Unpopular Music Opinions

kriswright · 10-23-2014, 07:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holerbot6000

A whole treatise could be done on this subject, particularly with New Wave bands - Artist puts out a really great, adventurous, possibly boundary pushing record, then retreats to the safety of radio-friendly hitland. Devo did it after the Duty Now album. The B-52's did it after Wild Party. Talking Heads put up a good long fight, but finally succumbed after the brilliant 'Remain in Light'. I often wonder if it wound't be better for bands just to break up rather than becoming watered-down versions of their former selves.

It'd be a lot easier to agree with this if "Cosmic Thing" and "Little Creatures" weren't such fantastic pop albums.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EPOCH6

I have a very hard time getting into any Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, or Van Halen because of the vocal styles of each frontman.

Sort of agree. The singing is my least favorite component in all three of those bands.

Machine · 10-23-2014, 07:23 AM

Not a huge fan of Nevermind by Nirvana, love In Utero though

grindy · 10-23-2014, 07:42 AM

Madvillainy does have some incredible tracks, but overall there's too much filler in the form of skits and intros and all that crap. Really prefer Vaudeville Villain as an album, when it comes to MF Doom.

Holerbot6000 · 10-23-2014, 08:03 AM

[QUOTE=kriswright;1500695]It'd be a lot easier to agree with this if "Cosmic Thing" and "Little Creatures" weren't such fantastic pop albums.

Certainly it's all subjective. The Heads did lots of good albums during their pop phase. I'm very fond of True Stories and Naked also, but I don't think they compare to records like Talking Heads 77 or Remain in Light. Those were world changers.

Some of my perspective might come from just having lived through it and knowing what an impact those New Wave bands had when they first started appearing in the 70's. It's like folks who rave about Sgt. Pepper. As huge a Beatles fan as I am, I think Sgt. Pepper is my least favorite of their records, but for people who were actively listening to music in those days, it was a real touchstone for them.

kriswright · 10-23-2014, 08:15 AM

I can see the perspective - And we might agree that a lot of New Wave was the 60s in reverse: They started with musically adventurous stuff and then simplified back to straight-ahead pop. I don't personally mind that because I love straight-ahead pop. But I love when bands reach out, too.

With this era in particular, my age might come into play. The first B-52s song I ever heard was "Love Shack" on the radio. I was about 10 years old and we got a cassette of Cosmic Thing and I loved it. As I grew up, I worked my way back through their catalog and fell in love with the rest. Similar with Talking Heads - first heard "Once in a Lifetime" and then eventually stuff like "Wild, Wild Life" and loved all of that. Eventually found out about the CBGBs stuff later. So maybe the way I experienced these bands was more conventional - from their pop stuff to their exploratory stuff, rather than the way you'd have heard it originally.

Unknown Soldier · 10-23-2014, 08:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holerbot6000

For me personally, music by Supertramp and 10CC holds up a lot better than Styx. To paraphrase the bunny - Styx is for kids.

As a Brit I find Styx one of the best and most fascinating American bands of their era.

Quote:

I guess you could consider 'Dream Police' a prog pop album, but I think Cheap Trick, as good as they are, are more of a straight up pop band and weren't quite as ornate as 10CC or Supertramp.

I'd always refer to Cheap Trick as a rock band or power pop and never as a straight up pop band. Dream Police is probably my favourite album personally of theirs, thanks to the two epics "Need Your Love" and "Gonna Raise Hell".

Quote:

I could defend ELO till the cows come home, but I won't because I can see where a lot of people would find their music trite or corny. I love them dearly though, having grown up with their music. I even like 'Xanadu'!

ELO are one of the most hated bands along with Styx on these threads, but I like a lot of ELO material and have a real fondness for the Time album.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chula Vista

In hindsight Styx suffers from weird production (did those guys never hear of reverb? those super dry guitars sound like crap now) and Dennis DeYoung's overly enunciated vocals.

Despite being a huge Styx fan, I never liked how Dennis De Young gradually dominated in the band over Tommy Shaw and James Young, constantly pushing the band into a more pop/concept direction, but I still really enjoy the Paradise Theatre and Kilroy Was Here albums.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holerbot6000

Well I do think Devo's second (and best) album is a bit underrated. They kinda sold out after that. Like a lot of New Wave bands, they started out fairly edgy and then got all their edges sanded off when they realized a modicum of success.

I agree with this, even though the first Devo album I got way back then was Freedom of Choice and it was the album that got me into the band.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Necromancer

The Cars eponymous 1978 debut studio album set the template for the upcoming 80s new wave invasion.

Me old mate, that's hardly an unpopular opinion, it's one of the most famous albums of its time. It's like nearly on every essential rock and new-wave lists out there.

Holerbot6000 · 10-23-2014, 08:40 AM

Since you like ELO, I will back off on my Styx comments. Being an ELO fan (and especially a Boomtown Rats fan!) I know what it's like to get dumped on. I like pure pop too.

If you want to state an unpopular musical opinion about the Cars, say that Panorama was their best album.

Unknown Soldier · 10-23-2014, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holerbot6000

especially a Boomtown Rats fan!) I know what it's like to get dumped on. I like pure pop too.

Boomtown Rats had a great sound and were really en vogue in the UK in the late 70s and early 80s and they were one of the biggest bands here and I have their first four albums. But then all of a sudden around 1982 I think they just nosedived and everybody seemed to forget about them. They're just remembered now because they were the band of Bob Geldof.

Quote:

If you want to state an unpopular musical opinion about the Cars, say that Panorama was their best album.

Panorama is the quirkiest and most offbeat album that they ever put out and it's really just an album for die-hard fans, surprisingly though for such a gloomy album it was a big seller, despite the fact it was devoid of any obvious hit singles. This though was its biggest hit, I love both video and the song, but I can't see too many norms on here digging it

Panorama also contains one of their best ever songs as well:

EPOCH6 · 10-23-2014, 05:25 PM

Neurofunk and the drum & bass community are the frontier of technical music production and sound design.

Neapolitan · 10-23-2014, 09:49 PM

The Wake the indie band is way better than The Wake the Heavy Metal band.

10-23-2014, 07:23 AM	#9692 (permalink)
Machine moon lake inc. Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: Detroit Posts: 2,125	Not a huge fan of Nevermind by Nirvana, love In Utero though __________________ boost my ego listen to me stroke my delay pedal ever wanted to hear death grips songs... but they're acoustic? me neither.

10-23-2014, 07:42 AM	#9693 (permalink)
grindy . Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: . Posts: 7,201	Madvillainy does have some incredible tracks, but overall there's too much filler in the form of skits and intros and all that crap. Really prefer Vaudeville Villain as an album, when it comes to MF Doom. __________________ *A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.*

10-23-2014, 08:03 AM	#9694 (permalink)
Holerbot6000 Music Mutant Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: near a record store Posts: 327	[QUOTE=kriswright;1500695]It'd be a lot easier to agree with this if "Cosmic Thing" and "Little Creatures" weren't such fantastic pop albums. Certainly it's all subjective. The Heads did lots of good albums during their pop phase. I'm very fond of True Stories and Naked also, but I don't think they compare to records like Talking Heads 77 or Remain in Light. Those were world changers. Some of my perspective might come from just having lived through it and knowing what an impact those New Wave bands had when they first started appearing in the 70's. It's like folks who rave about Sgt. Pepper. As huge a Beatles fan as I am, I think Sgt. Pepper is my least favorite of their records, but for people who were actively listening to music in those days, it was a real touchstone for them.

10-23-2014, 08:15 AM	#9695 (permalink)
kriswright Groupie Join Date: Oct 2014 Posts: 33	I can see the perspective - And we might agree that a lot of New Wave was the 60s in reverse: They started with musically adventurous stuff and then simplified back to straight-ahead pop. I don't personally mind that because I love straight-ahead pop. But I love when bands reach out, too. With this era in particular, my age might come into play. The first B-52s song I ever heard was "Love Shack" on the radio. I was about 10 years old and we got a cassette of Cosmic Thing and I loved it. As I grew up, I worked my way back through their catalog and fell in love with the rest. Similar with Talking Heads - first heard "Once in a Lifetime" and then eventually stuff like "Wild, Wild Life" and loved all of that. Eventually found out about the CBGBs stuff later. So maybe the way I experienced these bands was more conventional - from their pop stuff to their exploratory stuff, rather than the way you'd have heard it originally.

10-23-2014, 08:40 AM	#9697 (permalink)
Holerbot6000 Music Mutant Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: near a record store Posts: 327	Since you like ELO, I will back off on my Styx comments. Being an ELO fan (and especially a Boomtown Rats fan!) I know what it's like to get dumped on. I like pure pop too. If you want to state an unpopular musical opinion about the Cars, say that Panorama was their best album.