Revisting things I've said I hated

tgpo · 10-19-2009, 08:02 PM

I've been a vocal music critic for years, thus I've said "I hate it" in reference to many things. Songs, albums, bands, genres, nothing has been spared. So I'll be going back through them all and giving them a honest review.

Perhaps some will alter my preconceived notions while some will reinforce my hatred for them. We'll see.

A few ideas off the bat that I'll be starting with:

Genres:

Country
Rap
Metal

Bands:

Metallica
Radiohead
Pink Floyd

I'll also include my previous exposure to what it is I'm reviewing, and if applicable what songs I've heard.

storymilo · 10-19-2009, 08:08 PM

Have fun with this journal, hope it is good

pourmeanother · 10-19-2009, 08:09 PM

Sounds cool, as long as you keep an open mind through the process. Clean slate, so to speak. I'll definitely check in to see your thoughts on rap/hip-hop.

FETCHER. · 10-19-2009, 08:14 PM

Nice to see you make a Journal, good luck Tgpo. I look forward to reading somemore.

LoathsomePete · 10-19-2009, 08:22 PM

While I don't think I can help change your opinions on the bands you've listed, I can at least try and ease you into hip-hop, metal, and country (three of my most played music).

Before I even make a recommendation though I think you should post an explanation as to why you dislike these genres exactly.

tgpo · 10-19-2009, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pourmeanother

Sounds cool, as long as you keep an open mind through the process. Clean slate, so to speak.

This is certainly my plan. I want to think of it as if I have no standing opinion.

NumberNineDream · 10-19-2009, 08:23 PM

I've once checked your blog, you were working on that same basis. You had some fun articles. Will be checking that journal.

Gavin B. · 10-19-2009, 10:51 PM

I once revisited the thing I hated the most and I'll never go to another high school class reunion again. My advice is don't look back. Life is too short to linger on the those very things we already know we hate.

I think most of us become hard-wired in our musical tastes by age 21 and the stuff we hate at age 21 is inevitably the same stuff we'll hate when we're 64 years of age and collecting Social Security. That's the down side of the equation.

Now here's the up side: I'm constantly discovering new and exotic forms of music that never cease to amaze me. Your musical development doesn't end at age 21 and in hindsight the scope and depth of my appreciation for music has grown by leaps and bounds as an adult. You don't need to love heavy metal music to become a fully functioning adult.

Nearly every day I discover some new musician or musical genre that I've come across by word of mouth or stumble into in at some off-beat internet website. My degree is in history so I have a naturally curious mind about the origins and history of nearly every song I come across. All music is part of the folkways of a culture and every song, no matter how trite or banal is a first person musical narrative that tells of a story of the era the musician lived in.

I'm with you on heavy metal. I'm have an appreciation for Led Zeppelin's music but I'm not sure if they're considered a legit metal band. I loved Pink Floyd when Syd Barrett was a member but they lost me somewhere in early 70s. I've since revisited their catalog and found 20 or so select songs I really like. Ironically Pink Floyd lost me when they recorded Dark Side of the Moon which was their best selling album and the record that every hard core Pink Floyd fan tells me I just have to love... but I don't.

I'm not sure why you dislike Radiohead but I'm not crazy about them either. I'm not saying a lot about Radiohead because the jury is still out on the extent of their musical talent. Radiohead reminds me a lot of another quirky alternative band, the Flaming Lips. Everyone tells me I'm supposed to like both bands because of their avant garde sensibilities but neither band has produced any music that I find interesting or groundbreaking. To me Radiohead blends into the landscape of thousands of hip alternative bands that do just enough not to annoy me.

My appreciation for rap is limited to a few early 90s era socially conscious rap groups like A Tribe Called Quest , Arrested Development, Digable Planets, De La Soul and PM Dawn. I think M.I.A. is totally sick but I'm not sure if her brand of Bollywood hip-hop is even considered rap music by hard core rap fans. Hip-hip really lost me when NWA and gangsta rap came along. Gangsta rap brought hip-hop to MTV and it became the music of choice for overly pampered, affluent whiteboy gangsta wannabes who lived with at home with mommy in suburbia.

I've always loved country music and would suggest you purchase 40 Greatest Hits by Hank Williams, Dust Bowl Ballads by Woody Guthrie, and one newer America album by a female country music traditionalist like Hell Among the Yearlings by Gillian Welch or Escondida by Jolie Holland. All of those albums have a simple unadorned beauty that is stunning.

jackhammer · 10-20-2009, 06:33 PM

^^

Great post and I fully concur with most of it. Regarding Hip Hop, I have found quite a lot of non mainstream artists that have totally changed the way I look at the scene and reinforced my view that every genre is worthwhile if you dig around. Looking forward to this journal.

tgpo · 10-20-2009, 07:05 PM

My First re-review will be Radiohead. A number of my co-workers have told me since I'm a big Blur fan, I should be a huge Radiohead fan, but that's yet to be seen.

10-19-2009, 08:02 PM	#1 (permalink)
tgpo Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 207	Revisting things I've said I hated. I've been a vocal music critic for years, thus I've said "I hate it" in reference to many things. Songs, albums, bands, genres, nothing has been spared. So I'll be going back through them all and giving them a honest review. Perhaps some will alter my preconceived notions while some will reinforce my hatred for them. We'll see. A few ideas off the bat that I'll be starting with: Genres: Country Rap Metal Bands: Metallica Radiohead Pink Floyd I'll also include my previous exposure to what it is I'm reviewing, and if applicable what songs I've heard. __________________ tgpo.org \| Last.fm Last edited by tgpo; 10-21-2009 at 08:02 PM.

10-19-2009, 08:09 PM	#3 (permalink)
pourmeanother Saaaad Panda Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 852	Sounds cool, as long as you keep an open mind through the process. Clean slate, so to speak. I'll definitely check in to see your thoughts on rap/hip-hop. __________________ Life is just blah, blah, blah You hope for blah And sometimes you find it, but mostly it's blah And waiting for blah And hoping you were right about the blahs you made And then, just when you think you've got the whole blah'd damn thing figured out And you're surrounded by the ones you blah Death shows up... anddd blah, blah, blah.

10-19-2009, 08:22 PM	#5 (permalink)
LoathsomePete Cardboard Box Realtor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Hobb's End Posts: 7,648	While I don't think I can help change your opinions on the bands you've listed, I can at least try and ease you into hip-hop, metal, and country (three of my most played music). Before I even make a recommendation though I think you should post an explanation as to why you dislike these genres exactly. __________________ Last.FM 101 Albums That May Not Change Your Life, But I Really Like And You Might Too

10-19-2009, 08:23 PM	#7 (permalink)
NumberNineDream Blue Bleezin' Blind Drunk Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: The land of the largest wine glass (aka Lebanon) Posts: 2,200	I've once checked your blog, you were working on that same basis. You had some fun articles. Will be checking that journal. __________________ Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?Do cats eat bats? Do cats eat bats?Do bats eat cats? Do bats eat cats? Do bats eat cats? Do bats eat cats? Do bats eat cats?Do bats eat cats?Do bats eat cats?Do bats eat cats? Do bats eat cats? Do bats eat cats? Do bats eat cats?Do bats eat cats?Do bats eat cats? Do bats eat cats? Do bats eat cats? Welcome to the Black Lodge

10-20-2009, 06:33 PM	#9 (permalink)
jackhammer Ba and Be. Join Date: May 2007 Location: This Is England Posts: 17,331	^^ Great post and I fully concur with most of it. Regarding Hip Hop, I have found quite a lot of non mainstream artists that have totally changed the way I look at the scene and reinforced my view that every genre is worthwhile if you dig around. Looking forward to this journal. __________________ It be my music and film collection. “A cynic by experience, a romantic by inclination and now a hero by necessity.”

10-19-2009, 08:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
storymilo Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 1,845	Have fun with this journal, hope it is good

10-19-2009, 10:51 PM	#8 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	I once revisited the thing I hated the most and I'll never go to another high school class reunion again. My advice is don't look back. Life is too short to linger on the those very things we already know we hate. I think most of us become hard-wired in our musical tastes by age 21 and the stuff we hate at age 21 is inevitably the same stuff we'll hate when we're 64 years of age and collecting Social Security. That's the down side of the equation. Now here's the up side: I'm constantly discovering new and exotic forms of music that never cease to amaze me. Your musical development doesn't end at age 21 and in hindsight the scope and depth of my appreciation for music has grown by leaps and bounds as an adult. You don't need to love heavy metal music to become a fully functioning adult. Nearly every day I discover some new musician or musical genre that I've come across by word of mouth or stumble into in at some off-beat internet website. My degree is in history so I have a naturally curious mind about the origins and history of nearly every song I come across. All music is part of the folkways of a culture and every song, no matter how trite or banal is a first person musical narrative that tells of a story of the era the musician lived in. I'm with you on heavy metal. I'm have an appreciation for Led Zeppelin's music but I'm not sure if they're considered a legit metal band. I loved Pink Floyd when Syd Barrett was a member but they lost me somewhere in early 70s. I've since revisited their catalog and found 20 or so select songs I really like. Ironically Pink Floyd lost me when they recorded Dark Side of the Moon which was their best selling album and the record that every hard core Pink Floyd fan tells me I just have to love... but I don't. I'm not sure why you dislike Radiohead but I'm not crazy about them either. I'm not saying a lot about Radiohead because the jury is still out on the extent of their musical talent. Radiohead reminds me a lot of another quirky alternative band, the Flaming Lips. Everyone tells me I'm supposed to like both bands because of their avant garde sensibilities but neither band has produced any music that I find interesting or groundbreaking. To me Radiohead blends into the landscape of thousands of hip alternative bands that do just enough not to annoy me. My appreciation for rap is limited to a few early 90s era socially conscious rap groups like A Tribe Called Quest , Arrested Development, Digable Planets, De La Soul and PM Dawn. I think M.I.A. is totally sick but I'm not sure if her brand of Bollywood hip-hop is even considered rap music by hard core rap fans. Hip-hip really lost me when NWA and gangsta rap came along. Gangsta rap brought hip-hop to MTV and it became the music of choice for overly pampered, affluent whiteboy gangsta wannabes who lived with at home with mommy in suburbia. I've always loved country music and would suggest you purchase 40 Greatest Hits by Hank Williams, Dust Bowl Ballads by Woody Guthrie, and one newer America album by a female country music traditionalist like Hell Among the Yearlings by Gillian Welch or Escondida by Jolie Holland. All of those albums have a simple unadorned beauty that is stunning.

10-20-2009, 07:05 PM	#10 (permalink)
tgpo Music Addict Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 207	My First re-review will be Radiohead. A number of my co-workers have told me since I'm a big Blur fan, I should be a huge Radiohead fan, but that's yet to be seen. __________________ tgpo.org \| Last.fm