What's wrong with mainstream metal?

[Fronken]

The fact it's called "Metal".

If it was labelled correctly, called "Hard Pop" or "Cringecore", then it wouldn't garner as much hate from Metalheads.

Also it just sounds absolutely dire. It like someone's taken the old, inaccurate stereotype that metal is just unmelodious, out of tune guitars, with growling & screaming, and actually made music out of it to make a quick buck.

It's just a dire, lowest common denominator, bad stereotype made flesh.

And that sums it up pretty nicely.
It's just that mainstream metal isn't actually metal.

are you serious?, why wouldn't mainstream metal be metal?, there has always been a fanbase for metal groups, and as the internet grows and more and more people start to use it, its only natural that people find more bands they like, and some bands fit alot of peoples taste, that doesnt mean its not metal music...

Face facts: All That Remains is just as much metal as Misericordiam is, only difference is their sub genre, one's metalcore, others deathcore, they are both metal, and the fact that almost everyone knows about All That Remains yet not alot of people know about Misericordiam doesnt change what sort of music they play.

(and dont call me out on my examples, i just picked 2 bands at random from my playlist.)

 

[Arsen]

Classic Metal
Power Metal
Thrash Metal
Speed Metal
Death Metal
Black Metal
Viking Metal
Melodic [insert genre here] Metal
...

If it can't fit into any of those categories, or what was inspired by those categories...it ISN'T metal. It's made to sell.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

i think because most of the songs sound the same, this doesn't include a specific hook or playing style. when bands become popular they do one of two things and it really depends on how good of a band they are, ie talent wise, they either say "screw you producer we're doing our own shit" or they say "yes sir mr producer we'll make another song like that big hit we had so we can all make more money". now the good bands they pick option one and they either fall flat the second album or become even more popular. the bad bands take option number 2 and you get 178904739214780 albums released by them and they all sound the same much like nickelback

now most bands that take option 2 are considered sellouts because they sold out to greed and money and the record label. fans get mad because they wanted the band to "stick it to the man" and pick option 1. i do find it annoying to listen to a band and then once they "make it big" they decide to release all the same crap over and over

 

[Dechef]

The fact it's called "Metal".

If it was labelled correctly, called "Hard Pop" or "Cringecore", then it wouldn't garner as much hate from Metalheads.

Also it just sounds absolutely dire. It like someone's taken the old, inaccurate stereotype that metal is just unmelodious, out of tune guitars, with growling & screaming, and actually made music out of it to make a quick buck.

It's just a dire, lowest common denominator, bad stereotype made flesh.

And that sums it up pretty nicely.
It's just that mainstream metal isn't actually metal.

snip

Well that's the problem with the word mainstream, it's very wide, I was specifically talking about those bands that claim to be metal when they're more hard/alternative rock.

 

[Quel0]

It's just like any music type. I believe music is too much of a form of personal identification than a purer form of musical intrigue. If you find yourself as more of an explorer of music (the latter) you will probably also find yourself pushing yourself away from the popular music docks and searching for something more exotic. I personally can't speak much about metal in particular, i prefer the extreme opposite called minimalist or ambient.

 

[superbleeder12]

The "argument" is that mainstream bands sacrifized their "art" to please as much possible listeners as possible. Their music got washed out for the masses, thats because they are so famous and more sucsessfull.

On the other side, the underground bands stayed "true" to their visions and prefer unchanged art and expressing over making money.

Thats the "logic" behind it.

This. And to tell you the truth, who gives a fuck? I mean, listen to what you listen to. When I was driving home today, a chiptunes song came on right after a black metal song. Listen to what you like.

My distaste for Disturbed is twofold, one, their songs are very same-ish, and two, I had gone to a concert which they were playing and Draiman started going on about how the war in Iraq is wrong. Now I neither agree nor disagree with what he said, just the shear fact that he brought it up pissed me off. I pay you to make music, not spout off your political ideas.

A lot of mainstream bands have a sort of "image" that they try to uphold. With this, I disagree. You make music, which appeals to the ears. Who the fuck cares about how you Look (which you do with your eyes)

 

[lukemcandrew]

People define 'mainstream' on how popular a genre is. People call genres of music mainstream because alot of people like it and it's in the charts. Theres a reason this is mainstream/popular: its good lol.
People might call Disturbed or Bullet for My Valentine Mainstream merely because they appear on television. Once upon a time, these genres did not appear on televsion, and were not popular because people had not heard of them, they were not popular. People who call something mainstream, do so because they want to be different, stand apart from everyone else. And by doing this , they are like the many other people who want to be like this. : my advice: do whatever the hell you want, like whatever you want, forget what everyone else likes.

 

[zen5887]

C. Have a moronic fanbase.

This

But really.. Whatever floats your boat.

I can go on for hours about how much I hate slipknot or dragonforce but who am I to tell you what bands suck??

 

[speedcoreXdandy]

Whats wrong with mainstream metal? The same thing that's wrong with every genre of metal that isn't doom metal, namely that it's not doom metal! Bah, terrible.

 

[GPScorpio]

The fact it's called "Metal".

If it was labelled correctly, called "Hard Pop" or "Cringecore", then it wouldn't garner as much hate from Metalheads.

Also it just sounds absolutely dire. It like someone's taken the old, inaccurate stereotype that metal is just unmelodious, out of tune guitars, with growling & screaming, and actually made music out of it to make a quick buck.

It's just a dire, lowest common denominator, bad stereotype made flesh.

This

 

[lukemcandrew]

People define 'mainstream' on how popular a genre is. People call genres of music mainstream because alot of people like it and it's in the charts. Theres a reason this is mainstream/popular: its good lol.
People might call Disturbed or Bullet for My Valentine Mainstream merely because they appear on television. Once upon a time, these genres did not appear on televsion, and were not popular because people had not heard of them, they were not popular. People who call something mainstream, do so because they want to be different, stand apart from everyone else. And by doing this , they are like the many other people who want to be like this. : my advice: do whatever the hell you want, like whatever you want, forget what everyone else likes.

Obviously that doesn't include poser bands such as You Me At Six , Kids in Glass Houses and the Jonas Brothers, they just suck.

 

[BubbleGumSnareDrum]

Classic Metal
Power Metal
Thrash Metal
Speed Metal
Death Metal
Black Metal
Viking Metal
Melodic [insert genre here] Metal
...

If it can't fit into any of those categories, or what was inspired by those categories...it ISN'T metal. It's made to sell.

For fuck's sake, there is no such thing as Viking metal. There are lots of metal bands that sing about Vikings, sure, but "Viking metal" is not a styliscally separate kind of metal. Black metal bands sing about Vikings. Power metal bands sing about Vikings.

Also, you forgot doom metal. Which, I guess could arguably be "classic" metal, even though there's no such thing as that, either. In the beginning of metal music, back in the late sixties, Black Sabbath inspired and defined doom metal, bands like Steppenwolf and Deep Purple defined and inspired traditional heavy metal, and other styles like death, black and thrash metal came later in the 70s and 80s with the advent of punk rock and hardcore punk. Power metal is largely rooted with the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWoBHM) movement, the most notable of whose artists include Helloween, Diamond Head, Crimson Glory, Iron Maiden, etc.

Punk fans down on metal all the time for being too heavy and too complex and metalheads down on punk all the time for being too simple and in the end the two genres are highly dependent on each other and at times aren't even all that different. Listen to very early thrash metal albums and you'll hear that it's pretty much hardcore punk with more guitar solos.

Even "speed metal" is a stretch because pretty much every metal act I've heard referred to as speed metal would be easier to just call thrash or power metal. Most metal involves some sense of speed, so why be redundant?

And as far as false metal goes, bullshit like Theory of a Deadman and Nickelback and Shinedown, or worse yet, moving from post-grunge shitland to deathcore cockshining, you have bands like Bring Me the Horizon with their "brutality." I didn't know high school kids spending mommy and daddy's money so they can play the same chug riffs over and over on nice sound equipment constituted brutality.

 

[Ancientgamer]

Tell them "mainstream" doesn't automatically equate to shit, and thus they need to explain exactly why it's shit.

I consider shymphonic metal to be a real genre. And I like it. People rag on me for it all the time but they can't come up with any reason better than "too many people think it's good" for some reason.

 

[MarsProbe]

One of my friends who is of the school of thought that the more obscure a band is, the better, sent me this - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvsq6_8Hzo8 because he thought it was awesome and was proud that he discovered this little known band. Strange man.

That's just...what...I have no idea, really. Anyway, it does look like the video was in recorded in the kind of place I would go for a walk on a nice day at home. Such profound lyrics though, I'm going to have to look it up on songmeanings...

 

[Legion]

Theres a reason this is mainstream/popular: its good lol.

You are not seriously suggesting that Big Brother is good are you?

The reason something is mainstream is not always because it is good.

Most people happen to be stupid.

If someone "cool" says something is good then the sheep all follow.

 

[Ongaru]

One of my friends who is of the school of thought that the more obscure a band is, the better, sent me this - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvsq6_8Hzo8 because he thought it was awesome and was proud that he discovered this little known band. Strange man.

this has just made my day.

i didn't think people actually believed they were serious

 

[DannyDamage]

Because like most 'mainstream' sub-genres, it follows the 'how to' guide as closely as the last band does and then act as if they're so unique and awesome and jump on the band wagon of insulting all other musics for selling out or whatever.

 

[SmartIdiot]

I don't know

Wow, way to contribute.

Anyway, I don't like songs that are basically just: "AHHHHNHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAH" For 5 minutes, so I listen to alternative metal, still has all the riffs and beats that I like, but without a psychopath screaming into a mic and in their place someone singing meaninful lyrics.

Sometimes it's fun to have a psychopath screaming into a mic.
No?
Only me then...

 

[Adfest]

This is why I don't talk about what music I like to listen to. Because some music snob is going to tell me that what I listen to and enjoy as "metal" is actually "cringecore" or "viking metal" which implies that I am somehow a lesser person because said genres are making there music for the purpose of acquiring money (those assholes!). Jesus tapdancing Cookies... Get over yourselves.

 

[lukemcandrew]

Theres a reason this is mainstream/popular: its good lol.

You are not seriously suggesting that Big Brother is good are you?

The reason something is mainstream is not always because it is good.

Most people happen to be stupid.

If someone "cool" says something is good then the sheep all follow.

No no, I meant 'mainstream metal' bands such as Disturbed, Avenged Sevenfold, and so forth. Not poser bands like Kids in Glass Houses, YouMeAtSix, MCR, and other bands with big fringes and zero musicianal talent. Is musicianal a word? It works.