"Required to Like" rock groups that you dislike?

[HughBeaumont]

We're not talking your Kansases, your Styxes, your STPs or your ELPs; popular groups which critics have hated since the word go. I'm talking those groups that both critics and the group's rabid fans have elevated them to such a level (think Nirvana, Violent Femmes, Pixies, etc) that if you dared to speak ill of them, you automatically have "no musical taste" and "know nothing about music". This isn't designed to be flamebait, but there has to be some universally lauded group that you don't think is the bees knees.

For me, it's gotta be Tool. I'm sorry, but I'm just not feelin' it. They have talent and came in at the right time, but they're nothing but Neurosis-lite to me. I don't like his vocals, the songs are kind of same-y after a while and they don't do as much for me as they do for their rabid following, I guess.

[chaska]

1. I know exactly where you're coming from...

I'm a musician and I have all these "cool" friends and acquaintences that are always talking about these groups (and more) you mention. I've never even heard any of that stuff. I like European and Scandinavian Jazz and weird one off CDs by really obscure musicians. I hate all that trendy shite. "Cool" equals boring to me.

Give me esoteric over trendy anyday.

[billyskank]

2. Coldplay

They SUCK! I mean they can play and write and everything, but their music just does my nut!!

[Spider Jerusalem]

12. Agreed.

Coldplay are tremendously overrated. I find their music annoying, cliché, derivative and generally lame, and it doesn't help that the singer sounds like he's doing his impersonation of Thom Yorke impersonating Bono.

[Magrittes Pipe]

3. Radiohead sounds great...

...if you have a tin ear.

[HughBeaumont]

7. Never really jumped on the Radiohead bandwagon myself . . .

I find them to be mediocre Gong/Aphex Twin scrapin's.

[Susang]

17. Fie on you!

A pox on your house until you admit that Thom Yorke is brilliant. :P

BTW, I saw them live a few summers back, playing an outdoor concert in downtown Chicago. It was transcendent.

And I am by no means a music snob. That would be impossible for someone who unapologetically loves Tom Jones and The Captain and Tenille as much as I do! ;-)

[Loonman]

4. Guided By Voices

Wow....two burns for me in one day. Robert Pollard is a drunken fool and lame-ass lyric writer.

[flamingyouth]

26. No shit

Just because you can write & record a billion songs doesn't mean you should.

My late husband loved them and had every single thing they put out. I sold most of it on eBay and was shocked at what I got for some of it.

[Loonman]

41. Ha ha

"Just because you can write & record a billion songs doesn't mean you should."

Classic. Pollard went on record saying he could write an album a day. Some music critic said that based on the "quality" of his work, he's probably right.

[Taverner]

5. The Ramones

Personally I just don't get it. The Clash was better punk. Talking Heads and Blondie were better reps of the CBJB/NYC Sound. Sha Na Na did fifties kitch better.

[Texasgal]

20. BLASPHEMY!!!!!

How could you NOT like the RAMONES????? :P

[RandomKoolzip]

23. With ya there. The Ramones were totally overrated.

If they had made one album and disappeared/died/overdosed/broke up, the world would be a much better place today.

[XNASA]

28. Agreed. I found them cartoonish at best.

[HughBeaumont]

37. Ramones made one good album . . .their first.

Everything after that was mostly average to crap. The Clash did do this sort of thing way better, rawer and with much more talent.

[alarcojon]

38. Agree

never got them

[peekaloo]

45. 1, 2, 3, 4

Remedial Sesame Streeters deserve a rock band, too!

I actually liked them.

[Lubernaut]

109. How could a band as simplistic as the Ramones

fly over so many heads? What's not to get? They ruled!

[dolo amber]

6. Velvet Underground

:boring:

[RandomKoolzip]

10. Wow...great minds and all that....

:hi:

[Initech]

72. Agreed, VU puts me to sleep...

[progressoid]

88. Yep, doesn't work for me either.

If it hadn't been for Andy Warhol, they probably would've faded into even more obscurity.

[RandomKoolzip]

8. Velvet Underground, for starters.

I like a lot of their tunes, and "White Light White Heat" is some hot shit, but for the most part, they just sound like a fifth rate, poorly recorded garage band with pretentions to art. And I hold them responsible for a million horrible "college rock" bands (Yes, I'm looking at you, Galaxie 500) who thought it was perfectly okay not to be able to play very well.

Radiohead, U2, Tori Amos, The Smiths, Liz Phair, The Cure, Jesus and Mary Chain, Smashing Pumpkins, etc....I never liked any of these clowns either. Still can't understand why they're so well-liked.

[dolo amber]

9. Whoa, dude

*High five* :D

[RandomKoolzip]

11. Tee hee!

:bounce:

[billyskank]

14. You've thought about this, haven't you!

[RandomKoolzip]

15. Nope. Never crossed my mind until ten minutes ago.

:evilgrin:

[HughBeaumont]

16. Galaxie 500! Ha ha ha ha ha

Smashing Pumpkins . .. ecccch. Some of the Gish songs weren't bad, but after that, they started becoming a bad fart-rock imitation and rock writers masturbate WAY too much about Corgan. Never got the whole Tori Amos thing either.

Haysoos and Mary Chain are one of the most useless live acts I've ever seen.

[RandomKoolzip]

19. Black Jesus Rebel Motorcycle Mary Chain Club suck!!!

Oh, and so does the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Just admit it, they do.

[HughBeaumont]

22. I'll see your Brian Jonestown Massacre

and raise you . . . and you will know us by the trail of dead.

I couldn't take them live. HORRID.

:rofl:

[RandomKoolzip]

24. Hmmmm. I like exactly ONE song by them.

Anyhow, I'll see your.....trail of dead and raise you a Wilco.

"Hey Tweedy! Play another song that sounds like the Replacements dying!"

[HughBeaumont]

30. YES! 3 for 3!

NEVER got the whole Wilco felch-o-rama. YHF . . . it sounded like Radiohead puked on Son Volt.

[RandomKoolzip]

42. I thought Jay Farrar WAS Uncle Tupelo.

I never liked a single one of Tweedy's tunes for Tupelo.

Tupelo without Farrar is like Floyd without Waters or the Beatles without Lennon.

And with Wilco, Tweedy's really let his hair down (This is not a good thing).

[no name no slogan]

82. Hey now...

JAMC had a couple good albums-- the first two. And I went through a G500 phase in college, but didn't everybody.

Agreed about the Punkins though-- as Steve Albini said, they're the 90s equivalent of REO Speedwagon.

[-..__...]

13. Nirvana.

[HughBeaumont]

18. Who do writers beat off more over - Grohl or Cobain?

Right now, I'd say the little blond guy with the stomach problems, but Grohl is seriously catching up. If I never hear anything else from something involving David Grohl, it will be too soon.

Oh yeah, and I really HATE the damned Foo Fighters.

[RandomKoolzip]

21. I'm actually one of those weird guys who LIKES some Foo Fighters tunes.

"My Hero" was great, I thought. And I looooved "The Best of You."

I'm probably alone here, though.

[HughBeaumont]

27. I can't say I hate EVERYthing Grohl's involved in . . .

I like 3 Probot songs, but that's more who he plays WITH than him.

Just no gotdamned Foo Fighters.

[RandomKoolzip]

35. I hear ya.

I think he's a fantastic drummer, too. One of the last of the heavy hitters who knows the value of silence.

Which is not to say I've ever liked them enough to buy a FF album...lord knows all you have to do is turn on Q101 or whatever to hear your fill.

[no name no slogan]

119. He guested on the last Killing Joke album

which was fucking amazing. Nirvana was okay, but I don't get the Foo Fighters. White-boy indie-rock, how novel. :eyes:

[Susang]

32. No, you're not

I like the Foo too. :D

Don't really have any strong feelings about Nirvana. I mean, it's sad the guy offed himself, but that doesn't make his music good or bad. It just makes him yet another stereotype.

[eyepaddle]

25. Wow, I could go on ALL day about this kind of stuff,

but here's my biggest culprit--The Replacements. They convinced generations of Minnesota youth that a three dollar guitar and drunken half-assed attitude towards your own music was the ultimate "I'm comfortable with my art, in fact so comfortable I don't know that I need to even give a shit. In fact giving a shit about your own music is lame!"-statement.

Oh yeah G Love and Special Sauce :puke:

College radio in general--sometimes there is a VERY good reason shit is obscure.

[HughBeaumont]

29. G.L.a.S.S. SUCK!

And I never got the "Mats" fame (DAMN I hate that rock snob term) when Minneanapolis had the far better and more volatile Husker Du, who changed MY musical life in 1985 (yep, sloooooooooooow learner way back when).

[Spider Jerusalem]

39. The best thing about the Replacements...

was the video for "Bastards of Young". That's about it. And Bob Mould whips Westerberg's ass with a belt, musically speaking. But then, to be fair, compared to most of what was going on musically circa 1984-'85, especially in mainstream pop/rock, even the Replacements aren't that bad.

[eyepaddle]

40. Bob Mould has doen some really interesting stuff since he moved on

from Husker Du--but I haven't heard anything from him i a few years (very solid show at First Ave--another rock snob term--though)

I think it's pretty much a safe assumtpiton, if something wins a Minnesota Music Awards it is guaranteed to be utterly horrid.

I tend to like stuff a lot crunchier than Semisonic, but I thought it was great when closing time went #1--just because how much it pissed off the local scene. Plus I lived across the street from that guy--he was a pretty good neighbor!

[RandomKoolzip]

46. I really liked the Replacements, but I totally understand what you're

saying. The 'Mats were basically another generation's version of the Faces with all the benefits and faults THEY had, too.

[eyepaddle]

50. A lot of my friends still groove on "The 'Mats"

but it's terrible, 90% of Minneapolis bands STILL want to be the next Replacements. God, it's OVER people, just let it go.

I've toyed with the idea of putting a band together, getting a gig under false pretenses and then just pretty much sweep picking for twenty minutes until I get booed off the stage--just to see the looks of confusion, horror and anger on all the hipster's faces! :evilgrin:

[MN ChimpH8R]

73. Agreed most heartily

I knew Westerberg when he was playing in a friend's cover band long before the 'mats. He seemed like a decent kid then, with some cool guitar chops. The 'mats were the most overrated band I ever heard in this town. Sloppy, disjointed and a mess. But their first manager told them they were the second coming of something and they slugged down that Kool-Aid with the enthisiasm of Freepers for Chimpy.

A band I played bass with opened for them once in 1979. The shrimpy then-14-year-old bass player started lipping off to 6'1" 23-year-old me (I was minding my own business in the dressing room) and I threatened to pound him into the ground like a tent peg with his own cheap bass.

Never had a tick of time for them.

[eyepaddle]

75. Like a tent peg!

:rofl:

How'd he take that bucket o' truth?

[MN ChimpH8R]

83. He shut up and ran away

after I stood up and he realized that I was nearly a foot taller and a lot bigger than him. :evilgrin:

[brentspeak]

31. The Sex Pistols and Radiohead

Though I did like Radiohead's "Kid A" lp.

[Initech]

33. Tons of indie crap

Especially stuff that's so heavily labelled that you cant even listen to it. Like bands like Of Montreal or Sufjan Stevens or any number of them.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

123. What do you mean by "heavily labelled"?

[Rising Phoenix]

34. U2

[Blue_In_AK]

97. Oh, I must agree...

I ABSOLUTELY HATE U2, and Bono is so full of himself he makes me sick.

[slybacon9]

36. Coldplay and U2

U2 I liked... now the magic is over... and it's sad.

[HughBeaumont]

64. re:U2 . . . when did it stop for you?

I kind of looked at the exit when Joshua Tree's singles were played ad nauseum and left the train around Rattle and Hum.

[slybacon9]

105. I will even give them achtung baby... Great album... after that: 0

they are now just a cliche factory.

[devilgrrl]

43. The Who.

They're okay but other than that.... so what?

[DelawareValleyDem]

49. Yep. nt

[alarcojon]

44. I certainly won't mention Zappa

because I would get flamed within inches of my life.

[dolo amber]

47. The same reason I chose to mention VU

instead of Dylan. ;)

[alarcojon]

53. Oh, you'd probably get a variety of opinion on Dylan

I would say I have respect for his contributions to music (Which I would also say about Zappa BTW) but that doesn't mean I enjoy listening to his music.

[RandomKoolzip]

48. I'm a huge Zappaphile, but I can understand why people hate him.

He's an acquired taste. And he really didn't make it very EASY for people to like him, anyways.

[eyepaddle]

54. A big chunk of that is the varying nature of his records

and he has SO damn many of them. I wanted to buy apostrophe--it wasn't in stock so I left with Lumpy gravy--that turned out to be a huge about face!

Definitely an acquired taste!

[HughBeaumont]

55. I had to hit his singles first, and THEN the

Lumpy Gravys and Uncle Meats. We're Only In It for the Money is still one of my favorite albums of all time.

Zappa is definitely a love-it-or-hate-it thing, although I only think that he was a "fan" artist and not so much a "fan/critic" artist. Critics only liked about a third of his stuff.

[RandomKoolzip]

59. Yup...critics turned their back on him once they realized

he wasn't a leftist or even liberal on certain issues (feminism, unionism, etc), but was really a mean-spirited libertarian. And the music is hard to digest, especially at this late date, with so much of it embracing now-dated technology (Wackerman's 'lectronic drum sound on the You Can't Do That..." series is an especially glaring example).

But for those of us who are fans, there's just someting about his work that's unceasingly absorbing and undefinable. It moves my brain the way Lennon moved my heart.

[HughBeaumont]

70. It's his SONGS

and the fact that he manipulated whatever instrument he could to the point of squeezing them to death to get the sound he wanted out of them. These sounds didn't always come off as pleasant to the ears, but they fit in the scheme of the song perfectly. He proved WHY musicians must have "complete artistic freedom" . . . and was sometimes the argument against it.

Zappa virgins truly get the 12 incher.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

124. I really dug Zappa for about 3 months

In college. Some of his music is catchy as hell, but his lyrics were so utterly sophomoric that I got turned off just as quickly as I got into his stuff.

[Loonman]

51. Ween, with a qualifier

The new disc is actually pretty decent, but before I heard it, all I knew of Ween was that annoying as all hell "Push the Little Daisies" song. I remember thinking, "who the fuck decided these clowns were any good?".

[DelawareValleyDem]

52. Pink Floyd

[HughBeaumont]

60. Actually, "Pure Guava" is the only album I liked by them.

"Push The Little Daisies" is a skip-over for me. FAR better songs on the rest of the album.

"The Mollusk" is OK, but their fans and writers WAY overrate them.

[RandomKoolzip]

67. They're good for a stoned laugh and they're actually decent tunesmiths.

ANd I like them because lo-fi, homemade-sounding albums like "Pure Guava" softened people's ears for what GbV would do later (ie. rock the fucking house).

But they're definitely not in the top 300 greatest bands of all time.

[trackfan]

56. Pink Floyd

[Susang]

57. Bob Dylan

Great songwriter, terrible performer.

[RandomKoolzip]

62. I could listen to Dylan sing all day.

Honestly. I've always dug him...one of my earliest memories is my dad playing "Ballad of a Thin Man" and me being scared of the creepy music.

Again....I can understand why people hate him. His voice ain't exactly easy on the ears (unless your antenna picks up that station really well, like mine does), and he's another one of those guys who keeps going long after he's got nothing left to say.

But personally, I cannot get enough Dylan.

[Susang]

114. I could listen to whining hyenas all day

But I choose not to. :D

Seriously, there's always been something about him as a performer that I've disliked. It's visceral. I can't really explain it. I love his songs when performed by other people. Just can't stand him.

Give me a little Woody Guthrie or even Arlo Guthrie any day over Dylan and I'll be much happier. Mix in a little Pete Seeger, Joan Baez and Buffy St. Marie and I'll be singing your praises, literally. ;-)

[UncleSepp]

77. He sounds like Buckwheat.

[ceile]

58. Green Day, Madonna

[HughBeaumont]

61. ESPECIALLY MafuckingDonna!!!

Seriously, this tired diva has done NOTHING but steal whatever genre is popular at the time and write crap songs in the scheme of said genre.

Not a huge fan of Green Day either.

[ceile]

63. She has a new album on the way...

it was trashed even by the top 40 station in town!!

[RandomKoolzip]

65. Madonna is pure shit.

She's responsible for turning the 80's pop when they could have been rock and roll.

I wouldn't mind if someone cut a huge Madonna-sized hole out of music history.

[XemaSab]

68. Green Day

does absolutely nothing for me, and Billy Joe's an asshole.

[XemaSab]

66. Metallica

After a while, it all sounds sorta alike and has this droning quality that I *don't* groove on.

[ceile]

69. That's it!

I knew there was some metal band that ALL my friends in high school and college liked, but I couldn't remember!:dunce:

[slybacon9]

106. Beginning with the Black album...

before that, they ruled all.

[ceile]

71. OH OH!!! Elton John!!!!

I absolutely LOATHE his music. Come to think of it, I just heard Daniel, and I wanted to scratch my eyes out! :puke:

[Initech]

74. My pick: The Cure!

My brother described them the best - "gothic love songs".

The most Cure I ever liked was about 2 or 3 songs off of Disintegration. But every time I hear "Boys Dont Cry", it makes me want to - :puke:

[eyepaddle]

79. Very solid choice there.

I pretty much never had any fondness for the late '80s genre of effeminate depressed Englishmen(EDGs) The Cure, The Smiths, the Pet Shop Boys--any of the related solo offerings either.

[Initech]

93. Pet Shop Boys - there's another one!

:puke:

[RandomKoolzip]

80. The Cure blows dead goats.

If they'd put half the effort ithey put into applying their makeup into learning to sing and write songs, they might actually get somewhere someday, aesthetically.

[HughBeaumont]

84. WAAAAAHH! WAAAAAH!! Let's all cry for long lost loves . . .

(Robert Smith voice) and blackened weekends and I'm so sad
You and I can skip in Docs
and wear pitch black and cornstarch when the sun is out
Let's go to my room and take a sharpie
and color the walls and write melancholy songs
on black construction paper
you're such a beautiful friend I love you

We'll make the ozone a big black hole
and hold hands on the bed together
and drown in our arterial soup
(sustained Yamaha Dx7 note) . . .

[RedstDem]

76. McCartney's Is Really Pissin Me Off

He Can Do Better, But Chooses Not Too !

[dajoki]

78. Kiss!!

:banghead:

[matcom]

81. Rolling Stones & Aerosmith

both.suck.ass.

[aePrime]

91. The Stones

Ugh. I just don't "get" them. They don't seem all that talented. They have a couple of songs I enjoy, but on the whole, they're just...ugh.

[Saphire]

95. I can second that. I do.not.like.them.

[NNadir]

85. U-2. I've only actually heard them (knowingly) once or twice.

I had a housemate who tried to get me into it. All I wanted was to put on something else.

[progressoid]

86. OK, I say it: The Grateful Dead

I tried to like them, really I did. Maybe I started listening to them too late in life.

When you are young & drunk or young & stoned or young & angsty, you tend to ignore a lot of the gaps in quality. I can't guess how many albums that I have listened to years later and wondered, "why the hell did I listen to this?"


Flame Away.

[HughBeaumont]

87. No flame here.

I went so far as to gather a TON of tapes from my Deadhead friends and listened to the all over a period of a week.

I'm STILL wondering what the hell the huge deal is/was.

I think it's the whole "stoned/angst" thing with them. I'm convinced it ain't because of their tepid muzak.

[WeRQ4U]

94. How about a High Five and a "Hell Yeah" from me instead.

I've never understood the appeal. Same goes for all the other bands lumped into that era and genre.

[kwassa]

89. Pink Floyd

I thought they were boring in the sixties, and somehow they kept on selling that album for-fucking-ever.

sleep-inducing.

[last_texas_dem]

90. The Flaming Lips

I agree (and disagree) with several mentioned above, but here's one that I don't think has been mentioned. I've heard a couple of their albums and I've never been able to figure out the big deal made about this band.

[angel823]

100. take it back!

they are my favorite! and I thought I was the last texass dem

[last_texas_dem]

102. Alright, I'll tell you the truth

I really, really liked the song "Fight Test" off of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, enough to buy the album based on that one song. But then I didn't really care much for the rest of the album. So I guess for me my not caring for the band so much is because I thought I would like them a lot more than I did, based on what I thought of that song.

BTW, welcome to DU! :hi: It's good to see another southeast Texan on here (I'm going to school in Huntsville, but am originally from Orange- I-10, right on the Louisiana border.) I guess there really are more Dems in this state than it seems; it's hard to believe sometimes- it seems like those obnoxious "W '04" stickers are as common as they ever were.

[angel823]

117. try listening to "Clouds Taste Metallic"

or other older stuff. I've liked them since, oh, wayyyy back (showing my age here), but I really like their new stuff too.

Thanks for the welcome! I lurk here quite a bit on all the boards, but don't post much because it's very intimidating to see all the high post numbers. Seems like it would take forever to get to 1000.

And yes, I still see way too many W04 stickers around here in Houston proper. I keep reminding myself that Houston and Dallas were virtually dead even in the 04 elections, and Austin went for Kerry. Being a native Texan, I refuse to give up my state to a bunch of republican carpetbaggers!

[WeRQ4U]

92. U2, Doors, Bob Dylan, R.E.M., Rolling Stones........and PINK FUCKING FLOYD

Never liked any of the above.

[Blue_In_AK]

96. Rolling Stones...

...except for "Sympathy for the Devil."

[Rob H.]

98. Dave Matthews Band

Can't stand 'em.

[Initech]

99. Excellent choice!

DMB blows goats. :puke:

[WildEyedLiberal]

101. The Strokes, Modest Mouse, Postal Service, any "hip" indie band basically

I think Spin magazine ejaculates every time they bring up the Strokes.


"NYC garage indie RAWK at its PEAK!!!"

:puke:

Actually, a lot of what plays on college radio is CRAP. I listen to the college station more than the corporate generic Clear Channel stations, but only barely: it's hard to choose between hearing Nickelback and Switchfoot 2000 times a day, or hearing the grating, ear-shredding vocals and mystifying, garbage lyrics of crap "art" bands that are only cool because only 30 people have ever heard of them.

That's why I almost always play my CDs in my car.

[Fox Mulder]

103. The Beatles, Monkees, Bob Dylan...

I could go on forever, but I won't.

[ZombieNixon]

104. KISS

Barring their appearances on Family Guy, I hate KISS, hate KISS, HATE KISS!!!!!!



































Did I mention I HATE KISS!!!?

[slybacon9]

107. This all has helped me a lot.

I feel free.

[PittPoliSci]

108. All of 'em

Led Zep, Hendrix, Floyd all drive me crazy.

[Tikki]

110. Wings...not much of a...

...Paul McCartney fan. His writing with Wings was boring.


Tikki

[donheld]

111. "Required to Like"

There are none. I say like who you please.

[DS1]

112. The Violent Femmes - I want to put them out of their misery

[redsoxliberal]

113. the Rolling Stones

they have SOME good stuff... but most of it's not that good at all... and some is downright awful.

[carpetbagger]

115. I'm trying to decide between The Cure and The Smiths.

I think I'll just commit suicide instead.

Oh, wait, that would be like saying I liked them. Or wanted to be like them. Or something.

[Initech]

116. The Smiths - another good one!

I honestly cant stand Morissey!

[LTR]

118. Pavement

Yeah, they were a hip indie darling back in the mid-90's. I thought they sounded like absolute shit.

As for current artists, I loathe Nickleback. All they do is release the same song over and over again. But I don't think anyone outside of 17 year-old girls really cares for them.

I'm just glad nobody mentioned the White Stripes. I really like these guys.

[Initech]

122. I can see why it's easy to dislike Pavement...

Pavement's albums (especially Crooked Rain and Wowee Zowee) can be pretty difficult to listen to, but their first album (Slanted And Enchanted) is a lot more accessible than a lot of indie crap.

As for Nickelback? What can you say about a band who got their name while their lead singer was working the late shif at Starbucks? :puke:

[Tyrone Slothrop]

126. That's odd

I'm about as big a Pavement fan as you'll run across these days, and I don't think that Slanted & Enchanted is all that accessible.

Crooked Rain is much more listener-friendly, IMHO.

[tyedyeto]

120. The 'Boss'

Can't stand him. (I know he's a good Dem but his music sucks)

edit for typo

[Initech]

121. Another pick: Metallica

They're one I honestly cant stand. They had a couple of good albums in the 80's, but somewhere between 1991 and 2003, the band turned from awesome to complete crap.

Oh, and Metallica fans are the Yankee fans of music (IE - their band has all the money and can do no wrong, etc, etc...) .

[Debbi801]

125. Do the Rolling Stones count?

Never liked them.

[Lilith Velkor]

127. Three letters: R.E.M.