DJLinus

Are there any artists or genres that all indicators point that you should like it/them, but in reality you don't?

For me it's "jam bands" in concert.

I like to see musicians have a mastery of their instruments. Jazz is one of my favorite genres and the cornerstone of it is improvisation. I like live music. A cover song done with a new twist to it is really enjoyable to me. I really like the concept of tape trading and think that the community aspect of it is great. A few of the genre's studio albums I do like a lot - American Beauty, Under the Table and Dreaming*, one or two others.

Given all of that, I just can't get into "jam bands" in a live setting. The songs that I've heard stretched out 10 minutes or more just seem to bore me. I've gone to shows and tried to like them, but it's just not taking.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not trashing them or their fans. I'm just not into that whole scene.

*I only mildly like DMB and this came a few years after college. I was sick of them in school because that's all I ever heard. Based on our parking lots, it seemed that my school gave you a DMB sticker upon enrollment. Originally, Matthews' voice was really annoying to me. But after I distanced myself from the constant inundation, I grew to appreciate them a little more.

zombiezilla

I've been a multi-instrumentalist (guitars,bass,keys,drums, vocs, etc) for well over 20 years, and I couldn't agree with you more. There's very little I hate more than a musician who's so pretentious as to think that he can take a (backed up) solo for more than, say 90 seconds MAX, without boring everyone to tears.

C_Fletch

I'm just the opposite. I love jam bands. I was just listening to a live DMB song that was over 12 minutes and I didn't even notice. Bands like DMB, Moe, Widespread Panic just excel live.

King Jaspo

I like most of what I "should" like

But I know I shouldn't like Jam Bands ...






and I don't.

The Bus

Sadly, the whole jam band "genre" is probably the only type of music which I will just widely write off. Grateful Dead, m.o.e, Widespread Panic, Galactic, Deep Banana Blackout, Disco Biscuits, Leftover Salmon, The Slip, etc. etc. etc.

I just don't see the same kind of musicianship in one of their solos as opposed to, say, a 20-minute song by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. And I can listen dance remixes that are 10, 15 minutes long.

Dave Matthews (Band) is an exception.

Oh well.

Now as far as an artist I should like, it seems to be Weezer. I just can't get into them.

whaaat

Coldplay. Though it's probably not fair to say as I've never sat down with a whole album of theirs, but what I've heard hasn't really impressed me, and just sounded like Radiohead-lite to me.

Tool. I really like the idea of fusing metal and prog/art rock, but the lead singer's voice is just frickin' annoying to me.

atlantamoi

Maybe The Raspberries? I love Big Star and pretty much everything that is considered power pop, but the one time I listened to one of their albums I just couldn't get into it.
Not rough enough or something. I should give them another shot.

Jason

I'll go with Tool and Radiohead. I like Rush, I like prog, I like complicated music, I like hard music, but I just can't get into either one. I find Radiohead boring, and Tool are just incomprehensible.

Michael Corvin

Tool is a great example. I like them, but not love them enough to rush out to get a new cd. I love prog, especially prog-Metal. Take for example the CDs I've bought this year:

Dream Theater
James Labrie
Pain of Salvation
Frameshift
Mastadon

That's it for the first 6 months of 2005.

Tool should be a no brainer. I mean they are just a radio friendly version of all the stuff I listen to already.

milo bloom

Mine's a twist on that, I like Radiohead, and I feel like I should like Rush, but I just can't.

I get a weird vibe just thinking about listening to Tool, so I don't.


I used to not like Liz Phair/Tori Amos/PJ Harvey even when I knew I should, but I'm recently starting to come around, and now it feels weird like I'm liking them just because I think I should.

Goat3001

Brand New, I like Taking Back Sunday and others that are similar but I hate Brand New. I don't know why.

UAIOE

I like techno...and have even grown to enjoy some mid-late 80's efforts as well. I like what i have heard of New Order and i like Nitzer Ebb's first cd.

In theory, i should also enjoy Depeche Mode as well as Erasure


but i dont.

uli2000

Coldplay-I have allways not liked them. Dont really know why. I think because I feel they have taken the sound of other bands and do better commercially than these bands that do it much better. Although, I might be changing my mind. Im starting to dig Speed of Sound more and more everytime I hear it. I might pick up X and Y to see if it can convince me otherwise.

Filmmaker

Anyone paying attention to my posts knows I love U2 (I own over 100 U2 and U2-related CDs, and have mp3s of hundreds of super-rare, unreleased-on-CD and bootleg remix tracks); every single person I know who adores U2 also adores the Dave Matthews Band. I do enjoy the song "Crash Into Me", but otherwise, I loathe Dave Matthews...the vocalist in particular grates on my nerves with his hillbilly sometimes-yodel, sometimes-twang...I just don't get why appreciation of the one band seems to always bleed into appreciation of the other...they sound NOTHING alike to me whatsoever...

The Bus

I understand. I really like U2, but DMB is not that interesting to me, nor do they sound alike. They are just similar in that they are "big" bands that are popular and for the most part, most people don't hate them. That's about it.

Giles

of the band's you've mentioned I have enjoyed Disco Biscuits in concert.

As to Dave Matthew's music I like his song's like The Space Between - however, "live", when the band and specifically the song starts to meander and just keeps going and going, it gets on my nerves.

Giles

I agree, with the exception of "The Bends" and "OK Computer" - I have found the most recent albums from Radiohead - completely pretentious and unlistenable.

Giles

I for the most part really like a good deal of "dance-electronic" music however, I find that 95% of Trance music to be completely monotonous and annoying.

Rypro 525

i guess for the fact that i like coldplay and pink floyd like bands, that i should like radio head, but i can't stand them.

UAIOE

Thats because it is

cerulean

I love U2 and can't get into DMB either.

Also Smashing Pumpkins. I recognize they have well-written songs, but they just leave me cold.

Tscott

The way others who share my musical tastes rave about Radiohead keeps making me think I should like them. I bought OK Computer when it first came out due to all the hype and it didn't do a thing for me. I sold it to a used CD place eventually- then rebought it again from yourmusic.com because I thought I'd give it another chance. This time it didn't leave me as cold as before, and there's some very listenable stuff there, but I'm never going to see it as a second coming or whatever it is Radiohead fans see in this album.

There's also a bunch of bands in the 90s that I alway thought I'd really like, Luna, Lush, Blonde Redhead, Helium, Saint Etienne and a few I'm sure I'm forgetting. But I just never got around to buying any of their stuff, I'm not saying I don't like them- just that I've been indeferent to them and always thought I should've given them a shot based on my likes.

UAIOE

I like the Pumpkins, Nirvana, STP, & Alice in Chains...but i never cared for Pearl Jam.

clckworang

People have already named some of the groups I was going to name. I realize that some people will view some on my list as a little blasphemous, but oh well. Now, as some have already said, I'm not trying to trash any of these bands or their fans. I recognize they are talented musicians, but for whatever reason, I just can't get into them.

As UAIOE said above, I just can't get into Pearl Jam. I love a lot of the grunge music from that time and have a close friend who is obsessed with Pearl Jam (anything by them), but they just leave me thinking, "So what."

While I do like some of their earliest stuff (War, Joshua Tree), I have never understood why U2 is so popular. They just leave me more than a little cold. I will also toss the other two bands I was going to mention here because I think they often have a similar sound or are lumped together: Radiohead and Coldplay. I have a friend who loves all three of these bands, but she just hasn't been able to convert me. Radiohead especially I would THINK that I would really like, and I do like some songs from them, but just not enough to rush out and buy some of their albums.