I stopped caring about genres a long time ago. If people tried to classify the genre that I listened to, they’d probably die from the computing errors they’d receive.
Or they’ll most likely pull a new word outta their ass, which is what’s happening with almost every new band now. Or they’re a mixture of 68 different genres. And they make sure they let their fans know it.
Oh and it’s also supposedly cool to hate pop music. Nevermind the fact that pop means POPULAR music. Which means almost all the bands that bitch about pop music being shit are pop themselves. Way to go, in order to sound “cool” and “down with it” to your fans, you’ve effectively called your own music shit.
Sorry about this little rant but I’m in a bitchy mood.
Avril says she “fucking hates it when people call [her] punk.” So I take her saying that as meaning she doesn’t really want her music to be considered punk.
Iron Maiden = Metal
Dead Kennedy’s = Heavy punk
Metallica = Metal (new = heavy rock)
Black Sabbath = Metal
Dream Theater = Prog
Slipknot = Heavy Rock
Notice how the use of the word “heavy” allows for a simple variation that is clear within a category? Similar modifiers are light, soft, speed, on crack (suffix), intense. All of these are adjectives that can be applied to help define somewhat generalized genres.
The way it works is that you pick a genre (sometimes more than one can be used), and then you choose a modifier or two, that have clear meaning to both parties (ie normal adjectives), and then the other person takes a stab in the dark for a similar sound and then you can say “yeah, kinda like that but more/less <some characteristic>” or “no more of a <another band name> sound than that.”
This simple process allows us to communicate what a band sounds like, so that the person who hasn’t heard it yet can assess whether the listening is a worthy endeavor, or lost cause to begin with.
Vocals-based Country and Western for example is not going to get much time devoted to listening to new music, for me, but if someone tells me that its banjo-rich bluegrass, I will be much more willing to listen, because banjos kick more ass than two donkeys in a fight. Without any measure of genre-ing, or the most minimal level (hick music), I would likely miss out on the dulcile tones and the inspiration to get a mullet.
With my Family Guy reference taken care of, this post is now complete.
Problem with Genre system:
~I went looking for somthing like Iron Maiden
~I found shit like Metallica
Perk of the Genre system:
~I once again looked for somthing like Iron Maiden
~I found Hammerfall, Rhapsody, and Blind Guardian
See, while there are ALOT of things that shouldnt be put togather, there are still the groups that generally have somthing in common. I think thats why its best to have SUB categories, like you have your “Metal” section, but within that, I’d like a “Speed Metal” category for all MY need and to filter out the shit I dont like.
So it kinda works, but it kinda doesnt cause it still associates too much togather when you dont want such a broad selection.
I don’t see what’s so great about this stupid Emo stuff, personally me and my friends and gothic, and Emo crap to be strange and sorta pointless. But, if anyone here is Emo or Goth, I’m not trying to offend you.
Man, I’m so sick of people pretending to be girls on the internet. I mean come ON, I just wanna cyber with a girl, not a man with a penis. Its such a lame trend, I dunno why so many people do it. I mean just get an operation lolz.
Don’t get me started on hip hop. I know more about hip hop than you know about your life - I’ll destroy you. For starters, “acting ghetto” is insulting to people who live in the ghetto. People who talk like that are uneducated and forced to live in sub-sub-standard housing in the projects because they can’t sustain themselves without food stamps. People treat them like shit, so they talk like shit and act like shit. Perhaps if you had more respect towards a fellow human you wouldn’t “be hatin” on them when they simply haven’t had as many chances or opportunities in their entire life as you’ve had in your 16 or 17 years. As such, a lot of the music that pulls out of these neighborhoods is about survival and climbing to the top. Why the hell else is everything they talk about bragging about how much money they have? The women, the 24 inch rims and so on are all allegories for how they survived the crappy childhood and the dangerous streets and rose to the top. Sure, it goes overboard, and sure - not all rap has this distinct context. But the good stuff does, just like I’m sure the good emo has some real message.
Good and hip hop in the same sentence can be done, as it’s been proven time and time again that there are hip hop songs that are good. Emo hasn’t existed for an extremely long time in order for an emo group to TRULY stand out in the crowd and declare : “I am Emo, but my music kicks ass anyway.”
As far as going overboard, nowadays, it seems like a lot of rap does this. I don’t know, a few years back, you had the few who did so and managed to do it well, but now, it’s like every single person who raps about being better than the other guy gets a fat contract with lots of zeroes. I blame this on the mainstreaming of a genre that, at its core, was never really meant to be mainstream. Mainstream twists a lot of things into what they aren’t, and rap has been one of them. As rap becomes even more mainstream, the lack of diversity in the artists’ message will eventually show even more than it does now, and the genre will eventually be forgotten. There will always be the underground where you’ll be able to find good, quality rap with an interesting message, but the underground isn’t availiable to everyone, hence why it’s underground.
Unless rap artists manage to come up with something different to the ear of the casual listener, a lot of the buzz surrounding them will fade, with time.
I have an old poster of a rock group I like, and at the bottom it says “The Kings of Bluegrass Disco.” I love it, expecially because it’s signed (the music I sent you Urk :P).
That’s what everyone has been saying about rock since probably the 1970s. I certainly have a difficult time distinguishing between the various rock groups I randomly hear if I pop on the radio. I personally feel that rappers have much more individual and recognizable styles than most guitar-bass-drums-whiney singer groups. Plus, just like behind the facade of popular rock there is a thriving, experimental indie/post-rock scene, behind the facade of popular rap is the massive world of underground hip-hop, supported by labels like ninja tune, mo’ wax, big dada, rawkus, etc. that are constantly searching for the new cutting edge, and though they aren’t too popular on this side of the Atlantic, the underground hiphop scene far outweighs all the other forms of hiphop on the european side of things. Rap and hiphop have been around nearly as long the whole post-punk->alt/rock->whatever the fuck we have now scene has been around. It’s got just as much staying power as whatever you listen to does.
(Lets see what this post does, shall we, just two words if you don’t count the analysis here. I believe that if someone does get what I am saying, it will turn into a whole new argument, but otherwise, I will just hear yays and nays about it. Here goes. Actually I’ll hide it so you read the preface)
And Avril has also said she was a “punk sk8er”, so therefore, Avril is a hypocrite. And she isn’t even hot, just goes to show what the wonders of modern cosmetics can do with the illusion of physical beauty.
Also, Avril calls herself a modern day Sid Vicious, but doesn’t have any fucking clue who the Sex Pistols are. Not only is she a hypocrite, but she’s a poseur, too. And she has no respect for her fans. All we need to do now to get her to stop having the record companies write her songs and tell her how to act is spill out some more hatorade on this fake.
Lastly, Avril Lavigne SUCKS!!!
So does Evanescence. And Good Charlotte…but RPGs rule. As do Old-Skool Platformers
Also I’d like to make an agreement with Zep’s point on Hip-hop. I agree that rappers are easier to tell apart than newer rock bands. I personally have trouble telling apart 90 percent of mainstream rock bands. But rappers, mainstream or underground, usually have distinct styles and voices.
And yes I do listen to rock music (as some like to call it),but I also like Hip Hop. Lately, I’ve been getting into more Hip-hop than rock music because contrary to what some ignorant redneck says about rap music, not all rap music is about gangstas, drug dealing, pimps up hoes down type shit, or busting caps. Talib Kweli is a very political minded Civil Rights rapper. Wu-tang Clan also had some intelligent rhymes on their classic albums. And Outkast sounds like nobody else. Period.
Where most modern rock groups have whiny singers who sing about their problems with their parents, girlfriend/boyfriend, why girls hate them, why they hate famous people(even though they’re famous themselves), have bad musicians who even in some cases make me look like a good guitar player(I’ve only been playing guitar for about two years, but I like to play a lot of blues), and pretty boy looks while trying to impose a “hardcore” image. :hint: Any “Pop-punk” band.
And Finally, In Closing this monstrous rant of a post, I’d like to say one more thing.
The only genre that music should be grouped in is Life. Fuck all of the other labels.
Oh I’m sorry, I thought we were talking about music, not image. What I said earlier was about her music, not her image, since I don’t care about that. There’s a difference between claiming to be a punk and a punk rocker, since one has nothing to do with music. (Of course, I wouldn’t exactly agree with her saying that either.)
As far as respect goes, at least she doesn’t lip sync at concerts. That is the ultimate sign of disrespect for the fans.
(And record companies don’t write her songs, the guy from OLP does.)
Oops, my bad. I still got my point across that Avril doesn’t write her own shit.(and on another note, OLP sucks, IMO) But if you actually read my post, instead of just the quote, I was talking about music. It’s just the fact that I don’t like Avril Lavigne’s music or image, and that I (and most credible musicians and music fans) think she is a fake. And I (in my opinion) don’t consider Avril Lavigne’s brand of “Anti-Pop” pop to be music.
And maybe she doesn’t lip sync at concerts, but she refers to her fans as posers. That’s disrepect to the fans as well. She shamed both Sid Vicious and Kurt Cobain.Her Lyrics are nothing special. And she can’t even really play guitar. I like more original and ground-breaking music, like Radiohead. Name one band that Radiohead sounds like? They don’t sound like everyone else. I like Radiohead because they sound like Radiohead. And even if they put out something totally different than their previous album, you can still tell by the music and by Thom Yorke’s vocals that it is Radiohead. And there are bands who try(and fail) to sound like Radiohead.
And lastly, I think Avril is no better than the Britneys or Christinas or Jessicas. Just another plastic pop musician that will fade away soon. The underground and the Groundbreaking musicians will stick around until they can’t play anymore. Whether or not their record is selling. And if you want to argue that Radiohead is mainstream, it is only because despite what the music industry is like, there are enough people out there that truly appreciate original, groundbreaking tunes.
But a lot of music listeners are brainwashed by the industry not only in the way they think, but also with their images as well. Which is a sad thing. I remember about 15 years ago, MTV was actually cool. It appealed to the music listener then, but now, It’s a corporate tool that trains our children how to act and think. And it’s no fucking wonder why ten year old girls are now wearing “sexy” clothing. And thirteen year old girls are slutting themselves out. It’s all because of MTV’s Brainwashing. If you want proof of this brainwashing that turns millions of teenagers into mindless sheep, Go to Midtown Manhattan and take a walk down 42nd street and Broadway to Viacom Studios during a live taping of TRL. It’s absolutely atrocious. Just being able to see such underhanded trickery made me sick to my stomach. I even stood behind a TRL audience with a sign that said “Fuck Bush” and spent the rest of the afternoon downtown.
Now I have managed to change the topic into something more compelling than music genres. I have changed the topic to MTV and it’s effect on modern day society. And the effect is not pretty. Brace yourselves for the fall of America, because if Bush gets four more years, it will happen
Back to the music topic. Enough debate and picking and choosing of my quotes and trying to flame my post based on one quote. And because you failed to read my entire post and base what it was about on one fucking quote, you lost.
You can’t shame Sid Vicious- he had no talent. They unplugged his bass during concerts- the only reason they had him in the Sex Pistols is because he fit the image better than the actual songwriter and good bassplayer, whom they fired, and as a result of firing their songwriter, they only had one real album. So if she called herself a modern day Sid Vicious, that’s just funny. :-p
Avril Lavinge doesn’t suck. I can’t stand a lot of her stuff, but she doesn’t suck. No offense, but it sounds like you’re just spouting “oh my God this band sucks because they’re mainstream” bullshit, and (like most people who use this argument) you bring up mainstream icons such as Kurt Cobain (who seemed to have nothing to do with Avril Lavinge, as far as I can tell) and Sid Vicious. Don’t worry- I used to be a music snob, too. :-p