Guilty Displeasures... (Those adored acts you just don't like!)

No, but Glen Campbell was.

 

Dude, I'm landlocked in Iowa. I get The Beach Boys just fine. It doesn't matter if you don't hail from Californ-I-A. It's a matter of taste, so no worries

 

Zappa. Weasel's Ripped My Flesh, Burnt Weenie Sandwich, and (especially) Uncle Meat have some pretty great moments, but let's face it, it's poor man's Stravinsky. And these three albums are overwhelmed by his other stuff, a truckload of mostly watered-down, boring, pretentious dross. (I admit I have't heard a lot of his later stuff.) But what really rubs me the wrong way is Zappa's condescending and sophomoric sense of superiority. It's just not cool.

The Doors. Some good stuff, but the "Lizard King" nonsense, apparently taken with utmost seriousness, is laughably pompous and wears thin quickly.

Don't mean to ofend anyone, just my humble opinion.

 

Most of their studio albums (with some exceptions) don't have a lot of the long exploratory jams, but focus more on concise song structure. Workingman's Dead and American Beauty get back to folk and country roots, while Shakedown Street, Go To Heaven, In the Dark, and some others contain a lot of basic rock'n'roll and some very melodic pop-rock. (These may be the small doses you refer to.)

 

To my ears, the J. Geils Band were just run-of-the-mill rock'n'roll (although I kinda like the one about the anchovies and the guy's wife turning into a bowling ball). I personally find U2 to be the most overrated band in rock'n'roll history. I like some of their songs and have 3 of their albums, but for me, there's a general simplistic sameness to most of their music. As for most rap artists, many of them have some of the most creative rhymes in the business and I even like some of them musically, but as for the potty-mouthed rappers with their minds in the gutter, I'd rather listen to fingernails on a chalkboard.

 

know what? I totally could have worded that better. I didn't mean to imply it was hateful at all. It is quite tame, in fact. Sometimes grown ups can talk about what they view as negative without ruffling some feathers. And that is exactly what seems to be going on here. Carry on

 

I like a lot of old country (the real stuff). Can't stand the new stuff( Bad formulaic redneck rock).

 

I don't think they would be considered an adored act, but Meatloaf I find just horrible. Nearly everyone I knew while growing up sang along to it as if it were gold.

 

There are adored acts by the general public.
There are adored acts by the critics.
There are adored acts by me.
Sometime these coincide. sometimes they don't.
There are too many guilty displeasures for me to begin to list.

 

Guilty Displeasures... (Those adored acts I just don't like!)

Bruce Sprinsteen
U2
Garth Brooks
Nirvana
Bon Jovi
Greatful Dead

 

Radiohead
Steely Dan
Grateful Dead

Those are the big ones anyway.

 

Grateful Dead- I've tried so hard to get into them because I feel like I am missing some magic that everybody talks about. I'm extremely jealous that I can't get into them but I just can't
Zappa- I do like Hot Rats but can't get into the other albums for some reason

 

Don't worry, I knew exactly how you meant it. Doesn't it make a refreshing change to see adults talking about their personal tastes without anyone throwing the tables and chairs about the place?

 

Does anyone like Bon Jovi?

 

Way too many to mention...Including many of this forum's HoF favourites.... There are passionate threads here on SHTV, running to hundred/thousands of posts about acts that I'd never listen to, in a million years..

I feel a bit like Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys, who astutely said

I don't like much, really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately.

And, no I don't like Pet Shop Boys either...

 

Music is subjective in the first place. Whether I like or don't like some adored acts, is no reflection on the act itself. If others like it, that's just fine with me.

 

Personally, it wasn't just about the lyrics for me (although I still think Career Opportunities rings true today), but there are a number of factors that I like.

The Clash always struck me as an intelligent band who weren't afraid to show their love of other genres. Joe Strummer was the son of a diplomat and lived abroad during his childhood, then went to a private school he hated full of 'thick rich people's thick rich kids', which is almost exactly what happened to me in my teenage years (except I never had to board). The fact that The Clash started when he was 24 meant he had some experience behind him. The other band members all made their distinctive mark, especially Paul Simonon's perky bass playing. They weren't afraid to credit their various rock and roll and reggae influences. There seems every indication they wanted to do more with punk as an art form rather than just hop on the bandwagon.

I think it was my love of The Police and Joe Jackson that helped get me into The Clash's punk-reggae side of things, personally. It already seemed like a natural style rather than the fusion of two styles. I will say that The Clash went too far with on Sandinista but everyone knows that. I like the Sex Pistols fine, but due to the short time they lasted and the fact they were conceived to shock, they seem one dimensional stylistically, whereas The Clash had a lot more to offer.

The best Clash stuff, for me, is summed up by the UK version of the first album with all the singles/b-sides added to the end and the best song is Complete Control.

For what it's worth, I was born in 1990, and the way I got into a lot of punk was listening to it whilst playing Tony Hawk games, as it quickens the reflexes. To this day, focusing on something else helps me absorb music more.

 

Well, you can enjoy them through the 're-boots' and adaptations/derivations of the later artists that drew from them, right? And don't forget Blind Willie Johnson!

 

For the record, Meat Loaf is a person, not a band!

 

Folk- do you mean via Glen's stint in the Wrecking Crew? (He's an amazing guitarist, leaving aside all those wonderful Jimmy Webb songs he did).

 

He's a pretty decent actor. Wonder if he ever met Wavy Gravy?

 

He was also the first one to replace Brian on the road after Brian decided not to tour anymore. Shortly after one tour with the Beach Boys, Glen's own star started rising. Exit Glen Campbell, enter Bruce Johnston.

 

Another one came to mind. Tom Waits. A lot of music-minded acquaintances of mine sing his praises.
I just don't get or haven't got it. Yet...

 

Now there's a thread and a pole we want to see: Would You Urinate On Ted Nugent If He Was On Fire?

Bring it!

D.D.

 

Boy do you have a lot of good music ahead of you! Enjoy the journey