Your controversial opinions/thoughts on music

[cygnusx1jg]

My best memory of Depeche Mode was going to the Florida State Fair when I was about 15 or 16 and riding the Himilaya. They played People are People loud as hell and they sped the ride up once the repeated "I can't understand what makes a man hate another man" part near the end of the song. So much innocent fun!

[Ben_Jamin]

Korn...their best album is....

Take A Look In The Mirror...

Linkin Park.....

Meteora

[Zantera]

Is it even controversial to say Meteora is the best LP album? Even though Hybrid Theory was a instant classic, as a 12 year old getting Meteora on release day after years of hype, I always felt it was a more mature and well rounded album. Not necessarily better, but not worse. Two good albums that were kinda neck and neck.

Controversially for me however is that I like Minutes to Midnight quite a lot in the LP discography. Maybe even my favorite. The Little Things You Give Away is my favorite LP song and the album also has some other bangers like Given Up, No More Sorrow and Bleed it Out. I also don't mind the ballads even though I know some people find them cheesy.

[WildRanger]

As a big Rush fan I think that their debut is awful and Working Man is not better than most Greta Van Fleet tunes.

[Max Kuehnau]

As a big Rush fan I think that their debut is awful and Working Man is not better than most Greta Van Fleet tunes.

cleaner vocal lines by Geddy though IMHO

[King Postwhore]

As a big Rush fan I think that their debut is awful and Working Man is not better than most Greta Van Fleet tunes.

cleaner vocal lines by Geddy though IMHO

.I have no idea what this means.

[TAC]

It's as if you wrote it yourself!

[King Postwhore]

It's as if you wrote it yourself!

At least I understand my madness. 

[Trav86]

Is it even controversial to say Meteora is the best LP album? Even though Hybrid Theory was a instant classic, as a 12 year old getting Meteora on release day after years of hype, I always felt it was a more mature and well rounded album. Not necessarily better, but not worse. Two good albums that were kinda neck and neck.

Controversially for me however is that I like Minutes to Midnight quite a lot in the LP discography. Maybe even my favorite. The Little Things You Give Away is my favorite LP song and the album also has some other bangers like Given Up, No More Sorrow and Bleed it Out. I also don't mind the ballads even though I know some people find them cheesy.

I would still put Hybrid Theory at the top. Nostalgia has a lot to do with it. I remember listening to it right after the release, before it was huge. Meteora I would put second, followed by Minutes. Everything else is about on the same level. Songs I love and songs I don’t really care for.  But those first three are solid albums.

[Dublagent66]

Judas Priest is not only better than Iron Maiden, but it's not even close.

   Kev, sometimes your posts just crack me up.

[The Walrus]

Controversial opinion: rock and metal rule, but there's a ton of other music out there in the world that is way better than almost all rock and metal music.

[Ben_Jamin]

Controversial opinion: rock and metal rule, but there's a ton of other music out there in the world that is way better than almost all rock and metal music.

I can agree with this. I end up buying those cds as well and now I'm finding myself listening to those more than I do Rock and Metal.

[bosk1]

Controversial opinion: rock and metal rule, but there's a ton of other music out there in the world that is way better than almost all rock and metal music.

  Kev, sometimes your posts just crack me up.

[Crow]

Opinion: metal is the only genre of music ever and anything not classified as metal isn't real music

[robbob]

Country is the most blandest/boring music out there. Just about every Male vocalist sounds the same. I do, but at the same time don't understand it's huge popularity. Of course, i'm just talking about in the States. There are some people I know who were heavily into Classic Rock back in the day (Mid ages folks, like 40 years and older) but now are big Country/Pop music fans because it's what they're supposed to gravitate to since they're older now, or atleast that's what I think.

There may be better, interesting Country music that is more unknown, but from what I have heard, it's all very samey.

[Lethean]

Controversial opinion: rock and metal rule, but there's a ton of other music out there in the world that is way better than almost all rock and metal music.

  Kev, sometimes your posts just crack me up.

I'll quote (or paraphrase) - MP on this one - there are no bests, only favorites.

Metal is the best for me, because it's my favorite.  For others it's different, and that's cool.

[The Walrus]

Controversial opinion: rock and metal rule, but there's a ton of other music out there in the world that is way better than almost all rock and metal music.

  Kev, sometimes your posts just crack me up.

I'll quote (or paraphrase) - MP on this one - there are no bests, only favorites.

Metal is the best for me, because it's my favorite.  For others it's different, and that's cool.

I actually like to get into the weeds on this subject, especially with "best vs. favorite" - for me, I'll take great metal (what I think is great, anyway) over almost anything else. Nothing resonates with me quite like that. So it's definitely my favorite. At the same time, however, I think there's a lot of other music that offers so much that metal/rock/prog just doesn't offer. And above all that, the best artists - in my opinion - are not bound to one genre or play in only one style, they're the ones that can do a variety of things and blend styles together.

[King Postwhore]

I'm just a music whore.  I like most except for country and rap.


I like when a touch of one style of music is mixed with another.  Example is when PT went heavy.  it was like a mix of Pink Floyd & Tool.

[Lethean]

Controversial opinion: rock and metal rule, but there's a ton of other music out there in the world that is way better than almost all rock and metal music.

  Kev, sometimes your posts just crack me up.

I'll quote (or paraphrase) - MP on this one - there are no bests, only favorites.

Metal is the best for me, because it's my favorite.  For others it's different, and that's cool.

I actually like to get into the weeds on this subject, especially with "best vs. favorite" - for me, I'll take great metal (what I think is great, anyway) over almost anything else. Nothing resonates with me quite like that. So it's definitely my favorite. At the same time, however, I think there's a lot of other music that offers so much that metal/rock/prog just doesn't offer. And above all that, the best artists - in my opinion - are not bound to one genre or play in only one style, they're the ones that can do a variety of things and blend styles together.

I don't really agree with that.  Most of my favorite artists do indeed blend things together, and I think that's what makes them so interesting for me.  But that experience may be different for others. 

[TAC]

Controversial opinion: rock and metal rule, but there's a ton of other music out there in the world that is way better than almost all rock and metal music.

  Kev, sometimes your posts just crack me up.

I'll quote (or paraphrase) - MP on this one - there are no bests, only favorites.

Metal is the best for me, because it's my favorite.  For others it's different, and that's cool.

I actually like to get into the weeds on this subject, especially with "best vs. favorite" - for me, I'll take great metal (what I think is great, anyway) over almost anything else. Nothing resonates with me quite like that. So it's definitely my favorite. At the same time, however, I think there's a lot of other music that offers so much that metal/rock/prog just doesn't offer. And above all that, the best artists - in my opinion - are not bound to one genre or play in only one style, they're the ones that can do a variety of things and blend styles together.

It's probably just the weed, actually.

[The Walrus]

  Honestly you're not wrong. I got into that around the time several pretty bad events in my life happened, all within a short period of time, so about 7-8 years ago my musical taste very rapidly changed from "metal, metal, and nothing but metal" into exploring a ton of other styles of music. Now my listening habits have changed; metal is reserved for car rides and working or exercising, it's too loud and too much for home listening most of the time. Home is for pretty much everything else.

[bosk1]

Yeah, I hear you.  I mostly just reserve listening to metal to ALL THE TIME.

[cramx3]

It's probably just the weed, actually.

 

And above all that, the best artists - in my opinion - are not bound to one genre or play in only one style, they're the ones that can do a variety of things and blend styles together.

One reason why 311 is one of my all time favorite bands, I don't talk much about them here since their relevance in prog metal is none, but they encompass a large and varied sound and manage to pull it off all so well and have consistently made original music.  Maybe the weed has something to do with that too.

Either way, I think I generally like metal music more than other genres but there's certainly reasons to think other genres have more to offer. 

[bosk1]

The thing I like most about genres other than metal is that, when I am listening to them, they make me realize how much I miss listening to metal, so I end up going back and listening to metal again.

[Cool Chris]

And above all that, the best artists - in my opinion - are not bound to one genre or play in only one style, they're the ones that can do a variety of things and blend styles together.

That could be true, but to my ears this more often than not translates to the equivalent of "Jack of all trades, master of none." I'd usually rather a band do one thing and excel at it than a band do lots of different things to varying degrees of quality. There are exceptions of course.

[The Walrus]

And above all that, the best artists - in my opinion - are not bound to one genre or play in only one style, they're the ones that can do a variety of things and blend styles together.

That could be true, but to my ears this more often than not translates to the equivalent of "Jack of all trades, master of none." I'd usually rather a band do one thing and excel at it than a band do lots of different things to varying degrees of quality. There are exceptions of course.

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong. Just 'cause a band throws the kitchen sink in doesn't mean it's automatically going to be good, BUT! for example, Toto. I freaking love them, one of my all time favorite acts, why? 'cause no two albums sound alike and they've always done something different and new and they're damn good at it. I suppose I should rephrase that; musicians who can do a variety of things are usually ones I prefer, as opposed to a band just trying everything under the sun whether they're good at it or not.

And yeah I usually always come back to metal, like I said there are things metal gives me that I just can't get in every other genre. I think this whole train of thought was kickstarted by seeing one of my arrogant metalhead friends bash pop music and I became a grumpy young old man about it 

[Lethean]

I think there are few people who actually listen to *nothing* but metal.  There are some, but I bet the vast majority like, even love, at least one song that's not metal.  Even those who might make negative comments about "pop" in general probably like something.  But if you think metal fans are bad - well, we're far from the worst.  And, we generally don't think fans of other genres of music are degenerates of some sort.

[Adami]

Personally, I think ya'll are really close minded with how few genres you listen to.

Me? I listen to both.

Country AND Western.

[King Postwhore]

Personally, I think ya'll are really close minded with how few genres you listen to.

Me? I listen to both.

Country AND Western.

Defriended.

[The Walrus]

I think there are few people who actually listen to *nothing* but metal.  There are some, but I bet the vast majority like, even love, at least one song that's not metal.  Even those who might make negative comments about "pop" in general probably like something.  But if you think metal fans are bad - well, we're far from the worst.  And, we generally don't think fans of other genres of music are degenerates of some sort.

Well, I didn't mean that literally - most metalheads I know at least like some rock and maybe even some blues, sure. But you wouldn't catch them dead listening to classical, funk, jazz, etc. and they would never pay for an album outside of their wheelhouse. Out here in the boonies that's how it is, anyway. They'd recognize Billy Joel's name, maybe, but not one song, if you know what I'm saying. If I found a genie in a bottle I would wish for everyone to have a very high thirst for musical variety in their lives

[KevShmev]

Judas Priest is not only better than Iron Maiden, but it's not even close.

   Kev, sometimes your posts just crack me up.

I bring the comedy, unintentional or not.

[Lethean]

No, I know you didn't mean it literally, but I just meant that because most like at least a little something else, that they can understand others might as well.  I think making fun of especially pop music is just kind of a way to bond - even though there's probably plenty of pop songs they like.  And you mention classical - it's been my experience that metal fans are wayyy more likely to like and appreciate classical music than vice versa.

I actually know way more metal fans who pride themselves on how varied their tastes are and who say things like "people would be shocked if they knew how much different music I listen to." No, I'm not shocked.  Seems like someone is saying that every other day.

[MirrorMask]

Of course we can't categorize a vast number of people based solely on what kind of music they listen to, but I think that in some cases being accepting of the metal genre (and therefore being "mentally prepared" for long songs, unconventional structures, themes that aren't all about love or lost love or getting laid or being on the beach) prepares to dive into other genres which are not immediately accessible.

At Lorena McKennitt's concerts I attended there were quite some metalheads, and I wasn't surprised in the least; I would have been more surprised to find a K-Pop fan seeing a folkish / world-ish / celtic-ish musician.

[Stadler]

I don't really agree with that.  Most of my favorite artists do indeed blend things together, and I think that's what makes them so interesting for me.  But that experience may be different for others.

I have a theory that the very best bands are the ones that STRADDLE genres (or at least bring other genres into their "preferred" one) and rarely are the top tier bands PURELY in one genre, unless they virtually created it (ala Metallica).   Genesis wasn't just prog, they were pop songwriters from the get-go.   Zeppelin wasn't just "blues", they had a very deep folk streak (even in the electric material).   

[Indiscipline]

I don't really agree with that.  Most of my favorite artists do indeed blend things together, and I think that's what makes them so interesting for me.  But that experience may be different for others.

I have a theory that the very best bands are the ones that STRADDLE genres (or at least bring other genres into their "preferred" one) and rarely are the top tier bands PURELY in one genre, unless they virtually created it (ala Metallica).   Genesis wasn't just prog, they were pop songwriters from the get-go.   Zeppelin wasn't just "blues", they had a very deep folk streak (even in the electric material).

Thank you, beautifully put. Perfect adherence to a genre makes an act, well, generic to me. I love DT, prog metal bores me, and I could mention a dozen similar instances.