Foo Fighters

[RFUS]

It's a good question. The most important thing to remember about pop music is that most of it is sh*t. If you don't think this, you don't love music. This of course means that most modern music is ****, especially if you are old, like me, because you've heard it all before, pretty much. I used to be devoted to the Bunnymen, for example, in a way I never could be about any band around these days. I kept my ear to the ground for decades but now I'm more interested in Surf's Up by the Beach Boys or Let's Get it On by Marvin Gaye than I am in anything current. I like the Antlers and I'm really into the Airborne Toxic Event (but that's partly because I sort of know them). I remember you saying you didn't like pop music but that's the prism through which I view all "popular music," be it the Beatles, At the Drive-In, The Temptations or, yes, Radiohead.

When I was a lad one of my heroes, Pete Wylie, stated that he was in a pop group not a rock band. I liked that. It helped to crystalise how I see music. He also coined the term "rockism" - an important idea in how music is viewed, I reckon. I suspect you and I have differing views on Rockism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockism

Maybe that makes me a bad indie hipster and maybe it makes you a bit of a smelly ted, I dunno. I like the way we look at the same thing and see different stuuf. That's art, I suppose. I love rock 'n' roll but yeah i f*cking hate the Foo f*cking Fighters and their third rate wannabe stadium rawk. They're hardly the Stooges, are they? they've certainly never done a thing which is fit to iron Kylie's hot pants, for example (but then, thinking about it, who has?).

Anyway, each to their own. Apologies for being a pious, pompous, pretentious prig. Carry on!

Well you make some good points. I mean, don't forget who you're talking to here; I hardly like any popular music. Some popular genres (pop, rap, rnb, dance) I don't even like at all.

But -- surely -- there are bands you like which do achieve mainstream success? I realise mainstream success usually means an easy, radio-friendly sound, but then there are bands which have their radio tunes but that also have their more complex stuff. Even going as far back as the Beatles -- they had their easy going pop stuff, and well they were about as big of a mainstream success as you can get, but the songs I love them for are the innovative, trippy ones they put out later.

Modern music is fantastic, anyway. I'm a big fan of music from the 60s onwards, but I still find most of the music I love to be from 90s/00s and onwards. Modern popular music -- in my opinion -- is utterly woeful. But for every top selling, cookie cutter pop track, there's 100 worthwhile tracks hosted on myspace, being recorded in a basement or being played to a crowd of 30 in a local bar. The point is, as I'm sure you're aware, there's plenty of quality bands out there. They just don't really flood the charts.

As an aside, I know a lot of people say how good music used to be. Well, I concur. But popular music in the 80s, for example, wasn't necessarily ground-breaking stuff either. The top selling single of 1987? Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Yes, the same one used these days to "rickroll" people.

Good music will always be there. You just have to look for it.





P.S. Not to say popular genres and music from popular genres isn't worthy, or is crap. Well... that's my opinion, but hey, I don't really listen to enough rap, pop and so on, to cast an educated opinion on the matter.

 

[heatmeiser]

Radiohead are hardly as innovative as people think, they just steal from lesser known bands (Clinic, DJ Hatcha etc) and brew their own version - which is what all good artists do.

Nothing is original. Most things are rubbish. Everything evolves (apart from Oasis).

I've no interest in either bands to be honest. FF have never registered in my ears - bit of fun I guess. Radiohead are aiight, a nice way for people to get into music if they're bored of Lady Gaga.

I've not really got any interest in shoving my obtuse musical tastes down people's throats. 'My music is better than yours' arguments are silly anyway, it's so pointless arguing over something so subjective, though I will say this;

KINGS OF LEON ARE TURD AND I CAN PROVE IT IN TESTS!

 

[Summerskin]

I dislike that comment. Pop(ular) Rock, so what?

Not having a dig at "popular" music mate, most of my all time favourite albums are by huge pop artists.

I'm having a dig at the people that have illegally downloaded nothing else but Everlong onto their sh!tty iPod and don't have the brain capacity to extend their knowledge of a band or its corresponding genre.

 

[RFUS]

Not having a dig at "popular" music mate, most of my all time favourite albums are by huge pop artists.

I'm having a dig at the people that have illegally downloaded nothing else but Everlong onto their sh!tty iPod and don't have the brain capacity to extend their knowledge of a band or its corresponding genre.

Nothing annoys me more than that. You have no idea how many times I've had this conversation:

Person X: "Who's your favourite band?"

Me: "Nirvana"

Person X: "Oh cool. I love them. Sounds like Teenage Spirit is the best"

Me: *cries*




But I find it's best to do one of two things, instead of belittling their tastes. You can either try and get them into your music, by recommending a good album/band. Or you can accept they don't take music as seriously as you and/or have different tastes, and leave it at that. As heat says, music is incredibly subjective, so for the most part it's not worth arguing who's better than who.

 

[Summerskin]

Nothing annoys me more than that. You have no idea how many times I've had this conversation:

Person X: "Who's your favourite band?"

Me: "Nirvana"

Person X: "Oh cool. I love them. Sounds like Teenage Spirit is the best"

Me: *cries*




But I find it's best to do one of two things, instead of belittling their tastes. You can either try and get them into your music, by recommending a good album/band. Or you can accept they don't take music as seriously as you and/or have different tastes, and leave it at that. As heat says, music is incredibly subjective, so for the most part it's not worth arguing who's better than who.

Your music taste is sh!t and therefore I am cool and you fail at life!!!!!

.

 

[McBain]

Right lid. Why don't you instead have a wee listen to this:

[video=youtube;k8byXSML4bY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8byXSML4bY[/video]

Just listen to the first song, or see how you get on.

Right, I'd better get the kettle on.

I cannot for the life of me see any merit in them, I'm afraid. Sorry, mate. If it's any consolation, Radiohead are painfully overrated, too.

I don't want to be your Monkey Wrench mate, but it's times like these, you learn to live again.

Best Fooies Song Ever
[video=youtube;L8RcVp0_b30]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8RcVp0_b30[/video]