Do you make a distinction between "adolescent" and "mature" music?

[LudwigVan]

Was at a barbecue a few weeks back and had my Iron Maiden "Trooper" t-shirt on.   Buddy of mine looked at it and snickered, "Whaddayou 15 years old"?   Of course I ignored his ass (I'm 47 btw), but it's interesting how certain bands open you up to ridicule in this particular fashion.

Some other obvious targets for the "adolescent" label are bands like KISS and Slipknot, and yet there are 50-year-olds who proudly pronounce their love.  Of course, everyone's got a different perspective on what might be considered "kiddie" music, and some of it may be done sub-consciously based on your own age... but some might even argue that Porcupine Tree or Metallica is for adolescents.  Hell, some target whole sub-genres/genres (Rock music itself) as pre-pubescent pap. 

This topic has actually reared its head several times on the "Controversial opinions" thread and it got me to thinking... do you make a distinction between music that one might consider "adolescent" versus music that's appropriate for "mature" persons?  If so, how and where do you draw the line?  Does this conscious "distinction" constitute a kind of musical snobbery?

Plenty of times on DTF, I've seen the retort:  "How old are you again??"

[Arcaeus]

The only people who make a distinction between adolescent and mature music (or act like pricks about it, at least) are adolescents who falsely believe they're mature and adults who act like adolescents.

[Perpetual Change]

I'm only 23, but I think coming to terms with your musical tastes is part of becoming more mature.  But not listening to something because you listened to it as a teenager is just silly.  For me, becoming more mature about music doesn't involve liking different styles as much as it involves 1.) being more open about different music 2.) not being unhealthily obsessed with the music I like, especially to the point where it's financially crippling.  3.) not feeling the need to flaunt my musical tastes by wearing t-shirts and other merch all the time.

I still have a few band tee's, but mostly I save them for days when I'm just slacking off. A barbeque would definitely qualify as the type of day I'd pull out my Maiden tee.

The only people who make a distinction between adolescent and mature music (or act like pricks about it, at least) are adolescents who falsely believe they're mature and adults who act like adolescents.

This.

[skydivingninja]

Classical and Jazz are the most mature forms of music.  Pop, rock, country, rap, and heavy metal are for children.

There are some bands to me that seem more childish than others, but thats because I was around when all the young girls were screaming their heads off over them and I just laugh that now (without judging them for it), all grown up, they still do.  I know plenty of girls who still love The Backstreet Boys, for example.  So I guess it all depends on personal experience.  That guy who called you a fifteen-year-old probably remembers all the dorks and metalheads screaming over Maiden and thought they would've grown out of it by now. 

[j]

The only people who make a distinction between adolescent and mature music (or act like pricks about it, at least) are adolescents who falsely believe they're mature and adults who act like adolescents.

This is pretty much true, I think.  But that's not to say that there's no reason for an individual to personally associate some music with "immaturity", whether it's because of childish or trite lyrics or because that person liked a certain band when they were in junior high.  I do that occasionally.  It's just dumb to project that perception onto others for the purpose of ridicule.

-J

[TAC]

Perp, very nicely said.

[ariich]

Wait, someone accused you of being 15 because you had an Iron Maiden t-shirt on?! That makes literally no sense, Maiden are a classic 80s band. Here in the UK they have the exact opposite stigma, where people might joke about you being an old fogey.

[lateralus88]

How mature can you really call a band such as My Chemical Romance? Huh?

[AwakeFromOctavarium]

I generally find -core bands a bit immature.

Edit: Except for grindcore.

[Arcaeus]

How mature can you really call a band such as My Chemical Romance? Huh?

More so than most metal.

[Sigz]

Does it really matter if something's 'immature'?

[Bombardana]

How mature can you really call a band such as My Chemical Romance? Huh?

More so than most metal.

lol



oh wait, you're serious.

[Arcaeus]

Does it really matter if something's 'immature'?

Not at all.

[lateralus88]

Of course it doesn't matter. We are discussing this on the internet.

[Gadough]

The only actual distinction I make is between stuff like Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, etc. That stuff is clearly manufactured and aimed towards children, whereas just about everything else can be enjoyed by any age group. Even other pop such as Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys doesn't fall into this category, because they have just as many older fans as they do younger fans. In other words, it's just the Disney-esque music that I separate like that.

[Birch Boy]

Wait, someone accused you of being 15 because you had an Iron Maiden t-shirt on?! That makes literally no sense, Maiden are a classic 80s band. Here in the UK they have the exact opposite stigma, where people might joke about you being an old fogey.

This (but I'm in the United States)

My stepbrother (who was in eighth grade at the time) was wearing his Iron Maiden tour shirt and one of his teachers said something along the lines of: "Iron Maiden!?!  Aren't you a little young to know about them?"

I suppose that could be taken either way in terms of insults/compliments, but it serves the purpose of demonstrating that old 80s metal is generally associated with old(er) people (at least to his teacher, and I suppose people that aren't that in touch with today's music world, because if they were they'd know that old metal is undergoing a huge resurgence especially with the music video games booming).

Also, I went with my stepdad to the recording studio with his band and the studio manager guy was there and saw me with my Dream Theater tour shirt, and said: "Nice shirt! How old are you? Wow, a sixteen-year old in a Dream Theater shirt, that's what I love to see!"

So yeah, although I'm not even sixteen (two more months  ), I've never gotten told that I'm listening to immature music (although being pretty much only 16, there's not really a level I can descend to age-wise), and if a comment is made, it's always pointing in the older direction.

[Nick]

Things go like this.

I don't like this band, but I can't accept that music is subjective so I'm going to find some way to discredit them.

This is simply one way to do that. And frankly everyone is guilty of it at one time or another.

[Zook]

When grown men write lyrics complaining that they're told to ''do this, do that'', I consider that adolescent.

[Birch Boy]

When grown men write lyrics complaining that they're told to ''do this, do that'', I consider that adolescent.

Like "As I Am"?

[zxlkho]

lolQueensryche

[Zook]

Well yeah but As I Am is nowhere near as bad as Five Finger Death Punch's Never Enough.

[UnutterableSquid]

I don't.

Sure, seeing a bunch of guys prance around on-stage in full costumes, or seeing a band mascot fake-kill people, or anything other than a band standing stagnantly at their equipment might seem corny to some, but I absolutely love the whole concept of a band putting on a show rather than just replicating an album.

If having that as a form of enjoyment is less mature, then I guess I'm immature.

[Fluffy Lothario]

I can hardly think of anyone in my life who listened to metal and didn't either completely get out of it or largely lose their love of it once they hit their late teens, early 20s.

I don't think that makes metal an immature form of music though. It just means it appeals to much more people during adolescence than as an adult, and so inevitably, with a lot of people, that love has to see an end at some point.

[skydivingninja]

How mature can you really call a band such as My Chemical Romance? Huh?

More so than most metal.

lol


oh wait, you're serious.

In terms of lyrical content I'd actually have to agree.  As much as I dislike the music of MCR, the band's main motto is, basically, carpe diem.

So I guess to answer the question, I guess I do make a distinction between mature/adolescent music when it comes to lyrics.  Maiden's lyrics aren't very deep and usually rip off a famous book, talk about the horrors of war, or actually are a good metaphor for something (Powerslave and El Dorado especially).  The Who's lyrics seem to be a bit more mature, even on an album about teen angst like Quadrophenia, for example.

[KevShmev]

Honestly, I think it was probably more about the wearing of a band/concert t-shirt than it probably was about the band.  For many, myself included, there reaches a point where wearing one is more of a young person's thing than an adult's, hence the 15-year old crack from someone who possibly feels the same way (although I wouldn't make a crack like that, except to maybe a close friend who knew I was being a smart ass).  I haven't bought a concert t-shirt since I was 20, simply because: where I am gonna wear it?

[Zook]

Anwhere you like. There isn't a restriction on where you can wear a  Concert shirt except at your job. It's casual attire.

[King Postwhore]

For me it's the attidude from my youth to now that changed.  In my youth make up, spitting blood, guillotines, electric chairs, cockpieces that sparked drew me in. It's not what I'm into now but I still have a place in my heart and still listen and go to see these live but I have changed.

The passion for anti establishment and angry lyrics have changed for me. My life as a 42 year old has changed so I have a different kindship to lyrics now.

My wife has a great example of that at work.  Everybody has a chance to play their own music.  All the girls listen to dance music but Lisa.  When they heard here playing Iron Madien's Aces High they asked her how could she listen to this devil music and they found the lyrics tasteless.  Lisa then pointed out that the lyrics for Aces High is about WWII air combat and that she found the lyrics to dance music about forcing the girl to go down on them tasteless.  The girls didn't even get the lyrics.

Now to me, I've moved on from the lyrics of Maiden asan example. It doesn't mean I still don't like them but other things in my life at 42 intrests me.