What makes music cheesy?
 

Due to it being mentioned in the "Best Albums of 2017 So Far" thread, I am listening to the Ayreon album The Source right now and it strikes me as a regular cheese-tornado. But what does it really mean, when we say something is cheesy?

People hate Nightwish because they're cheesy.

I hate Dream Theater because they're cheesy.

My new avatar is cheesy.

But what is it really that makes us dismiss something as being cheesy?
It's easy enough to look up a dictionary definition of the word, but I feel like people mean a lot more when they use the term in relation to music.

So what is it really all about?

Is this cheesy (video below), and why is that so?

I'm guessing by cheesy you're meaning pretentious. I would call Meat Loaf cheesy if it wasn't so intentional. As for these guys, I was liking the first track before it went into some Dio riff, only Dio was a lot better.

Then again what do I know? I'm a sixties rockaholic :laughing:

When you try so hard to be awesome that you accomplish nothing but looking like a dork.

In all honesty, cheese is probably in the eye of the beholder. But I would say what makes things appear cheesy is if they have been done before (usually to death) - Oh look! A spoken intro to a power metal album with a dark voice, or a wibbly keyboard solo in a prog song etc - seem lazy, make no attempt at breaking out of the mould, and go for the path of least resistance/most monetary compensation. Maybe.

I personally get the impression that when people call music cheesy, it often has to do with the apparent earnestness of the music/vocals.

Not the only component by any means, but it seems to be part of the equation.

Basically when it should be a self-conscious joke but you take it seriously and the listener is just like, "Lol, that's funny... oh wait, I'm not supposed to laugh... oh ****." Well that's bad cheese I guess. As for cheese in general I suppose it's just when you're dorky.

Get ****ed.

**** you. Dio is a legend. Prepare to die.

cheesy musicians