Bad(?) Music

[TheGreen]

This thread is not about bad songs.

My theory is that most people have a strange attraction to listen to or play music that they know is bad:
I have been classically trained on percussion and so I've been exposed to a lot of classic and contemporary music from great composers that I know intimately because I've played it.

But for some reason, even though I know it has little musical value, I love listening to bad music. Thrash metal, screamo, most hip hot artits, etc.

Also, there are talented musicians out there:
Pheonix, Mae, Regina Spektor and Them Crooked Vultures are just a few that are popping into my head.

But, it's sort of fun to listen to this goofy stuff right? Itz just liek teh way u use teh bad grammerz. But with music.

 

[Hanyou]

Just FYI, there's a lot of thrash metal out there that's actually got complex musicianship and relevant lyrics, so I wouldn't call it "bad" at all. As for hip-hop, I maintain that most of it isn't music, but the best hip-hop is poetry. I know you said "most" hip-hop, though. This is just the opinion of someone who, for the most part, can't stand either genre.

I do like some really cheesy stuff--this music isn't really bad at all but many people think it is because they don't dig deep enough. I love power metal bands like Rhapsody of Fire, for example, but I can't imagine anyone taking RoF's Tolkienesque lyrics seriously. It seems like most of what they sing about are dragons and swords and war, and they do all of it in this really heavy Italian accent with imperfect English (I've never understood why they don't just sing everything in Italian). On the other hand, their music is absolutely spectacular, and anyone who dismisses them just because of their subject matter is seriously missing out. I love both aspects; without the cheesy, overdone lyrics, the music just wouldn't have the same punch. Other bands with similar execution are the Japanese power metal band Galneryus, Finnish metal band Sonata Arctica, and even to an extent the prog/power metal band Symphony X. I love all of 'em, cheesy lyrics and all. It's just hard to convince people these bands' music is serious when you have song titles like The Dark Tower of Abyss, regardless of how good the musicianship is.

There's also glam metal, though I'm not extremely familiar with the genre. Whitesnake is popular enough, but what about the over-the-top Christian glam metal band, Stryper? Even as a Christian band, their lyrics aren't very good, and their music is not as complex as metal should be(all of it is made to be immediately accessible). One example is Calling on You

I also love some 70's and 80's pop music which most people would consider sappy, but I actually consider decent. That said, I don't usually go around shouting that Honey is genuinely moving for me.

Finally, there are some bands I like that I'm willing to admit are less than great. In 2004, I took a liking to AFI's album Sing the Sorrow, which was sort of the beginning of the band's decline. I still love that album and the previous one, and while they're certainly listenable, their lyrics are laughable and they try hard to make their music "extreme" and kind of repulsive. I also like My Chemical Romance and while they're not great I think they're decent. My girlfriend introduced me to them a few years ago and it took me awhile to appreciate them--then I heard the song The Black Parade. It's ridiculously catchy, as are several of their other songs (specifically Ghost of You, another favorite) so in spite of their "emo" image and their silly videos, I have no trouble liking them. Unfortunately, Chise stopped liking them as soon as I began appreciating them, so that left me very much alone. :< I also like pop-punk when I hear it. Pop-punk is pretty vapid and pointless, but it was the music of my teenage years and I haven't really shaken my fondness for it, even as I've since moved on to heavy metal and prog rock.

Finally, here's the clincher--American Idiot is my favorite Green Day album. I'll concede this isn't the greatest music in the world, though I don't think any Green Day album is very good, and I actually appreciate American Idiot for being an ambitious concept album.

That's about it.

 

[Austin]

Just FYI, there's a lot of thrash metal out there that's actually got complex musicianship and relevant lyrics, so I wouldn't call it "bad" at all.

QFT

I listen to a lot of "heavier" bands like the Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge and Between the Buried and Me who are quite musical in my opinion, but occasionally I'll listen to their contemporaries. To put it nicely, really, the same cannot be said for them. I'm struggling to remember names off the top of my head, but does anyone know The Locust? Job For a Cowboy? Really friggin' heavy and abrasive, but I wouldn't really be able to say that they have any good songs. Mostly because I can't tell the songs apart :xd:

 

[Gooey Fame]

It's impossible to judge. How hard does a song have to be before it stops being bad? I don't think its fair to say that there is no musical value in those songs.

I would say its about the artists intent and emotion put into that song or record they released is what matters. In my life I have met more people in bands who were sloppy as hell and could hardly play that have had more passion and love for music than most classically trained musicians or music majors that I have met.

 

[dur.i.am]

Just FYI, there's a lot of thrash metal out there that's actually got complex musicianship and relevant lyrics, so I wouldn't call it "bad" at all. As for hip-hop, I maintain that most of it isn't music, but the best hip-hop is poetry. I know you said "most" hip-hop, though. This is just the opinion of someone who, for the most part, can't stand either genre.

I agree with Hanyou, although not on the thrash metal subject, I am not actually sure what that is to be honest, so I can't really have an opinion. However, I don't really see the Hip-hop genre to be music a lot of the time, as it seems that a lot of them just sing and write their songs, although some of them don't even do that these days. Hanyou's statement about it being poetry is quite correct in my opinion, as they write something (although I don't think it's anyway near as deep or complex as most poetry) and then sing it, instead of writing it then reading it aloud. So really, a lot of Hip-hop is just Poetry with a beat in my opinion.

I usually hate these genre's, but there are musicians that I will listen to that can be classed as under that genre, is Gorillaz, even then that placement is questionable. But I do what you mean, I do feel compelled to listen to some really bad songs. One example is "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Buggles, it's not "bad", but in terms of the genres I like, it is, yet I think the song is great.

There are few other artists that in some way or another, I would think of their music as bad and would listen to. Not because it really is, but due to the fact that compared to what I listen to, like and dislike, they are "bad".

 

[Gooey Fame]

although I don't think it's anyway near as deep or complex as most poetry.

"On the corner of my block there stood this old man
A black immigrant from the land of sudan
Who used to tell stories to the children in the building
But never had a dollar to keep his pocket filled in
He bombed he knew deuteronomy the science of astronomy
But didn’t know the basic principles of economy
I say the wise man don’t play the role of a fool
The first thing a man must obtain is twelve jewelz

Knowledge wisdom understanding to help you achieve
Freedom, justice equality food clothing and shelter
After this, love peace and happiness

He had the nappiest head, I told him total satisfaction
Is to achieve one goal in the scheme of things
He who works like a slave, eats like a king"



As far as their lyrics go. I find them to be better than most songs in any other genre I know. Just because their lyrics usually have no melody people say it is not music. That makes no sense to me. Usually singers in rock bands don't sing as rhythmically as MC's do. I don't say that isn't music because of it.