Musical Pet Peeves
 

When I say musical pet peeves, I'm not talking about what genres or artists you like or dislike. What I'm asking is what things about listening to music annoy you, such as the way it's produced, certain singing styles, musical trends, or just things here and there that ruin a song/album?

Here's mine:

- Songs that take forever to end.

I'm not talking about long songs in general, but instead I'm referring to those songs that drag on and on long after the chorus/verses are done. It usually includes drawn out guitar solos, random gibberish or electronic sounds, or sometimes minutes of complete silence for no reason. Marilyn Manson is guilty or this, with many of his tracks ending way after they needed to.

- Trendy folk music.

Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers and others like them aren't bad bands, but it's so watered down. I'd rather listen to Gordon Lightfoot anyday.

- Mainstream Christian Rock

There's many Christian rock bands that I love (The Classic Crime, Red, etc) but the stuff that gets the most airplay has to be the most inoffensive, family friendly crap I've ever heard. I've never liked praise music to begin with, but putting it in a pop-rock "I love you forever and ever, Jesus" format makes my ears bleed.

I find the word "Christmas" off-putting in any song. There's no logical reason for it, but it just makes a song feel tacky and gimmicky to me.

I also used to hate any whiff of steel guitar, but I have adapted.

EDIT: I also despise the twinkly 90s-rnb sound effect.

I'm the opposite, long intros drive me bananas. Not a fan of songs with esoteric lyrics or excessive sampling either.

The unholy union of awful electric piano-esque keyboard, echoey electronic woodblock percussion and overwrought yet bland singing that plagued the media from the mid-80s through the early-90s. I'm talking about stuff like this:

Final track on album - 33 minutes (2 minute song, 30 minutes of silence, 20 second hidden track), stuff like that.

I like a bunch of avant-garde music, but it's somewhat of a pet peeve when a hipster douche tells you something like "Dude, this guy punching a piano for 3 consecutive hours is genius!" That's me though, it's subjective obviously.

When something is so raw/lo-fi it's downright unlistenable. I'm just not that hardcore.

I hate when shit pretends to have soul but doesn't. Electric blues, 70s prog, stuff like that.

Panning effect.

I don't listen to a lot of music that utilizes this but if I hear it anywhere I just ****ing hate it.

When the lyrics take the spotlight at the expense of the music, like with a lot of Frank Zappa's 80s material.

I think he's talking about songs where you can only hear portions of it through the left or right speaker.

I was making a joke with text formatting.

^Hahaha.

Actually that whole panning thing annoys me too.

Hidden tracks.
Ridiculously long song names.
Badly timed samples - I like samples when used correctly, but when not can totally ruin a song.

I love the Electric Blues, well the kind that was in between Country Blues/Piedmont Blues and before the British Blues boom. e.g. Willie Dixon, T Bone Walker, and Slim Harpo. And I think70s Prog is the best, especially in the early years when it beginning it was faster and had more raw than what became later. So being in the earlier causes a whole lot of pet peeves for later bands that play those styles.

I think my biggest pet peeve now are those who sing in that Folkish style often found in pop indie that uses a lot a vibrato and a squeaky voice.

I hate song titles that are long for the sake of it, and attempt to appear kooky and profound.

I also hate those duets married musicians do when they stare and smile at each-other in that diabetes-inducing way through the whole song.

And rap songs that make tenuous and nonsensical references to films/songs/video-games/political movements/branded food items and then compare themselves to said items through one description that they apparently have in common.

I'm a pack of contradictions like Starburst, so unbelievably juicy I'll quench your thirst

I know it's used for emphasis, but I still get annoyed anytime a rapper rhymes a word with the same exact word in the next line. It just can't help but sounding lazy and dumb.

Agreed, but not just in rap. Anywhere I hear it.

Also, I agree with he above who said pop punk vocals.

Yes! Also, people who rhyme the same syllable line after line. 99% of the time that just sounds supid an unimaginative to me.

A lyric I hate from an album I love:

"I would drown all these crying babies, if I knew that their mothers wouldn't cry".

- The worst lyric ever, by Vinnie Accardi.

The above REALLY gets on my nerves too. Really bad! Good one.

Im really not into metal, I used to like a bit Iron Maiden and Metallica when I was growing up but but over time i stopped listening and now metal just doesnt do it for me. I like chill down tempo beats. If im listening to fast heavy stuff its punk like Bad Brains or Minor Threat.

The awful turn southern rap has taken.

Hannah Montana, Hannah Montana, Hannah Montana.

Feel that?

That's the IQ falling....

Even worse, Peabo Bryson accompanied by Kenny G and his whiny-ass soprano saxophone.

Amen brother, ****ing unbearable.

Along the same lines, I hate this ****. It's a shame too because some of these bands have decent musicians, but then the godawful 12 year old sounding vocalist joins in and everything is ruined.





etc....

tracks that inexplicably fade out before they should

e.g.

cypress hill - funk freakers fades out half way through b-real's verse
summer hits - laetitia fades out just as the guitar solo is starting


Cover versions that add nothing at all to the original / try and sound exactly like the original


nu-metal bands who thought that having a 'DJ' in the group made them all cutting edge and trendy



do you mean this sound? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE2HUh9CAWU

I think the effect is known as 'tree mark' for some reason. I actually like it, lol


agreed. worst example of this I can think of is from a Kanye West verse where he's talking about a girl called Linda and says "Linda loves lace like Linda Lovelace". cringe!

It rarely gets used but I absolutely love when it happens. It feels like it adds an extra dynamic to the song especially if it is done right with the lyrics.

When the lead-singer "connects" with the crowd by asking them if they're "having a good time?" to which there is little potential for a follow-up conversation.

Bands just don't do banter with the audience anymore - Ian Anderson

^ I'd like to see those. They sound fun.

* * *

My pet peeve is when singers intentionally break Standard American English grammar rules such as by singing "was" instead of "were" or by using double negatives incorrectly...for example, "I don't have no [insert word]." I also don't like songs that use "ain't."

I suspect such singers are trying to sound cool or hip and "part of the masses," but the anti-intellectualism pisses me off. I especially find it annoying when a singer speaks using Standard American English but then sings using African American Vernacular English. GAA!

^ Summarizing, I generally don't like songs that use African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
African American Vernacular English - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

(Ironically, I just read that the words "cool" and "hip," which I used in my post, are both slang words contributed to Standard American English by African American Vernacular English, so I guess I don't dislike *all* AAVE. :))

You beat me to it but I would have used a gif instead

I considered it, but that gif is played out and the kid is ugly.

nope, not the gif I was thinking of.

I do know the one you are referring to though.

British people who sing or rap with American accents.

agreed. although the only brit rapper I can think of who does this is Funky DL.

and I think the guys in Kaliphz and Caveman did as well, back when they were around...

Some fadeouts and fadeins on some songs just irritate the f out of me.

"South of Heaven" by Slayer has like a thirty second fade out and fade in and I hate it.

Yep, I agree.


lol

my musical pet peeves is not being able to hear the lyrics of a song

Most of the stuff in here doesn't bother me, with the exception being that damn rhyming the same word. It can be a fantastic song but when I hear that same word come up at the end of the second time they may as well just scrape a chalkboard.

The one huge, huge pet peeve I have is that I absolutely despise almost all male falsetto vocals. I can't listen to radio head for this reason, I've tried many times as I like their music but as soon as I hear that voice it's like torture.

I don't like lazy vocals (if the vocalist sounds like their heart is going to stop beating at any second because they've just lost all will to live or breathe or whatever) or uninteresting song compositions. I'm not really into indie/really soft alternative stuff because of this. Like, damn, get a pulse please.