Ninetales

so then how do you distinguish between artists that sound completely different but fit within the same broad genre?

generally genres are much more useful than harmful. yes theres a lot, but its way easier to try and find stuff you like this way. looking up "heavy metal" when you want black metal would be ridiculous. how the hell am I ever going find anything that I want??

Rexx Shredd

I answered that earlier - just go one level; maybe two. Heavy Metal can be divided into Pop Metal, Black Metal and/or Death Metal, Symphonic Metal, Industrial Metal, Speed Metal etc. Does it really need to go beyond that?

Just as important - the usage of terms that ANYONE can understand, even if they arent familiar with a genre :
A person can be totally ignorant to a genre of music but if I tell them its "Speed Metal", that paints a nice mental picture to describe the music, doesn't it? It communicates the description.....but when terminology gets further subdivided into sub-genres beyond that - using phrases that only make sense to the vernacular artists or fans doing it - is when it gets ignorant.

For example: Mathcore........
I mean, really! WTF does that mean to the layman music listener? That it totally rocks the High School Trigonometry class?

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CoNtrivedNiHilism

Couldn't help but laugh at this last part of your post. Not because I think you're wrong or an idiot, but because it was genuinely funny.

Xujih

Pointless sub-genres aye... Trap, Psydub, "Neurofunk", "Neurohop", pretty much anything that takes a genre that already exists, barely changes one element and calls it a new genre.

Ninetales

well I mean black and death metal are completely different, so theres that. Math-rock/metal does have a distinct sound too. And I mean some genres just have dumb names, but it doesn't mean they aren't separate from others in some way. wtf does "shoegaze" mean, but its a pretty recognizable genre.

Chula Vista

That's one of the first ones that popped into my mind when this thread started.

Shoegaze: Band is boring on stage and stares down at their feet while stomping on pedals.

Uhm, ok.

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Ninetales

regardless of what you think of it, I think its pretty easy to tell when a band is of the shoegaze genre

Dylstew

I think sub genres are useful, and I love looking up info about all the different genres. But some of them just go too far, and some of them have some really odd naming.

Rexx Shredd

"Completely different"? Ha! Country and Classical are "completely different". Go one further: Symphonic Metal and Pop Metal are different..... I can make your argument and say Black Metal and Death Metal are different (mainly due to the vocal styles and the sometimes satanic overtones associated with one) and enough to earn their own categories - but are they (as you say) "completely different"? I don't think so .
......Which brings me back to the point: Do we really need a Grind Metal sub category? Is "Grind Metal" SO different that it earns its own unique label?

Math Rock is just an extreme - sometimes heavier - form of Progressive Rock, isn't it? Why not just call it "Extreme Prog" - wouldn't that make more sense?


You are making my point: its recognizable to people familiar with it. What about a listener out there ready to try something different on the sonic pallette? how does calling something "Math Rock" or "Shoegaze" help them to understand what it is and give it a go?

Well, Im not going to argue with you: Opinions are opinions and Im not going to debate whether or not chocolate ice cream tastes better than vanilla ice cream, but - to me - your examples are making my point.

You are debating differences under a microscope to earn genre and sub-genre titles which, I not only disagree with, but it pigeon-holes artists. Pigeon-holing an artist is a disservice to them, because when they try to add some variety to what they do - and step outside their boxes - it is often met with contempt

Like I said above, this is the difference between bands from the 60s and 70s til now. I think there is a dire need for bands like The Beatles or Queen who just wrote what they feel/ explored a wide variety of musical territory, and whose body of work can fall under many many of today's category labels without the pressure of remaining in a box.

"I don't like Anal Gravy's new song! They are supposed to be a Math Rock band but the new song is too Shoegaze for me!"

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Urban Hat€monger ?

I'm not really sure why there seems to be this hatred of there being all these genres.

Obviously if you're not into a certain type of music a lot of these seem silly and pointless but if you are they can be incredibly helpful at describing something you've not heard rather than scrabbling around trying to think of other bands you can compare them too.

I noticed Paisley Underground mentioned in the wiki page. To someone who doesn't know what that is it might seem a silly title, but I know if someone say a band sounds like a Paisley Underground band I know to expect some kind of late 60s psychedelic pop sounding record with an 80s indie feel.

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