Post a controversial music opinion

Acoustic blues ftw, by a Delta country mile.

One Bad Son's cover of "Psycho Killer" is good.

I'm struggling to put myself in the shoes of a The 1975 enthusiast except in a 'different strokes for different folks' kind of way (latest single is the worst offender in this regard). But you do you, I suppose.

A Momentary Lapse of Reason is better than any other post Wall album by Gilmour or Waters.

I'm struggling to put myself in the shoes of a The 1975 enthusiast except in a 'different strokes for different folks' kind of way (latest single is the worst offender in this regard). But you do you, I suppose.

I liked their last album on first listen, but every time I hear a single from the new/upcoming one, I move closer to "I can't believe I used to like these guys"/"I can't believe anyone likes these guys" territory.

I don't think complaints about electric blues are controversial - that's a conversation that goes back to the '60s.

I liked their last album on first listen, but every time I hear a single from the new/upcoming one, I move closer to "I can't believe I used to like these guys"/"I can't believe anyone likes these guys" territory.

― grawlix (unperson), Sunday, October 21, 2018 3:43 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Absolutely, thoroughly loathed the band at first (and still can't get away with that first album), but enjoyed the second album. I haven't heard anything from the forthcoming one, but it's perfectly understandable and totally uncontroversial that someone may not like 'em or find their lead singer insufferable. Don't say that to the hardcore fans, though!

not sure if it's controversial but unless i'm in a bar most electric blues are boring as shit

would that include early electrics like John Lee Hooker or Lightnin' Hopkins?
cause I LOVE that shit...

you know how much time i wasted not listening to magic sam because i figured all that electric blues stuff was the same old shit?

zappa is rubbish

I'm not inclined to disagree based on what little I've heard (Freak Out! and The Yellow Shark) but that's a fairly uncontroversial opinion nowadays, isn't it? His influence is harder to dismiss.

I don't think it's uncontroversial, esp outside ILM. I think he was really original and created work that fills a niche no one else quite does for me; a great composer and bandleader at times, an effective satirist at times, and just a good rocker at times, but also put out loads of dross.

an effective satirist at times

I'm gonna need to see a list, here. Some of his instrumental music is quite good, but every time he (or anyone in his employ) opens their mouths, I cringe so hard I feel like I might spontaneously shed my whole skin.

Steely Dan in all its slick, expert session guy precision engineering leaves me completely cold.

Will reply about Zappa but just want to note that we're listening to the Jeff Beck Group's Truth and electric blues ftw.

I like a handful of satirical things from throughout Zappa's career like "Hungry Freaks, Daddy" (and a lot of Freak Out!), "I'm the Slime", and "Flakes" and some just-silly stuff like "Montana" etc. None of it was ever subtle or particularly literary, and the guy's politics weren't really right-on, so I don't expect to persuade anyone here re Zappa's satirical merits, especially if they didn't listen to him as a teenager. I do agree that his instrumental work is usually what I come back to most. Sometimes a dumb dick joke in 7/16 is what the doctor ordered, though?

Madness' version of The "Sweetest Girl" is miles better than the Scritti Politti original.

I could take or leave most Zappa. Prog is best done with excessive sincerity imo. I do have a soft spot for Freak Out though.

Steely Dan in all its slick, expert session guy precision engineering leaves me completely cold.

― An Uphill Battle For Legumes (Capitaine Jay Vee), Sunday, 21 October 2018 19:26 (three hours ago) Permalink

This is the standard reason people who don’t like Steely Dan. Which is fine, but it’s also exactly what they were going for, including the at times cold feeling.

I never get how "cold" is supposed to be pejorative. Cold burns!

I mean saying Dan is slick and overproduced is like saying that rap isn’t singing.

Their records don't sound "overproduced" to me in the way that idk "Invisible Touch" or Hysteria are overproduced (let alone the 117 tracks of Pro-Tooled garbage on most contemporary pop recordings). If anything, they seem like the audiophile height of naturalistic recording and engineering, as far as commercial pop music goes - this might be what turns the haters off.

i.e. the naturalism might just not seem very exciting.

which is probably what you meant; just working out the ideas, I guess

I've never heard Zappa described as 'prog' before

I think of him as a prog artist too fwiw; I didn't think that was particularly controversial tbh.

One Size Fits All is at #18 here, #38 here.

One Size Fits All also notable for having fairly non-snarky lyrics.

I could take or leave most Zappa.

Uhhhh this statement is meant to be “controversial”? LOL

No, it was a response to someone else’s post.

I think all blues music is boring to terrible, or at least nothing I’ve heard has ever made me want to listen to more

i see we’ve transitioned to “post common musical opinions”

People dont like zappa, steely dan or the blues? These are standard late 70s punk opinions

xxp Sorry — missed the “zappa is rubbish” post (least controversial opinion evah)

I don't understand the objection to either the naturalism of Steely Dan or to the "precision engineering." What kind of engineering is someone who makes that criticism looking for?

Probably looking for that early Hüsker Dü sound

Gaucho: engineered by Spot at Total Access Studio, CA

Late 70s punks were trying to be controversial tbf.

I love the recording and engineering of Steely Dan's records myself btw.

a lot of soca is shit

Gaucho: engineered by Spot at Total Access Studio, CA

my original blues post was just a reaction to like 3x/week electric blues slots on local college radio and one of them would be just fine but 3 or so? fuck that, why is there so much electric blues on local cle radio

I’ll say he same about death metal, no reason more than one prime a lot needs to go to that nonsense

not gonna look it up now but I prob made that original post on a Thursday night when one of the two best stations in town plays death metal and the other plays electric blues

“prime a lot” should be “prime slot”

The irony of the reputation Steely Dan records have for engineering standards is that Katy Lied was recorded with a faulty noise reduction unit (cymbals decay too fast, attacks/impacts are generally dulled, etc.). After the exacting Dan realized this, they were all, “Eh, whatever, put it out anyway.”

Phil Collins is a national treasure and everyone should quit being a prick about him.

Which nation?

holy shit just the thought of Spot recording Gaucho gave me a minor panic attack, at the same time I desperately want to hear that version

If anything, they seem like the audiophile height of naturalistic recording and engineering, as far as commercial pop music goes - this might be what turns the haters off.

― The nexus of the crisis (Sund4r)

this is definitely true for Aja but Gaucho sounds hermetically sealed & antiseptic. it's the perfect music for a doctor's office waiting room. I love both though. but yeah this is a very common discussion, talking about Steely Dan really is the Godwin's Law of ILM.

lemme think of something spicy

Prodigy is better than nas

A lot of the records Spot did that sound "bad" according to ppl would sound a lot worse if they sounded "better" (particularly Huskers)

also I think he takes a lot of heat for recording bands that 1) had shitty equipment 2) weren't really studio ready 3) were gacked on coke/pills/weed/etc 4) having to do whole albums in one 48 hour marathon session