Listen to Led Zeppelin without shame. Thanks BR Board.
Beatles? Springsteen? Dylan? The Stones? The Who? Neil Young? The Dead? Hendrix? Credence?
You assholes might as well just deny the entire existence of rock-n-roll.
Boards Ops should just flush this entire shit pile. What a fucking waste of internet bandwidth.
PS - Upon further reflection, OK...I’ll give you Elton John.
If anyone under 60 claims they don't like the Beatles, I automatically assume they are morons. They are fundamental.
I just really don't understand people.
when the Beatles broke up. I think for a lot of us, part of liking the Beatles is having been parked in front of a television when they performed on the Ed Sullivan show in February of 1964.
I know Bruno didn’t intend for the thread to be an indictment against any particular band or performer, but when I saw all of those essentials showing up in the responses, man, something about it really irked me. But, hey, I’ll get over it.
Other than that nit, I agree with you.
They are all bands I am supposed to like, and I've played Creedence and Band covers as much as anyone.
I just don't find the stuff interesting.
In no list anywhere can Michigan be considered great.
I actually like the music, but then they always ruin it by letting axel “sing”
And the lyrics are stupid, too. The riffs are catchy though.
...Now, I wouldn't say I'm an unadorned fan of any band, but I can't think of one that would be considered "great" under some reasonable criteria that I don't find interesting to some extent, or whose music I don't listen to every so often. I'll give and example or so, below.
Fleetwood Mac, "I Don't Want to Know," Rumours.
This song has a nicely developed thematic element--the half cadence. A half cadence is when you have a musical phrase in the "tonic" (the key of the song), like C major, but the phrase, instead of closing back on C, closes on G, the "dominant." The theory people call this a half-cadence; it feels like you need to continue.
An example of a song with full cadences is "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," where the first phrase starts on the tonic, let's say C major, and then at the end of the first phrase, "...of thee I sing," cadences back on the tonic.
An example of a song with a half cadence dividing a phrase is in "Yankee Doodle." The first few measures, "Yankee Doodle went to town a-riding on his po-ny..." end on a half cadence (dominant harmony, melodic leading tone); the next few measures then come back to the tonic: "...stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni."
In "I Don't Want to Know," Stevie Nicks based the music on a whole series of one half cadence after another. This is most evident in the repeated series of progressions starting at 0:43 that build and build to the re-entrance of the main tune at 1:03 (and again at 1:43 with the re-entrance at 2:14). The song is in the key of B major; each of these repeated bits ends with the bass on a high F#, which is the dominant of B major. Musically these series are further propelled by a dominant pedal (the repeated high-sounding guitar note on the same pitch), tying the concept together.
But this half-cadence idea also permeates the main tune--it never ends on the tonic harmony until the very end of the song (but even then, the vocals are singing "I don't want to kno-ow" on the dominant note, F#).
A nice framing device is the repetition of the characteristic guitar chord progression from the intro as an "outro."
Overlaying the musical structure--the bones of the song--is a nice, clean vocal harmonization supported by a competently arranged rhythmic arrangement of drums, bass, and guitar. It's a very, very well constructed song that also has an attractive sound; but the secret to its success, I think, is that half-cadence idea that makes the listener feel like it's moving somewhere but never getting there until the last second.
Stevie Wonder, "Sir Duke," Songs in the Key of Life.
This is a tribute to Duke Ellington. It starts with major chord arpeggios in the brass that sound just like the opening of symphonies written in about 1760 by the so-called Mannheim Symphonists, who had a lot of influence on Mozart's orchestral style. This instrumental introduction is a harbinger of a structural device Wonder used to organize the song, that is, to have repeated instrumental breaks instead of just one bridge, which is more typical in a pop song. The repeated instrumental breaks help anchor the piece, which uses very complex harmonic progressions and needs that periodic re-centering.
There are different styles in this piece, some going back to Ellington, with a swing feel in the rhythm section but an R&B vibe in the vocals. The instrumental break at 1:06 and 2:29 is hard to play correctly, and remind me of the similar instrumental riff in Chick Corea's "Spain." There is a lot of jazz style with syncopations (off-the-beat entrances) and abundant chord substitutions (using some "foreign" chord for what you'd typically expect). And as in almost every modern pop song, it's held together by a locked-in drum-and-bass pattern that is like those people-mover conveyors at O'Hare, carrying everything above it along.
Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, the Good Ol Boys.
are the Manfred Mann version of “Blinded by the Light” (Bruce’s version sounds like his face is paralyzed and the words are just falling out of his mouth) and that song that’s actually by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band that I used to think was by Springsteen.
And Born to Run is ok.
he sucks, hate his voice.
and U2
Cause that could be the only explanation for including the Surreals!
WOO WOO
A mentality I don't understand, but I guess there are people who can't stand Beethoven and Mozart either - which Beatles? The band's output changed one hell of a lot from 1964 to 1970, and is so varied it makes no sense to me at all.
But whatever, there will always be Philistines.
Sacriledge!
The Ramones
John Cougar Mellencamp
CCR
The Beach Boys
Iggy Pop
Def Leppard
Santana
KISS
AC/DC
Do we consider Santana great? He's certainly in the classic rock pantheon, if nothing else, but does nothing for me.
Then there's quite a few who I don't mind in a "greatest hits" sense, but generally don't like, e.g. the Doors, the Stones. Springsteen could have stopped sometime in the 80s and I wouldn't have cared. Love his 70s and early 80s stuff, though.
I furthermore have a theory that most of the people who strongly hate the Eagles lived through their heyday and got sick of their ubiquity. I grew up with my mom and dad listening to them in the 80s and now like them in a nostalgic way.
Rap: Never liked Biggie
Country: Garth Brooks is ridiculously overrated
Rock and Roll: Stones have like two good songs. Bob Dylan is terrible.
Grunge: Nirvana was just bad. I don’t blame Cobain one bit...
Three of Rolling Stone's top four bands of all time plus the 12th (Beach Boys). The Rolling Stones are actually 4th on Rolling Stone's list but I put them first because I hadn't seen anybody else mention them.
There are actually a handful of Beatles songs that I like, but just a tiny fraction of their prodigious catalog. And I am perpetually baffled at the constant talk of their musical genius. I can't think of any song by any of the other three bands that I would ever choose to listen to.
I suspect that's an old joke but I'd never actually heard it before and it fit perfectly.
during a campaign appearance when he ran for president.
Guy asked him a question.
But you know that mullahs are not known for their sense of humor.
The Rolling Stones are sublime. The best counter-argument to anyone who says White People Don't Know "Soul." Cuz Beast of Burden has soul.
but I can't be sure because I don't know which loathsome, disaggrandizing songs I've heard that belong to him.
I hate the feckin' Eagles.
I don't hate them...just dislike.
I'll add Pink Floyd to the list inside the post because I know that it could set off a riot here. I never found them particularly appealing. Though I did get very drunk on a bus trip to the Horizon to see them. Only remember the floating pig....
Dark Side of the Moon onward was just classic rock bombast, IMHO.
Although I have a hard time thinking of most people already on this list as great musical acts, although many of them have a song or two that's fun.
I'm not even sure Queen clears even that threshold, though. I've never understood their popularity.
Rush
Eagles
James Taylor
REM
the Beach Boys. edit: The Allman Brothers.
I like Dave Grohl as a dude/persona. He and I like a lot of the same music. I just don't like Foo Fighters.
Sometimes I hear a song and think, yeah this is why I dig them. I'd take "Aurora" with me to a deserted island.
Other times, I think they kind of suck.
Once Grohl added contributing members, they become more bland arena rock.
just because it makes uptight people say "Pat Smear".
Some great guitar riffs. Darby Crash was an acquired taste, but the could have been really good. Tragic nonetheless.
this is about the "blindness," isn't it?
that Stevie Wonder isn't actually blind.
It makes more sense than someone saying they don't like Stevie Wonder's music.
And he has songs I like. Just not a type of music I like.
It's the blindness.
It's still awesome.
You should have narrowed down your question to limit it to the artists inducted into the R&R HOF.
I have tried to like them. They are right in my late-60s, early-70s wheelhouse. I like harmony and bands that jam. Love their backstory.
But their jams just seem to go on and on, pointlessly and without virtuosity. And their singing sounds, without exception, flat to me.
I wish I could like them, but I can't.
area thinks he is an asshole/douchebag.
will add Red Hot Chili Peppers, Prince, Dylan, Springsteen also bands like REM and Cure, and whoever the great Rap artists are. The dial on the radio gets turned immediately if any such song come over the radio.
That must be a freaky place.
So perhaps that makes them great?
If we're defining greatness by ticket sales then I guess we can all vote for Beyonce or Imagine Dragons.
tomorrow, the band would be swimming in money to donate to their favorite causes.
Yes, in punk circles, they are considered a great band. You may not like them. But you shouldn't underestimate their reputation in the punk/indie sphere of music.
and there’s still a few of us who still love Minor Threat more than Fugazi.
I didn't know anyone else did, and wouldn't put them in the "great" category based on the OP's "rule."
1-2-3 Repeater, man.
They easily meet Bruno's rules.
Along with a lot of other punk rock from a purer time when punk rock was both "punk" and "rock."
dig around to find it.
Banner Pilot
Off With Their Heads
Pears
The Slow Death(Minnesota)
No Skin
Western Settings
High Priests
Raging Nathans
Supreme Commander
Toys That Kill and their companion band The Underground Railroad To Candy Land
A lot of that can be found on bandcamp.com
Which is a whole 'nother kettle of fish, genre-wise, and yet... talk about massive, lasting impact on music.
Eric Clapton once said Prince was the world's greatest guitar player. I can't argue with that. But I think Purple Rain and much of his other stuff sounds like crap.
There’s a lot from about 1975 to about 1990 that does absolutely nothing for me, for that matter.
It would bear many similarities to your disliked list but:
Springsteen
The Clash
U2
Sex Pistols
Queen
Kanye, Bob Dylan, Phish, the Greatful Dead and the Cure.
Excluding one hit wonders and the like.
specializes in tight pants, make-up and shitty music.
I've never understood the Buffett love
I mean I could add a ton more to this list but I'm pretty sure I'm our resident hater as is.
Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel are right up there too.
I like a couple of their songs because they remind me of my freshman year of college. Eddie Vedder seems like a good guy, but mostly I can't stand his voice.
At least in terms of his voice. I love the emotion and power when he sings.
But I also dig Dylan so clearly I don't need my vocalists to sound like Sinatra.
but the reason I don’t like them is there’s nothing fun about them. They don’t sound like they’re having a good time and they don’t want you to have a good time either. That’s why they write songs about stuff like a kid committing suicide in English class (which I’m sure his parents love hearing on the radio 25 years later...)
Weird thing is, I actually kind of like Rammstein, who are about equally cheerful. They at least have a sense of humor though.
Hair metal bands sure looked like they were having fun. I think the early 90's grunge scene was kind of a reaction to that. PJ, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, Soundgarden... all those bands had zero interest in writing catchy songs about partying, sex, and love.
That said, I think Pearl Jam concerts look like a lot of fun. I've only been to one PJ concert (Golden Gate Park in 1995), and it was fun as hell for about the first 25 or 30 minutes until Eddie Vedder started puking his guts out from stomach flu. Then Neil Young took over and bored us to death. I also saw them play a short acoustic set at a benefit concert on Halloween 1999. The 2 guitar players wore ridiculous halloween costumes, and Vedder had a lot of fun engaging with and serenading the handicapped kids who were sitting behind the stage.
I disagree in principle with the notion that it isn't fun to play or listen to music that's dark and/or (pseudo) intellectual. I don't think your example of Rammstein is weird at all.
It's so affected. I'd add Metallica and Black Sabbath. Not my thing.
For the record, I continue to love Pearl Jam's first three albums and I choose to play their music frequently. I luckily saw them twice before Vedder decided that the stage was his bully pulpit from which to deliver his worthless politicial diatribes. STFU and play. You didn't become famous for your political acumen and people didn't buy tickets to hear you emulate MSNBC.
It's not that I disagree with him on everything - it's just that everything isn't such an affront.
wise-ass in me says “Enjoy Toby Keith!”
Gotta be someone you dig out there man!
This is a thread about who we don’t like. So clearly my posts here are negative. But, stating the obvious, I like everybody except those I don’t. And I kind of pride myself on liking a very broad range of music, new and old, popular and not, with many a guilty pleasure.
"Now there was this man, and he had an American flag as a t-shirt, and this man like to use the F-word...F-this and F-that, and everytime he said the F-word the people started cheering."
That's what Pearl Jam fans are like whenever Vedder drops an F-bomb during one of his between-songs soliloquies.
My only basis for judging his character is that he's a devoted, non-bandwagon Cub fan.
Regarding Soundgarden, I'll say that I enjoy them in small doses. It's cool when one of their songs comes on the radio, but I think Chris Cornell often sounds like he's being stabbed in the hamstring so 2 songs in a row wears on me.
That's quite a few heavy hitters of rock that you dislike.
The opening guitar riff, played on a sound system that goes to 11, with windows down, while you're on your way to some big moment and smell victory, and packing a Copenhagen, and you yell "Fuck You, Asshole!" to some guy you're passing on the highway, and you feel so tough because yeah you're in a Hyundai Elantra but you almost bought something better and could have if you wanted to... sigh.
I do like Soundgarden enough to exclude them from a list like this however. Rusty Cage and then Outshined is quite a way to start an album off.
That was hilarious!
and I was at ND during the time everyone seemed to have a CD of his ready to play.
great.
Terry Kath "accidentally shot himself to death after a game of Russian roulette went horribly wrong" at a party.
"What do you think I’m gonna do? Blow my brains out?"
Not kidding. He didn't think the gun was loaded.
I agree, they lost a lot when he died, especially his voice. I think their best song ever was "Make Me Smile", and he was the lead on that one.
I would take Terry Kath over Peter Cetera every day of the week, and twice on Saturday and Sunday. The group was never the same.
CCR
Radiohead
Every indie rocker seems to love them, but I do not.
From your list: I've never gotten into Steely Dan. I don't like Fleetwood Mac.
The Kinks are very hit or miss (mostly miss.) Lola Versus Powerman & the Moneygoround is, start to finish, a wonderfully complete album. Village Green Preservation Society does absolutely nothing for me.
I really like most of the others, though.
Rush (I think everyone saw that coming)
REO Speedwagon
Foreigner
Nirvana
I reserve the right to add more if I think of them.
trouble, people!
Great lyricist. Someone else shoulda sung ‘em.
the one performed by someone else, like "All Along the Watchtower"
I just can't take Yorke's voice.
Also, the Sex Pistols were always vastly overrated measured against their actual output.
The music he's made over the years- I don't really listen to it. But the fact that he's making it- I respect that.
Do I know what I'm doing today? No. But I'm here. And I'm giving it my best shot.
Half his songs are repeating lyrics over and over.
Sending out an SOS indeed.
We saw him a couple of years ago when he was co-headlining with Paul Simon. They would sort of take turns and occasionally swap songs. Paul Simon, as brilliant as he is at songwriting, was surprisingly dull. At one point, Sting played "America" absolutely beautifully as a solo acoustic performance, and then in the time you could count into the next song, swapped with a roadie for an electric guitar and launched into "Message in a Bottle. " It was brilliant. Whether you are a fan or not, he completely outclassed Paul f'ing Simon on the stage...and it's Paul f'ing Simon.
About one of his songs, “Fortress Around Your Heart”, to the effect that he thought it was pretty good and would have been a hit if it had had a bridge
Yeah, Gordon. If you’d finished writing the song before you released it, maybe it would be more popular. You’re not just a poet, you’re a sage.
Fortress Around Your Heart is a pretty good song in my opinion. A Smart Person's Song. You have to know "chasm" is pronounced with a hard-C.
I like Sting, enough to exclude him from this list. Mostly because The Police.
"So Lonely" is a trip, for example. That song's badass. And he had a hit song about a hooker for God's sake. The best part about that is the way even the girls will sing along with Roxanne, with no clue its about a hooker.
Sting's solo work is a mixed bag, but there are some creative bits in there and he is a pretty accomplished musician in the broad sense - I think he plays about 7 instruments well.
I love how he builds up and transitions to the chorus when he sings "walking on the mines I laid and if".
And I agree with him. It is good and it would have been a hit if he’d written a bridge for it.
However, this is a Captain Obvious observation.
The one thing I disagree with — everyone knows what “Roxanne” is about.
without actually considering what the words mean.
Or maybe there's just 3 girls like that, and I know all of them. Could be.
It was right after Chris Cornell passed away. Guy right in front of us made a big show of the fact that he knew all of the words to a number of GnR songs. Real Superfan that guy. Sang along at the top of his lungs, looked around to see who would join him, conducted the orchestra, etc. You know the guy.
Then the band played Black Hole Sun. Superfan pulled out his phone to Shazam it.
At least he knows one band really well. I guess.
and yes. Yes i do.
a song about a stalker that is played at countless weddings. Makes me smirk!
Song telling a girl to F-off.
Perfect
My mind can be changed though as I learned recently when I started to enjoy ELO after despising them for so long.
Rush
Boston
REO
Journey
I just don't get it, and my musical tastes scream "you'll love Bruce Springsteen".
But I know he's great, in the sense to which you refer.