[cobbo95]

Never seen a thread for this topic and I know the term 'guilty pleasures' has pretentious connotations. Why should anyone feel guilty for naturally liking music? The point still stands though and it's an interesting discussion piece, especially on a site like this.

To get things rolling, my picks are

#1 Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You - I used to watch 'Grease' a lot as a young boy and whilst, generally speaking I don't really like musicals, Grease always had a good story to begin with and with great songs to boot. This is my favourite song from it and I have no idea why, but it moves me somehow. The melody is fantastic and I remember looking up the chord progression once and it was rather complex for a pop song - lots of key changes and augmented/diminished chords.

#2 ABBA: Dancing Queen/Knowing Me Knowing You - Again, probably from childhood. We had to do an end of year production when I was 8/9 and the year's theme was ABBA. My class was chosen to perform 'KMKY' and I'd never heard of ABBA up to that point. Despite all the tweeness that goes on, these are actually really well written songs, with many hooks integrated. Even if the lyrics are trite (especially in DQ), the harmonies and vocal melodies are undeniably catchy. I had a stage, not even that long ago funnily enough, of playing Dancing Queen on repeat to work out the subtle melodies, in hope of them influencing my own songwriting...dark days indeed.

#3 Tammy Wynette: Stand By Your Man - Country is one of those genres that can go either way; it can either be really cheesy or really well-written. I'm not a massive fan of the genre overall (I like Johnny Cash obviously, and some of Dylan's ventures, amongst a few one-off singles by various artists) but I've always thought this was quite a unique sounding song - must be the vocal jump in the chorus that I like. I also really liked it's inclusion in Blues Brothers, which is a film I've watched many times growing up. Probably the song on here I feel the least 'guilty' about, but from someone who has Alice in Chains, Scott Walker and Kanye West on his chart, it's certainly an anomaly in my musical taste.

#4 Cher: Believe - I remember my dad had a Cher greatest hits CD and Believe was the opening track. The weird auto-tune effect always interested me, even if I didn't know what it was. Cher's voice was oddly deep as well for a woman, but enticing. Weirdly enough, things have come full circle and Believe is actually a song my friends and I belt out in the car every week. I may have even learned it on guitar...

#5 Take That: Shine - Another one to belt out in the car. It may basically be a Beatles homage (the opening riff is essentially Sgt. Peppers) but the amount of vocal overlaps in this song are too much for this music fan to ignore. Melody after melody is stacked on top of one another to create a pop rock classic, almost Queen-esque. It may have been played to death on those Morrison's adverts but I still like it. I just wouldn't tell my Mum that as she'd be far too proud that her son actually admitted to liking a Take That number - bar Back for Good of course, which everybody in England likes!

I have more, which I may discuss later on, but I want to hear your picks and take on the idea of 'Guilty Pleasures' as a whole!

[bobbyb5]

Yeah, i dont believe in guilty pleasures either. Nowadays it doesn't mean what it used to a few years ago. A few years ago it meant something more like: liking something that was actually bad, but nowadays, especially among hipsters, it seems to mean liking supposedly disreputable genres entirely. Mostly pop or pop vocals. So I'm just going to list people that I believe OTHERS would consider guilty pleasures. But I just consider them good. I dont just consider them good, they ARE good. They just have unrespected reputations. These are all top - notch pop albums. All quite old, too. ( there's actually a lot of this stuff I like, this is just a small sample off the top of my head)

Barbra Streisand. The Second Barbra Streisand Album, Stoney End, The Way We Were
ABBA. Gold, Arrival, The Album
Diana Ross. Diana Ross (1976), The Boss, Diana
Glen Campbell. Wichita Lineman, Greatest Hits
Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass. Going Places
Carpenters. A Song For You, The Singles
Sergio Mendez & Brazil 66. Fool on the Hill, Primal Roots
The 5th Dimension. Greatest Hits
Percy Faith Orchestra. A Summer Place
Gloria Gaynor. Never Can Say Goodbye
Hugo Montenegro. The Good The Bad and The Ugly

[AfterHours]

You guys sure you don't feel guilty for those?

Anyway, I know this is going to mess up my rep and all, but I have to admit that Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata was the worst music I've listened to this week
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[Tha1ChiefRocka]

I've non-ironically enjoyed Smash Mouth since I was a kid. I genuinely think their music is pretty fun in comparison to other Ska Punk bands of their day. i.e. Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake etc.

[Greendonut227]

[AfterHours]

[craola]

[Infinity183]

Little Mix. I really do not like the overwhelming chunk of music from the past few years, especially in the pop and hip hop departments, but for some reason, this girl group has put out lots of material that's just as great, in my opinion, as typical 80s, 90s, and early 2000s pop, despite embracing modern musical trends full-on. It's like they have some magical touch that goodifies any type music that I would usually dislike. "Salute" is easily the biggest example of this, as I generally despise songs with monotonous melodies and trap beats, but Little Mix cleverly handles these elements here to craft a stomping girl power anthem with clicking punctuation and a dynamic sense of development. It's actually a contender of mine for best pop song of the 2010s.

Although most people would consider it peculiar that my list of top albums contains artists like Kate Bush, Led Zeppelin, and Rachel Stevens all simultaneously, that's just a result of my generally eclectic taste in music, albeit mostly skewed towards the late 20th Century and only the first few years of the 21st, so I wouldn't personally consider the more manufactured acts "anomalies" per se.

[Fischman]

I don't listen to ballads or sappy music.

But I love Karen Carpenter. And Dan Fogelberg is one of my favorite artists. Also can't get enough of some John Denver (Rocky Mountain High, Looking for Space, Calypso). Ditto Jim Croce's more tender songs (Time in a Bottle, Operator).

[Hayden]

The last 2/3rds of Moonlight Sonata still a banger in the club though, so it's all good.

(All in all, I'm not terribly fond of it either. If it were released today, it'd be ignored).