Music: what are you guys listening to?

[Brain]

before i let anyone else post on this topic, i want to put a stop to one rumor right now. i am tired of people making a generalization about a genre and saying that "it isnt music" or "it takes no talent." folks, all genres have their talented artists, and all genres have influenced the other genres as well...

um, i agree with most of what you say tasty, but i really dont think that rap influenced classical all that much

[*NADS Capt. Anarchy]

well brain, rap might influence modern classical (oxymoronic, eh?) composers.

[rant]
sure, all music style take talent. some just take more and are reckognized for havin talent. Namely, bands where people actually play instruments, etc. take more talent than say, rap or pop. Also, many pop stars don't write their own songs. They're just handed a piece of paper with some lyrics and told to sing it.

As for the definition of pop you gave, sure, the word can mean any artist that's popular. But usually when someone says "pop", they refer to songs on the top 40 charts, or whatever the teenyboppers are listening too. Right now this genre seems too be oversaturated with the shit-for-music that we all know and love as rap and "pop".

And we call it pop because there's nothing else you can call it. Its only identifying charachteristics is pre-packaged music and a top-heavey female or two singing about watered down subjects that are acceptable to the vast majority of america so they can sell records. Sometimes they throw a curve and sing about something bad just to stir up some publicity and so the teenyboppers can get their first taste of rebellion. but even then the offense is something that won't be too bad to end someone's carrer.

the other shit-for-music we have polluting our world is what some call "confessional rock" or "down rock". Bands like Staind, Linkin Park, and we even have depressing rap getting popular with some of Eminem's new stuff. You know what i call it? shit-for-music! It's a bunch of overgrown babys whining because they had a couple problems in their life. y'know what? FUCK YOU! I got problems of my own without having to hear about yours too. And personally, when i'm in a  depressed mood, i want to get rid of it, not help it grow.

Newsweek's cover this week is on teen depression. you wanna know why teens are depressed? look at the shit-for-music they're baraged by. Staind singing about how his father left. Linkin park singing about how everything they do fucks up. Nickelback singing about more father shit. Yea guys, i'm sorry you had shit happen, but I don' wanna fucking hear about it. Save your bitching for the shrink. He might help you more than i do.

eh, i'ma  bit off track now. The point is, some music is music. Like say... I hate country, but i grant that it take more talent to be in a country band than it does to be some solo pop singer. All a solo pop singer really is is just an overconfident karaoke singer. egad, i better stop now.

[/rant]

just had to get that off my chest.

[Bondo]

Well, your point about pop singers being kareoke on the big time (paraphrasing of course) is somewhat true...that is why I like it...because I can sing along.  Then again, some pop stars do have talent...U2 I would call pop (I suppose it could be rock as well), The Beatles were pop, no one would deny them talent.  But going beyond those that no one would deny, I think it is becoming too popular to claim that NSYNC or the Spice Girls have no real talent and are not writing their songs but are rather just singers.  Each of the Spice Girls for example has done a solo album, most of which they wrote the songs for.  Mel C's CD has some really deep, well written songs.  I doubt that NSYNC wrote any of the songs on their first CD, I'll give you that much, but most of the songs on Celebrity were written by them.  Same goes for the Spice Girls, they didn't write their first two (although they contributed to the songs), but the third CD Forever is where they were finally able to show off their own stuff.  In both cases the third CDs are the best ones.  So yes, some of the complaints against pop music are valid, but most people generalize too much and don't give credit where credit is due.

[Jeb]

capt has a point...
i usuta like punk quite a bit, like ten foot pole, lagwagon, no use for a name, pulley and whatever else, but all the songs end up being about girls they cant get, and generaly depressing music. if you look towards the harder rock music now adays its all about being depressed and hating football players. i think its the new Korn music video with that loser getting his ass kicked by a group of big guys in highschool.
AFI is a good punk band, but i guess what i've grown to hate about punk/hard rock music is the fact that its really depressing.
Listening to hard rock music alll the time would be like bondo watching the end of the lion king over and over (it makes him cry).

Say what you want about trance music, but i'm sure half of you haven't never heard "acual trance" aside from the darude and kylie minoque shit which is fed to you off mtv. Trance music is happy, and energetic. Not dark, gloomy, angry and suicidal like modern hard rock.

oh i forgot to mention that boy band teeny bopper shit... that is also depressing music because if a girl older than 12 hears you'd listening to it you get laughed at.

[Beatles pop, heh.]

U2 I would call pop (I suppose it could be rock as well), The Beatles were pop, no one would deny them talent.

=======================================================

But going beyond those that no one would deny, I think it is becoming too popular to claim that NSYNC or the Spice Girls have no real talent and are not writing their songs but are rather just singers.  Each of the Spice Girls for example has done a solo album, most of which they wrote the songs for.  

Bondo, calling U2 and the Beatles "pop" by today's standards is a slap in the face. The major differences, (and I mean major) are that they both write/wrote their own songs most of the time (U2 occasionally plays songs written by friends) and they both play their own instruments. "pop" by today's standards are like someone said earlier, glorfied karaoke singers, and by calling the Beatles or U2 pop is absolutely disgusting.

The definition of pop nowadays is a glorifed karaoke singer who spent most of his/her time in dance class rather than learning how to be a real musician and picking up a guitar, trumpet, or any other instrument.

I for one am glad that pop is crashing big time...hopefully this sorry excuse for music is gone in the next couple of years.

[*NADS Capt. Anarchy]

I for one am glad that pop is crashing big time...hopefully this sorry excuse for music is gone in the next couple of years.

i hope it will be gone as well. i just shudder at the thought of what may replace it.

[Bondo]

Jeb, the part I cry about in the Lion King is actually in the middle, not at the end.

I admit that I can't play a guitar, I can't play drums, but I can sing...does that make me talentless?  I do know how to play the French Horn but I can hardly make vocal music like that.  Why can't being an expert of the bodies instrument, the voice, be enough...why does someone have to use an additional instrument to be talented in your minds.  That is where I find those who bash pop music completely lacking in logic.  They give no credit to the ability to sing just because they prefer instrumental to vocal abilities.  Many rock groups have lead singers who don't play an instrument, so is the lead singer not talented?

I certainly hope that bad pop music goes away (Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, etc.) and that the better pop music (NSYNC, Savage Garden, Spice Girls, Seal) remains.

[Geek USA]

ty "beatles pop, heh" ...whoever you are

[Bondo]

Well, just because today's pop isn't like the pop of the 60s doesn't make The Beatles not pop.  Same goes for U2.  Just because most people's definition of Pop is limited don't make that untrue.

[cookie]

OK, time for a brief lesson in etymology by cookie.

The word "popular" originates from latin word populus, meaning "of the people".  This today is interpreted as meaning "in public favor". Pop is simply an abbreviation of the word. Pop music as a genre has come to be associated with Britney Spears and the like but it hasn't always been this way, as in the case of the Beatles. Sorry to rain on your parades pop haters, but the Beatles were the equivalent of todays N'Sync. So before you start bitching about how much you hate pop and how much you love the Beatles, think about the meaning behind it all, assholes. JK JK about that last part pals  

[Geek USA]

So before you start bitching about how much you hate pop and how much you love the Beatles, think about the meaning behind it all, assholes. JK JK about that last part pals  

oh, phew, i was gonna say... "what happened to cookie!?!?"

[Mr. Lothario]

Namely, bands where people actually play instruments, etc. take more talent than say, rap or pop.

     e.g. my favorite currently-producing band, the Barenaked Ladies. Ability to play instruments? Check. Ability to sing (with some beautiful harmonies, no less)? Check. Songwriting skill and lyrics which are often quite deep and/or meaningful? Check. (Mostly) upbeat- or cheerful-sounding songs? Check. Sense of humor? Check. Good stuff.

[tasty]

ability to be trite and meaningless? check!

[cookie]

it's all subjective, my friends. i personally think rap is shit but i can hold myself back. most of the time.

[Mr.Mellow]

Now, first off, most of you folks will only recognize about half of these bands, not because you aren't enlightened or anything, but its because most of them are musicians music. Geekie might know some of them, since he knows who Mr. Bungle is. Some of it is mainstream, some of it isn't. None of them are really obscure bands or anything.  And now...The list!

Bands/musicians:
Frank Zappa
King Crimson
Primus (and anything involving Les Claypool)
Pat Metheny Group
Headless Torsos
Attention Deficit
Rush
Dream Theater
Tool
Victor Wooten
Stanley Clarke
Jaco Pastorious
The Residents
Dave Matthews Band (everyone loves 'em)
Larry Graham
Parliament Funkadelic
Pink Floyd
Steve Vai

And, if anyone knows the following two, they get a bowl of Mr. Mellow's Yellow Jello. Tetsuo Sakurai
Uncle Moe's Space Farm

Now, I don't really care much about most of the pop music out there, but the way I see it, they all have some talent if they can sell a record. There's only a few bands that I absolutely hate. That'd be The Strokes and The Hives. Absolute crap in my opinion. Now, I would put Linkin Park on there, but you gotta give them credit for screaming at the top of their lungs an entire tour. I'm surprised they didn't have strokes (no pun intended) or kill their voices. Anyways. That's my 2 cents.

[cookie]

Bands/musicians:
Frank Zappa
King Crimson
Primus (and anything involving Les Claypool)
Pat Metheny Group
Headless Torsos
Attention Deficit
Rush
Dream Theater
Tool
Victor Wooten
Stanley Clarke
Jaco Pastorious
The Residents
Dave Matthews Band (everyone loves 'em)
Larry Graham
Parliament Funkadelic
Pink Floyd
Steve Vai

mmkay, pink floyd, pfunk (george clinton and bootsie collins rock the casbah) viktor wooten, dream theater, and any les claypool project... rock. =) oysterhead is a great band. ahhhh! but i dont care much for dave matthews band, it's hippie crap. jk   i just dont like them. so booyah!

[Ace]

RUSH!!! Possibly the greatest thing to ever come out of Canada.

[*NADS Capt. Anarchy]

Ace, I believe you mean the ONLY great thing to ever come out of Canadia.

[PsYcO aSsAsSiN]

My roomate was "Beatles pop, heh." Let's just say that he went through the bookmarks that I keep online and he stumbled across the forum.

As for what I am listening to...in no particular order, within the last month I have listened to all or part of these albums:

The Beatles: Revolver, Abbey Road
Nirvana: Nevermind, In Utero
System of a Down: System of a Down, Toxicity
Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory
The Clash: London Calling
Pennywise: About Time, Full Circle, Straight Ahead, Land of the Free
AFI:  The Art of Drowning
Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II
Jimmy Hendrix Experience: Are you Experienced?
Metallica: S & M

I am sure there are more, but this is all I could think of from the top of my head.

[Geek USA]

ahh yes, the clash. they're not too bad. as far as led zeppelin goes, i suggest you try physical graffiti