Confession Time...

[vaderSW1]

Let me get this out of the way first...I am a massive music buff. I have been an avid music fan since I can remember. Not only am I a fan of just listening to music but I have also had a love of performing it as well. I have old cassette tapes of me when I was very young singing songs like Billy Joel's "For The Longest Time" and Eddie Money's "Big Crash". I grew up in a very musical family. My Grandmother (on my Dad's side) was a terrific singer. My Uncle (on my Dad's side) was a guitarist in several rock bands in the 80's. My Grandmother's brother is a drummer. I have been a vocalist in several hard rock/heavy metal bands over the years. I just love music.

I recently came to the realization that I think I am a musical elitist. My wife and I are on complete opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to musical taste. Hell, some of my good friends and I are on opposite sides of the spectrum. I know it's subjective and all but I just like good music.

I truly feel like the biggest problem with the music industry isn't pirating. It's the total shit that the big music companies are putting out these days. So much of it is completely unoriginal, totally forgettable, and completely disposable. The corporate sponsored music being put out today has no staying power whatsoever. So much of pop music today is completely soulless. The music industry keeps finding these no-talent fucks like Justin Bieber, finding a bunch of ghost writers for them, auto-tuning the fuck out of their vocals, and then finding a producer to lay down a beat. They don't fucking play any instruments and don't write any of their own lyrics. Seriously, what the fuck makes them so god damn talented and popular? Is it Bieber's dashing good looks? It's not a damned beauty pagent, it's supposed to fucking be about the music, folks.

I could go on an endless rant about the shit music being put out by the likes of not only Bieber but Jayden Smith, Willow Smith, Rebecca Black, Taylor Swift, etc. Holy fuck, these folks are supposed to be our musical representatives? What the fuck happened to music having balls or having some soul? How the fuck did society let our music become so completely devoid of real emotion?

*sigh*

There is still great music being made but it isn't anything that's hitting the mainstream radio airwaves. Bands like Dredg, The Dear Hunter, and Anathema are painting masterpieces and putting poetry in motion. There's no support for these bands from the music industry but they have cult like followings. For my money, there's nobody else on the same planet as Dredg when it comes to making music. These guys are fucking amazing but nobody knows who they are.

I have often tried to encourage people to look outside the box to find truly great music. There are terrifically talented musicians out there that are putting their own stuff out via Bandcamp and the like that are just waiting to be discovered. Bands that truly deserve your money and support. They are bringing a consciousness and depth to music that you don't get from mainstream radio.

I know my opinion is not a popular one. Clearly it's not by the way the music charts look these days. I just thought I would throw this thread out there and see if anybody else felt this way?

 

[Jason Tandro]

I don't care for most modern music with a few exceptions but I do like a vast assortment of music, pretty much any style there's a few artists I'm in love with. I'm not an elitist except that I don't like the vast majority of what's on the radio today.

Spoiler: "Long musical tangent"

I have been known to listen to the gamut. I like some of the classic crooner songs from the 40s like Glenn Miller's Blue, Blue Rain. I love the Beatles, particularly Maxwell's Silver Hammer, but I also like the big hits like Revolution, Yellow Submarine, etc. Led Zeppelin is hit or miss for me. Stairway to Heaven is one of the best examples of rock and roll artistry to this day with the song incoroporating medieval flutes playing at the beginning including. Metallica... well I hate them as people and they were the ones who killed Napster... but For Whom The Bell Tolls just kicks so much ass.

Moving more into our time I love pretty much anything that came out in the 90s and early 2000s: Green Day, Goldfinger, Beck, Cake, They Might Be Giants (Apollo 18 is one of the earliest albums I ever had and it's hilariously awesome), Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots, some My Chemical Romance (again it's hit or miss), Daft Punk, Ace of Base (anybody??), I also have a weakness for Weird Al.

Obviously I love vidya music to a point of obsession. I also really love New Age music, mostly Yanni, but some Enya too. There's some independent stuff like... I'm blanking on the name but I think they're called Zero Project? There was this one CD that was various artists called Mystic Travels that I really want to find.

I like some country, though I'm much more picky about that and it's usually more on a song-by-song basis than artists themselves. I also like musicals and a shitfuckton of techno and electronic dance (I have 21 DDR albums). And metal, let's not forget that. Disturbed, Trivium, Drowning Pool (BODIES!!!!!!), Lamb of God (WALK WITH ME IN HELL!!!).

Other random bands that I like in no particular order: Guns & Roses, AC/DC, Alestorm (Pirate Metal. IF you haven't heard them, do it!!!), Oasis, Lenny Kravitz, Turisas, Dropkick Murphy's. It's a long list I could go on forever.

So no, I wouldn't say I'm elitist, if anything I'm over the top inclusionary and believe everything has something worth listening to in it.

 

[OneThousandCuts]

I truly feel like the biggest problem with the music industry isn't pirating. It's the total shit that the big music companies are putting out these days. So much of it is completely unoriginal, totally forgettable, and completely disposable. The corporate sponsored music being put out today has no staying power whatsoever. So much of pop music today is completely soulless. The music industry keeps finding these no-talent fucks like Justin Bieber, finding a bunch of ghost writers for them, auto-tuning the fuck out of their vocals, and then finding a producer to lay down a beat. They don't fucking play any instruments and don't write any of their own lyrics. Seriously, what the fuck makes them so god damn talented and popular? Is it Bieber's dashing good looks? It's not a damned beauty pagent, it's supposed to fucking be about the music, folks.

PREACH. IT.

I listen mostly to various forms of symphonic metal and classic rock. I need my music to speak to me. I need those lyrics to mean something, whether it's something I can relate to, or just something my mind can chew on. Rush, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Nightwish, and Epica tend to make the top of my list--in general, mostly music that either comes from a generation or two before me, or from overseas.

And you know what? This is going to sound snobbish in of itself, but maybe you're not an elitist. Maybe you're just too damn smart to fall for whatever the radio tells you you're supposed to like. I think modern pop is actually representative of something of a an intellectual, artistic vacuum. It's tempting to call it a cultural or even an educational problem. A sign of laziness. A sign that people just aren't thinking for themselves.

Did you by chance see the Lego movie? It kind of touches on that idea with that whole "Everything is Awesome" song.

 

[vaderSW1]

I don't care for most modern music with a few exceptions but I do like a vast assortment of music, pretty much any style there's a few artists I'm in love with. I'm not an elitist except that I don't like the vast majority of what's on the radio today.

Spoiler: "Long musical tangent"

I have been known to listen to the gamut. I like some of the classic crooner songs from the 40s like Glenn Miller's Blue, Blue Rain. I love the Beatles, particularly Maxwell's Silver Hammer, but I also like the big hits like Revolution, Yellow Submarine, etc. Led Zeppelin is hit or miss for me. Stairway to Heaven is one of the best examples of rock and roll artistry to this day with the song incoroporating medieval flutes playing at the beginning including. Metallica... well I hate them as people and they were the ones who killed Napster... but For Whom The Bell Tolls just kicks so much ass.

Moving more into our time I love pretty much anything that came out in the 90s and early 2000s: Green Day, Goldfinger, Beck, Cake, They Might Be Giants (Apollo 18 is one of the earliest albums I ever had and it's hilariously awesome), Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stone Temple Pilots, some My Chemical Romance (again it's hit or miss), Daft Punk, Ace of Base (anybody??), I also have a weakness for Weird Al.

Obviously I love vidya music to a point of obsession. I also really love New Age music, mostly Yanni, but some Enya too. There's some independent stuff like... I'm blanking on the name but I think they're called Zero Project? There was this one CD that was various artists called Mystic Travels that I really want to find.

I like some country, though I'm much more picky about that and it's usually more on a song-by-song basis than artists themselves. I also like musicals and a shitfuckton of techno and electronic dance (I have 21 DDR albums). And metal, let's not forget that. Disturbed, Trivium, Drowning Pool (BODIES!!!!!!), Lamb of God (WALK WITH ME IN HELL!!!).

Other random bands that I like in no particular order: Guns & Roses, AC/DC, Alestorm (Pirate Metal. IF you haven't heard them, do it!!!), Oasis, Lenny Kravitz, Turisas, Dropkick Murphy's. It's a long list I could go on forever.

So no, I wouldn't say I'm elitist, if anything I'm over the top inclusionary and believe everything has something worth listening to in it.

I don't see anything wrong with any of the artists that you mentioned JasonTandro. These are all very talented musicians that are/have created a lot of terrific music that have enriched lives. Some of this music is timeless (Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Glenn Miller). My musical tastes also run the gamut. I'm not against all pop music. i'm against awful pop music. There have been a few pop musicians that I thoroughly enjoy such as Michael Jackson (yes, God help me I am a MJ fan to this day), Sarah McLachlan, and Dido. In my music collection you would find everything from Michael Jackson to Weird Al to Radiohead to Sarah McLachlan to Lamb of God to Van Halen to Led Zeppelin to Boston to Hank Williams Sr to Nine Inch Nails.

PREACH. IT.

I listen mostly to various forms of symphonic metal and classic rock. I need my music to speak to me. I need those lyrics to mean something, whether it's something I can relate to, or just something my mind can chew on. Rush, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Nightwish, and Epica tend to make the top of my list--in general, mostly music that either comes from a generation or two before me, or from overseas.

And you know what? This is going to sound snobbish in of itself, but maybe you're not an elitist. Maybe you're just too damn smart to fall for whatever the radio tells you you're supposed to like. I think modern pop is actually representative of something of a an intellectual, artistic vacuum. It's tempting to call it a cultural or even an educational problem. A sign of laziness. A sign that people just aren't thinking for themselves.

Did you by chance see the Lego movie? It kind of touches on that idea with that whole "Everything is Awesome" song.

I really love Rush so much. They are absolutely one of my favorite bands of all time. Given that you like symphonic music, do you also like Within Temptation? Their early efforts are some of my favorite pieces in the genre. My heart melts when I hear them perform "Ice Queen".

You know, I have been trying to convince myself and others that maybe I am too smart for today's music for quite awhile now. LOL It always ends up making for some very interesting debates amongst my friends and family. I totally agree with what you're saying though. The whole "think for yourself" thing is something that I have been preaching hard for a very long time. I love bands like Tool and Faith No More that encourage that kind of outside the box thinking. I have been accused of being very much like Jack Black's character from High Fidelity by more than one person due to my musical snobbishness.

I did, indeed, see The Lego Movie. It is a brilliant piece of film making. I'm not a Will Ferrell fan for the most part but The Lego Movie was so good and he was perfect for the role. "Everything Is Awesome" is such a fun tongue-in-cheek song. I feel like The Lonely Island, in general, does a lot of tongue planted firmly in cheek stuff. You are absolutely right about that song.

 

[OneThousandCuts]

Rush is practically my first love when it comes to music. I've seen them in concert three times, the first being back when I was only 12, for their 'Test for Echo' tour. I developed an something above-average vocabulary very early thanks mostly to looking up the meanings of words in the lyrics I didn't quite understand. I most recently saw them during their 'Clockwork Angels' tour.

I do enjoy some of Within Temptation's music, although a little more selectively than with Nightwish, but that has a lot more to do with whether or not certain songs hit just that right nerve. Frozen, Stand My Ground, and Hand of Sorrow are a few that I can name off the top of my head that I particularly enjoy.

Tool is also good on a selective, song-by-song level for me. I'm a little more partial to A Perfect Circle, however.

A few more half-way decent oddballs I don't typically hear of outside of my own household are Zeromancer and Sugizo. 'Fractured' and 'Synchronicity' are fair examples of what they have to offer, respectively.

The Lonely Island is practically a staple in my family these days. My younger sister introduced me to them with "Like a Boss", and being a bit of corporate cog myself, I practically died when I heard it.

 

[LicoriceAllsorts]

I like Canadian indie music and folk music. I like folk music. There, I've said it.
I also like classical music, but really only listen to the Baroque musicians.

 

[Cthulhu]

For my money, there's nobody else on the same planet as Dredg when it comes to making music. These guys are fucking amazing but nobody knows who they are.

I do, they're the only 'poppy' band (as in, stuff that could be on radio stations easily) I have in my library. Oh, Coldplay too I guess from ten years ago, they're cool too I guess.

As for the rest... idk, sounds like elitism to me. Can't argue with taste, and if there's millions of people that love Bieber or engineered music, who am I to argue? I mean, I don't like Led Zep or stuff like that myself, .

I'm not elitist, I just like what I like and bar announcing that some songs are the greatest EVAR to whoever is listening (or not) and whom I wouldn't be too embarrassed to tell, I won't try to convince anyone they're plebs. Besides, that wouldn't be just because of the music they like, I'm guessing .

 

[OneThousandCuts]

I'm not elitist, I just like what I like and bar announcing that some songs are the greatest EVAR to whoever is listening (or not) and whom I wouldn't be too embarrassed to tell, I won't try to convince anyone they're plebs. Besides, that wouldn't be just because of the music they like, I'm guessing .

I probably came off the wrong way here...Forgive my tactlessness.

I absolutely do not believe in judging another person's personality or overall intellect by what music they listen to. I've met too many people who've expressed better thought out ideas in two seconds than I could hope to come up with in a day, who turned out to enjoy modern pop.

In the end, it's probably what the music means to the individual. As I said before, I like to look at it from an artistic, passionate, and/ or intellectual approach. The only thing I can say conclusively about anyone I've met or known who enjoys modern pop is that they tend to prefer music from the standpoint of fun, fashion, gossip, and general socialization--things that really can't be labeled as good or bad without context.

I apologize if I've needlessly offended or irked anyone.

 

[vaderSW1]

Rush is practically my first love when it comes to music. I've seen them in concert three times, the first being back when I was only 12, for their 'Test for Echo' tour. I developed an something above-average vocabulary very early thanks mostly to looking up the meanings of words in the lyrics I didn't quite understand. I most recently saw them during their 'Clockwork Angels' tour.

I do enjoy some of Within Temptation's music, although a little more selectively than with Nightwish, but that has a lot more to do with whether or not certain songs hit just that right nerve. Frozen, Stand My Ground, and Hand of Sorrow are a few that I can name off the top of my head that I particularly enjoy.

Tool is also good on a selective, song-by-song level for me. I'm a little more partial to A Perfect Circle, however.

A few more half-way decent oddballs I don't typically hear of outside of my own household are Zeromancer and Sugizo. 'Fractured' and 'Synchronicity' are fair examples of what they have to offer, respectively.

The Lonely Island is practically a staple in my family these days. My younger sister introduced me to them with "Like a Boss", and being a bit of corporate cog myself, I practically died when I heard it.

I have never had the pleasure of seeing Rush live. I really would have liked to do so but it seems I have missed my chance. From the sounds of it they won't be touring much anymore. I envy you for having seen them several times. I have heard they are amazing live. Do you dig other prog rock acts? I'm a pretty big prog rock fan. I dig bands like Dream Theater, The Mars Volta, At The Drive-In, Spock's Beard, Opeth, Alcest, Anathema, Antimatter, TesseracT, Dredg, Tool, Coheed and Cambria, and Pain of Salvation just to name a few. Aside from Tool, have you listened to any of them before?

As for Within Temptation, I too am pretty selective about their music. I haven't been nearly as big a fan of their last 3 albums as I enjoyed their earlier works. They seem to have departed the big anthemic sound that they had previously.

I could listen to Tool all day long. I love their material. There is not a single weak song on their albums, IMO. I do think A Perfect Circle is far more accessible though. It's less experimental and progressive and more straight-forward hard rock. I'm an APC fan too though. I dig pretty much anything that Maynard James Keenan is a part of. Have you heard any of the Puscifer stuff?

A good friend of my wife's turned me on to The Lonely Island by having me listen to "Sax Man". I thought it was very funny. I don't care for SNL so I had never heard of them prior to that. I find The Lonely Island, on the whole, to be pretty clever and funny. Some of the subject matter they get into is a little out of my realm but for the most part it is all pretty good.

I like Canadian indie music and folk music. I like folk music. There, I've said it.
I also like classical music, but really only listen to the Baroque musicians.

Right on. I'm not a big fan of folk music personally but I have good personal friends that love it. I dig some indie rock and classical music myself. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm not knowledgable enough on classical music to really be able to pick out a composer based on the song, however. I really need to spend more time getting to know different composers and their works.

For my money, there's nobody else on the same planet as Dredg when it comes to making music. These guys are fucking amazing but nobody knows who they are.

I do, they're the only 'poppy' band (as in, stuff that could be on radio stations easily) I have in my library. Oh, Coldplay too I guess from ten years ago, they're cool too I guess.

As for the rest... idk, sounds like elitism to me. Can't argue with taste, and if there's millions of people that love Bieber or engineered music, who am I to argue? I mean, I don't like Led Zep or stuff like that myself, .

I'm not elitist, I just like what I like and bar announcing that some songs are the greatest EVAR to whoever is listening (or not) and whom I wouldn't be too embarrassed to tell, I won't try to convince anyone they're plebs. Besides, that wouldn't be just because of the music they like, I'm guessing .

I'm not sure I would classify Dredg as being "poppy" by any stretch. Some of the stuff from "Catch Without Arms" and "The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion" could certainly be construed as being a bit less artsy and steering more towards mainstream rock but I wouldn't call it "poppy".

I do feel that I need to say that I would not call anyone out or be judgmental towards anyone that has a different musical taste from me. My ire is geared more towards the music industry as a whole. I feel like the big corporate music companies are fully responsible for the fact that the music industry has turned to shit. That's what happens when you keep pushing crap down the public's throats.

I probably came off the wrong way here...Forgive my tactlessness.

I absolutely do not believe in judging another person's personality or overall intellect by what music they listen to. I've met too many people who've expressed better thought out ideas in two seconds than I could hope to come up with in a day, who turned out to enjoy modern pop.

In the end, it's probably what the music means to the individual. As I said before, I like to look at it from an artistic, passionate, and/ or intellectual approach. The only thing I can say conclusively about anyone I've met or known who enjoys modern pop is that they tend to prefer music from the standpoint of fun, fashion, gossip, and general socialization--things that really can't be labeled as good or bad without context.

I apologize if I've needlessly offended or irked anyone.

I certainly didn't take it that you were being judgmental or tactless. Expressing your opinion is your right as a human being. As long as you aren't blatantly flaming anybody, which you were not here, I see no issue with what you said.

My intention for starting this thread was not to pass judgement on those that enjoy modern pop music. My anger and spite is directed at the corporations that run the music industry. They are, in my opinion, solely responsible for the decline of music. I will pass no judgement nor will I get into a flame war over someone else's taste in music. It is not my right to do so. I'm simply expressing an opinion and opening up discussion about something I feel very passionate about. I have a feeling that you feel the same way.

 

[Cthulhu]

I apologize if I've needlessly offended or irked anyone.

Oh, not me, if anything I'm the one that needlessly offended or irked anyone with my poast; sorry about that.

I'm not sure I would classify Dredg as being "poppy" by any stretch. Some of the stuff from "Catch Without Arms" and "The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion" could certainly be construed as being a bit less artsy and steering more towards mainstream rock but I wouldn't call it "poppy".

I only called it poppy because it has the same or a similar sound to popular British pop rock or whatever the genre is that has been playing on the radio a lot. Only, you know, better,

Anyway, I approve wholeheartedly of accessible digital music publishing; I should spend a lot more time than I do atm on sites like Soundcloud and Bandcamp and whatnot. The big music companies can fuck off.

 

[Flare]

I heard Nightwish and Within Temptations and became uber curious.

Not to say I've heard a lot of their stuff, but my cousin has a few Nightwish songs that I love, and she has a CD or two for Within Temptations (older ones, I believe), and they have a beautiful sound to them. I don't get to hear songs like that on the radio. Also, I like Evanescence.

I have so many different kinds of music I like, I've been meaning to make a post here, but I feel like it'd take forever to list them all. I'll just list a couple of the genres I like and list some more later (famous last words XD).

Well I must admit, I'm a pretty big fan of more pop-type music. I like song that make you want to move around while you're listening to them; not all pop songs are good, of course. But there's some stuff from Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and whatnot that's fun to listen to, in my opinion. I go more for the rhythm, the way the song makes me feel, more than anything else.

I agree that Justin Beiber sucks, though, and I hardly like any of Taylor Swift's pop songs; I think she was better as a country singer.

Then I have a place in my heart for rock and metal too, a few old-school stuff but more or less things like Nickelback, Daughtry, Lincoln Park, Breaking Benjamin, and whatnot. I'm not a fan of metal with a lot of screaming in it; in fact my favorite thing about metal music is the instruments. There's some amazingly good instrumentals in the metal genre.

Okay, a couple more genres. I do enjoy some dance music. By dance I mean the more nowadays stuff; they can have some electronic sounds to them, but I'm not a fan of that dubstep stuff or whatever it's called. For example, 'All of You' by Betty Who is one of my favorite songs. Not sure where Calvin Herris sits in genres, but I like a lot of his stuff too.

Lastly... I'm a big fan of violin and piano stuff. It can have vocals or not. For example, I love Lindsey Stirling's music, her violin is so beautiful and amazing. I also like the piano collection songs for FF games. Also, more in a classical territory of piano and violin, the newer band called Sons of Serendip has gorgeous, I repeat, gorgeous music. It's a band of four guys, one's a singer, one's a pianist, one's a cellist, and the other's a violinist. That combo equal beautiful music. They have a CD out right now on iTunes, and they've recreated a lot of songs from a variety of genres into this classical masterpiece (including an Evanescence song). I highly recommend you guys checking them out.

 

[Keveh Kins]

I will listen to anything and if I like it I'll listen to it some more

I tend to gravitate more towards heavy metal and grunge bands, though. But N'Sync, Mickey Jackson, Michiru Yamane's soundtracks, movie scores, classical music, 30's swing, rap (2-Pac in particular) and a whole hoard of other artists and styles are in their as well.

Ohohoh! 90's Rave and Eurodance crap or whatever you call bands like Eiffel 65. I don't give a damn what anyone says, 90's music was the shite!

 

[Tetsujin]

I like power/symphonic metal.
But then I also listen to lots of movie/game soundtrack music, a tiny bit of classical, a few Japanese artists (like GACKT ) and a bit of electronic music.
I also grew up a fan of Michael Jackson.

 

[Flintlock]

I do feel that I need to say that I would not call anyone out or be judgmental towards anyone that has a different musical taste from me. My ire is geared more towards the music industry as a whole. I feel like the big corporate music companies are fully responsible for the fact that the music industry has turned to shit. That's what happens when you keep pushing crap down the public's throats.

1. Who says it's crap?
2. Even if they're pushing it, nobody is forced to like it or spend money on it.

I feel like you're trying to get away with being elitist by choosing a faceless target. Much easier to say "it's the industry's fault" than "you're an idiot for swallowing their crap", right?

 

[vaderSW1]

I do feel that I need to say that I would not call anyone out or be judgmental towards anyone that has a different musical taste from me. My ire is geared more towards the music industry as a whole. I feel like the big corporate music companies are fully responsible for the fact that the music industry has turned to shit. That's what happens when you keep pushing crap down the public's throats.

1. Who says it's crap?
2. Even if they're pushing it, nobody is forced to like it or spend money on it.

I feel like you're trying to get away with being elitist by choosing a faceless target. Much easier to say "it's the industry's fault" than "you're an idiot for swallowing their crap", right?

Flint, did I touch a nerve?

Please note that I did state in my initial post that it was all objective. In my opinion, it is total shit. Taste is not something that we all share. If we did, I daresay it would be quite a boring world to live in.

Also, please note that I do not and did not disguise my disdain for modern pop music and nor do I disguise the fact that I am an elitist. In fact, I went so far as to actually state that I am when I agreed with OneThousandCuts assessment. Hence the whole point of starting this thread.

There was definitely a time when I would have been real quick to get into a war of words with someone that didn't agree with me or my taste. However, I figured out that I was being pretty damned immature about it and decided I could still have my opinion but I can't force it on anyone else. I am not going to throw anyone under the bus for liking what they like. I will, however, certainly place blame on the music industry as a whole for continuing to put out soulless, shit music.

Is that my opinion? Most certainly. Is that my taste? Again, most certainly. Does it make me an elitist that I consider most modern pop absolute shit? I think so. Some may not but I think so. Do others have to share my opinions? Absolutely not. Nor would I expect that they would.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Keveh: Who says 90s music is crap? 90s music is amazing. It's the ballads of my childhood bro. The Romeo & Juliet soundtrack- terrible movie, great freakin' soundtrack. Local God by Everclear is freaking amazing.

And I reiterate- early Green Day, Goldfinger and Ace of Base.

 

[Flintlock]

Flint, did I touch a nerve?

Not at all! I just felt like sticking up for people with different tastes. Also, I got a bit mixed up; Yop had written "I'm not an elitist" in his post, which you quoted in your reply, and for some reason, I thought you had said it. I realise now that you've admitted to being an elitist from the word go. So... carry on.

 

[Cthulhu]

in fact my favorite thing about metal music is the instruments. There's some amazingly good instrumentals in the metal genre.

tru fax. Here's some blatant plugging of one of my f4v0r1t3 bands of now / recent discoveries; bonus no vocals:

bonus two, same song, drums; the original was done with a computerer, but there's people (most notably the actual drummer of the band) that can play it:

 

[vaderSW1]

in fact my favorite thing about metal music is the instruments. There's some amazingly good instrumentals in the metal genre.

tru fax. Here's some blatant plugging of one of my f4v0r1t3 bands of now / recent discoveries; bonus no vocals:

bonus two, same song, drums; the original was done with a computerer, but there's people (most notably the actual drummer of the band) that can play it:

FUCK YES!!! I love Animals As Leaders! The first time I had ever heard of them was at a concert a few years ago. I went to see Dredg and Animals As Leaders opened for them. It was fucking amazing show. I have so much respect for Tosin Abasi.

 

[OneThousandCuts]

My intention for starting this thread was not to pass judgement on those that enjoy modern pop music. My anger and spite is directed at the corporations that run the music industry. They are, in my opinion, solely responsible for the decline of music. I will pass no judgement nor will I get into a flame war over someone else's taste in music. It is not my right to do so. I'm simply expressing an opinion and opening up discussion about something I feel very passionate about. I have a feeling that you feel the same way.

Yes, I do feel the same. My annoyance with modern pop is usually spurned on by the fact that I hear it literally everywhere in public, and the fact that pop musicians tend to play the part of some kind of 'real life' soap opera that too many of their fans get hooked on. Some of my stronger comments about it being an educational problem, and the result of some not thinking for themselves/ falling to group-think when it comes to determining their tastes...well...I meant those things, but that can easily be said about a lot of different forms of entertainment, and certainly wasn't directed at any one person, and much less at anyone who actually happens to enjoy the Taylor Swifts and Lady Gagas of the world genuinely for their music. My frustration is essentially that too many people are all too ready to swallow what the defunct music industry shoves down their throats, and call it 'good', especially when there's extra drama thrown in to make it go down easier.

I mean...as a fan of FFVII, someone could easily just come up to me and say, "Ah, you piece of mindless crap. You only like that game because of how popular it is!! What an overrated monstrosity!" But they'd be wrong, just as much as I'd be wrong in saying that ANYONE who likes pop lacks gray matter between their ears.

As for those other prog rock bands you listed, I have listened to bits and pieces here and there, especially when looking for new stuff to write to. Dream Theater sounds familiar. I'll have to keep that list in mind. I could probably listen to Maynard James Keenan read the dictionary, by the way. My favorite song from Puscifer is 'Momma Sed'.

Sadly, this is where I admit to living in something of a cave and/ or working without a map where it comes to exploring different bands. It's much easier for me to cherry pick songs on the fly either by sort of data-mining the genres of bands for lyrics that appeal to me, or when someone says to me, "Hey check this one out," but then I forget who the hell performed them, and kick myself for not knowing where to find it again unless someone I live with happens to know what I'm talking about.

Also, yes, Rush was amazing live all three times. For the more serious or seasoned nature of their song lyrics, they do have a way of putting on a really goofy persona on stage to balance it out. The last time I saw them, they actually went through the entirety of 2112 as their 'encore'.

Oh, not me, if anything I'm the one that needlessly offended or irked anyone with my poast; sorry about that.

Thank you. After reading what I'd written a second time, I was seriously worried that I'd stepped out of bounds in how I'd chosen to express my thoughts.

 

[OneThousandCuts]

I'm not a fan of metal with a lot of screaming in it; in fact my favorite thing about metal music is the instruments. There's some amazingly good instrumentals in the metal genre.

Lastly... I'm a big fan of violin and piano stuff. It can have vocals or not. For example, I love Lindsey Stirling's music, her violin is so beautiful and amazing. I also like the piano collection songs for FF games. Also, more in a classical territory of piano and violin, the newer band called Sons of Serendip has gorgeous, I repeat, gorgeous music. It's a band of four guys, one's a singer, one's a pianist, one's a cellist, and the other's a violinist. That combo equal beautiful music. They have a CD out right now on iTunes, and they've recreated a lot of songs from a variety of genres into this classical masterpiece (including an Evanescence song). I highly recommend you guys checking them out.

I agree about the screaming and growling. It's alright in moderation and if done well, can kind of add to a song the same way percussion or bass does, but if the whole song is nothing but, "Raaawrraaawrrrurggraawrr!", it does nothing for me that a big dog throwing a tantrum doesn't.

Sons of Serendip, huh? My interest is piqued. I mean, what I tend to like about symphonic metal is how it blends operatic flutes, flutes, violins, etc. with raging or wailing guitar riffs, and I do also enjoy one without the other.