Best Ever Albums

Re: Songs you hate atm

Listmeister — Fri, 6 Sep 2013 16:44:52 GMT

Author: Listmeister

Posted: 09/06/2013 20:44

Listmeister wrote:

Awolnation's Sail, for the line "Maybe I should kill myself and blame it on my ADD". It's been on the charts for months, and still climbing. Any song that presents suicide as an option in the lyrics is morally irresponsible, reprehensible, and should produce visceral anger in anyone who understands how much music affects its listeners.

I have always felt this way, even about the "teen tragedy" genre that was popular in the 50's, the kind that has the plot: boy meets girl, boy can't be with girl because of social pressures (she's from the wrong side of the tracks, usually), girl jumps in the river, boy decides to jump in the river after her, leaving the song as sort of a suicide note. I really, really, hate those songs also.

But killing yourself and blaming it on attention deficit? WTF???? Why would you even suggest such a thing? Even if I'm completely missing the point (and I'd be willing to concede that) it's that line that's going to stick in the loop tape of some disturbed kid's mind, and then his blood will be on Awolnation's hands.

When I wrote this, I had just seen the Billboard Hot 100 list and noticed that not only was it still on the charts, but it was actually climbing. Given how I feel about the suicide line (see above), when this thread came up it gave me an outlet to unload.

I think I went too far. The "blood on his hands" bit was way out of line. I misrepresented what the song is trying to say. Anyway, I apologize.

Still don't like the song, though.

Re: Songs you hate atm

drakonium — Fri, 6 Sep 2013 10:38:32 GMT

Author: drakonium

Posted: 09/06/2013 14:38

AlexZangari wrote:

You misunderstood. That's what I'm saying. Indie culture is pop culture too. I wasn't just talking about pop music, that was just the example.

Oh, OK. We seem to agree then. Sorry! 😠

Re: Songs you hate atm

19loveless91 — Fri, 6 Sep 2013 07:14:13 GMT

Author: 19loveless91

Posted: 09/06/2013 11:14

Look up Miles Kane - Give Up (I'm not awarding that thing a youtube view).. It's everything I hate to see in 2013 music.

Re: Songs you hate atm

AlexZangari — Fri, 6 Sep 2013 05:36:08 GMT

Author: AlexZangari

Posted: 09/06/2013 09:36

drakonium wrote:

I'm not trying to defend pop culture, but I think it works like that for the rest of music, too, actually. If you make someone listen to some not too special unknown album without telling them anything, they'll probably be bored and tell you it's not amazing. Then tell them Pitchfork rated it 9.2 and they go crazy and it's the album of the year. Not saying that Pitchfork has shitty tastes, but just that I believe that accusing pop culture to work like that is a bit hypocritical, when I think we're all guilty of this to some extent.

You misunderstood. That's what I'm saying. Indie culture is pop culture too. I wasn't just talking about pop music, that was just the example.

Re: Songs you hate atm

Cymro2011 — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 11:58:02 GMT

Author: Cymro2011

Posted: 09/05/2013 15:58

AlexZangari wrote:

Ah, I see. I keep a comfortable distance away from pop radio so luckily I never suffer from anything being overplayed.

Same here. I've barely heard of any of the songs mentioned in this thread.

Re: Songs you hate atm

Dingerbell — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 11:56:27 GMT

Author: Dingerbell

Posted: 09/05/2013 15:56

drakonium wrote:

Do you know, I would be very interested to see if Pitchfork rated a truly awful album- I mean practically unlistenable- album 10, and see if people began raving about it.

Re: Songs you hate atm

andy_hunter — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 10:16:11 GMT

Author: andy_hunter

Posted: 09/05/2013 14:16

AlexZangari wrote:

No way, Foster the People are great. Actually the one thing that bugged me about that song was when I first heard it and started playing it around my family, they said it sucked. Then as soon as top 40 radio added it to their playlists they decided they loved it. Just goes to show how pop culture works.

I find that infuriating when it happens.

Re: Songs you hate atm

drakonium — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 09:29:16 GMT

Author: drakonium

Posted: 09/05/2013 13:29

AlexZangari wrote:

Re: Songs you hate atm

AlexZangari — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 09:19:13 GMT

Author: AlexZangari

Posted: 09/05/2013 13:19

Ah, I see. I keep a comfortable distance away from pop radio so luckily I never suffer from anything being overplayed.

Re: Songs you hate atm

knels94 — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 05:26:16 GMT

Author: knels94

Posted: 09/05/2013 09:26

AlexZangari wrote:

Don't get me wrong, I like Foster the People, I just thought that song was way overplayed. It really turned me off to checking out their other stuff. I was late to the party when Torches came out, but I still play that quite often.

Re: Songs you hate atm

AlexZangari — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 04:24:48 GMT

Author: AlexZangari

Posted: 09/05/2013 08:24

knels94 wrote:

EDIT: Just remembered how old "Pumped Up Kicks" was when that was big, anyone remember being bugged by that?

Re: Songs you hate atm

knels94 — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 04:14:13 GMT

Author: knels94

Posted: 09/05/2013 08:14

No Mumford and Sons hate on here? That is a bit of a surprise. "I Will Wait" was everywhere when it was pretty big. I wanted to tell everyone playing it to stick a toothpick under their big toenail and kick a wall...kinda graphic and mean but dang, that song is annoying. 🧱

I get why people don't like Imagine Dragons, but they are decent as long as they aren't playing all day long, one or two plays a day is bearable.

So for now "I Will Wait," anything by Lady Gaga, the diamonds song by Rihanna, "Sail" because I hear it at every red light, and "Blurred Lines." I guess I dont get the hype there.. 🤔 I am just glad my prayers have been answered and my work has stopped playing about the same five Nickelback songs on repeat.

That list might be kind of dated, but that goes to show the last time I tuned into the radio.

EDIT: Just remembered how old "Pumped Up Kicks" was when that was big, anyone remember being bugged by that?

Re: Songs you hate atm

AlexZangari — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 03:52:47 GMT

Author: AlexZangari

Posted: 09/05/2013 07:52

HigherThanTheSun wrote:

Outlaw, Necharsian and Drakonium's posts should give you an idea of what is an appropriate way to respond to a comment like Listmeister's. If you think he's wrong then at least explain why, don't just dismiss it as if he's stupid.

I explained it. That's a very over-sensitive way of looking at art. I don't need to type multiple paragraphs to warrant my disagreement.

Re: Songs you hate atm

benpaco — Thu, 5 Sep 2013 02:41:46 GMT

Author: benpaco

Posted: 09/05/2013 06:41

swedenman wrote:

I know several others have already responded to this, but what you're talking about is a major source of irritation for me and I have to address it. First of all, some of the best music tackles very dark material. Among my favorite songs lyrically include songs about police brutality, rape, drug abuse, serial killers, and suicide, among other things. "Sail", like the others I have in mind, does not glorify suicide in any way.

Additionally, even if it were glorifying suicide, chances are I wouldn't associate myself with AWOLNation or his music (in the same way that I refuse to associate myself with Robin Thicke because I don't like misogynist dickwads), but it's still a form of artistic expression. If people can't tell the difference between what is art and what is real life, it's not AWOLNation's fault. If that song inspires some disturbed kid to take his own life, that's unfortunate, but it's fucking stupid to say the blood would be on AWOLNation's hands. To be honest your comment reminds me of the people who blamed Christopher Nolan for the Dark Knight Rises shooting.

Some great points here. Don't want to stir the pot any more than it already has, but I disagree mainly here with your interpretation of the lyric. See, I don't think he's saying "I'm going to kill myself and blame my ADD", I think he's saying "I've been thinking about killing myself ... but I think that's just the ADD talking". The whole song uses the ADD line, I think it's sort of metaphoric for how a mind with that disorder jumps and leaps quite randomly. I don't think he's saying "go find an excuse to kill yourself" AT ALL, frankly this is a lot more PG than just about anything by Nirvana, Joy Division, Blue October, etc ...

Also on your point, I somewhat do associate with AWOL, he touches up on things that I agree with or I understand. I'm not saying I am him, personality wise I'm much more Jarvis Cocker and experience wise I'm much more Justin Vernon, but there are things he gets at that I understand. To me, you should be able to think about and express whatever you want as long as you aren't hurting yourself or anyone else. And I mean to get to a much more deep and scientific level, it's healthy for some personality types to express suicidal/self-hate thoughts through music or art, it lowers our risk of actually killing ourselves. Same with listening to other people dealing with that. We feel less alone and less likely to do anything as a result. (If anyone wants to research this further because this is already WAY too long, I'm referring to the Myers-Briggs type INFP specifically). And it won't work for all of us, I mean Ian Curtis, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrisson, Eliott Smith, and Shannon Hoon were all that type, but I can tell you that they've saved a LOT of people by discussing suicide. It makes people who already feel terribly alone feel slightly connected to something. If you just ignore an issue, it can't get better, it has to be discussed and thought about.

Re: Songs you hate atm

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Sep 2013 19:00:37 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 09/04/2013 23:00

an_outlaw wrote:

I never wanted to be credible, I want to be incredible.

you may or may not have just become my new spirit animal

Re: Songs you hate atm

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Sep 2013 18:40:33 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 09/04/2013 22:40

Albums are completely different things than songs. Those with the chart-topping singles don't give a fuck about albums. They practically don't do albums. They might even spend much more time on their lead single than the rest of the album combined. Most of the good singles come from godawful albums. So if you want me to rate an album, you should make an album, otherwise I'd think that you're taking me for a fool and I'll give you 5 out of 100. 😁
EDIT: Although some of those low ratings are because of sheer disappointment when I've checked out the album after hearing the singles and expecting an album full of catchy dance-floor ready songs. Time passed and I understood how music industry works. Nowadays I don't expect albums from pop music but good party songs.

Re: Songs you hate atm

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Sep 2013 18:30:30 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 09/04/2013 22:30

tekin wrote:

About the topic at hand: chart-topping stuff are usually good stuff, and everyone likes to listen to catchy stuff I presume. But what do you expect? I think like thousand people work on everyone of those songs.

I can't say these things as... well my credibility is on the line and in question these days. Then again, I never wanted to be credible, I want to be incredible. So yeah, I don't care, even if I blatantly do later on 🤣

Your answer to the topic alludes to chart topping stuff. Just chart topping stuff yo. It wouldn't be worth me commenting on if I had not noticed a while ago now your ratings for albums. I mean... the last 10 or so pages of ratings (between 0-20), the vast majority of it is all hugely popular stuff. It becomes glaring after a while. I don't know how you feel about each album (other than you don't like them) yet... could you be doing more. People are all "Hey, I don't understand 'Unknown Pleasures', I've given it 5 listens but I'll give it a 6th an.. oh wait, I love it now" but one (most the time anyway) listen to... certain mainstream albums is all most people need.

Sorry, If I've looked far too far into this. I guess the "presume" and "what do you expect?" seemed to have a negative undertone. There is a wonderful thread about what people have dimissed in the past and love now, perhaps that may inspire going through the ratings basement? 😄

What do you think?

Re: Songs you hate atm

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Sep 2013 18:12:25 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 09/04/2013 22:12

drakonium wrote:

I don't understand why suicide should not be talked about in songs. That's just nonsense. Suicide is an important issue and should absolutely be the subject of some songs. It's like if you we're saying that singers shouldn't say "fuck" in their songs because there might be children listening.

The best songs (or at least, the best lyrics) deal with difficult issues like suicide. I'm thinking about Androgynous by The Replacements which is about transsexuality and just freedom, Fistful Of Love by Antony & The Johnsons which deals with love through sadomasochism, and Spiralling by the same artist, where the narrator is literally dying. These are tracks that touch me like no other. Belle & Sebastian are also pretty great at this kind of songs.

Very well-said.

About the topic at hand: chart-topping stuff are usually good stuff, and everyone likes to listen to catchy stuff I presume. But what do you expect? I think like thousand people work on everyone of those songs.

Re: Songs you hate atm

andy_hunter — Wed, 4 Sep 2013 16:29:24 GMT

Author: andy_hunter

Posted: 09/04/2013 20:29

The song High Hopes by Kodaline is getting an undue amount of airplay in Ireland. I just can't stand it. It's your standard pseudo-indie folk song nothing too offensive but its about as stale as three week old bread. Most of the time I can tolerate an unoriginal song in moderation, but this is inescapable and being played almost perpetually on mainstream and indie radio.

As if that weren't bad enough, my disdain is compounded by the awful lyrics. Oh god, the lyrics are dreadful!

Quote:

I know it's crazy to believe in silly things,
But it's not that easy

No fucking shit! Thats the most redundant line in music. I'd call it a trite observation but that's actually a compliment. What it is, is poorly stating the obvious. I feel like I've heard this song a thousand times before because it sounds like any other radio-friendly song. How people haven't gotten sick of it after two listens is beyond me. Awful, awful, awful, awful!

Re: Songs you hate atm

Anonymous — Wed, 4 Sep 2013 13:06:09 GMT

Author: Anonymous

Posted: 09/04/2013 17:06

Listmeister wrote: