Not "liking" legendary bands or artists

My listening interest grinds to a stop when I hear recent “music” (i.e. hip hop, rap and anything made in a bedroom). I am open to all other kinds of music and every now and again I hear the odd gem. Every band or artist has something that is an enjoyable listen. And it depends on the mood you are in. Take “Whatever you want” by Status Quo. I defy you to not nod your head!

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I’ll play and recommend these if you are looking for something outside the main stream:

Abbey Lincoln - Mrs. Max Roach. Great music and had a brief movie career before black people were really accepted in movies. Her “Afro-Blue” is a good place to start.

Allison Moorer - Shelby Lynne’s sister. Formerly married to Steve Earle. Every little thing she does is magic. Check out “Not Dark Yet” duet CD with her sister.

Ry Cooder has been a legend for many years. Check out his live performances on YouTube. Just look around and you will find something great. He has one live in Santa Cruz. “Mauna Loa Rhythm Aces” on CD He has many others out there.

John Hiatt. Also legendary. But you should hear “Live at Cotati Cabaret” on CD. With Ry Cooder on guitar.

Also check out the Ry Cooder soundtracks. My particular favorite is “The Border” which I like on vinyl, but he has many including “Paris, Texas”, “Alamo Bay”, etc.

Also check out the Meters and Neville Brothers from New Orleans. Not exactly mainstream but we have them on vinyl and they are all worth a listen. “Wild Tchoupitoulas” is great on vinyl but also on Quobuz. You can take it from there.

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Shows we’re all different. I’m not a massive Beatles listener but was brought up with them and so they’re woven into my life and great to go back to because of the connected memories but also the sheer level of inspiration and life in there. Love most everything from the early singles up.

The rockier they became, the duller for me. Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album, Let It Be and Abbey Road all have decent songs in there but my goodness the amount of turgid, plodding drug addled stuff on those records is massively understated.

I am be burned in hell here but I am honest: I have no one Beatles album, neither Bob Dylan, neither Neil Young, neither Bruce Springsteen.
Have many Pink Floyd but can’t listen to them anymore, as Doors.
I still can enjoy Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.

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Much as I love Dylan I see little point in trying to persuade others. The voice is probably the definitive marmite voice. You’re either going to love it or hate it and that’s okay. Where I think I struggle is when people use the voice to disparage or undermine his achievements. To suggest that somehow he wasn’t the major figure in 20th century music.

I don’t think there is a single point of entry which might change anyone’s mind musically either. For me, bizarrely, the way in was a book. Famous tracks aside, the first album I heard was Street Legal, probably no-ones idea of the entry drug. Borrowed from my local record library in fairly battered form and I liked it. Can’t say I loved it or even understood it but there was melody enough across enough tracks and some interesting gospel backing to keep my attention.

Bloke who lived over the road from my parents was a Dylan obsessive. Rather than make me listen he gave me two books. One was academic to the point of being unreadable. One was not. I’ve no idea at this point which books they were but the second one changed my life.

It framed Dylan by his lyrics; explained the poetic traditions he was using and subverting and in one great phrase, oft quoted, but not so much nowadays, it explained how other lyricists were operating at or close to the margin but Dylan was the margin.

It also included a brilliant analysis/explanation of Mr. Tambourine Man as being the definitive lyric in terms of it being Dylan singing to his muse about how uninspired he was and begging his muse to inspire him whilst simultaneously unconsciously producing such vivid streams of imagery that inspiration hit of its own volition. As an added bonus a detailed takedown of exactly where each verse came from and what it was referencing. Hearing a lyric unpeeled like that was a revelation. It also made a case, and I stand by this, that Another Side Of is the definitive Dylan album. Acoustic folk but bringing in pop. Lyrics that moved from folk to surrealism. It made the case that the move to electric may have shocked his audience and the media but critically it was the lyrical move in Another Side Of which changed the landscape.

I can do this in a pub and still have mates who’ll hear me out and go “Yeah mate, but that voice.” :slight_smile:

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Never really got Floyd. Dark Side is a decent listen but with whole sections that are padding. The other stuff largely struck me as drugged up self-indulgent dullness. Nothing I’d rather less hear on a hifi.

Springsteen to Tunnel Of Love is great albeit that the latter was patchy. The Rising was decent. Ditto The Seeger Sessions. Really though I feel for those who try to make a case that he continues to make something profound or is an amazing live act. His music has been samey, predictable, turgid and lacking in dynamics for a long time. There is zero comparison to be drawn between late 70s/early 80s Springsteen live and now. I am genuinely embarrassed for those who persist in trying.

You enjoy what you enjoy and no-one should diminish that. Trying to make out it somehow remains life-changing could be politely described as a stretch though.

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It’s a “time spent with” thing as I see it.
The more time listening, experiencing, immersing and finding out about an artist/artists the more you can tease out some joy from the experience.
At a time when time is in short supply, it can seem pointless to invest it in things that on the surface seem irrelevant.
Although after some effort if something still leaves you cold, you can then know for sure it’s not for you.

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I no longer enjoy Zeppelin and really lost interest in The Stones except their early pre 70’s material.
I can take or leave The Beatles and solo Gabriel does nothing for me after 1,2 & 3 and the Live album following those.
Floyd, Yes, Camel and many other Proggie 70’s bands are still very much in my repertoire. As is most Classic Rock offerings from the 70’s & 80’s, but not all.
What this indicates to me is a change in listening preferences with age. Early Stones was/is my mums thing but The Beatles never did it for her or my dad.
Jazz (which I like a lot) was my dad’s influence as was Blues (which I like a lot).
Classical is pretty much all me. My mum never played classical music and my dad didn’t get it at all.
Some of my more recent listening has been influenced by my son and other young people that I have spent time around. Also this forum!
BUT
To get back to the point, I DON’T listen to LEGENDS, I listen to what I like and if they happen to have some kind of LEGENDARY status, then good for them😁

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A chance to get this off my chest!
All classical apart from as a background in movies.
Most prog - Yes, Genesis etc.
Plinky plonky jazz - eg dave Brubeck
Joni Mitchell and all other whiny self obsessed singer songwriters
I can take Pink Floyd but they went way downhill after Sid was sacked.
That’ll do for now.

Aaah - that’s better :slightly_smiling_face:

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Interesting how some people’s tastes have changed over time. In my case my taste has widened, but I still love the music I did when I was 15/16 and all the way thereafter…

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For me, the prime example would be The Doors. I never owned an LP by them. Early in the CD era, I bought a two disc compilation. I’ve played it once since then.

A less extreme case would be Led Zeppelin. Again, I have a two disc compilation, but I rarely play it. I do like LZ - in moderation. I get all I need from the radio.

I should add that I don’t listen all that much to classic rock. I’ve stopped listening to my classic rock radio station in favor of a station that mixes the old with the new.

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I might not share all your anti choices, but the sentiment of getting it off your chest I fully appreciate :smiley:

I’ve never listened to a Pink Floyd album all the way through. There. I said it.

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One thing I would say is to give something more than one chance. When I was in my teens a musician friend lent me Kind of Blue with the instruction to “listen intently”. I gave it back a couple of days later “just don’t get that”. How wrong I was!

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Funny how things we thought we hated changes over time. Basically what @Innocent_Bystander said a few posts ago.

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The only thing approaching that for me is opera, though I’m not sure I would have described my hearing of arias on the radio as hate, more dislike along the lines of “I wish they wouldn’t sing like that so I could hear the music properly”. Things I hated (perhaps disliked intensely is a better term, hate having serious connotations) decades ago, like jazz and soul, I still can’t stand - though of course that is a generalisation because most if not all genres include a wide range of variation, some less dislikable than others. However, nothing makes me inclined to try to explore to find the odd exception. Opera was different because behind the weird singing style was often good classical music - and I have written about my “conversion” elsewhere on this forum. However even now I man not generally keen on listening to arias out of context.

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If it makes the OP feel beter…

I hate

  • The Beatles
  • Pink Floyd
  • Anything by Elvis except the Comeback Tour
  • The Grateful Dead
  • Joni Mitchell
  • Janis Joplin
  • Eric Clapton
  • [addendum] Almost forgot Bob Dylan. My god how could I forget someone so boring.

I’m sure I could find others that are like nails down a chalkboard to me but that will do for now.

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It’s ok not to like someone, who cares it’s your ears. It doesn’t mean or say anything other than we all have different tastes. I don’t particularly like The Smiths, Elvis or Queen to mention a few but that’s my personal taste. Own it.

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Genuinely uncomfortable with the word “hate”. There are artists like The Doors who have never clicked with me. There are artists I have ideological differences with but “hate”? That seems unnecessary and a little strong.

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I am wondering how long ago a band or act has to be before they are considered legendary. A few of the more recent ones that could be considered legendary I don’t get are Radiohead, Artic Monkeys, and Blur/Gorillas, in fact pretty much anything involving Damon Albarn. All of these are very talented etc, but just don’t work for me.

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The thing with text is you can’t tell if someone’s pulling your leg that easily.

Do people not “hate Monday mornings” or “hate Brussel sprouts” ? Or should they be saying they “am not entirely partial to a Monday” and “have an aversion to the Brussel sprout” ?

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