Bands you keep trying to like but can't get into

brimstead what don't u like abt Bevis Frond? I love all the stuff up tp Sprawl, but I can see several dealbreakers e.g. the inept cardboard box drum sound

Pretty sure I said this upthread, but my #1 has gotta be Scott Walker. Overemoting constantly does not make you a good singer. Also sets off every "pretentious" alarm in the house.

so otm

As an update to my trying to get into Sonic Youth: Sister is indeed awesome and I want to hear more like that. It has the right blend of melody and noise for me. Evol has two good opening tracks and a great closing track but the rest just drifts by - decent, but I don't think I'll come back to it. Still willing to hear another album so I'll try Dirty next

There's a string of Bevis Frond albums in the 2000s that are relentless combinations of bleak imagery, mopery about lost traditions, and fourteen minute low-fi garage rock jams. The album from last year is better, but the only reason I can explain why it's so is because I haven't deleted it yet.

That said, my knowledge of Bevis minutiae is bullshit because while I love one demented genius, I cannot, have not, have never been able, and have ultimately given up on another. I will never be a Guided By Voices fan.

PINK FLOYD RULES

have basically split the difference between childhood worship of floyd and twentysomething 'floyd suck!' contrarianism these days. they were good. i still get to be a contrarian by saying that 'a saucerful of secrets' is their best studio album.

Pink Floyd worship was more contrarian than not in most of the circles I haunted as a twenty-something, so I've stuck to my childhood toy guns throughout. Anyway, A Saucerful of Secrets is good.

Bevis Frond, man. I totally forgot about them/him. Once, in high school, I read a review that sent me to ... New River Head? It was OK, iirc, but remains the only one I've ever heard. I haven't heard it in decades, but still can hum a couple of songs. I think of the band as lost to me in an era when the only way to hear stuff like the Bevis Frond was to buy the album, but there was no way I was going to dive deeper into someone that obscure yet prolific at that time in my life. Too difficult/expensive. Really underscores how crazy it is that now I could have his entire catalog for free in 5 minutes ...

made a nice little playlist of post-Syd, pre-DSOTM Floyd which, outside of owning and liking Meddle, was an era with which I was totally unfamiliar.

Pink Floyd Rules, albeit erratically

I had heard of Bevis Frond but never listened to him/them, but he lives near me and they played a gig in town just before Xmas, which was pretty good, so this year is the year I finally listen to Bevis Frond. Haven't started yet tho. He owns a record shop in the next town which is supposed to be good, I think I'll be visiting it soon

also started chronologically listening to Pink Floyd, I only really knew the Syd era and generally thought post-Syd Pink Floyd sucked. so far I've listened to Ummagumma and Atom Heart Mother neither of which have done anything to change that opinion

Don’t go chronological, dude... just check out the big, famous, mid-period albums and see what you think.

made a nice little playlist of post-Syd, pre-DSOTM Floyd which, outside of owning and liking Meddle, was an era with which I was totally unfamiliar.

Pink Floyd Rules, albeit erratically

― A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Chooglin (will), Monday, May 6, 2019 7:58 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Floyd is weird in that a totally ubiquitous and legendary classic rock warhorse has this whole period (imo their best) that's weirdly unknown

i guess Bob Welch era Fleetwood Mac is kind of the same thing

anyway there was a sale on Obscured by Clouds vinyl on Amazon and am listening now, love this record

hell, even peter green fleetwood mac is pretty unknown in the states... in america only record nerds know "albatross"

heh yeah it's like 13 songs and 5 of them are from Obscured

xpost

xpost Plus "Oh Well," which I just saw covered by the Monks of Doom Wednesday night. And "Black Magic Woman," though I guess most folks don't think of that as a FM song.

On some days Peter Green Fleetwood Mac is the key to the world.

I never even knew Albatross growing up, but Oh Well was a staple on the classic rock station....

someone on Twitter was like IT'S NOT FLEETWOOD MAC WITH OUT LINDSAY BUCKINGHAM and i was like lkasdf;kjasdl;fkjhalskdhfipawhf;as

I thought Meddle was fairly well known but I guess growing up I kinda knew it as their 'obscure' great album

maybe a good thread idea - don't the Bee Gees have a ton of pre-disco records that aren't really well-known but were ultimately their best?

the only pre-Buckingham/ Nicks FM i've ever heard on American classic rock radio are "Oh Well" (maybe? late at night?), "Hypnotized", and "Sentimental Lady". And Sentimental might have very well been Welch's solo version.

i think what puts Meddle on a casual fan's radar is "Fearless"

xpost It Is sort of a good thread idea, if it hasn't been done, because yeah, Bee Gees are another hugely successful band with a whole hunk of career that most people don't know.

They played the hell out of "One of These Days" from "Meddle" on classic rock radio growing up. I'm not sure I ever really listened to or at least appreciated "Echoes" until I was older.

Don’t go chronological, dude... just check out the big, famous, mid-period albums and see what you think.

otm. at least for a teaser, if you don't like the other post-syd stuff.

i think what puts Meddle on a casual fan's radar is "Fearless"

but first and foremost, "Echoes"

When I saw Pink Floyd live in 1987 (the first post-Waters tour) they played "One Of These Days". Meddle has quite a few songs that are part of Floyd lore.

another hugely successful band with a whole hunk of career that most people don't know.

Isn’t this true of most bands with large discographies that hit it big mid-career, though(?)

You mean like Genesis, etc? Yeah, I guess there are degrees of obscurity.

yeah, but those albums are extremely well-known among a certain group

Um y'all know that Outic is going through all the Bee Gees stuff in a dedicated thread, yeah? Check it out!

Indeed, I'm like the only other guy on the thread though.

As an update to my trying to get into Sonic Youth: Sister is indeed awesome and I want to hear more like that. It has the right blend of melody and noise for me. Evol has two good opening tracks and a great closing track but the rest just drifts by - decent, but I don't think I'll come back to it. Still willing to hear another album so I'll try Dirty next

I think Sister and Dirty are probably the best introductions to Sonic Youth. Daydream Nation is supposed to be the best, but I feel like its appeal is a bit more subtle.

I heard Daydream Nation first, but Sister is the one that made a convert out of me.

In the spirit of recontextualizing bands you can't get into, here's what did it for me with mid-period Pink Floyd:
Watch the live at Pompeii video.

I grew up in the 80's, so knew of Pink Floyd only as middle-aged purveyors on MOR space rock. That video was a bit of a revelation... for one thing, i never imagined that the band were ever that young.

Um y'all know that Outic is going through all the Bee Gees stuff in a dedicated thread, yeah? Check it out!

I wonder how many people who bought the Fine Young Cannibals knew the connection to the English Beat? Or even were fans of the Beat?

Arthur Russell. I listen to him a lot but not sure I understand the level of adoration to the degree I perceive amongst most.

good example. he is definitely underrated from the wide public but maybe overrated here. i like and enjoy his music and i think he brought something new into the music atmosphere. a certain positive vibe and a rare love for the fusion of rhythm and sound. but overall he will never be as important as neil young, miles davis or even bob dylan for me.

I like the disco stuff but I bought "World of Echo" in a bargain bin a couple of years after it came out and played it, like, twice, then later on find out he was a genius

It's not that I keep trying to like them, more that I comfortably don't, but Vampire fucking Weekend.

Not bands but

Vic Chestnutt - i like the ~idea~ of him but i find his voice really unsettling & hard to listen to

I am mad at him for having my last name but adding 2 superfluous t's

Chestnu

not much what's new with you

xp you jest but someone legit tried to spell my name that way when I noted they put one too many t's

cosign on Vic Chestnutt.

I have enjoyed a tune or two of his over the years, but yeah

if you're a big k. hersh fan you know she is a chestnutt permastan, which has let me to listening to him many times, but likewise it never really took

Oh I like Vic Chestnut but think Jackson C Frank is no good except the famous song

“Blues Run the Game”?

I like all of that double cd by Jackson C Frank I think. Definitely think the 60s lp is pretty solid.

At the Cut, one of Chestnutt's later albums, was my gateway. It's a tough listen but it has some fine moments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Z-kjr4BLs

Just came over from Burt Bacharach poll results thread to ask if Scott Walker has been mentioned yet

Yes, I see that he has, never mind