cdollaz

Are there any bands out there that you like certain elements of, but something about them keeps you from loving them? An example for a few people I know is Smashing Pumpkins. I know some who like their music, songwriting, etc. but can't stand Corgan's voice (I do not share this opinion). If they had a different singer they would likely love the band.

For me the most obvious is Dream Theater. In my opinion they would be one of the elite metal bands out there if they would shit-can the keyboards and replace it with another guitar. I don't mind keys/piano in rock if it used correctly, as a backing instrument used for atmosphere, but I absolutely hate most of it's use in Dream Theater, as a lead instrument with solos and fills that to me sound cheesy. The keyboard sound they use is very outdated and when they have the solo passages that are just fast runs up and down the keyboard, it makes me cringe. I can stomach DT on occasion, but I could see them being on of my fave bands is the keys went bye-bye.

Anyone have any?

SAShepherd

I think I'd like Modest Mouse if it wasn't for the lead singer's voice. Different strokes, I know, but it bugs the heck out of me.

Turd Ferguson

I would really like U2 if Bono got off the cross.

Hollowgen

I would really like Mirah if she wasn't so childish sounding. Her music is awesome.

I'd like Bruce Springsteen a lot if he didn't have so much saxaphone and bells, etc.

And finally, I'd like the Foo Fighters if Dave Grohl would stick to what he does best: drum. Stop singing and writing boring-ass alt rock songs.

The Bus

I'd really like a lot of metal acts if their singers didn't growl. (DFA1979 would suck if the guy growled).

cungar

Gorillaz if they didn't feel the need to to stuff rap into their songs for street cred.

Achtung

I'd really like RATM if it didn't always sound like Zack was personally pissed off at me, the listener. But then I guess I have Audioslave for that.

gmal2003

I always thought Limp Bizkit would be very solid without Durst (the LB with Wes Borlin). Replace Durst with a singer who doesnt rap and Im good to go.

PopcornTreeCt

...Guns 'N Roses if Axel Rose didn't sound like a whiny bitch.

Tscott

It used to be that I'd really like The Pixies if it weren't for Frank Black (Black Francis, whatever). I loved the The Breeders, but hated Frank Black's solo stuff (plus he always irritated me for some reason whenever I saw him interviewed on 120 Mins.) so I never checked out the band that Kim Deal and him had together. I've since put my differences aside and bought the 4 core Pixies albums and liked them all except Trompe le Monde which I can't really get into.

Let's see, I hate to say it but I think I'd also really like Mariah Carey if she hadn't turned into a diva. I liked her first album when it came out. It was soulful and jazzy with a unique voice. Then she went pop and boring. I like her Christmas Album, too, but everything else by her keep it out of my earshot.

And I'd really like Sarah McLachlan if she'd take chances and get out of the rut she's been in musically since after she recorded 1994's Fumbling Towards Ecstasy.

atlantamoi

Before opening the thread I was thinking Corgan. I think some of their songs are pretty sweet, but that VOICE. I can tolerate quite a few odd voices, but he is not quirky or original. Just annoying.

Michael Corvin

The bolded line is your problem with Dream Theater, not the keyboards. Dream Theater is a prog band with metal elements. Not a metal band. Keyboards are a staple of prog. Pick up any prog CD and there is a 99% chance there is a keyboardest and possibly a solo. The keyboard sound is usually an homage to earlier prog bands like Yes, Kansas & early Genesis, which might be why it sounds dated to you. Looking at it in reverse, I'd say Queensryche is a metal band with prog elements. More like what you are looking for.

At least you didn't go with the tired argument against James LaBrie. That is usually the first comment, "The lead singer needs to go."

My pick. Christina Aguilera. She has a great voice and it is wasted on that pop garbage she records.

milo bloom

That's what really bugs me about her and Spears and really any manufactured pop star like that. Some are truly manufactured in the studios of course, but some you can tell actually have some talent, and are being wasted on garbage material.


I keep chuckling at all the Billy Corgan comments. I know this thread is all opinion of course, but whether it's the Pumpkins, Zwan or whatever, Corgan has always been the draw for me. I just found the comments otherwise kind of amusing

mndtrp

I'd like Audioslave if Cornell wasn't the singer. As much as I liked him in Soundgarden, he just doesn't do it for me now.

I like metal, but there are a lot of bands where I would just like to hear instrumental versions instead of the constant growling.

DVD Josh

That's their sound though. I think they wouldn't be any special without a rapper as their front man.

DVD Josh

I can't imagine how terrible Clint Eastwood would be without the rap parts.

I just dont' think you like the band, period.

cdollaz

I know that. But without the keyboards and with another guitar, which is what I suggested, they would be a metal band, and a damn good one.

Michael Corvin

I'm an idiot. I realized that later on. You are right. Rock on.

Hollowgen

what he said

cactusoly

I agree with many newer metal bands. The music starts and its like great, then cookie monster starts yelling. What ever happened to metal vocals like Dio, Halford and Dickinson.

DVD Josh

Malsteen ate them all.

covenant

agreed

zombiezilla

I would really like...

AEROSMITH....

if they....

went over a cliff in the tour bus.

.

harpo787

The Bus, Cactusoly: in general, I'm not a fan of the cookie monster vocals unless, I guess, the music is amazing. I enjoyed Sepultura from Arise thru Roots because the music/metal aspect was amazing. I guess I got used to the vocals. It was an easy transfer to switch to Soulfly with Max, and I enjoy the "tribal" metal sound of it.

Other than that though, so much I've heard where the music is decent then the growling begins and it's...it's redundant is the problem.

One other band has managed to break through and that's Opeth. First song I heard was "The Drapery Falls". I'm listening thinking "this stuff is incredible," and about 5 minutes in, the growling hits, and my heart sank. I figured another growling group...oh joy.

Then they released Damnation, and I read that it was all soft vocals and I scooped it up. Loved every minute of it. Picked up Lamentations (their DVD) and enjoyed it, and was stunned to hear a song in the first set (the "quiet" set if you will) that was not on the Damnation album called "Harvest." I heard that set 2 would be far more aggressive, and I just left it to run through as I did other things in the house. And somehow, it grew on me.

Now, when the growling hits on Drapery Falls...it seems perfect. Oh yeah...got to see them in concert a few months back in a small club down here in S. Florida called The Culture Room. Probably holds like 200 people. An amazing performance, and I didn't know what a sense of humor Mikael has...he certainly held it back on the DVD!

I guess, in closing, give Opeth a try, or give some band that fits MOST of the musical style you enjoy. You might just find yourself listening to stuff you never thought you would.

milo bloom

I'd agree with you post-"Crazy". Looking back, I think that's the exact point where they captured the shark, made shark fin soup, raped the shark corpse, and then jumped it.

The Darkness' "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" came on the radio the other night and I thought for some reason, "this is like an alternate reality Aerosmith where they didn't do the above-mentioned shark antics".

And seriously, the rapping is part of the Gorillaz' thing. Not sure how you could separate it.