Unpopular music opinions

[Pooky]

I remember the then very influential British music weekly NME used to absolutely hate The Barenaked Ladies, and gave their mainstream breakthrough album Stunt 1/10. They weren't very keen on Weezer either, although I think they eventually progressed to the now standard line of "the first two/three albums were good". I think that kind of North American "quirky"/"witty" indie music didn't translate very well here, and I've never been the biggest fan of those bands myself. Also not mad keen on They Might Be Giants.

 

[entransify]

I remember the then very influential British music weekly NME used to absolutely hate The Barenaked Ladies, and gave their mainstream breakthrough album Stunt 1/10. They weren't very keen on Weezer either, although I think they eventually progressed to the now standard line of "the first two/three albums were good". I think that kind of North American "quirky"/"witty" indie music didn't translate very well here, and I've never been the biggest fan of those bands myself. Also not mad keen on They Might Be Giants.

Dang.

I admit Weezer is hit and miss, and I do love some BNL tracks (though they haven't been the same since original member Steven Page left), but TMBG on the other hand, easily one of my favorite bands of all time. Saw them live in 2012 and it was so much fun.

 

[Pooky]

I know lots of people love them, and I did like their Tiny Toons episode when I was a kid, but as a whole they're not for me. I did consider seeing them live at Latitude Festival in 2011, but it clashed with something else.

 

[khuddle]

I remember the then very influential British music weekly NME used to absolutely hate The Barenaked Ladies, and gave their mainstream breakthrough album Stunt 1/10. They weren't very keen on Weezer either, although I think they eventually progressed to the now standard line of "the first two/three albums were good". I think that kind of North American "quirky"/"witty" indie music didn't translate very well here, and I've never been the biggest fan of those bands myself. Also not mad keen on They Might Be Giants.

Like Otter, Weezer were pretty hit or miss for me. I liked some of their songs at least -- Buddy Holly and Say It Ain't So -- while with BNL, Green Day and Blues Travelers, I didn't like any of their catalog.

I'd throw Pearl Jam in there as well. I hated everything they did. Pearl Jam didn't feel organic at all, they were corporate rock at their worst. You could literally see a bunch of suits putting them together in some skyscraper somewhere: "Hey, we need to appeal to that sweet 16-18 year old white male demographic. That band Nirvana has some legs. Lets imitate them!"

 

[Darklordavaitor]

That's not really my favorite scene either, but I'll always love the first two Weezer albums. I guess I can relate to Rivers Cuomo growing up as a comics and Yngwie Malmsteen-obsessed nerd.

 

[khuddle]

I remember the then very influential British music weekly NME used to absolutely hate The Barenaked Ladies, and gave their mainstream breakthrough album Stunt 1/10. They weren't very keen on Weezer either, although I think they eventually progressed to the now standard line of "the first two/three albums were good". I think that kind of North American "quirky"/"witty" indie music didn't translate very well here, and I've never been the biggest fan of those bands myself. Also not mad keen on They Might Be Giants.

Conversely, Oasis and some of the other British acts didn't translate very well here in the States.
The exceptions were Blur and Radiohead. Radiohead had a huge cult following, and Blur must have made a mint on royalties, because for a while "Song 2" was the most played song (sometimes the only played song) at every hockey arena in the country.

 

[Pooky]

I'd throw Pearl Jam in there as well. I hated everything they did. Pearl Jam didn't feel organic at all, they were corporate rock at their worst. You could literally see a bunch of suits putting them together in some skyscraper somewhere: "Hey, we need to appeal to that sweet 16-18 year old white male demographic. That band Nirvana has some legs. Lets imitate them!"

I'm not a Pearl Jam fan either (I can enjoy a few of their songs, but I have to *really* be in the right mood), but I will slightly defend them on the charge of being manufactured; they were formed out of the ashes of another band called Mother Love Bone after there lead singer died. What's kind of interesting is that Mother Love Bone were pretty much a glam metal band, exactly the kind of music grunge was supposed to be usurping.

Also a corporately established band probably wouldn't be as self-important or whiny as those guys are, geez.

Conversely, Oasis and some of the other British acts didn't translate very well here in the States.
The exceptions were Blur and Radiohead. Radiohead had a huge cult following, and Blur must have made a mint on royalties, because for a while "Song 2" was the most played song (sometimes the only played song) at every hockey arena in the country.

As I understand it Oasis are pretty much only known for Wonderwall over there; here c.1996 their popularity was probably the closest thing in my lifetime to Beatlemania. Well, them and the Spice Girls a year or so later (understand I'm only talking in terms of cultural ubiquity here, not music quality).

I'm not sure if Song 2 would be Blur's best know song over here; it would be up there but it might not be top. Some of their earlier songs probably wouldn't cross over to the US for similar reasons to those US bands; social commentary about daily life in England. Heck there are part of this country where it was felt their lyrics and themes are too London/South-centric.

 

[Darklordavaitor]

I was a little young, but from what I understand, Oasis were quite big in the states during the (What's the Story) Morning Glory era, which went multi-platinum, and that seemed to have enough good will to allow their first and follow-up LPs to go platinum. I'd call them a one album wonder in the states off of that, if only because "Champagne Supernova" and "Don't Look Back in Anger" do get some kind of play and recognition, but nothing else seems to exist here. I'd argue going quadruple platinum is pretty high for an album with just one hit... although Billy Ray Cyrus' debut is nearly diamond-certified. But he's also country and had more hits than "Achy Breaky Heart" in the scene, which is totally different from the pop and rock scenes.

For my own unpopular opinion, while Oasis and Blur seem to be the Britpop bands who blew up the most stateside, I also think they're the weakest of who I'm familiar with by some distance. I much prefer Pulp and The Verve, even if I prefer the latter's earlier shoegaze material.

 

[khuddle]

Conversely, Oasis and some of the other British acts didn't translate very well here in the States.
The exceptions were Blur and Radiohead. Radiohead had a huge cult following, and Blur must have made a mint on royalties, because for a while "Song 2" was the most played song (sometimes the only played song) at every hockey arena in the country.

I'd also throw in the Chemical Brothers as well. "Block Rocking Beats" was pretty popular here when it first came out, and during the 2000-2010 era you couldn't walk into a restaurant, bar or cafe without hearing "Galvanize" blaring in the background.

 

[AdrenalineRush1996]

Conversely, Oasis and some of the other British acts didn't translate very well here in the States.
The exceptions were Blur and Radiohead. Radiohead had a huge cult following, and Blur must have made a mint on royalties, because for a while "Song 2" was the most played song (sometimes the only played song) at every hockey arena in the country.

Actually, Oasis did have success in the States outside "Wonderwall", as with the exception of their debut album and The Masterplan, their studio albums were top 25 hits in the Billboard 200 charts with three of them reaching the top five as well as that they fared better in the American rock charts.

 

[Surreal Kangaroo]

I honestly love “Ob La Di Ob La Da”. It’s one of my favorite Beatles songs. It’s not the best but it certainly is one of the catchiest. I don’t get why it’s commonly regarded as one of the worst songs ever.

 

[khuddle]

IMO Led Zeppelin 3 is a wildly, wildly overrated album. I only like two songs from that
album: The Immigrant Song, and Bron-Y-Aur Stomp. Everything else sounds like out-takes.

(Ironically, Poor Tom was recorded for Led Zeppelin 3 but was ultimately left off the album.
Strange decision, because its a great song and it should have been included in the place
of one of the more mediocre tracks, like Gallows Pole or Hats Off to Roy Harper).

 

[Spacething7474]

While I agree with the message Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was portraying with it, the instrumental kinda ruins Not Like Us (and to be frank I don't really like the vocals either).

 

[entransify]

I honestly love “Ob La Di Ob La Da”. It’s one of my favorite Beatles songs. It’s not the best but it certainly is one of the catchiest. I don’t get why it’s commonly regarded as one of the worst songs ever.

I enjoy it, but lyrically it is terrible and there's no way around that. It's a throwaway pop tune that only Paul liked, and John and George were so ticked at having to record the song that they tried to sabotage it.

 

[Spacething7474]

Now that the discourse has passed and people don't have to make false equivalences to AI, the official animated video to Last Christmas looked bad and it already has an animated video in the form of the Crazy Frog version (which every song should have).

That being said, it wasn't as terrible looking as the official animated video to Never Gonna Give You Up.

 

[Spacething7474]

Maroon 5's cover of Closer by Nine Inch Nails is great and they should've gave it a commercial release.

Speaking of NIN songs that belong to those who cover them, John Ray Cash should've covered Closer instead of Hurt solely because I think it'd sound funny (but'd also sound cool).

 

[Mandouga]

Just saying, but most people know "John Ray Cash" as "Johnny Cash"...

 

[Spacething7474]

Just saying, but most people know "John Ray Cash" as "Johnny Cash"...

I know, but I like calling celebrities by their full names.

 

[Spacething7474]

The only good version of Rainbow Connection is the one that Unique Attraction/Boyz II Men released a month ago.

 

[Spacething7474]

2009's Hey Soul Sister by Train is actually very good. Yeah some of the lines are kinda goofy but that only adds to the charm.