The Song Fight Bulletin Board

I know, I know, after Dan's 'SUCK IT' poll, this might be a letdown of sorts, but still... anyone who doesn't vote 'Country and Western' is an asshole.

i voted commercial rock, because that's what i'm subjected to on a daily basis living in a stupid dorm.

all of the others have suckiness, but also a little bit of goodness. top 40 is iffy though. sure good songs have penetrated the top 40, but when someone says "top 40" good songs do not come to mind. i think of christina aguilera shrieking like a harpooned whale over boring music and over-polished production.

i was also tempted to vote rap, but it's just the hardcore rap that annoys me. and it didn't specify which kind of rap.

i'm done being an asshole now.

Commercial rock can also be good rock. Depends entirely on how shitty the tastes of the current populace are.

I had my vote for country/western ready before I opened the page.

I actually hate jazz more than anything. Maybe I'm just bitter that I suck at playing it.

I based my vote on what I would be most unhappy about if I were given a cd collection with everything in that genre ever made and forced to choose songs solely out of that collection for the rest of my life.

So, Top 40 without a doubt, with Commerical Rock in a close second.

I mean, sure, lotsa Country/Western sucks, but... Johnny Cash? Willie Nelson? Hank Williams? Heck, even Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins. There's a decent enough supply of good stuff to keep the genre afloat.

Country and Western is fucking awesome. But really all of these have great acts in them. Top 40? I dunno, the Beatles? Commercial Rock? Nirvana? Rap? Wu Tang? Good tunes is good tunes.

Assuming Top 40 means pop (billboard seems to have another definition), I'd have to eliminate either Country, Classic Rock or Jazz. Hmmm... Country has Lyle Lovett, Alisson Kraus, and Bluegrass; Classic Rock has Queen and, well, Queen; Jazz has.. um.. hmm... er..

Jazz sucks.

Yeah man, fuck Thelonius Monk and John Coltrane. In other news, "WHAT!"

What is the difference between "Top 40", "Classic Rock" and "Commercial Rock"?

This is definitely the "Worst Poll Ever".

rock bores me. one guy hits a guitar while another hits some drums zzz zzz zzz it all sounds the same to me.

Loosen up, folks. This is in "Silly Polls", after all.

Mogosagatai wrote:I based my vote on what I would be most unhappy about if I were given a cd collection with everything in that genre ever made and forced to choose songs solely out of that collection for the rest of my life.

I bet you'd discover awesome music that otherwise you would have remained ignorant of.

Of all those genres, I like Reggae less.

What genre is Matchbox 20? I really hate Matchbox 20.
...and Pink Floyd
...and Keith Urban
...and Fiddy cent
...and Coldplay
...and that whiney little English prick that sings "You're Beautiful"
But I really hate Matchbox 20

Mogosagatai wrote:Top 40 without a doubt, with Commerical Rock in a close second.

I mean, sure, lotsa Country/Western sucks, but... Johnny Cash? Willie Nelson? Hank Williams?

I agree. There's an enormous difference b/t Johnny Cash and pop-country crap like Toby Keith and Brad Paisley. It's a shame they are included in the same category.

I voted Top 40. Anything that is that popular probably sucks (I don't have much faith in the general public).

I have no answer. I don't think there is such thing as a bad genre of music. I have been able to find things to enjoy in each of those genres. Every genre has their crap artists but with an open mind I think you can find good songs anywhere.

C'mon, Niv. Surely you can point to a category of music that (to you at least) produces more junk (or less good stuff) than any other.

Sure, there's some 'good' reggae, in my opinion. But as musical genres go, it's got the lowest batting average with me.

Come on! Trash the classics with us! Poop on the shoulders of giants!

Sorry.

Country and Western: I'm an 80's metalhead and power ballads evolved into modern country. I can listen to "Every Rose Has Its Thorn"(Poison) or "Coming Home"(Cinderella) and I can see the similiarities. And that's why I can listen to bands like Montgomery Gentry without cringing.

Folk: I'm a New Yorker. So, I've been kneedeep in "antifolk" which is just punchy folk rock. Plus I love acoustic guitars, so I have no hate for the folk.

Rap: Gangstarr, Eric B & Rakim, Tupac, The RZA...lyrical genius.

Top 40/ Commercial Rock: I grew up listening to Casey's Top 40. Pop is a necessary evil and in recent time, I've found more and more to enjoy it. Lately the guitars and rock sounds of the genre are growing. A great example is "Since You've Been Gone" by Kelly Clarkson. That song has punch and energy. And I've been pleasantly surprised to find punchy songs like that coming from unlikely sources like Lindsay Lohan (Confessions of A Broken Heart), Ashlee Simpson ("Shadow") and Nelly Furtado ("Maneater")

Classic Rock: It's classic rock. Led Zepplin. The Doors. Cream. Know your history and learn from it, young rockstars.

Blues: Not my favorite genre but as a guitarist, you have to know it or else you've missing an essential. Plus, I've been listening to more Rolling Stones lately and they embrace their bluesy side. And I still enjoy the hell out of "Riding with the King" (King & Clapton)

Jazz: Two words. Django and Jaco.

There's no such thing as a bad music genre in my opinion.

I'm kinda with Niv here, but I went by the percentages and picked the one I thought had the most things I wouldn't want to listen to.
-bill

There you go. None of it is completely 'bad' in my opinion either, but one of them is the worst in relation to the others. (In my case it wasn't one on the list, but still...)

It's definitely better as a general rule to celebrate the positive things about, well, everything. But this is a place for singling out the weakest link, and mine is reggae f'sure.

And now that I think about that, it's probably due to the fact that it's a genre in which I see the least variation. Even blues seems far more exploratory to me than reggae. But that could be just as much a result of how narrowly I draw the line between genres.

Denyer wrote:rock bores me. one guy hits a guitar while another hits some drums zzz zzz zzz it all sounds the same to me.

Have you ever seen Meeting People is Easy where Thom Yorke says all music on the radio sounds like "a refrigerator buzzing" and then when they mention Creep he says "yeah, that was good fridge buzz".

I agree, that no genre of music is totally bad, that good comes from all of it. For the purpose of voting I guess I voted on which do i think is the worst right now. I couldn't pick Top 40 because even though I wouldn't be caught dead listening to much of it, a lot of good stuff actually pops up on it. Take right now for example...in addition to Shakira, Pink and Tim McGraw, you have The Flaming Lips (11), Johnny Cash (20), Morrisey (27). Even if good stuff only lasts a week on it (Yeah Yeah Yeah's were at 11 last week and 41 this week), it's there nonetheless.

Right now, I think commercial rock is at its worst (Nickelback (19)). I would totally rather listen to Kelly Clarkston than most commercial rock.

I hate to be a stickler, but isn't all rock that's available in a marketable form commercial? I mean, even if I go buy a Pavement album Stephen Malkmus is gonna see some of that money. The whole idea of genre is just really stupid to me. And the idea of disliking a genre seems even stupider. I mean, take John Zorn. He just kind of does everything, he's genuinely unclassifiable. But he has jazz roots so he's called a jazz composer. What? And Jimmy Cliff is called reggae, but to me he sounds a lot like American soul music, just done... Jamaican-style. And then the Clash is punk but they dabbled in reggae and like everything in between. So what's the point?

jimtyrrell wrote:Of all those genres, I like Reggae less.

Oh dude, seconded. Although I like Ensemble Improvisational Xylophone music even less.