Submitted by PhillyCSpires t3_zzgbbh in Music
tune4jack t1_j2bh7c6 wrote
I posted this comment in another thread but it got no attention, so here it is.
For me, most of the popular songs/albums/artists that always get mentioned on Reddit are either totally average or good, but in that take-it-or-leave-it kind of way where it's enjoyable but you have no desire to listen to it voluntarily.
David Bowie? His music is...fine I guess??? Never really understood why he's considered to be a musical megastar.
Leonard Cohen? Totally overrated and middle of the road. Just because your voice is deep and husky doesn't mean the music is good.
Fleetwood Mac's Rumours? Perfectly fine album, but I don't get that "Holy crap, this is a masterpiece!" feeling when I hear any of its songs. It's your standard "everyone likes it" album. Not to mention a lot of the goodness has been sucked out of it due to forty-five years of constant radio play.
Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon? Better than Rumours. Not downloading it anytime soon, though.
Led Zeppelin? See above.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears? Meh.
Johnny Cash's Hurt? Not a fan. Sue Me.
Polyphia? I want to like these guys, but they're too polished and produced. They sound like Youtuber intro music. I could maybe get into them if they were darker and grittier.
InformationKilo t1_j2ca4ax wrote
Not in a condescending way, but how much knowledge of music theory do you have? Not every great piece of music will be to everyone's taste, but I've found that usually when someone rejects multiple critically acclaimed songs/albums, they usually aren't yet aware of what makes the music as good as it is, and probably haven't had a lot of exposure to good music in general
tune4jack t1_j2ch3dq wrote
>how much knowledge of music theory do you have?
None.
Keep in mind I never said any of this music is bad, just that I find it either ho-hum (Bowie/Cohen), good but not great (Fleetwood Mac), or good but not to the point that I want it in my music library (Pink Floyd/Led Zeppelin). I've just never been much of a fan of the mainstream greats. You might disagree with me on this one, but I believe that in order to have mainstream appeal there needs to be a certain middle-of-the-roadness to your music. It has to appeal to a wide audience. I think Rumours exemplifies this perfectly. Yeah, it's a solid album, but in a mainstream, radio-friendly, not too edgy or different kind of way. That's just not the kind of music I crave.
InformationKilo t1_j2dfu57 wrote
I definitely disagree with your take on mainstream music. Dark side of the moon is hugely experimental, one of the least radio friendly, middle of the road albums to sell millions of copies. I think people like you who prefer edgy, underground artists still a lot of the time try to give reasons the classics aren't "great" to them, rather than just say they aren't their taste. Not knowing anything about music definitely influences the ear as well. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, and Pink Floyd are made up of objectively phenomenal musicians, and they definitely use that ability in their song writing. Not being able to recognize harmonies and musical elements, I can see why someone would find them a bit boring. (For the record, David Bowie isn't the type of music I'd download, but I recognize what makes his music creative)
tune4jack t1_j2e3cl7 wrote
>I think people like you who prefer edgy, underground artists still a lot of the time try to give reasons the classics aren't "great" to them, rather than just say they aren't their taste.
They literally aren't my taste. I was just trying to give an in depth explanation as to why. I'm sure you could take a song I think is great and break down why you think it isn't and I would end up disagreeing with you.
Also, understanding the technical ability and musical elements behind a piece of music isn't going to make the sounds entering my ears any different. Heck, you even admit this yourself when you said David Bowie is talented but you wouldn't download his music. I feel the same way about Fleetwood Mac, Elton John, Eagles, Journey, Bee Gees, et cetera.
Yeah, at this point I'm sure it sounds like I'm doing that annoying "I'm a special snowflake because I don't like mainstream music" thing, but for whatever reason I genuinely just don't get a huge amount of enjoyment from it.
By the way, most people dislike what I listen to, so I think it's a wash.
InformationKilo t1_j2eeewe wrote
Different strokes, I won't try to prove I'm right or anything, I'd just say that I think knowing music does change the sound going into your ears, at least the way your brain processes what you're hearing. Worth it to anyone who sees music as a big part of their life imo
sticky_fiddler t1_j2eoh9s wrote
I was with you 'til you mentioned Journey , now you've gone too far 😆
AmphibianImmediate45 t1_j2chotw wrote
Care to share what you do like? I’m curious.
InformationKilo t1_j2dhvqw wrote
Again, I'm not meaning this in an insulting way, but you saying any music loved by many is "not too different, mass appeal" is like a non-chef telling Gordon Ramsay his food just doesn't quite have enough pizazz. It's ok to not like something, but I don't think you can discount it in any way unless you're an expert in the field, and I've never met an expert who discounts any of the mainstream "legends"
[deleted] t1_j2blrxo wrote
[deleted]
No_Comfortable6029 t1_j2byv5t wrote
pretty much agree except Polyphia, though I can see why one would say that
thisizusername t1_j2bvsp2 wrote
You don’t have to Like Johnny Cash’s Hurt, but you are required to think it’s better that the original and the best cover of all time.
He stripped away all the annoying innovation and boiled it down to spoken word. If that isn’t excellence, I don’t know what is.
GlueForSniffing t1_j2d61lu wrote
It is an amazing cover and song . . . but . . .
Florence + The Machine - " I Don't Wanna Know ( Mario Winan ) "
Florence + the Machine - " Oh Darling ( The Beatles ) "
KIMBRA - " Plain Gold Ring " ( Nina Simone )
Annie Lennox - " Under Pressure " ( Queen x Bowie )
Aretha Franklin - " Natural Woman " ( Carole King )
I mean . . . it has some competition. More than I could name.
thisizusername t1_j2emkvf wrote
Thanks, I’ll check these out.
My post was a reference to the fact that every time there is a post about covers, the first person to write Johnny cash hurt gets an automatic 10,000 upvotes. Its pretty good I guess, but I think it’s worse than the original.
JedExi t1_j2fd498 wrote
That's my take on Hurt basically. I feel the best part about Cash's version is the music video which I think is phenomenal. But the cover itself doesn't work for me, especially next to the original.
mikeldmv t1_j2dcxwi wrote
circus4fools_u_me t1_j2exh1l wrote
As someone who loved the last song of the epic album The Downward Spiral for twenty years before Cash covered it, I can confidently say that no it is not automatically better
Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments