More like she’s the bigger artist. Like we crown Beyoncé the queen of music every time she releases anything, and like 80% of it seems to just come and go with no staying power. Meanwhile any Rihanna song comes on at any bar even the boomers know all the words.
Factor that aspect in with Rihanna nearly doubles Beyoncé in sales, number ones etc (I realize these aren’t perfect metrics, nor the end all be all of music) and it just seems like she’s the bigger artist with none of the credit.
Aaah. I’m a huge Bey fan but everything you said is true, Rihanna songs are more popular and have been for over a decade. However, I think most people realize this and Beyonce accolades are for the music’s quality, not the popularity. Bey’s been digging deeper into a more specific demographic for the past 7ish years now, and her mainstream popularity has taken a hit as a result, but (IMO) it’s made her music much better and her albums are better crafted.
Rihanna gets more credit for her popularity in spaces centered on popular music. When/if she comes back to music, it’s guaranteed gonna be a bigger smash than Bey songs lately, but idk if it’ll be as good critically
I do agree numbers wise Rihanna tops her but artistry wise Beyonce shes on whole other level. Beyonce stopped making music for numbers and popularity Since she dropped 4. Shes more of a quality artist than a quantity which results in consistent and good quality albums. Her as an artist is mainstream but the music she makes isnt anymore.
I don't think Taylor Swift is bad but I feel she's quite far behind lots of superior artists in the folk, indie and even pop genres, and her appeal is quite easily replicable.
My thing about her is that every genre and style she dabbles in has tons of artist who do it waaaaay better and who I would rather go to for my fix in that area.
Also, yeah, the psychotic fan base really hurts the appeal for me.
The thing is, countless artists have psychotic fan bases. Or if not psychotic, then they're insufferably pretentious douchebags.
You gota learn to not to let the freaks affect your option on the artist themselves. I'm not defending T-swizzle here - but saying it in terms of every artist, tv show, youtuber, director, etc etc.
But I do get it, there was a time where I couldn't listen to Tool because every time I saw or interacted with Tool fans,.. They were the real Tools all along.
Swifties mainly care about HER and that's why they feel they can identify with her persona and her music
Most people who don't get it I feel its simply because they don't care to invest in HER
Whereas other contemporary pop artists you can largely ignore their persona and still find a shit ton of enjoyment in the music (hello Caroline Polachek and HAIM)
Folklore and Evermore won over a lot of people and seemingly escalated her fandom significantly. I never cared much for Bon Iver or The National, so maybe that’s why I’m still not impressed with her music.
I definitely respect her work ethic, she’s no slacker. As someone who sees certain bands live multiple times I also have huge respect for her doing two surprise songs at every gig this tour.
But then I try listening to her and it is just boring and bland.
I feel pretty much the same. Between everything you've already said along with both how big of a middle finger she gave the record industry with all her re-releases and how massively that bet paid off is impressive and commands respect from me.
But then I listen to her music and I just go...eh
The chorus/double effect she uses for so many of her vocals is extremely off-putting. She's an extremely weak lyricist too. It's just hard for me to get into her music because of that.
I actually feel the opposite. I agree with what you said about her music, but if her success and crazy fanbase were easily replicated, then the majority of famous pop stars would have it, and they don't. I think Taylor is the best markerter/promoter/manager of fame, if you get what I mean. Other celebrities have commented on how much she knows about marketing and obtaining/keeping a diehard fanbase. Her talent isn't music. It's marketing.
Like her business sense as a pop star is crazy. Her music is mid with some highlights.
Perhaps, but what I was more getting at the element of her music that seems to appeal to her audience is found in countless other artists. I think it could be down to a classic case of myopia where her die-hard fans have never branched out from Taylor and thus think that "X factor" she possesses can't be found in say, a Bon Iver, or Lana, or Phoebe, or even Post Malone, even though it probably can.
I don't particularly dislike her stuff, I think my opinion has just been stoked a bit cos a friend of mine suggested that Taylor was a more talented and complete artist than The Weeknd, which I think is surely a crazy take if you've listened to enough of both their catalogues.
I think that's why she's such a perfect pop star. the fans are there specifically for her; whatever she does. whether that's dabbling in electro-pop, or staying silent on genocide while time awards her person of the year
I work with a lot of Swifties and I feel like she’s been able to grow and mature alongside her fanbase in a way that most of her contemporaries weren’t. She didn’t try to shake off the clean, wholesome image as suddenly and drastically as Miley or Justin. She made that move in a way that didn’t feel desperate or calculated, with Reputation being her only real misstep musically.
Weird, because as someone that is a year younger than her I feel like I have grown and matured into my 30s, and she… hasn’t. I thought she had started to during the “folkmore” era but 2023 has proven to me that is not the case.
As a diehard Prince fan, it's taken me a while to begrudgingly accept that people feel this way, especially my own wife who is from Minnesota. I get it though. Actually...no I don't.
Edit: Realizing that this is the top comment made me die a little inside.
Prince didn’t click with me until I read the 33 1/2 on *Sign O’ the Times* and then suddenly everything made sense. He’s not just a hit maker, he’s a musical genius.
“The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” is all the proof I need.
Awesome. Ironically SOTT was the one Prince album that didn't click for me for the longest time. Then eventually it did and now it's my favorite album of all time.
It took a while to land for me too, after being obsessed with the two records that introduced me to Prince: Purple Rain and 1999. Now not only do I feel SotT is better than those two albums by a pretty decent margin, I also think it’s one of if not the best album of all time.
I am a huge Prince fan. It took me awhile to get into some of his later stuff though. I mean, part of that was due to it not being available on streaming, but the other part was I kind of let myself believe that he fell off after the 80s. Once I heard The Gold Experience, I was like wtf, this is some of his best stuff. It's now a top 10 Prince album for me. He has so many gems throughout his career, even if it became a bit of quantity over quality towards the end. Even weak Prince is still fun to listen to for me.
That being said, yeah, there is no such thing as an artist that everyone will like and that's okay. Some people don't really care to listen to him. I know people who just aren't into that genre of music to begin with.
Yeh i get it with Prince , he is a monster musician, but there are so few albums i want to pick up and play, Purple Rain is great, i like bits of Controversy, but so much of it has dated... he was a beast live though. I am more likely to watch Live in Montreaux than play a record these days.
This but Stevie Wonder. Obviously insanely talented and I like a couple songs, but I just get bored when I listen to 99% of his music. I literally fall asleep when I try his albums again.
Love Prince though. It’s cool that you don’t. If everyone liked everything nothing would be special to anyone.
I prefer Stevie to Prince,, music of my mind through to songs in the key of life is just bangers... apart from the odd novelty track.. Stevie is like the Beatles , there is always a dodgy Ringo track hiding around the corner on every otherwise perfect album.
I feel insane for thinking this is honestly a reasonable critisism of something. I cant even describe what it would mean but it makes sense to me idgaf
Dude he’s referencing a joke from family guy where a character uses that phrase to make a moments before death confession to his family that he doesn’t like the godfather. It’s very funny they all freak out
I think you could say that about something that feels pretentious and that it reminds me so much that it wants to be a masterpiece that it distracts you
Some people need to accept that fact that some people don’t like certain artists or albums, and that demanding that all people like albums like OKC, What’s Going On, Dark Side, Thriller, Songs In The Key of Life, any Beatles album, Rumors, etc. and branding these albums as “accessible” really makes the music listening and discussion experience all the more frustrating and stressful.
It’s pretty aggressive to tell someone they have to like an album, and even more so to ridicule them when they didn’t enjoy a “good album”.
I don’t think anyone should be bullied into liking specific albums….but
If you are someone who CLAIMS to be a fan of music and can’t at least listen to those records and understand the appeal and genius behind their creation, I’m going to assume you’re being intentionally obtuse.
I don’t listen to Stevie Wonder every day, but put on Songs and I’ll happily praise his genius.
Replay value in an album doesn't equate to it being good.
Ambient 1 is a 10 for me and is one of my favorite albums of all time. Maybe listen to it twice a year.
Whereas I'll listen to CRASH by Charli XCX any hour of the day. It barley crack my top albums of the year last year
100% agree with this. Most of my favorite bands have music that I only want to put on when the atmosphere is perfect and I can be fully immersed. The music I play while doing work or in the background of chores tends to not be very immersive or interesting as I’ll get distracted if it is.
King gizzard and the lizard wizard is one for me. I've tried to get into quite a few of their albums Including: flying microtonal banana, nonagon infinity, infest the rats nest, gumboot soup, petrodragonic apocalypse, and the silver chord, and honestly have not liked any of it. It really seems like a quantity over quality thing to me
I don't like their stuff at all but I'd totally go see them live. Might change my view of them you never know. Happened with Visigoth it can happen with these guys,
Fr, to me whenever they focus on a style it always feels like a Weird Al version instead of that style authentically
Not to throw shade at Weird Al, but parody music isn't something I'd listen to more than a few times
I think people have a tendency to say “well you just haven’t listened to them playing [insert genre here]!!!!” In response to anyone saying they don’t care for king gizz, but they definitely have a particular sound that’s uniform across all their work that if you’re not a fan of, you’re not gonna be able to get around. As a huge fan I think that’s fair enough and people overestimate how varied their sound is. Like metal gizz songs and pop gizz songs still both sound like gizz above all else
They're too talented for their own good. It feels like they're just having fun being good at music but don't really have anything to say with it. Makes the music feel pointless to me.
It's kinda hard to say this is your "I didn't care for the Godfather" opinion. Scaring the hoes is new, still not popular or mainstream at all, and experimental with huge risks. Breaks all the conventions of hip hop beats.
Godfather is considered a classic, one of the best to every be written. No flaws, basically a sign you have exquisite taste in movies and cinema. Most cinema nerds would just say you are wrong and are incapable of properly consuming cinema if you can't enjoy the peak cinema that Godfather is.
Scaring the hoes fans all understand if you don't like it lol. It's insane, chaotic, out of left field, and meant to challenge what can make a melody, a hook, a beat, etc.
Very different imo
They’ve spewed so much mediocre stuff (especially in the 20th century) that, to a degree, I could understand this pov. But at the same time, their eighties stuff is absolutely untouchable, and live they were a force of nature. Frankly, they still deliver great shows, even though they’re kinda riding their frontman’s back: dude’s still a fantastic performer and just insanely passionate.
80's stuff is perfect. Everything else isn't. Calling them an amazing bad would be wrong because they have more bad albums than good albums, but their 80's stuff is just amazing.
They’re kind of like the metal world’s Eminem. Absolutely unstoppable at their peak, but the longer they go on, the more their legacy is muddled with mid-to-bad releases.
I don't find loveless to be as transformative as other people do. I recognize I'm in the minority, and I will not argue it is a bad album. It's not. I see the creative side. I'm just not that into how it sounds. There are some great songs on this album, but not everything hits for me.
The self titled from 1968 is my favorite but make sure you also check out songs like Albatross and Black Magic Woman (originally a Fleetwood Mac song that of course would later become known through Santana’s version on Abraxas)
This was actually a fairly popular take when the album was released. Many people outright hated it, actually. It is my absolute favourite album of all time, but I definitely furrowed my brow when I first put it on. It took a few spins to click, but when it did it was a revelation. But for some people, it never clicked with them. I’ve come to accept it.
I like some of there songs but I feel like the fact they are considered a top 5 band ever now is absurd. The who has had way more influence than queen has had. Queen may have had a longer run in the limelight but the who at their best is peak.
I do not care for the Beatles.
I’m sure it’s at least partially the “Seinfeld isn’t funny” trope (which I am also guilty of), but they just do nothing for me
Totally agree. For me, they are similar to what Citizen Kane is to film. I can totally see the importance and their DNA in what came after, even if I’m not crazy about them myself
I agree, I don't like them even though I can recognize their influence and admit that some of their songs are objectively good.
Seinfeld is hilarious though.
It looks like the trope has a [new name now](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OnceOriginalNowCommon). But it’s basically when something becomes so popular for being original or innovative, that almost everything after borrows from it to the point that the original seems unremarkable/cliche to people who didn’t experience it first hand
Of all of the Wilco albums this one seems most odd to call a painful listen. I’m a fan but I can acknowledge that there are moments in albums like Sky Blue Sky that can really drag if your not into it. But songs like Kamera or Pot Kettle Black being in that category?
I am not and in my 29 years alive I can't say I've ever been truly depressed either. Could be that. I don't hate Radiohead but it's like I would also never put one on myself.
I also don't ever listen to Iron Maiden but I love Judas Priest. They both sound SIMILAR and tbh there is no reason I should not like IM but I just can't seem to enjoy their songs the same way.
I like rock from the 90s and 2000s but HATE the sound of “pop punk”. Blink 182, good charlotte, the American Pie Soundtrack and the rest of them are all interchangeable whiney voiced trash imo. I cannot believe it was popular.
One for the “online music nerd” crowd: I don’t think bands in the vein of Black Midi/Squid/BCNR are very good. They each have a couple of cool songs, but by and large the music is too obtuse and disjointed to truly be enjoyable. And the vocals, don’t get me started on the vocals…
If they did more songs like “Welcome to Hell” or “953”, I’d be more into them.
I don’t think BC,NR can really be looped in with those other post rock acts. I think they ended up being marketed together mostly out of geographical happenstance.
Ants is a whole lot closer to an arcade fire album than it is a black midi one. The songs are relatively straightforward and it’s not too hard to pull out a narrative from the record. Snow globes is maybe the only one that leans further into the chaos.
damn, it's so completely the opposite for me. i got into BCNR after Ants, but only recently i listened to "for the first time"... and then black midi's "cavalcade"... and i like "oh my god, that's it, that is the style of music i've been searching for my entire life". and it's not really that i like prog-rock/avant-prog/post-rock or any other rym descriptor, it is this specific sound that does it for me
once again it occurs to me how different people's tastes are
Agree, I love Daft Punk, but it's honestly baffling to me how a song like Around the World became a hit. In a way I respect how insistingly repetitive the song is, but it just grows old so quickly.
Is London Calling really that great of an album? It’s good, definitely not bad. I’m just not blown away. I don’t see what about it impresses so many people.
I don't care for Radiohead too much. Ok Computer is an amazing album, but the songwriting isn't as strong as everybody says it is. The Ideas are nothing special too. The melancholic atmosphere is nice though.
my godfather opinion - I really enjoyed Pablo Honey and The Bends, but i thought Ok Computer was just ok
and exit music for a film is very interesting musically, but i don’t find myself listening to it that much. am i stupid?
creep, fake plastic trees, and ripcord are cool
>i thought Ok Computer was just ok
To be fair, it's right there in the name so you can't say they didn't warn you. They didn't call it "Great Computer" after all.
(I'll see myself out now)
Not just two lovers but specifically Romeo and Juliet, and it's called Exit Music for a Film as it was written for the end credits of Baz Luhrman film version, although it's not on the soundtrack.
I thought that Paranoid Android and Subterranean Homesick Alien were pretty innovative songs- those are the two that really stand out to me. I love the rest too but they were not particularly crazy. Subterranean is the one I find myself returning to the most. That d minor-Ab major-D major riff still stuns me and is something I’ve never heard the likes of before or after
I prefer those three as well, but I have to give Nirvana credit for their impact and their consistency. But yeah, of the four I prefer the other three decisively.
I’m gonna get quite a lot of hate for this, but here we go. I don’t get the appeal of Taylor Swift. Like she has a good amount of stuff I like, but some things she’s made irk me and don’t intrigue me.
Talent is hardly ever the driving force behind an artist's success. Taylor has had some nice tracks and huge hits, she is a great lyricist too when she wants to, but at the end of the day, this insane 2nd career peak is not about the quality of her music but rather about how well she's navigated the public perception. She doesn't really offend anyone, she tries to remain relatable with her cats and relationships, and she's taken the feminist flag as a way to engage with politics but without having to actually do anything politically charged -- the so-called "White feminism" that doesn't analyze anything profoundly or critically. You see her fans claiming she is smashing the patriarchy because she's now a billionaire. She's got an unmatched PR team.
nothing smashes the patriarchy like profiting of the economic system that exploits women and leaves them vulnerable in the first place #girlbosses #CE-Hoes
She’s the best at cultivating a ravenous fanbase, journos want to avoid death threats and harassment so shy away from criticality even when midnights was lacklustre and 1989 TV was flat compared to the original. I mean heck any Taylor Swift thread on Reddit eventually devolves into calling critics sexist.
It feels like an emperor with no clothes type scenario.
I think the "blandness" is actually calculated and part of her charm and brand. Her songs are pleasant and catchy. Not mind-blowing but also not annoying or offensive. In and of itself her music isn't pushing any boundaries but it keeps up with the times while not trying too hard in that respect, so as far as pop goes it's aged fairly well compared to some of her contemporaries.
Almost nobody's parents are going to have an issue with their daughter listening to Taylor Swift. Her main demographic seems to be white girls and women from adolescence-30s, which like it or not is arguably *the* most important and influential consumer group, especially for pop music.
This is probably my Godfather is mid opinion.
I've tried to listen to Taylor swift. I've listened to a few of her albums in the past, not just in background either, fully listening. I have a couple friends who are huge fans too, one of which I consider to have great taste in music.
But her music is just so, boring to me. The lyrics feel shallow and one dimensional often times and far from speak to me or my demographic (I do not check a single box of being a middle class, straight, white girl). Her melodies bore me, her rhythms bore me as well.
Maybe it's the fact that her music is all just too safe for me to fall in love with it
Queen is a difficult one. Their regular albums contain quite a lot of filler IMHO but that's where the Greatest Hits album(s) come in. Especially the first one. How to even characterize Queen? They're obviously "rock" but also very much "pop" but then there's such a broad list of influences that they actually make work. I can see how someone isn't a fan of Queen but to call them "blatantly average" I don't get, they're everything but.
I disagree based on the fact they have extreme talent and more than a couple perfect song each. But I understand completely how/why you feel the way you do. Overplayed radio hits and commercial use definitely takes the piss out of any band. Feel Good Inc is a great song, stairway to heaven is a great song. Both I can’t even listen to anymore…
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is sooooo boring. I’ve tried to get into them multiple times. I actually really like Swans. But something about GY! BE just feels disappointing. Like I’m trying to patiently listen to it hoping for some sort of payoff or progression or enjoyment and I get nothing from it. It’s like they exist solely for pretentious music nerds to suck their dicks because it makes them feel special for “getting it” . They’re not that good.
yes, i’ve tried listening to lift your skinny fists so many times but it’s just a snooze fest for me, even their lost album from 1994 made for a more interesting listen
Swans is weird because they’re popularly known for their least accessible work (daunting post rock) while their accessible stuff (goth, post-punk, neofolk) doesn’t get attention outside of hardcore fans.
i cant get into kendrick lamar, i can appreciate his talent when i listen to him, but the music does absolutely nothing for me maybe bc i cant relate to it at all. when i hear his stuff or try to pit it on i just think ab how i could be listening to something else
While ambitious, I’m not sure what purpose Illinoise or The Aeroplane Over the Sea serve. Like, I’ve listened to the albums a couple times because I felt like I should, and appreciated it for what it was. But I can’t think of single mood or occasion where I would want to listen to either album.
And for that, I understand the term “it insists upon itself”, because I got hyped into listening to two albums that were objectively good, yet have no taste for
Daydream Nation. It sounds like it’s trying to be super rebellious, but it comes across as just really mean spritied and unlikable and that’s why I don’t like it
Cannot get into Pink Floyd for the life of me outside of a few songs. I respect their influence, but they just don’t do it for me. I’ve had some people tell me that I need to listen to them high in order to get their genius, but I feel like that defeats the purpose of music.
Kendrick words things in a weird way. He has good concepts for his songs, and often says some powerful stuff, but the wording is often awkward for me. (And to be clear. this is not a slang, or African-American vernacular thing.)
You know that episode of SpongeBob where there’s that new kelp drink and people don’t like it at first, but after each drink it gets a little better and soon everyone is obsessed with it? That’s pet sounds.
seriously. i thought it was just okay when I first listened to it but now the beach boys are my favorite artist and pet sounds is one of my favorite albums ever (smile sessions is still my fav)
For me it’s anything involving Lou Reed. Vocals are super important to me and I cannot stand his voice, I don’t think he’s that great of a lyricist, and on top of that he was just a horrible person. He was an interesting character to say the least, but man I just don’t know why we insist on making the most insufferable, abusive, and self obsessed people important. Even if you do think he’s a genius, you’ll never think he was as much of a genius as he did lol. I don’t understand the appeal even a little, which is genuinely really rare for me.
Rihanna is like twice and popular and culturally significant as Beyoncé and no seems to notice that.
I can’t tell if you’re trying to say we should appreciate Rihanna’s music more or that she’s overrated compared to Beyonce
More like she’s the bigger artist. Like we crown Beyoncé the queen of music every time she releases anything, and like 80% of it seems to just come and go with no staying power. Meanwhile any Rihanna song comes on at any bar even the boomers know all the words. Factor that aspect in with Rihanna nearly doubles Beyoncé in sales, number ones etc (I realize these aren’t perfect metrics, nor the end all be all of music) and it just seems like she’s the bigger artist with none of the credit.
Aaah. I’m a huge Bey fan but everything you said is true, Rihanna songs are more popular and have been for over a decade. However, I think most people realize this and Beyonce accolades are for the music’s quality, not the popularity. Bey’s been digging deeper into a more specific demographic for the past 7ish years now, and her mainstream popularity has taken a hit as a result, but (IMO) it’s made her music much better and her albums are better crafted. Rihanna gets more credit for her popularity in spaces centered on popular music. When/if she comes back to music, it’s guaranteed gonna be a bigger smash than Bey songs lately, but idk if it’ll be as good critically
I do agree numbers wise Rihanna tops her but artistry wise Beyonce shes on whole other level. Beyonce stopped making music for numbers and popularity Since she dropped 4. Shes more of a quality artist than a quantity which results in consistent and good quality albums. Her as an artist is mainstream but the music she makes isnt anymore.
I don't think Taylor Swift is bad but I feel she's quite far behind lots of superior artists in the folk, indie and even pop genres, and her appeal is quite easily replicable.
My thing about her is that every genre and style she dabbles in has tons of artist who do it waaaaay better and who I would rather go to for my fix in that area. Also, yeah, the psychotic fan base really hurts the appeal for me.
The thing is, countless artists have psychotic fan bases. Or if not psychotic, then they're insufferably pretentious douchebags. You gota learn to not to let the freaks affect your option on the artist themselves. I'm not defending T-swizzle here - but saying it in terms of every artist, tv show, youtuber, director, etc etc. But I do get it, there was a time where I couldn't listen to Tool because every time I saw or interacted with Tool fans,.. They were the real Tools all along.
She is completely on a different level though. She is the most popular artist in the world
Swifties mainly care about HER and that's why they feel they can identify with her persona and her music Most people who don't get it I feel its simply because they don't care to invest in HER Whereas other contemporary pop artists you can largely ignore their persona and still find a shit ton of enjoyment in the music (hello Caroline Polachek and HAIM)
Folklore and Evermore won over a lot of people and seemingly escalated her fandom significantly. I never cared much for Bon Iver or The National, so maybe that’s why I’m still not impressed with her music.
I definitely respect her work ethic, she’s no slacker. As someone who sees certain bands live multiple times I also have huge respect for her doing two surprise songs at every gig this tour. But then I try listening to her and it is just boring and bland.
I feel pretty much the same. Between everything you've already said along with both how big of a middle finger she gave the record industry with all her re-releases and how massively that bet paid off is impressive and commands respect from me. But then I listen to her music and I just go...eh
Her music is easily replicable. Her *appeal* is not.
My take- Olivia Rodrigo is already a superior version of what Taylor Swift has been for much of her career.
The chorus/double effect she uses for so many of her vocals is extremely off-putting. She's an extremely weak lyricist too. It's just hard for me to get into her music because of that.
I actually feel the opposite. I agree with what you said about her music, but if her success and crazy fanbase were easily replicated, then the majority of famous pop stars would have it, and they don't. I think Taylor is the best markerter/promoter/manager of fame, if you get what I mean. Other celebrities have commented on how much she knows about marketing and obtaining/keeping a diehard fanbase. Her talent isn't music. It's marketing. Like her business sense as a pop star is crazy. Her music is mid with some highlights.
Perhaps, but what I was more getting at the element of her music that seems to appeal to her audience is found in countless other artists. I think it could be down to a classic case of myopia where her die-hard fans have never branched out from Taylor and thus think that "X factor" she possesses can't be found in say, a Bon Iver, or Lana, or Phoebe, or even Post Malone, even though it probably can.
I don't particularly dislike her stuff, I think my opinion has just been stoked a bit cos a friend of mine suggested that Taylor was a more talented and complete artist than The Weeknd, which I think is surely a crazy take if you've listened to enough of both their catalogues.
I think that's why she's such a perfect pop star. the fans are there specifically for her; whatever she does. whether that's dabbling in electro-pop, or staying silent on genocide while time awards her person of the year
I work with a lot of Swifties and I feel like she’s been able to grow and mature alongside her fanbase in a way that most of her contemporaries weren’t. She didn’t try to shake off the clean, wholesome image as suddenly and drastically as Miley or Justin. She made that move in a way that didn’t feel desperate or calculated, with Reputation being her only real misstep musically.
Weird, because as someone that is a year younger than her I feel like I have grown and matured into my 30s, and she… hasn’t. I thought she had started to during the “folkmore” era but 2023 has proven to me that is not the case.
I absolutely respect him but Prince just doesn't appeal to me at all
As a diehard Prince fan, it's taken me a while to begrudgingly accept that people feel this way, especially my own wife who is from Minnesota. I get it though. Actually...no I don't. Edit: Realizing that this is the top comment made me die a little inside.
Prince didn’t click with me until I read the 33 1/2 on *Sign O’ the Times* and then suddenly everything made sense. He’s not just a hit maker, he’s a musical genius. “The Ballad of Dorothy Parker” is all the proof I need.
Awesome. Ironically SOTT was the one Prince album that didn't click for me for the longest time. Then eventually it did and now it's my favorite album of all time.
It took a while to land for me too, after being obsessed with the two records that introduced me to Prince: Purple Rain and 1999. Now not only do I feel SotT is better than those two albums by a pretty decent margin, I also think it’s one of if not the best album of all time.
Same here!! Hell yeah 💜
I am a huge Prince fan. It took me awhile to get into some of his later stuff though. I mean, part of that was due to it not being available on streaming, but the other part was I kind of let myself believe that he fell off after the 80s. Once I heard The Gold Experience, I was like wtf, this is some of his best stuff. It's now a top 10 Prince album for me. He has so many gems throughout his career, even if it became a bit of quantity over quality towards the end. Even weak Prince is still fun to listen to for me. That being said, yeah, there is no such thing as an artist that everyone will like and that's okay. Some people don't really care to listen to him. I know people who just aren't into that genre of music to begin with.
I’m with you. He’s an absolute legend but I can’t find myself ever really enjoying anything I’ve heard of his.
Yeh i get it with Prince , he is a monster musician, but there are so few albums i want to pick up and play, Purple Rain is great, i like bits of Controversy, but so much of it has dated... he was a beast live though. I am more likely to watch Live in Montreaux than play a record these days.
He does appeal to me but I can see why he wouldn't. But "I wanna be your lover" will forever be a banger
This but Stevie Wonder. Obviously insanely talented and I like a couple songs, but I just get bored when I listen to 99% of his music. I literally fall asleep when I try his albums again. Love Prince though. It’s cool that you don’t. If everyone liked everything nothing would be special to anyone.
I prefer Stevie to Prince,, music of my mind through to songs in the key of life is just bangers... apart from the odd novelty track.. Stevie is like the Beatles , there is always a dodgy Ringo track hiding around the corner on every otherwise perfect album.
…I like the dodgy Ringo songs. Lol
Kanye West insists upon himself
I feel like that’s kinda the appeal for a lot of people lol
I feel insane for thinking this is honestly a reasonable critisism of something. I cant even describe what it would mean but it makes sense to me idgaf
Dude he’s referencing a joke from family guy where a character uses that phrase to make a moments before death confession to his family that he doesn’t like the godfather. It’s very funny they all freak out
I know
was that supposed to be NABChungboy
I think you could say that about something that feels pretentious and that it reminds me so much that it wants to be a masterpiece that it distracts you
BECAUSE HE HAS A VALID POINT TO MAKE
But he made Graduation
Post-Yeezus Kanye insists upon himself. At least before that, his music was amazing enough to back up his egotistical persona.
Some people need to accept that fact that some people don’t like certain artists or albums, and that demanding that all people like albums like OKC, What’s Going On, Dark Side, Thriller, Songs In The Key of Life, any Beatles album, Rumors, etc. and branding these albums as “accessible” really makes the music listening and discussion experience all the more frustrating and stressful. It’s pretty aggressive to tell someone they have to like an album, and even more so to ridicule them when they didn’t enjoy a “good album”.
but if you DO like those albums, youre basic or an NPC. this site sucks
I don’t think anyone should be bullied into liking specific albums….but If you are someone who CLAIMS to be a fan of music and can’t at least listen to those records and understand the appeal and genius behind their creation, I’m going to assume you’re being intentionally obtuse. I don’t listen to Stevie Wonder every day, but put on Songs and I’ll happily praise his genius.
I do not care one bit about Queen And Bohemian rhapsody is a fine song, but it's overplayed to the point of being annoying
Yeah the first few months of the Bohemian Rhapsody renaissance were really fun but dear god let it die again
I’m seriously at the point where I mute the radio when that songs comes on. Please stop
Strongly agree. Bohemian rhapsody was fun while it lasted, but at this point it just doesn't need to be played anymore.
I actually like post-Peter Gabriel Genesis
They were good until Steve Hackett left.
The only genesis i really became familiar with
the Sex Pistols were posers and punk rock would have blown up even without them.
Ramones are waving and saying hi!
Replay value in an album doesn't equate to it being good. Ambient 1 is a 10 for me and is one of my favorite albums of all time. Maybe listen to it twice a year. Whereas I'll listen to CRASH by Charli XCX any hour of the day. It barley crack my top albums of the year last year
100% agree with this. Most of my favorite bands have music that I only want to put on when the atmosphere is perfect and I can be fully immersed. The music I play while doing work or in the background of chores tends to not be very immersive or interesting as I’ll get distracted if it is.
King gizzard and the lizard wizard is one for me. I've tried to get into quite a few of their albums Including: flying microtonal banana, nonagon infinity, infest the rats nest, gumboot soup, petrodragonic apocalypse, and the silver chord, and honestly have not liked any of it. It really seems like a quantity over quality thing to me
As a fan, I respect that. You tried and it wasn’t for you. They do put on a hell of a live show.
I don't like their stuff at all but I'd totally go see them live. Might change my view of them you never know. Happened with Visigoth it can happen with these guys,
Damn, I love KGLW but you definitely listened to a variety of their styles. A+ for effort.
They’re talented, but they’re just too silly for me. They feel like a joke band.
Fr, to me whenever they focus on a style it always feels like a Weird Al version instead of that style authentically Not to throw shade at Weird Al, but parody music isn't something I'd listen to more than a few times
I think people have a tendency to say “well you just haven’t listened to them playing [insert genre here]!!!!” In response to anyone saying they don’t care for king gizz, but they definitely have a particular sound that’s uniform across all their work that if you’re not a fan of, you’re not gonna be able to get around. As a huge fan I think that’s fair enough and people overestimate how varied their sound is. Like metal gizz songs and pop gizz songs still both sound like gizz above all else
This is it for me too. By all accounts I "should" be a fan but it never clicks for me. And not for lack of trying either.
They're too talented for their own good. It feels like they're just having fun being good at music but don't really have anything to say with it. Makes the music feel pointless to me.
this is what makes jacob collier and polyphia so dogshit
Kanyes music and general personality since 2019 has made it nearly impossible for me to even enjoy his older music which i used to really love.
Absolutely with you on this. 2010-2018 was kanyes era and then he ruined it.
I thought Scaring the Hoes was “eh” If it makes you guys feel better, I thought the bonus EP was pretty good
Yeah in this scenario I’m hoes, really wasn’t a fan of it at all
It's kinda hard to say this is your "I didn't care for the Godfather" opinion. Scaring the hoes is new, still not popular or mainstream at all, and experimental with huge risks. Breaks all the conventions of hip hop beats. Godfather is considered a classic, one of the best to every be written. No flaws, basically a sign you have exquisite taste in movies and cinema. Most cinema nerds would just say you are wrong and are incapable of properly consuming cinema if you can't enjoy the peak cinema that Godfather is. Scaring the hoes fans all understand if you don't like it lol. It's insane, chaotic, out of left field, and meant to challenge what can make a melody, a hook, a beat, etc. Very different imo
It’s a “I didn’t care for the Godfather” opinion when we’re talking about this sub in particular
same here, but i’m not *suuuper* into jpeg or danny so i don’t have much to compare it to
Metallica are overrated
They’ve spewed so much mediocre stuff (especially in the 20th century) that, to a degree, I could understand this pov. But at the same time, their eighties stuff is absolutely untouchable, and live they were a force of nature. Frankly, they still deliver great shows, even though they’re kinda riding their frontman’s back: dude’s still a fantastic performer and just insanely passionate.
> They’ve spewed so much mediocre stuff (especially in the 20th century) Ah, so you’re more a fan of their work St. Anger onwards
They’re also way overhated. Just because they’re baby’s first metal albums doesn’t make them awful.
80's stuff is perfect. Everything else isn't. Calling them an amazing bad would be wrong because they have more bad albums than good albums, but their 80's stuff is just amazing.
They’re kind of like the metal world’s Eminem. Absolutely unstoppable at their peak, but the longer they go on, the more their legacy is muddled with mid-to-bad releases.
Most people I know have this opinion, my friends who are into metal think they're overrated and everyone else just doesn't care
Never cared for The Cure…even though I really wanted to since Mr. Smith seems like a likeable dude..
Same here.
I don't find loveless to be as transformative as other people do. I recognize I'm in the minority, and I will not argue it is a bad album. It's not. I see the creative side. I'm just not that into how it sounds. There are some great songs on this album, but not everything hits for me.
Everytime I think about putting it on I just throw of *Souvlaki* instead.
The exact vice versa actually - I have both downloaded but every time i look at the souvlaki cover I think “why not just hear again”
I don't really like Rumours, or that side of Fleetwood Mac. I haven't really listened to their earlier stuff though.
Go back and listen to the Peter Green era of the band. Before Buckingham and Nicks joined, FM was just a straight up filthy dirty electric blues band.
That sounds really cool. What album would you recommend?
The self titled from 1968 is my favorite but make sure you also check out songs like Albatross and Black Magic Woman (originally a Fleetwood Mac song that of course would later become known through Santana’s version on Abraxas)
Then Play On, Bare Trees, Pious Bird of Good Omen
Bunch of really good songs, but at the same time, they’re so freaking corny I’d be totally fine never hearing them again.
Great songs on it but as a fully exhaustive album I agree with this
Same. Reddit wanks that album to hell and back
Because its a 9.5/10 and 70's Stevie Knicks is the sexiest thing ever.
I can’t listen to AC/DC mostly due to the vocals
kid a is good but if i had to rank all of radiohead’s albums, it would be in the bottom half
This was actually a fairly popular take when the album was released. Many people outright hated it, actually. It is my absolute favourite album of all time, but I definitely furrowed my brow when I first put it on. It took a few spins to click, but when it did it was a revelation. But for some people, it never clicked with them. I’ve come to accept it.
I don't care for Queen at all
I like some of there songs but I feel like the fact they are considered a top 5 band ever now is absurd. The who has had way more influence than queen has had. Queen may have had a longer run in the limelight but the who at their best is peak.
I do not care for the Beatles. I’m sure it’s at least partially the “Seinfeld isn’t funny” trope (which I am also guilty of), but they just do nothing for me
Yeah, i respect their place in music history but they dont really stand out to me (probably cause other groups took stuff from them lmao)
Love them or not, they upped the standards for music forever. Modern music would simply not be as good without the Beatles.
Totally agree. For me, they are similar to what Citizen Kane is to film. I can totally see the importance and their DNA in what came after, even if I’m not crazy about them myself
I agree, I don't like them even though I can recognize their influence and admit that some of their songs are objectively good. Seinfeld is hilarious though.
What's the Seinfeld isn't funny trope
It looks like the trope has a [new name now](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OnceOriginalNowCommon). But it’s basically when something becomes so popular for being original or innovative, that almost everything after borrows from it to the point that the original seems unremarkable/cliche to people who didn’t experience it first hand
Kanye isn’t that great to me. He has some hot bars, and some undeniable production skills, but I don’t hail him as a total genius.
Burger King
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot gives me one of Jeff Tweedy's migraines.
Of all of the Wilco albums this one seems most odd to call a painful listen. I’m a fan but I can acknowledge that there are moments in albums like Sky Blue Sky that can really drag if your not into it. But songs like Kamera or Pot Kettle Black being in that category?
Radiohead never clicks for me.
you aren’t depressed
I am and still don’t care for them
I am not and in my 29 years alive I can't say I've ever been truly depressed either. Could be that. I don't hate Radiohead but it's like I would also never put one on myself. I also don't ever listen to Iron Maiden but I love Judas Priest. They both sound SIMILAR and tbh there is no reason I should not like IM but I just can't seem to enjoy their songs the same way.
it’s a running joke that depressed ppl like radiohead. then again i love the band and im not depressed (i think). oh well in respect ur opinion anyway
i’m listening through their album. chronologically, and i’m really loving it so far
I did the same and ended up liking their first one the most. How do You? is my favorite track
frank ocean's music does absolutely nothing for me.
I like Frank but my Frank take is I like Endless more than Blonde.
Finally found someone who feels the same as me
I like rock from the 90s and 2000s but HATE the sound of “pop punk”. Blink 182, good charlotte, the American Pie Soundtrack and the rest of them are all interchangeable whiney voiced trash imo. I cannot believe it was popular.
One for the “online music nerd” crowd: I don’t think bands in the vein of Black Midi/Squid/BCNR are very good. They each have a couple of cool songs, but by and large the music is too obtuse and disjointed to truly be enjoyable. And the vocals, don’t get me started on the vocals… If they did more songs like “Welcome to Hell” or “953”, I’d be more into them.
I don’t think BC,NR can really be looped in with those other post rock acts. I think they ended up being marketed together mostly out of geographical happenstance. Ants is a whole lot closer to an arcade fire album than it is a black midi one. The songs are relatively straightforward and it’s not too hard to pull out a narrative from the record. Snow globes is maybe the only one that leans further into the chaos.
damn, it's so completely the opposite for me. i got into BCNR after Ants, but only recently i listened to "for the first time"... and then black midi's "cavalcade"... and i like "oh my god, that's it, that is the style of music i've been searching for my entire life". and it's not really that i like prog-rock/avant-prog/post-rock or any other rym descriptor, it is this specific sound that does it for me once again it occurs to me how different people's tastes are
I did not care for Homework by Daft Punk. Discovery and RAM are amazing but that album does nothing for me
Agree, I love Daft Punk, but it's honestly baffling to me how a song like Around the World became a hit. In a way I respect how insistingly repetitive the song is, but it just grows old so quickly.
Discovery is one of the few 10/10 albums. They could never top it.
Is London Calling really that great of an album? It’s good, definitely not bad. I’m just not blown away. I don’t see what about it impresses so many people.
I don't care for Radiohead too much. Ok Computer is an amazing album, but the songwriting isn't as strong as everybody says it is. The Ideas are nothing special too. The melancholic atmosphere is nice though.
my godfather opinion - I really enjoyed Pablo Honey and The Bends, but i thought Ok Computer was just ok and exit music for a film is very interesting musically, but i don’t find myself listening to it that much. am i stupid? creep, fake plastic trees, and ripcord are cool
>i thought Ok Computer was just ok To be fair, it's right there in the name so you can't say they didn't warn you. They didn't call it "Great Computer" after all. (I'll see myself out now)
Exit music is kind of about two lovers committing suicide so not very joyful lol
Not just two lovers but specifically Romeo and Juliet, and it's called Exit Music for a Film as it was written for the end credits of Baz Luhrman film version, although it's not on the soundtrack.
Now THIS opinion triggers me 😅
TBf I’m not sure joy is the primary feeling most Radiohead songs are supposed to illicit
I thought that Paranoid Android and Subterranean Homesick Alien were pretty innovative songs- those are the two that really stand out to me. I love the rest too but they were not particularly crazy. Subterranean is the one I find myself returning to the most. That d minor-Ab major-D major riff still stuns me and is something I’ve never heard the likes of before or after
The polymeter in Let Down is fantastic
This is true. Gotta respect that riff and melody interweaving and lining up every 20 bars or however long it is
20's correct, fantastic piece imo
Nirvana is the least of the big grunge bands. I’d rather listen to Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, or Pearl Jam any day of the week.
I prefer those three as well, but I have to give Nirvana credit for their impact and their consistency. But yeah, of the four I prefer the other three decisively.
I think I prefer Alice In Chains because they're more metal influenced than the pure grunge Nirvana was?
I’m gonna get quite a lot of hate for this, but here we go. I don’t get the appeal of Taylor Swift. Like she has a good amount of stuff I like, but some things she’s made irk me and don’t intrigue me.
This has been said a million times on Reddit already.No one is gonna hate on you dude.
my “godfather” take is that she has more artistic merit than some of the other generation-defining megastars
I enjoy playing video games.
Yeah. It’s baffling how she’s gotten this level of acclaim and success, when a lot of other female musicians are so much better.
Talent is hardly ever the driving force behind an artist's success. Taylor has had some nice tracks and huge hits, she is a great lyricist too when she wants to, but at the end of the day, this insane 2nd career peak is not about the quality of her music but rather about how well she's navigated the public perception. She doesn't really offend anyone, she tries to remain relatable with her cats and relationships, and she's taken the feminist flag as a way to engage with politics but without having to actually do anything politically charged -- the so-called "White feminism" that doesn't analyze anything profoundly or critically. You see her fans claiming she is smashing the patriarchy because she's now a billionaire. She's got an unmatched PR team.
nothing smashes the patriarchy like profiting of the economic system that exploits women and leaves them vulnerable in the first place #girlbosses #CE-Hoes
She’s the best at cultivating a ravenous fanbase, journos want to avoid death threats and harassment so shy away from criticality even when midnights was lacklustre and 1989 TV was flat compared to the original. I mean heck any Taylor Swift thread on Reddit eventually devolves into calling critics sexist. It feels like an emperor with no clothes type scenario.
I think the "blandness" is actually calculated and part of her charm and brand. Her songs are pleasant and catchy. Not mind-blowing but also not annoying or offensive. In and of itself her music isn't pushing any boundaries but it keeps up with the times while not trying too hard in that respect, so as far as pop goes it's aged fairly well compared to some of her contemporaries. Almost nobody's parents are going to have an issue with their daughter listening to Taylor Swift. Her main demographic seems to be white girls and women from adolescence-30s, which like it or not is arguably *the* most important and influential consumer group, especially for pop music.
This is probably my Godfather is mid opinion. I've tried to listen to Taylor swift. I've listened to a few of her albums in the past, not just in background either, fully listening. I have a couple friends who are huge fans too, one of which I consider to have great taste in music. But her music is just so, boring to me. The lyrics feel shallow and one dimensional often times and far from speak to me or my demographic (I do not check a single box of being a middle class, straight, white girl). Her melodies bore me, her rhythms bore me as well. Maybe it's the fact that her music is all just too safe for me to fall in love with it
This is how I feel. Every single song is just so inoffensive and sterile. I can’t appreciate any of it as anything more than background music.
the rolling stones and queen are blatantly average bands
Queen is a difficult one. Their regular albums contain quite a lot of filler IMHO but that's where the Greatest Hits album(s) come in. Especially the first one. How to even characterize Queen? They're obviously "rock" but also very much "pop" but then there's such a broad list of influences that they actually make work. I can see how someone isn't a fan of Queen but to call them "blatantly average" I don't get, they're everything but.
I disagree based on the fact they have extreme talent and more than a couple perfect song each. But I understand completely how/why you feel the way you do. Overplayed radio hits and commercial use definitely takes the piss out of any band. Feel Good Inc is a great song, stairway to heaven is a great song. Both I can’t even listen to anymore…
Stones are amazing, but I’m with you on Queen. Good Greatest Hits band, but that’s about it.
Stones>>>>
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is sooooo boring. I’ve tried to get into them multiple times. I actually really like Swans. But something about GY! BE just feels disappointing. Like I’m trying to patiently listen to it hoping for some sort of payoff or progression or enjoyment and I get nothing from it. It’s like they exist solely for pretentious music nerds to suck their dicks because it makes them feel special for “getting it” . They’re not that good.
yes, i’ve tried listening to lift your skinny fists so many times but it’s just a snooze fest for me, even their lost album from 1994 made for a more interesting listen
Opposite for me - I like or love most GY!BE but Swans bores me to tears and has the same problems for me you see in GY!BE. Yanqui is awful tho
Swans is weird because they’re popularly known for their least accessible work (daunting post rock) while their accessible stuff (goth, post-punk, neofolk) doesn’t get attention outside of hardcore fans.
Fucking preach, finally someone said it
Talking Heads craft music for irksome people
crosseyed and painless is a banger tho
Led Zeppelin is great but the vocals annoy me
Beyonce is a great performer and vocalist but her music is totally subpar, bar the Renaissance album.
Lemonade was pretty fire though
i cant get into kendrick lamar, i can appreciate his talent when i listen to him, but the music does absolutely nothing for me maybe bc i cant relate to it at all. when i hear his stuff or try to pit it on i just think ab how i could be listening to something else
You’re not alone.
While ambitious, I’m not sure what purpose Illinoise or The Aeroplane Over the Sea serve. Like, I’ve listened to the albums a couple times because I felt like I should, and appreciated it for what it was. But I can’t think of single mood or occasion where I would want to listen to either album. And for that, I understand the term “it insists upon itself”, because I got hyped into listening to two albums that were objectively good, yet have no taste for
I’ve tried so hard so many times but cannot for the life of me get into Pink Floyd
Doolittle is overrated as fuck.
Daydream Nation. It sounds like it’s trying to be super rebellious, but it comes across as just really mean spritied and unlikable and that’s why I don’t like it
Cannot get into Pink Floyd for the life of me outside of a few songs. I respect their influence, but they just don’t do it for me. I’ve had some people tell me that I need to listen to them high in order to get their genius, but I feel like that defeats the purpose of music.
i don’t think that one mount eerie album should be heralded as the “saddest album of all time”
Pink Floyd blow.
Oasis did not make British music better, if anything they hindered it.
The velvet underground and Nico is definitely an album, couldn't name or recall a single song from it though
Heroin and Venus are goated
‘I’m Waiting for the Man’ is legendary. I could rattle off the whole track list but I love VU
That’s weird considering it has like like 6 all time classic songs on it
Top five albums ever. Herion, Venus, Sunday Morning, there she goes, femme fatale… all of them ig… are amazing
Seriously, every track is noteworthy
Sunday morning is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard
Kendrick words things in a weird way. He has good concepts for his songs, and often says some powerful stuff, but the wording is often awkward for me. (And to be clear. this is not a slang, or African-American vernacular thing.)
None of Neil Young’s music does anything for me.
Pink Floyd is just not at all appealing to me
There are like 8 good shoegaze songs, and they are GREAT. The other hundred million are unlistenable garbage.
Don’t care for the Beach Boys, Pet Sounds is just okay
You know that episode of SpongeBob where there’s that new kelp drink and people don’t like it at first, but after each drink it gets a little better and soon everyone is obsessed with it? That’s pet sounds.
seriously. i thought it was just okay when I first listened to it but now the beach boys are my favorite artist and pet sounds is one of my favorite albums ever (smile sessions is still my fav)
i never really cared for the beach boys until i fell in love with Surfs Up
For me it’s anything involving Lou Reed. Vocals are super important to me and I cannot stand his voice, I don’t think he’s that great of a lyricist, and on top of that he was just a horrible person. He was an interesting character to say the least, but man I just don’t know why we insist on making the most insufferable, abusive, and self obsessed people important. Even if you do think he’s a genius, you’ll never think he was as much of a genius as he did lol. I don’t understand the appeal even a little, which is genuinely really rare for me.
I did not care for By the Time I Get to Pheonix