The first part was very funny.

I have thrown in the towel on Animal Collective as well and God knows I tried but just don’t get it.

On the other hand I love The Fiery Furnaces when others are annoyed by them and can see why.

I see, you are going to make me regret posting that when I sober up.

No maybe not praised but sold a bunch. I was just naming what popped into my head.

Tortoise. So boring. And I like boring music.

I've also decided, after much trying and repeated exposures that I just don't like Modest Mouse. I don't think they're bad per se, just not very interesting to me musically, and especially *vocally.








* That's vocally...a new word I just made up.

The Smiths. Fuck you Morrissey.

Sleater-Kinney, Patti Smith and Janis Joplin

Probably something to do with a certain kind of howling.

Respect the hell out of them but don't actually enjoy many of their songs.

re: R.E.M.: I think if you discovered them between '82 and '87 or so. you'd have a different perspective on them than if you started hearing them in the 90's. They'd probably only be a second-tier band for me if I heard mid-period stuff first then delved into older stuff. But if you were around to see the vast influence they had in such a short time mid 80's maybe it'd be different.

I think the ultimate band in this category has to be Sparks. Almost everyone who's ever heard of them think of them as a novelty dance band, but that's what they became from '79 on. Whereas, their hard-to-find early to mid-70's albums defy most categorization and are quite remarkable. But if you say "I like Sparks" people snicker at you. When you actually mean "I like circa-1974 Sparks.'

You guys are wimping out. Here's a bunch to really get some heads shaking.

Bad Brains-Hardcore does my head in
Damned-I should love this band since I like most punk from this era but...
Dead Kennedys-See Bad Brains
Gang of Four
Jane's Addiction
Jesus and Mary Chain
Joy Division
Minor Threat-See Dead Kennedys
My Bloody Valentine-Their "masterpiece" has always sounded horrible to me
Pavement-I'll just put on The Fall, thank you.
Wire

Joy Division
The Smiths
Wire
The Stooges
S-K
Patti Smith
Tim Buckley
Just about all rap talked about in the rap forum, especially MF Suck
Pavement
Wilco post Summer Teeth
Radiohead post OK Computer
There is so much more, my hate knows no bounds

Still can't figure out why you don't like the Stooges, Loog. It's not an issue of "they're great and you're an ass not to like 'em." It's more....they are a band that from what I know of your tastes you should like.

Steve

Okay, goating up here:

Arcade Fire: a big meh.
Fiery Furnaces: very silly music made by very silly people
Devo: kill them all
Merzbo: no further comment

As soon as I read this thread title, I said "Wilco".

First and foremost, I don't care and they bore me.


I'm having trouble getting into Blur. I don't much like the Beatles or David Bowie.

I hate Death From Above 1979, Hair Police, and the Bravery, Bloc Party, and all the current bands that sound like that.

I just find Loveless to be incredibly boring. I can sit through "Shallow", it's okay, but it just starts going downhill from there. Layers and layers is fine, not really my thing so much, but god it just sounds like a big boring mess.

I also forgot George Harrison, with and without The Beatles. "Here Comes The Sun" is one of my favorite songs ever, though.

As for REM, I think my problem was twofold: perspective and Stipe's voice. Since I'm 28, I didn't really know of REM until "Stand" hit the radio, when I was in 6th grade. But I finally got past "Stand", "Shiny Happy People", "Everybody Hurts" and that drivel and listened to Murmur, which I really like. Up until I heard that album from start to finish, the only song I really liked from them was "The Great Beyond".

I have always severely disliked Metallica and RHCP.

Also agree on indie Hip-Hop, ugh.

I do like Wire's Pink Flag a shitload though. Hell, all the songs are only a minute or two long, which makes it even easier to digest. "Ex-Lion Tamer" is 2:19 of absolute goodness.

Bravery, Killers, Bloc Party, Scissor Sisters etc. can go in the incinerator too.

Just out of curiosity, what albums/songs have you two heard from these bands?

Amen. Sparks is an act I would recommend to everyone, and it's easy for people to do because Rhino made an excellent, I mean EXCELLENT, two disc compilation. I would also drop Robyn Hitchcock into this category. Anyone who got into him after "Globe Of Frogs" can't comprehend how precious his first half-dozen or so records truly are.

I'll tangle with you on this. I consider "Machine Gun Etiquette" to be one of the best "punk" albums out there.

Where I think The Damned truly transcend the "punk" label is on the three follow-up albums: "The Black Album", "Strawberries", and "Damned But Not Forgotten". They graduated, for lack of a better term, from punk and crafted some of the best power pop around. They definitely lost a huge chunk of themselves when Capt. Sensible left, the best part of "Phantasmagoria" was the goth goddess on the cover, and "Anything" is fairly atrocious. But at their peak, they were solid. Capt. Sensible's "A Nice Cup of Tea" from "Damned But Not Forgotten" is a delight.

Uh huh. I would think Side One of Funhouse would be right up the Senator's alley.

I just don't buy their schtick. It sounds put on to me, and I've necer been able to get past it.

Are there any bands out there that are *not* critically acclaimed?

Lou Reed
Patti Smith
Can
King Crimson
The Monks

This is what I don't understand. What is it about the early '70's Stooges that strikes you as schtick? The mongering was real, the heroin was real, the blood was real. These guys were *out* there, and some of 'em never made it back.

What makes Iggy's career so fascinating to me, is how he managed to survive the Stooges, and then develop as a solo artist--he pulled it off much better than Alice Cooper. "Dum Dum Boys" carries a huge impact. Even the mid-80's pop stuff, "Blah Blah Blah" was all right (I still love the call back to "Scene Of The Crime" in "Winners And Losers"), and then he comes roaring back with "Instinct". "Brick By Brick" is a grossly underrated album, each track is excellent. It marked his peak, as his output really started to fade after that.

Nirvana

Faith No More w/ Mike Patton (though the praise only arose after the band split, when four, five years later FNM were embraced by the emo-indie nation, sort of how Weezer was embraced by same in late '98... that said, the FNM love from the scene is considerably less ironic than the scene's love for Weezer)

Jane's Addiction, and
Perry Ferrell (a Chosen forebear of Kid Rock? I think so)

Rage Against the Machine

Jon Spencer's Blues EXPLOSION!

All of em at some point or another. I'm 35. I remember my friends circulating the cassette tapes of their albums around to one another when I was in 8th grade and a freshman.

Just never really liked the band much. I DO like some random songs over the years of theirs, and yes, probably the much earlier ones better then the post 1990 ones.

Splates, yeah I could have defended Wilco but I had to go to bed so I couldn't come up with a lengthy defense.

A most tired comparison. (And confounding too, except perhaps for "Two States" and some of that early stuff compiled on Westing ).

i'll agree with these guys, and it' wasn't the hype that turned me off. i didn't really know much about them when i first heard them. i kind of like the sound, the lo fi but loud quality. but i can't get through one or more songs.

his voice drives me batty.

i rarely hear people say this, but i always think he sounds like Paul Mccartney  during the worst parts of Wings but more nasaly.

The Fugees - i'm really happy they broke up and that both of their solo careers kind of disappeared.

Alicia Keys - she's written a few qualitysongs, and has a very average to slightly anoying voice. but i really can't stand her as a person in interviews and talking in public. she's the kind of person that when she wins an award she says things like, "Yes! they are finally rewarding REAL music!" blow me.

I've heard the majority of the Parklife album and various singles like 'Song 2' and 'Girls And Boys'.