You just have to accept that not all things are up for critique. And you can't always look back with the eyes of today and understand the past. The early (50s) Elvis is very important in the development of pop music as we know it - white man singing black music and all that.
I acknowledge the importance of Elvis, doesn't mean I have to like any of his music though.
Coldplay, The Script et al don't belong in the 'rock' category. The majority of their songs are bland and sterile. I like to think of them as 'rock music for people that don't like rock music'. Rock music should be exciting and dynamic.
Who calls them a rock band? I've only heard of them being referred to as a pop band.
I like the Beatles but LOVE PSB and I prefer Neil's voice to any of the Beatles and PSB do indeed write great pop songs.
Neil's voice has started to go south in the last few years, hence all the auto tuning on the last PSB album. But the fact that West End Girls and Suburbia still sound fresh nearly 30 years on is testament to how good their songwriting was. TBH, with all the various tweaks they've made to the arrangement of WEG, it actually sounds better now than in the early 80s.
Agree about Robbie Williams now. 10 years ago, he was a decent performer, but he's just now a sad parody of himself that can't sing anymore.
Neil's voice has started to go south in the last few years, hence all the auto tuning on the last PSB album. But the fact that West End Girls and Suburbia still sound fresh nearly 30 years on is testament to how good their songwriting was. TBH, with all the various tweaks they've made to the arrangement of WEG, it actually sounds better now than in the early 80s.
Agree about Robbie Williams now. 10 years ago, he was a decent performer, but he's just now a sad parody of himself that can't sing anymore.
I agree about Neil's voice not being as good as it was, but I went to their Electric concert at the O2 a couple of weeks ago, fully expecting Neil to be slightly out of tune on occasions - not once! Also think that Chris Lowe is underated - give these boys a knighthood.
Tennant & Lowe are better songwriters than Lennon & McCartney.
Interesting, they are very good songwriters I agree, better than Lennon & McCartney hmmm, I will sit on the fence on that one. Can't call it one way or the other.
Prince was and always will be a superior musician to Michael Jackson.
I agree about Neil's voice not being as good as it was, but I went to their Electric concert at the O2 a couple of weeks ago, fully expecting Neil to be slightly out of tune on occasions - not once! Also think that Chris Lowe is underated - give these boys a knighthood.
I wouldn't discount Neil being auto tuned on the fly. Not saying he is, but there are one or two examples of him singing live on youtube where he's been way out of tune. From memory, check out Go West from Moscow during Live 8, and that was long before his voice noticeably started to go.
Saw the Pandamonium tour at the O2 back in 2009. Couldn't see shit and I wasn't even that far back. Was a very a disappointing experience, and the crowd were dead. Bought the DVD in the end to see what I'd missed. It was no where near as good a gig as Cubism.
Neil's voice has started to go south in the last few years, hence all the auto tuning on the last PSB album. But the fact that West End Girls and Suburbia still sound fresh nearly 30 years on is testament to how good their songwriting was. TBH, with all the various tweaks they've made to the arrangement of WEG, it actually sounds better now than in the early 80s.
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Neil still has a really good voice live, almost the same as in the 80's. I think they use autotuning not because he can't sing on key, but because for the effect they are going for. Autotune is a big part of most dance/electronic music today, not always because the person can't sing in tune, but because they are going for a certain sound and effects. They don't want it to sound natural and organic, they want it to sound processed.
Solange is much more talented than her older sister
I wouldn't say she's necessarily more talented, but I definitely like her music a lot more and find it more interesting and creative. Since Solange isn't the big star her sister is, she isn't under the same pressure to have hit after hit, so she can take more chances musically and experiment more with different sounds which I find a lot more interesting.
Not that I don't like those, they're all great in their own right... but I think Strummer took songwriting and performing to a different level. Also hold him higher as a frontman than Freddie Mercury... he looked like an electrocuted Dracula.
No, it's not Strummer or Tennant and Lowe, the two best songwriters are Bono and The Edge!
And to be really controversial, ABBA are a vastly overrated band. They had a few half decent pop tunes, limited lyricism and some pretty corny instrumentation. They sold a lot of records but their main legacy is being popular on karaoke nights!
Thanks Don't get me wrong, I do like them and have listened to quite a lot of their music over the years(I particularly like Let It Be and Revolver), but I don't listen to them often and they wouldn't be in my top 10 personal favourite bands.
im the same, not a big fan, there are plenty of 60's groups i prefer, but no one impacted on the british music sceen the way the beatles did.
And to be really controversial, ABBA are a vastly overrated band. They had a few half decent pop tunes, limited lyricism and some pretty corny instrumentation. They sold a lot of records but their main legacy is being popular on karaoke nights!
yet benny/bjorn are two of the most respected composers of all time, its a shame that abba are remembered for their karaoke appeal, they produced alot of far better material then that.
I think The Beatles are/were really over-rated. Their songs all sound the same to me, the lyrics are simplistic and they had several plagiarism claims made against them.
That has to be just about the most jaw-dropping, gob-smackingly ignorant claim of all time
The Stones were brilliant at Glastonbury (if you look at the poll on the home page, you'll find that this is an unpopular opinion on DS).
The last day headline act, Mumford and Sons, were very boring, but then the last day headline act at the previous Glastonbury festival, Beyonce, was totally excruciating - and "boring" is very much preferable to "excruciating".
Boy bands in general bore me they are what they are they will never be anything groundbreaking in terms of quality of music,always the same old generic cheesy tracks album after album.
Paul mccartney no matter how old,un-cool and corny he has become WAS infact the major talent in terms of musicianship and songwriting in THE BEATLES.
Infact he was the only beatle as a solo artist who sold millions of albums , singles and concert tickets around the world.
John lennon despite the general acceptance of his genius was infact backed to the hilt by mccartney's talent and struggled badly after 1971.
The vast majority of the beatles greatest hits were infact mainly composed by mccartney in the main.
The myth that john lennon was the leader of the band was clearly over by the mid 1960's when infact they were getting around to their really really GREAT work.
Early beatles music when lennon had more lead vocal roles was infact pretty two toned and has dated badly.
Mccartney was also the major experimentor in the band and was responsible for most of their 'out of the box' ideas like the tape loops on revolver.
On mccartneys standards like 'hey jude','yesterday','elenor rigby','helter skelter'[and many many more] its very hard to find any important input from either of the other three beatles,yet on john and georges greatest songs like 'come together','strawberry fields' and 'something' mccartneys fingerprints and musicianship are all over the record.
In the 10 years following the split and up to johns tragic demise in 1980 mccartney had outsold the other three beatles put together.Infact he had recently signed a world record record deal in 1979 which confirmed him as still the biggest act on the planet..infact his band 'wings' sold more records in america in the 1970s than ANY other act and in terms of chart performance lay second to 'elton john' only.!
He couldn't sing as good as Elvis, he couldn't dance as good as Gene Kelly and he couldn't compose songs as good as Lennon and McCartney, what really was the point of Michael Jackson?
This thread is called the unpopular opinions thread, so why on earth are posters responding to others opinions to tell them they're wrong, there is no such thing as a wrong opinion.....
Comments
I acknowledge the importance of Elvis, doesn't mean I have to like any of his music though.
Who calls them a rock band? I've only heard of them being referred to as a pop band.
Ooh controversial!
This should rattle a few cages!
I like the Beatles but LOVE PSB and I prefer Neil's voice to any of the Beatles and PSB do indeed write great pop songs.
Neil's voice has started to go south in the last few years, hence all the auto tuning on the last PSB album. But the fact that West End Girls and Suburbia still sound fresh nearly 30 years on is testament to how good their songwriting was. TBH, with all the various tweaks they've made to the arrangement of WEG, it actually sounds better now than in the early 80s.
Agree about Robbie Williams now. 10 years ago, he was a decent performer, but he's just now a sad parody of himself that can't sing anymore.
I agree about Neil's voice not being as good as it was, but I went to their Electric concert at the O2 a couple of weeks ago, fully expecting Neil to be slightly out of tune on occasions - not once! Also think that Chris Lowe is underated - give these boys a knighthood.
Interesting, they are very good songwriters I agree, better than Lennon & McCartney hmmm, I will sit on the fence on that one. Can't call it one way or the other.
Prince was and always will be a superior musician to Michael Jackson.
I wouldn't discount Neil being auto tuned on the fly. Not saying he is, but there are one or two examples of him singing live on youtube where he's been way out of tune. From memory, check out Go West from Moscow during Live 8, and that was long before his voice noticeably started to go.
Saw the Pandamonium tour at the O2 back in 2009. Couldn't see shit and I wasn't even that far back. Was a very a disappointing experience, and the crowd were dead. Bought the DVD in the end to see what I'd missed. It was no where near as good a gig as Cubism.
Neil still has a really good voice live, almost the same as in the 80's. I think they use autotuning not because he can't sing on key, but because for the effect they are going for. Autotune is a big part of most dance/electronic music today, not always because the person can't sing in tune, but because they are going for a certain sound and effects. They don't want it to sound natural and organic, they want it to sound processed.
I wouldn't say she's necessarily more talented, but I definitely like her music a lot more and find it more interesting and creative. Since Solange isn't the big star her sister is, she isn't under the same pressure to have hit after hit, so she can take more chances musically and experiment more with different sounds which I find a lot more interesting.
Not that I don't like those, they're all great in their own right... but I think Strummer took songwriting and performing to a different level. Also hold him higher as a frontman than Freddie Mercury... he looked like an electrocuted Dracula.
- Aside from a small selection of songs I don't like much of Pink Floyd, Led Zeps & The Smiths back catalogue.
- Lady Gaga is the only interesting modern successful pop act around at the minute for me.
- 'Loveless' is one of the worst albums I've ever listened too, and certainly the worst I've ever brought.
- The Kinks were the best British band of the 60's (in my opinion).
- Will Sheff and John Darnielle are the best songwriters around currently.
- British rock music is in a worst state now than ever - are The Sodding Arctic Monkeys really the best thing we have to offer?
i expect someone will take issue with that, but i'm happy with it:)
Well Michael Jackson used his hand to grab his crotch and Prince plays a guitar with his,so not hard.
And to be really controversial, ABBA are a vastly overrated band. They had a few half decent pop tunes, limited lyricism and some pretty corny instrumentation. They sold a lot of records but their main legacy is being popular on karaoke nights!
im the same, not a big fan, there are plenty of 60's groups i prefer, but no one impacted on the british music sceen the way the beatles did.
you have confused the issue, theres a difference between not liking him, and saying hes overrated.
surely if you acknowlege the importance of elvis, how can you say hes overrated?
when tennant and lowe's portfolio matches lennon mccartneys then you will be correct... but atm it comes nowhere near.
yet benny/bjorn are two of the most respected composers of all time, its a shame that abba are remembered for their karaoke appeal, they produced alot of far better material then that.
Correct?
It is just someone's opinion they never said it was a fact!
I KNOW it's musical blasphemy to diss Macca/Lennon/The Beatles that's why I didn't and I would much rather listen to PSB any day!
The last day headline act, Mumford and Sons, were very boring, but then the last day headline act at the previous Glastonbury festival, Beyonce, was totally excruciating - and "boring" is very much preferable to "excruciating".
Infact he was the only beatle as a solo artist who sold millions of albums , singles and concert tickets around the world.
John lennon despite the general acceptance of his genius was infact backed to the hilt by mccartney's talent and struggled badly after 1971.
The vast majority of the beatles greatest hits were infact mainly composed by mccartney in the main.
The myth that john lennon was the leader of the band was clearly over by the mid 1960's when infact they were getting around to their really really GREAT work.
Early beatles music when lennon had more lead vocal roles was infact pretty two toned and has dated badly.
Mccartney was also the major experimentor in the band and was responsible for most of their 'out of the box' ideas like the tape loops on revolver.
On mccartneys standards like 'hey jude','yesterday','elenor rigby','helter skelter'[and many many more] its very hard to find any important input from either of the other three beatles,yet on john and georges greatest songs like 'come together','strawberry fields' and 'something' mccartneys fingerprints and musicianship are all over the record.
In the 10 years following the split and up to johns tragic demise in 1980 mccartney had outsold the other three beatles put together.Infact he had recently signed a world record record deal in 1979 which confirmed him as still the biggest act on the planet..infact his band 'wings' sold more records in america in the 1970s than ANY other act and in terms of chart performance lay second to 'elton john' only.!