Rock music: A load of men screaming about their girlfriends

[Itsmyship]

Why do inferior musicans seem to prosper?

"Because it's good. Or because Will Smith is in it."

In all seriousness, once people started ranking music bands according to the quality of lyrics, or "inclusion of political message" and suchlike, I guess that was the beginning of the Great Missing-the-Point Festival. Isn't music supposed to be, well, music?

I'll admit here and now that I don't care about lyrics at all - I consider the vocals to just be one of the musical instruments the band utilizes and the lyrics as being there only to help the singer with interpretation. I listen to a lot of bands whose lyrics are in languages I don't know, or at least I'm not proficient in enough to understand them from hearing. So I guess I'm approaching the subject from the other extreme, and I'm therefore somewhat biased.

And haven't you all thought that maybe most people simply don't listen to music to live a higher artistic experience or feel strongly about a political subject, but just to enjoy the tune? While I am far from condemning rap and hip-hop - there are a few songs which I like - you have to admit that melody-wise, rock wins (and please, don't try to counter that by selecting a great rapper and comparing him to a painfully mediocre punk rock band). And has the advantage of not having to rely on lyrics at all.

This is just abbaselutely incredibubble...

Seriously, I think you are completely right. People claim they like music, but judge it by lyrical arguments.

I agree too. In all honesty, I listen to music to be entertained. If I want a clear message or to feel like a revolutionary, I listen to certain songs; but if all music had some great social commentary...then wow, I could not even stand the sight of my ipod 3/4 of the time. S

Sometimes I just want to hear songs that sound cool or have an extremely creative feel to it, so I listen to Black Eyed Peas or the such.

Sometimes people just want to hear a funny song. I doubt there isn't anyone here who didn't listen to the "I love college" song and didn't have a chuckle.

I listen to honestly most anything. My ipod is pretty much evenly split between Rap/Hip Hop, Rock, Reggaetone (I'm Hispanic, bear with me). Although I do admit, I don't particularly like Screamo...just not my cup of tea.

Quick question though: Does Coldplay's songs make sense to anyone? I understand it's like 7/8 allusion, but still...does anyone listen to Coldplay's lyrics and think "I so agree!"?

 

[jboking]

So it's a problem with the execs? or are you saying that the killers shouldn't be successful so ska bands could rise to the top and potentially replace the killers in the current, "this is unfair and unwarranted" circle. Of course while this happens Rock bands will simply become the new ska bands.

I honestly think it was just that line(the Rock girlfriends thing) that was throwing people off. Of course, that is what you titled the thread, so it is a little misleading.

Yes it's the execs. I don't think The Killers are the problem as they're not the one's who decided that the world needed afew dozens clones of them, I just think more ska is not seeing the light of day due to the execs thinking all anyone wants to listen to is The Killers clones. I don't have a problem with the muscians.

And my opening line was to grab attention and show people how that while they can say "All [genre] is bad" they're no better than the people saying their preferred genre is bad. Just trying to make people look at the big picture.

I get that, I just think your approach was a bit off and didn't deliver the desired effect. I also find it odd that you would assume those that say "All of this genre is bad" don't know that it is just their opinion and no more valid than anyone other persons. However, if you have found time and time again that there is a particular genre that you do not care for, saying you have all of [genre] is just easier to communicate than saying something to the effect of, "I have yet to find anything of that genre that is appealing. Though, I'm honestly not looking because what I've heard of the genre is not for me."

Which reaches into my next proposal. Should we just quit using the phrase genre and let everything come and go? What you find is what you get, so on and so forth?

 

[duchaked]

since when has hip hop and educated been put together into the same sentence and worked...

I mean nothing against it, I'm really open to many genres of music

 

[minignu]

In conclusion - The more music you like, the happier you are.

So very much this. Generalising a genre too much just gets in the way of finding tracks you may love. Restricing myself to a few genres would just get me bored. I would like to know what the jury thinks of different breeds of hip hop, for example trip hop?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijRdxdiwRIU <- listen to all of it before judging it. Kicks into guitar so dirty you may need to clean your speakers.

 

[Arrers]

Besides, rap can kick ass if its done by an indie-rock band:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7mMoc-x_v0

I was wondering if someone would mention TV on the Radio.

Anyway, I'm going to go with what everyone else by saying that
A)music is all a matter of taste, so...
B)you can't make generalisations

I will admit that I do find a lot of the more "mainstream" band to be not to my taste and that I fell that you have to dig around to find the stuff you really like.

 

[zen5887]

In conclusion - The more music you like, the happier you are.

So very much this. Generalising a genre too much just gets in the way of finding tracks you may love. Restricing myself to a few genres would just get me bored. I would like to know what the jury thinks of different breeds of hip hop, for example trip hop?

I came across a few Massive Attack songs while I was digging around youtube a few weeks ago. That's the extent of my Trip-Hop knowledge but I really like it.

I enjoy a few sub genres of Hip Hop, most of them come from Buck 65 and his projects. Glitch-hop and Alt hip-hop come to mind.

 

[Zenn3k]

I don't hate hip/hop, although good hip/hop is hard to find (the one you posted isn't bad).

However, I prefer double bass pedals and guitar riffs over sentence rhymes. I also enjoy techno and trance, aka music with little to no words in it at all.

I see the appeal, its just not what I wanna listen to driving home from work

 

[cainx10a]

Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP1exQ8tcUc

I mainly listen to county, alternate rock music. But holy shit, this song is the best thing I have listened to in the past month.

 

[CIA]

Everybody in this thread should go buy Flobots, Dinosaur Jr., Killswitch Engage, and Reel Big Fish just so they know where everyone else is coming from.

 

[JC175]

This a shame really. I'm more of a metal fan, but I like some rap, and a lot of it has really deep meaning and such.
It's just that people here want to believe the whole "Ima busta cap in yo ass, ***** ass nigga!" generalization.

You know you'd get jumped on if you said all Metal is a bunch of guys making noise screaming loud incomprehensible lyrics about how much they love Satan.
Ah, double standards.

Exactly. There are no "good" or "bad" genres, there are always good and bad bands in any genre, and this never aligns with popularity. Case in point? Nickelback. Terrible, generic, bland, poser hard rock. Yet they sell millions of records. But you wouldn't call their genre bad, genres can always have shining examples within.

Except maybe for country music. Now there's an Ol' Yeller that needs putting down.

 

[RagnorakTres]

I have only one more thing to contribute to this discussion:

There is a House, In New Orleans.....

Viva la Animals!

On topic, I listen to everything (Except Disney musicians. Period. I have standards.). My playlist has Weird Al, Metallica, The Animals, The White Stripes, Afroman, Don McClean, Aerosmith, ACDC, Accept, Nightwish, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, all kinds of genres and musicians. I like all of them, I listen to all of them on a regular basis. Anyone who bases their music choices on what others like is a moron, in my opinion.

 

[CIA]

I have only one more thing to contribute to this discussion:

There is a House, In New Orleans.....

Viva la Animals!

Ahem...

The oldest known existing recording of The House of the Rising Sun is by versatile Appalachian artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster and was made in 1933.

Or so says Wikipedia.

 

[minignu]

I came across a few Massive Attack songs while I was digging around youtube a few weeks ago. That's the extent of my Trip-Hop knowledge but I really like it.

Check out Portishead too if you like Massive Attack. I'm lucky enough to live in the birthplace of the genre :V

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

I've never really liked rap, but I enjoyed the Immortal technique song, kudos to you. And I do agree with your "generalizations don't represent the entirety of a genre" standpoint.

 

[RagnorakTres]

I have only one more thing to contribute to this discussion:

There is a House, In New Orleans.....

Viva la Animals!

Ahem...

The oldest known existing recording of The House of the Rising Sun is by versatile Appalachian artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster and was made in 1933.

Or so says Wikipedia.

Sorry, I can't hear you over how hard the Animals rock. XD Eric Burden's voice made it famous and I suspect that's the version s/he was referring to.

 

[MCJazz77]

I love how only one person mentioned Jazz when it is the basis for every type of popular music after it. Jazz is the first American popular music and it is the only truly global music too. You can go to Japan or France or America and there will always be someone who knows and loves Jazz, but I got off topic.

You can't put hip-hop or rap down because of what the lyrics are saying or what message you think it is trying to convey. Music is about expression so let them express whatever they want, even if you don't agree with it. In its day Jazz was considered as socially unnacceptable as rap and hip-hop are now. Jazz musicians are the original gangsters, but now you would never think of Jazz like that.

The people who say that the lyrics aren't part of the music are dead wrong. They lyrics help set the tone of the song! While they are less important than the music they can certainly can't be discounted. The total oversaturation of socially and politically motivated music is annoying and repetitive but just because there is a lot of something doesn't make it crap, just unoriginal. People need to think of lyrics as another instrument. They aren't necessary, but when you add them it adds a new level to the group"s music. So saying you hate or love lyrics is like saying you hate or love an instrument.

 

[CIA]

Ahem...

The oldest known existing recording of The House of the Rising Sun is by versatile Appalachian artists Clarence "Tom" Ashley and Gwen Foster and was made in 1933.

Or so says Wikipedia.

Sorry, I can't hear you over how hard the Animals rock. XD Eric Burden's voice made it famous and I suspect that's the version s/he was referring to.

Personally I always think of Bob Dylan's version.

 

[SargentToughie]

It is true that only the less talented people in the industry seem to get ahead. Your theory explains perfectly why people like Soulja boy are so 'popular' right now.

"What? I can get famous by just saying the same sentence seven thousand times over and over again in the same song? well what are we waiting for!?"

... I would like to believe that most people don't think that way, thank you for the information, it makes my daily life just a little bit easier.

...

Holy crap! That also explains why the Jonas Brothers are still afloat! The world makes sense again!

 

[chronobreak]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IObykt39Xsc If you're a fan of hardcore hip-hop, check me out, let me know if you like it. This is my video, I also produced the track.

 

[zen5887]

People need to think of lyrics as another instrument. They aren't necessary, but when you add them it adds a new level to the group"s music. So saying you hate or love lyrics is like saying you hate or love an instrument.

I can dig this groove!

Just like Funk and Reggae focusing on Bass, Hip hop has a large focus on the lyrics.