Why Do You Dislike The Bands That You Dislike?

What are the things that make you not like a band? What are your "turnoffs" when we're talking about rock'n'roll?
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Sometimes it's just a gut reaction, but most of the time you can boil it down to a fairly stable personal line that, if a band crosses, you don't like them. It's easy to say "They just suck." but what is it that you think sucks, exactly?

For me:
--Pretentiousness that far outstrips talent. E.G. bands who obviously truly think they're much more than they actually are, or ever will be. Creed, for example. Every time I look at Scott Stapp I can tell he's thinking "God, I'm a badass." Oasis is another good example. Pretentiousness in the service of real talent, however, Sonic Youth, Radiohead, Mars Volta, etc, is a good thing to me. Means they have ambition. The difference between the two categories, however, is where you get into arguments.

--Over-production: so slick it slides right in one of my ears and out the other. Countless examples. Next.

--Dumb, cliche, or completely nonsensical lyrics: This is a matter of taste in some cases. On nonsensical lyrics: I have friends who LOVE music, have interesting tastes, but just like stuff that sounds groovy, and don't care about what the lyrics say. Pavement, for example, I've never really cared for -- even though I respect them. Same reason I didn't enjoy Beck until he came out with this latest album. Smart lyrics are the hardest thing for me to find, and the thing I find the most rewarding. I like when the lyrics to a song make sense to someone besides the person that wrote them. Cliche' and retarded lyrics, however, make me

--Virtuoso instrumental or vocal talent shown-off just for the sake of showing it off. I'd much rather hear Cat Power fumble around with two chords on a well-written song than Tray Anastasio wanking on and on for twelve minutes on the barest bones of an actual song.

--Preaching to the choir: political acts who churn out album after album after album of music that merely exists to push a MESSAGE to the same rabid cult of devotees who will swallow anything they say, and never changing the mind of even one person who didn't already agree with them.


[Edited on Aug 11, 2003 by Keithed]

The White Stripes. God how I hate them.

Ok, we've established that you hate them. Now why are they pretentious?

pretentious: adj 1: making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction; "a pretentious country house"; "a pretentious fraud"; "a pretentious scholarly edition" [ant: unpretentious] 2: intended to attract notice and impress others; "an ostentatious sable coat" [syn: ostentatious] [ant: unostentatious] 3: of a display that is tawdry or vulgar [syn: ostentatious, kitsch]

Keithed said:
What are the things that make you not like a band? What are your "turnoffs" when we're talking about rock'n'roll?
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all of the things you mentioned (very nice post by the way) plus stuff that has no heart. this applies to most pop acts and a lot of pop-punk. how i loathe pop-punk. so insincere, so smirky, so 'look at me i'm a cute guy bouncing up and down.'

You pretty much covered all the spots with that list... The whole lyrics thing, I dunno... It's so rare to actually find smart lyrics, plus that would cut off any bands that sing in a language you don't know (Sigur Ros comes to mind for me), not to mention instrumental acts...

One thing I can't stand is a lack of flow... kind of fits in with that whole pretentious thing, I guess... when a band shifts around in tone or time signature without any particular reason why (like S.T.U.N., but not like Slint, a band that can actually do it it well)... if that makes any sense...

I think you covered a lot, and I think I agree with it for the most part.

I might add that sometimes a band can just become stale. Some bands just dont change or progress AT ALL. So you have album after album of the same old thing and no progression. I dont mind when a band sticks to its guns, thats a great thing, but sometimes the music just gets boring and you end up wiith the impression that theyre playing the same songs on each album.

mushy lyrics

I hate love songs

hate them

don't write songs about people you LIKE. . .please

There are several songs that I really liked until I found out what they were saying. "nerdy" by Poison the Well is one, "silent morning whisper" by You and I is another.

I got into this kind of music so I wouldn't have to hear that kind of crap, honestly.

of course some bands sound good enough that I can ignore thier sappy ass lyrics. . .but it doesn't happen very often.

also, if a band sounds like a band I already don't like, I won't like them. If you sound like In Flames, I hate you.

also, in some cases, if a band used to not be a verse chorus verse band, and then suddenly gets like that, I'll like them less. . . . . .eh, that mainly happened with Zao.

bands that aren't consistent annoy me too (unless of course they still sound good after the 180, but a lot of times they don't. . . .to me anyway)

the overproduction thing can be annoying too sometimes, but it doesn't always get to me



[Edited on Aug 11, 2003 by kijima13991]

I don't dig people who flaunt the rock star lifestyle. Although that's maybe the same thing as being pretentious. Bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn, and Kid Rock who flaunt their gratuitous materialistic lifestyles for all to see. It seems tho that this is becoming more of an epidemic in the rap world with the rims and the diamonds and the Cristal. It's just so tacky.

They're all trying to be Keith Richards, and let's face it: there's only one Keith Richards.

I'll probably step into "flame central" by saying this, but (here goes) the last two NIN albums killed all my respect for the band. Don't get me wrong, I like Pretty Hate Machine. The last two LPs were so dour and yet pompously self important, they were just a chore to listen to. Good ideas, nowhere near as clever as Trent thought he was being. v78 @_@

[Turns to face the door, whistling nonchalantly... ]

Good Charlotte is unique amongst those pop-punk bands (A Simple Plan, Newfound Glory, Sum 41 et al) in that they try SO HARD to make it seem like they're not just another pop-punk band. The 14 year old girls might fall for it, but I think on the rest of us it wears a little thin.

If something does it for me, I dig it. If it just doesnt do it for me, I don't. I'm not quire sure what "it" is, but it's very important. I won't go through the trouble of listing bands on my personal shit list, and if anyone wants to know what I do like, their are examples in my profile.

It seems to me that they make more of a point addressing the whole "are they punk or are they not" thing more in interviews I've read of them than the other bands I mentioned and seem to get very defensive about it.

This has little, if anything, to do with the actual point of this thread, but I don't care - here it is anyway.

I don't like metal. A good friend of mine really does. This got me to thinking about why I don't like metal, and I don't have an answer for that question. I can't think of a single trait of metal that isn't also present in some other type of music which I do like. So help me out here. What makes metal metal?

I don't dislike all metal, but I don't like the "constipated grunt/dog barking" style of "singing". Same goes for hardcore punk with the same style of "singing". Could that be what you don't like?

Hmmm... I think that's a big part of it. The music itself doesn't much appeal to me either, though. The whole deal just seems too... I dunno, "screamy." Bah, I dunno.

Hey, me too! Imagine that!

You too? I thought I was the only one.

Here's my list of shit I don't like:

- NO SONGS In whatever the particular style is, I want actual songs I can hang my hat on and the catchier the better.

-LACK OF ORIGINALITY I hate groups who jump on whatever bandwagon is hot at the moment. I value originality over technique every time.

- LACK OF CONCEPTUAL INTEGRATION What I mean by that is I like groups who have a look, artwork, ideas, lyrics, the live performance, etc....the whole enchilada that complements the music. It's a package deal and it all works together.

- TOO SLICK Obviously, anything that is overly slick and pre-packaged doesn't interest me.

- PANDERING TO PERCEIVED MARKET DEMANDS I don't mind popular or accessible music if it's good. However, I can't stand it when someone puts out something merely because they think it will be popular. Like art created by a focus group. I want to see an artistic vision.

[Edited on Aug 11, 2003 by souljacker]

Keithed said:
--Preaching to the choir: political acts who churn out album after album after album of music that merely exists to push a MESSAGE to the same rabid cult of devotees who will swallow anything they say, and never changing the mind of even one person who didn't already agree with them.

I see where you're coming from but don't you think they're trying to change people's minds? It seems like they'd have to be because everyone wants their fan base to grow. I don't think any band puts out records hoping that no one will buy it except for the same people that bought their last CD. I think it's kind of a good thing because at least they are trying to do something with their popularity other than get rich.

[Edited on Aug 11, 2003 by Beastie_Boy]

Sheryl Crow - I can sing better than that with a head cold and strep throat. Her voice just grates on my nerves.