OT: Unpopular opinions and guilty pleasures, Music edition.
From past music topics on the blog, it's clear the mgocommunity has good taste in music. Now I want to talk about your not too popular opinions on music. Guilty pleasures edition, and those artists you like but bury in your playlists and don't necessarily make public. I'll start.
I like earlier Radiohead when they embraced melody and traditional song construction more than current Radiohead.
I love the first Boston album.
I dismiss Journey except when any of several songs pop up.
Come on Eileen is awesome.
Have at it.
I've convinced two bands that we should play Pretend to Be Nice by Josie and the Pussycats.
The soundtrack to Get Him to the Greek is better than almost any serious music released in the past seven years.
As much as Frank Zappa was a musical genius, if all musicians were "geniuses" I wouldn't listen to music.
Too far, man. Don't even joke like that.
One of the more popular unpopular opinions: The Beatles are one of the most overrated acts of all time. They were less influential than Elvis. They got consistently worse as time went on.
I love Taylor Swift's music before her last album (1989) and Justin Bieber's most recent album was phenomenal. Shower my enjoyment of trash, teenage girl pop with negs if you like.
Your first paragraph made me sad, then I read your second paragraph and I was like "it all makes sense now."
I'm not here claiming that Swift and Bieber are great musicians/artists. I said they are trash in my post. It's just how sometimes you like a shitty thing, like sometimes you need a Little Caesars pizza or some food thing that spins in place at 7-Eleven.
being over rated. But some of their later recordings are much better than the early stuff. And I hate that they have 2:45 minute songs that sound like my neighbors lazy kid wrote them.
August 6th, 2017 at 10:08 PM ^
I'm not a huge Beatles fan or anything, but when I saw Paul McCartney at a music festival a few years back I was blown away. Best show I've ever seen, and I wasn't a person that listened to The Beatles/Paul much before seeing him live. Probably the most life changing show I'll ever see. Don't care if you like them/him at all, just sharing my two cents.
August 6th, 2017 at 10:22 PM ^
Obviously McCartney is very talented, he's been better away from the band, IMO.
before the WIngs?!?!
Their 'Band on the Run' album was awesome. Very rich music with chord and tempo changes within songs. I'm not a fan of repeating chorus, especially when they stretch a song from 2 minutes to 3 and a half.
August 6th, 2017 at 10:39 PM ^
Had a similar experience with Smokey Robinson. Went to a show last minute with my in laws and it was amazing. Great performer and I knew every song.
McCartney gave us some of the best songs ever, but also some of the most annoying ever - such as "Let 'em in" and "Wonderful Christmas time". Though far more good.
August 6th, 2017 at 10:31 PM ^
I don't own a single Beatles song
August 6th, 2017 at 10:33 PM ^
We're not the Jackson estate, none of us do.
My basic rule is any rocker past about the age of 60 should not be out playing the same act they did when they were 25. The optics are all wrong. My one exception was Grateful Dead who I went to shows regularly right up to Jerry's death. And generally I don't like to listen to "classic" rock hits that I was listening to when I was working as a dishwasher back in high school. The past is the past. Give me the new stuff.
Also my music snob friends always gave me shit but I have always absolutely hated Elvis Costello's music.
August 7th, 2017 at 12:38 AM ^
Being too young to have been there real time myself I've always been slightly confused by the overall esteem toward the Beatles vs. some of their contemporaries.
What I've come to understand is that prior to the boys from liverpool most recorded music was made to sound recorded. Smooth out the highs, compress & balance everything so there's no rough edges. Think Phil Spector, the late 50's doo wop etc.
Reading what others who were there feel was the key they all say some version of "urgency". The Beatles sounded like they were playing at an overcrowded party, on a straining to keep up PA and the cops are on the way to bust this mob up. Even their voices & phrasing sound "rushed".
Tons of those that followed were very much imitating this.
Beach Boys > Beatles
Beiber's album was the best pop album of the year last year. Then again, that year was 2016, which everyone agreed was awful in every facet.
"They got consistently worse as time went on."
I don't care how you feel about them in general, but I fail to see how you think this. Obviously Let it Be was a shitty album, but the band was broken up at that point, they had no part in mastering it, and it was actually recorded in sessions before Abbey Road, undoubtedly one of their greatest albums. In fact, the Abbey Road sessions were the last ones they actually recorded. If we look at their career as lasting from 1963-69 (Lennon informed them that he was leaving by then) they had what most people consider their best albums in '66, '67, and '69. I don't understand how that equates to them becoming consistently worse as time went on.
is a shitty band.
Morrison was a self indulgent narcissist
August 6th, 2017 at 10:25 PM ^
Agreed on Morrison but Ray Manzerek was a riff master. Wrote some serious hooks that put him on par with Keef & the stones in that dept.
1 Camp, their X girlfriend, wife or what have you, said out loud they wanted to fuck Jim Morrison. Now everytime they hear Hello I love you they want to dig him up and strangle him.
2nd Camp, the only songs they know are what's played on the radio. That would be about ten. I have news for this camp LA Women is not their best song. Soft Parade could be though.
It's getting harder to describe sailors to the under fed.
August 6th, 2017 at 11:01 PM ^
When I was a senior in high school, we had to analyze a poem for poetry class, with a presentation to the class. I hated poetry so I picked "The End" by the Doors, which is an epic drug-induced self-indulgent nothing. Try explaining the line, "The Blue Bus is calling us" with even an iota of seriousness. Jim Morrison was no Keats.
August 6th, 2017 at 11:28 PM ^
Mother? Yes son? I'm going to....
August 6th, 2017 at 11:57 PM ^
I probably attibuted that to Oedipus.
Came out my senior year at U of M and everytime I heard We Can't Stop or Wrecking Ball I lost my shit. I still like those songs 3-4 years later.
August 6th, 2017 at 11:22 PM ^
But Party in the USA is very catchy. And I really like the recent Miley too.
Say what you will but I absolutely love The Presidents of USA. Their quirkiness is great! Had a few adult beverages last night enjoying the days past with PUSA playing. I would love to spend a day with these guys! Let me take this moment to endorse Gin Wigmore also. Love her!
Millions of peaches, peaches for me
Peaches come from a can, they were put there by a man
August 6th, 2017 at 11:40 PM ^
The Presidents of the United States of America was a weird enough band that I'm reasonably sure that song was really just about peaches...
August 7th, 2017 at 12:53 AM ^
look out!
I think it was just an excuse to get ninjas in a music video.
the 2016 AGT songs, especially the winner - amazing shit
Steely Dan
August 6th, 2017 at 10:27 PM ^
some Steely Dan and Tom Petty
August 6th, 2017 at 10:28 PM ^
Intentional misspelling?
Erasure. When in Rome. The Cure. Alphaville. Martika. I'm sure there are more on my phone. Can't think of any more.
August 6th, 2017 at 10:21 PM ^
what's wrong with those bands?
August 6th, 2017 at 10:49 PM ^
Robert Smith is the greatest person that ever lived.
I enjoy different sounds depending on my mood. But my "unpopular" opinion is that people who obsess with music are just weird.
Sirius XM 90s on 9
August 6th, 2017 at 10:21 PM ^
I listen to that , The Coffee House , and the Fantasy Sports station mainly as the only 3 . Sometimes the Spectrum .
Sticking with the guilty pleasures aspect here, I get trapped on Siruis The Bridge channel. I find myself singing out loud to Jackson Brown, Ambrosia, etc. Sappy as hell, but, they get me every time.
Ambrosia's first album is great!
The Bridge always cracks me up because you can flip over to it at any moment and you can imagine whatever they are playing being the background music for a fight scene in a Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
Chance the Rapper has blown up now, but I remember when Acid Rap first dropped and immediately out it in my top 5 albums ever. Now he preaches and I hate it.
LOL I liked this artist when he was doing the drugs I like, but now that he has a daughter and is responsible I hate him.
That's like people getting mad at Jay-Z talking about building wealth on his new album instead of bitches and guns. Damn these responsible ass artists.
August 6th, 2017 at 10:29 PM ^
I thought Chance was plenty responsible on Acid Rap in the way he talked about issues. I still enjoy his music overall. I could just due without the preachiness. I don't think it's beneficial. Still a fan, though.
And, yes, I don't care for Jay Z talking about building wealth on his 47th album. After spending the previous 46 talking about mostly the opposite. But I'm not a big Jay Z guy anyways.
August 6th, 2017 at 10:35 PM ^
Well we can find common ground on finding Jay-Z overrated