The Explain Why You Like This Album ('cause i don't understand) Thread

[sidewinder]

Originally Posted by ImmortalDiotima

I'm a vocalist so it's the first thing I hear and the hardest thing for me to ignore

I'm not a vocalist but I'm the same way, it's very hard to look past a singer that puts me off, no matter how good the music. I can ignore lyrics no problem, but I can't ignore vocals.

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by sidewinder

I'm not a vocalist but I'm the same way, it's very hard to look past a singer that puts me off, no matter how good the music. I can ignore lyrics no problem, but I can't ignore vocals.

Off the top of my head, I can`t think of any groups that I don`t listen to because of the vocalist. I think Axl Rose is a terrible singer but I still listen to their stuff.

[ImmortalDiotima]

Originally Posted by sidewinder

I'm not a vocalist but I'm the same way, it's very hard to look past a singer that puts me off, no matter how good the music. I can ignore lyrics no problem, but I can't ignore vocals.

Luckily in metal you can rarely even hear the lyrics For instance, my favorite band:



I'm not sure if there are even lyrics... I've tried to look them up. I don't think so

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by ImmortalDiotima

I'm not trying to convince anyone that it isn't ok to like slayer. i was just exploring the various reasons for liking/disliking slayer. It's different for people who find different things to be important. Plus their being religious isn't why I dislike them. I mostly dislike them cuz I don't like the vocals. I could overcome the catholic thing if i was totally in love with their band. And I agree that instrumentally (excluding the instrument of the voice) they are really great.
Just discussing... that's all... wasn't that the point of this thread? Not to convince anyone of anything but just to discuss the various reasons why we like or dislike things?

Personally I can`t see the issue here. Whether they`re christians or not I find quite unimportant. If they`re christians and want to sing about satan or anything else for that matter, its just their topic of choice and nothing more! Metal has always had a shock value and Slayer are just part of that image.

Music is entertainment for the listener, and whether those making that entertainment practice what they preach is quite irrelevant really.

[ImmortalDiotima]

Originally Posted by Unknown Soldier

Personally I can`t see the issue here. Whether they`re christians or not I find quite unimportant. If they`re christians and want to sing about satan or anything else for that matter, its just their topic of choice and nothing more! Metal has always had a shock value and Slayer are just part of that image.

Music is entertainment for the listener, and whether those making that entertainment practice what they preach is quite irrelevant really.

I think what matters to you is a choice of your own. For instance, i was talking to someone on here who won't listen to Burzum because he's racist and burns churches and murders people (his words, not mine), even though he doesn't sing about that. It bothers me more that Tom Araya is Catholic but sings about being a follower of Satan for dramatic effect than that Varg Vikernes burns churches - at least he stands by his ideals (whether or not I agree with them) and doesn't just pretend to be a certain way for metal points. I find that to be way more true to metal. It is what matters to me. It doesn't have to be what matters to anyone else. And, as i already stated, their Catholicism is not why i dislike Slayer. In fact... i would go so far as to say that I do like slayer, just not Tom Araya.

[Janszoon]

Originally Posted by ImmortalDiotima

It bothers me more that Tom Araya is Catholic but sings about being a follower of Satan for dramatic effect...

Does it also bother you that James Hetfield sings about losing his sight, hearing, arms and legs to a landmine despite the fact that this has clearly never happened to him?

[sidewinder]

Originally Posted by janszoon

does it also bother you that james hetfield sings about losing his sight, hearing, arms and legs to a landmine despite the fact that this has clearly never happened to him?

lol.

[ImmortalDiotima]

Originally Posted by Janszoon

Does it also bother you that James Hetfield sings about losing his sight, hearing, arms and legs to a landmine despite the fact that this has clearly never happened to him?

very nice try at an analogy but alas...

IF the ENTIRE subject matter of Metallica as a band was about the difficulties etc. of being a deaf, dumb, and blind quadraplegic, I WOULD have a problem with it.

But... as this is not the entire subject matter of the band... and as Satanism and/or anti-Christianity is the (almost) ENTIRE subject matter of Slayer's music... the analogy is not great.

And I'd like to reiterate that I am allowed to like or dislike whatever I want based on what I find to be important, and that it is not necessary to attempt to humiliate me because you disagree with my reasons for disliking something.

[Engine]

Originally Posted by ImmortalDiotima

I think what matters to you is a choice of your own. For instance, i was talking to someone on here who won't listen to Burzum because he's racist and burns churches and murders people (his words, not mine), even though he doesn't sing about that. It bothers me more that Tom Araya is Catholic but sings about being a follower of Satan for dramatic effect than that Varg Vikernes burns churches - at least he stands by his ideals (whether or not I agree with them) and doesn't just pretend to be a certain way for metal points. I find that to be way more true to metal. It is what matters to me. It doesn't have to be what matters to anyone else. And, as i already stated, their Catholicism is not why i dislike Slayer. In fact... i would go so far as to say that I do like slayer, just not Tom Araya.

Ha - that's funny. Or like ironic at least. How do you figure that Araya is "pretending" any more than Varg (doesn't that mean 'wolf' in some language? What a fake)?
I wager that Araya has a deeper understanding of his own background and religion than wolfman does. Exploration of darkness is the essence of Catholicism - especially for American Hispanic Catholics. Perhaps Varg needs to experience life outside of the liberal 80s Scandinavian politics that spawned the region's fairly ridiculous 90s black metal scene and a posh jail cell before he can ponder what the meaning of 'extreme' is, eh?

If you're just asking why Slayer is a good metal band then here is my response:
Araya screamed with more hardcore punk finesse than any of the other 'big ones', Lombardo played better drums than pretty much everybody since the Jazz greats, and King played ingeniously unintuitive, nonsensical guitar solos that stir the soul more than any xenophobic Norwegian asshole ever has. If you like Wolfie but hate Araya, and this bias reflects in your metal taste, then I doubt you're much of a music fan.

[ImmortalDiotima]

Originally Posted by Engine

Ha - that's funny. Or like ironic at least. How do you figure that Araya is "pretending" any more than Varg (doesn't that mean 'wolf' in some language? What a fake)?
I wager that Araya has a deeper understanding of his own background and religion than wolfman does. Exploration of darkness is the essence of Catholicism - especially for American Hispanic Catholics. Perhaps Varg needs to experience life outside of the liberal 80s Scandinavian politics that spawned the region's fairly ridiculous 90s black metal scene and a posh jail cell before he can ponder what the meaning of 'extreme' is, eh?

If you're just asking why Slayer is a good metal band then here is my response:
Araya screamed with more hardcore punk finesse than any of the other 'big ones', Lombardo played better drums than pretty much everybody since the Jazz greats, and King played ingeniously unintuitive, nonsensical guitar solos that stir the soul more than any xenophobic Norwegian asshole ever has. If you like Wolfie but hate Araya, and this bias reflects in your metal taste, then I doubt you're much of a music fan.

I have never experienced "logic" such as yours before...
First of all, nicknames are pervasive through the musical world and I'd argue that merely giving yourself a nickname (especially one that is in line with the lifestyle and ancestral religion of the people of the country in which you were raised) is not faking as much as telling millions of people in your songs that Satan is your master when you are Catholic.
Second, before you criticize Varg Vikernes based on the Norwegian penal system (it's not HIS fault the jails there are more lenient and, conveniently, more EFFECTIVE than our "brand them and throw them in the trash to rot" system) perhaps you should consider how he got there in the first place. I'd say that BURNING DOWN CHURCHES and STABBING YOUR FRIEND IN THE FOREHEAD WITH A KNIFE are levels of "extreme" that would make a god-fearing Catholic such as Araya piss in his pants just to watch.

I am no longer asking why Slayer is a good metal band. If you had taken the time to read the conversation you would have noticed that I agree that Slayer is an incredible instrumental metal band and that I simply do not like Tom Araya's vocal style (and that I'm perturbed by the subject matter, considering)