though.

[The Mollusk]

I listened to two or three of the classic Sonic Youth albums and thought they were very drab. Probably great live but on record there's not a lot going on at all. Another big case of "you had to be there", I imagine.

[sevendaughters]

Squarepusher it all started when I bought Music is Rotted One Note and realised it was giving me a headache. Not because I couldn't handle the riotous jazztronica, but something about the record was doing my frigging head in. I've listened around his discog and aside from My Red Hot Car all of his stuff is a total erectile dysfunction of a career for me, despite clearly understanding how it is original, masterful, different, etc. His brother dicks all over him.

The Jesus and Mary Chain they were unlistenable and then they were adult contemporary, how does that work?

[Pauline Walnuts]

The Jesus and Mary Chain they were unlistenable and then they were adult contemporary, how does that work?

They were more twee 60s pop song melodies, with a distorted guitar backing, not epically interesting for anyone who's ever got tried out a guitar with a couple of effect pedals, or at least that's how it seemed, I've got no desire to ever listen to. etc. etc.

[cosmic-hearse]

I've never heard The Grateful Dead (SF jam band psychedelia not really my thing) nor Steely Dan (read an interview with them years ago which really put me off them).

Can't fathom not wanting to listen to Kraftwerk though - their songs are distilled brilliance, like a Mondrian painting or a Mies van der Rohe building.

[chveik]

The Jesus and Mary Chain they were unlistenable

only for the softies at the time.

[sutin]

The Smiths for similar reasons to Bowie. I got very deep into c86 jangle pop stuff but was never a Smiths fan. When I finally listened to them properly after a decade of June Brides, McCarthy and The Pastels, they just sounded a bit cold and grey. Some nice lyrics and melodies but Morrissey's vocal delivery was too daft for me to get emotionally invested. Then it turned out he's awful so I don't care that I don't really get them anymore.