Music GENRE Identifier

[YtseBitsySpider]

I don't start very many threads, I try to only start them when I see a need.  Lately, at least for me, I have been confused or mis informed as to the appropriate "agreed upon" genre labelling of a certain band.

I am far from an expert on this stuff. In fact I'm hoping to start this thread and have someone step up and be the "agree upon" authority for genre labelling.

So that, in the future if I discover some band, or I'm interested in some band, no matter the genre, and I want to know what they are, what they're labelled as and if it's gonna be similar to some other stuff I listen to - I can come in here and say....what genre is band x...and is that similar to band y's genre..or what have you.

I hope and trust that if the idea works, that this thread will be useful and not turn all pissy as people argue what genre their favorite band should be.

[skydivingninja]

Seems like a decently good idea.

[SPNKr]

I just use RateYourMusic and Wiki to closely determine a band's/album's genre.

[limnides]

I'm kind-of crap at distinguishing genre, too.  So it'll be good to watch this thread.  I might learn a thing or two. 

Rateyourmusic is one of the most useful websites I've come across in regards to music.  I use it almost exclusively to organise my music files.

[Birch Boy]

I use Wikipedia.org. Really easy to use and find the genre, and also associated acts (although no similar music).

[73109]

Wikipedia is not all that great. I went to look at Groove Metal and what was once I page about Pantera, Machine Head, and Sepultura became a page about Korn...um...no.

[MetalManiac666]

Honestly, music genres are as subjective as they are objective, so I just use a combination of Wikipedia and whatever I believe a band's genre to be.

[SPNKr]

Yeah wiki is proven to me to be the least reliable, I also check Last.fm.

[zxlkho]

Honestly, music genres are as subjective as they are objective, so I just use a combination of Wikipedia and whatever I believe a band's genre to be.

This is what I do as well.

[Quadrochosis]

Honestly, music genres are as subjective as they are objective, so I just use a combination of Wikipedia and whatever I believe a band's genre to be.

This is what I do as well.

[ZKX-2099]

Caring about genres is the most stupid thing I have seen in a long time.

[Ultimetalhead]

Caring about genres is the most stupid thing I have seen in a long time.

How so? If you like a band's music and want more of a similar style by different artists, wouldn't it help to know what the stuff they're playing is classified as? It's just as important as movie genres.

Honestly, music genres are as subjective as they are objective, so I just use a combination of Wikipedia and whatever I believe a band's genre to be.

This is what I do as well.

[SPNKr]

Caring about genres is the most stupid thing I have seen in a long time.

Well some people like me have an OCD thing for it. We must know if band A's album is put into a sub-genre, and if so, what is/are these names? If we can't find an answer then we get a bit restless over it until we finally find at least one.
It's sometimes a mental thing for people, I totally understand.

[Arcaeus]

Caring about genres is the most stupid thing I have seen in a long time.

How so? If you like a band's music and want more of a similar style by different artists, wouldn't it help to know what the stuff they're playing is classified as? It's just as important as movie genres.

This, exactly. I didn't care about genres/sub-genres until I really started to get into more genres than just metal.

[AcidLameLTE]

Shoegaze is the answer to everything.

[Zydar]

Shoegaze is the answer to everything.

Pineapple-core is the shit.

[AcidLameLTE]

Only if you have enough of it.

[YtseBitsySpider]

I appreciate the responses.

I agree that "labelling" music to one genre..can be very subjective and a tad lame. Im not in favor of it, I'm just saying we are sort of forced to live with it.

I have no idea what Grindcore is.....I know that....I've started to listen to a lot of metal that has either a growler/screamer...and then a nice voice come in too......what is that called?

if I want to come in with some new myspace band I've heard and say - what genre are these guys?...so I can find more like it...I think that would be helpful.

For instance:
Atreyu.......metal, thrash metal?...what?

ARENA, prog?...Ambient prog?...Pop Prog?

and to all the fairly new forum members who replied have you guys been to the new member profile thingy in GD? I know nothing about any of you..........and Im an old Spider.

[ShadowWalker]

Music to me falls into two genres - music I like and music I don't like...

I can understand the general utility of overarching genre tags (rock, pop, metal, jazz, classical etc...). But when it comes to all the ridiculous sub-genres, I draw the line. I don't understand why everything needs a label and why people must find narrowly-defined labels to characterize their music.

[Arcaeus]

I'm a-okay with ridiculous sub-genre names as long as they give you an idea about what the music sounds like. Once you reach labels such as "shoegaze" and "post-ironic beardcore", that's where I've had enough.

[skydivingninja]

"shoegaze" is a stupid name, from what I understand its supposed to describe music where musicians/people listening can't really dance or anything so they stare at their shoes, hence the name.

"Post-ironic beardcore" is the greatest genre ever.  You can tell from the name.

[Volk9]

I just use RateYourMusic and Wiki to closely determine a band's/album's genre.

[Sigz]

Shoegaze is a stupid name perhaps, but it's still a distinct genre that's been around for almost 30 years, unlike post-ironic beardcore.

[lateralus88]

Determining one's genre is really just done by breaking down the elements of the music and comparing it to other bands who have similar elements. It's rather simple, as long as you know what the definitive sound of a genre is, I suppose.

All this takes is a little research online, really.

[YtseBitsySpider]

^^I agree^^ but society and well...me...have become lazy.

So why not have a thread that can be like a Google-Genre

Enter Band Name Here.

Avenged Sevenfold
Genre:

[Birch Boy]

Crap



 

[Arcaeus]

Crap



 

This isn't the Xbox 360 thread.

Shoegaze is a stupid name perhaps, but it's still a distinct genre that's been around for almost 30 years, unlike post-ironic beardcore.

Alright, I get that. Though the name itself doesn't describe the music, the artists within the genre have a distinct sound. But yeah, the genre description for post-ironic beardcore just talks about beards, but no one takes it seriously anyways, even though it's spread across last.fm like a plague

[lateralus88]

Avenged Sevenfold
Genre:

Avenged Sevenfold is most definitely metalcore (Primarily their first two albums). Although, on their album City of Evil they took an approach at producing a much more straight up heavy metal album. It feels much more influenced by classic metal bands like Priest and Maiden.

[Sigz]

Shoegaze is a stupid name perhaps, but it's still a distinct genre that's been around for almost 30 years, unlike post-ironic beardcore.

Alright, I get that. Though the name itself doesn't describe the music

But that can really be said about most genre names. Prog metal isn't indicative unless you know what prog rock is, and prog rock is meaningless without knowing what the genre sounds like. Death, black, power, doom, post-metal, none of those make much sense.

[lateralus88]

How do genres such as death and black metal not make much sense? They are fairly simple sounds to pick out from the rest. I mean, maybe it's just because I listen to a lot of each specific genre and like to keep things classified under the right genre, but to me, they make perfect sense.
Black Metal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32n1AK6o5i0 (this one was mostly for lulz)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0qnGDIwDUw

Death metal:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpH5kM312WU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp1TmPo35yM

[Sigz]

I'm saying the name gives no indication as to what the genre sounds like. I can easily distinguish betweenthe two as well. 

[zxlkho]

Honestly, I don't hear much of a difference between the two.

[lateralus88]

Well I suppose that's where it becomes a social construction for society to define what each genre means. Unfortunately there are thousands of misconceptions about what death metal is, and what black metal is, and what power metal is. Hell, I have gotten several people looking at me in a confused manner when I brought up the term "Folk metal" thus causing me to explain what folk metal is.

Okay, so yes, I can agree that these names make no sense out of context. But once you get to know death metal, I think it becomes a suiting title for such a brutal genre. Death is a brutal and taboo subject.

Honestly, I don't hear much of a difference between the two.

The instrumentation is so much different. Death metal is more about the brutality and heavy face crushing riffs. Black metal tends to be a lot more...atmospheric. The drums are much more chaotic, the guitar styles as well (without focusing too much on the brutality). And the vocal styles between the two vary at times as well.

[zxlkho]

The only slight difference I can tell is the vocal styles. It seems like black metal has more of what I would call "sheiks" than "growls". I will probably understand the difference more clearly if I listen more.

[MetalManiac666]

Yeah, Lat is spot on when it comes to the differences between black and death metal.