OK, many loooong rants in 3, 2, 1...
PARTICULAR ARTISTS:
Marilyn Manson- "He sold out and only kids trying to be hard listen to him":
Not really one of my very favourites, but still...
One, the 'he' bugs me because Marilyn Manson are a band (Twiggy Ramirez, anyone? No?). Two, even if their new stuff isn't as good, there is no reason why that has to change your view of the old stuff. Yes, they're well past their prime and yes, they're no longer 'in', but why let that stop you enjoying the 90's music? You liked it before all the crap came through- why is it suddenly different? It annoys me because I get lumped in with the 'kids who want to be goths' (admittedly the way I dress doesn't help
) when I genuinely like the music.
Versailles- "They're Malice Mizer knock-offs":
If you can tell me when Malice Mizer ever played power metal, you might have a case. Until then, I will maintain that these bands have mildly similar visuals and completely different music, making Versailles at most influenced by Malice Mizer. Rip off? Only if you're deaf.
Malice Mizer- "They're technically poor":
This is, in itself, a fair criticism. Malice Mizer had great vocalists but everyone else was average, and their main composer apparently can't read music. This complaint only annoys me because it shows that the person speaking is completely missing the point. Criticising Malice Mizer for having little technical brilliance is like criticising an alarm clock because you can't eat it- technical brilliance was never what the band was aiming for. They may not have had spectacular guitar riffs, but they were an incredibly creative and atmospheric band, and I've never known anyone else pull of the Visual Kei style better than they did. That's what they should have credit for, not the raw skill of the instrumentalists.
Mana- "It's Mana's fault because he's a stuck-up tosser":
Mana is Malice Mizer's bandleader, and he's something of a Scapegoat. If something goes wrong, people blame him. People also tend to think he's a snob, arrogant, a narcissist, a jealous control freak and god knows what else... all because of rumours and his stoic public image. It's not uncommon to see people have contempt for him based on stuff they just heard around and have no evidence is true.
Tetsu Takano- "Ugh, Tetsu... let's just not go there:"
Tetsu was Malice Mizer's first vocalist, and his voice was something of an acquired taste. Think a deeper and more desperate-sounding Robert Smith. A lot of people think he was a genuinely terrible singer, when he wasn't. He was a very good singer, just not for everyone. I don't want everyone to magically like his voice, I just wish they'd realise that their dislike is based on their personal tastes, not a lack of talent on Tetsu's part.
X Japan- "You only like them because hide is dead":
For the record, hide was X Japan's lead guitarist who also produced some solo work, and he died in 1998. He is one of those people who has become a bit overrated on account of being somewhat vitally challenged. Apparently some people see this as reason enough to accuse anyone who listens to hide or X Japan of only liking them because hide is dead. I wish I was making this up, but, sadly, I'm not.
Yoshiki Hayashi- Various baseless accusations and petty complaints:
X Japan's bandleader Yoshiki is in vogue to hate ATM. He's been accused of causing hide's death- which is a pretty sick thing to say off the cuff- and exploiting hide's death for money- ditto. He's also getting a lot of anger aimed his way because a lot of X gigs have had to be postponed or cancelled and yeah, that's annoying, but I highly doubt he's doing it because its fun! Also, people have recently started homing in on his negative traits and exaggerating them: Yes, we all know he's something of a drama queen and can be a bit 'me me me' at times, but that doesn't mean he's a total bastard in every way, shape and form, and it certainly doesn't mean he was never serious about X. It's doubly thick if people act as if these flaws are completely new- he's been the same for decades!
Toshihiko Takamizawa- "Blah blah old blah blah creepy blah blah don't want to look at him":
Again, not one of my absolute favourites, but the way he gets treated drives me up the wall. He's a skilled guitarist, a member of one of the very first Japanese rock bands (The Alfee date back to 1974), and has been in the business for 35 years, during which he has worked with a lot of bands and done a lot for the music scene in general. Yet despite this, all anyone has to say about him is 'he's 55 and should retire!" or "He scares me!" or "He's ugly/creepy!"- in short, they want him to just go away because of what he looks like. The mentality is "Screw his past career, I don't like the look of him so he should get out of the industry" and it makes me sick.
Daisy Chainsaw/Queenadreena- "OMG KatieJane's a total drug skank!":
Drugs are NOT the only possible reason for unusual behaviour, and seeing as KatieJane Garside's odd mannerisms and rambling speech has been present in every single interview since the early 90's, I doubt they're the reason in this case. I mean, for drugs to be the reason here, she'd have to be using them
right before every public appearance, and to be frank, who on Earth does that?
GENERAL:
- Anyone who judges a band I like- or any band, for that matter- not by their own merit, but by their fanbase. If a band's gigs are filled with silly fangirlies or elitists, then some people will refuse point blank to give them a chance. Likewise, some people will refuse to listen to something just because most of the fans are a lot older or younger than they are. Pathetic.
- The worst criticism of Visual Kei for me was one that was not only going out of its way to degrade the genre as much as possible, but also lacked any sort of logic. Basically, someone said they didn't count 90's VK bands as being part of the genre at all because they weren't 'boybandy' enough. Now, you only find 'boybandy' VK bands in the Oshare subgenre, which a) is, IMO, by far the worst offshoot of VK, and b) has only been around since the early 2000's. So, basically, this person judged VK by it's worst and most recent form- akin to saying that Black Sabbath and Metallica don't count as metal because they aren't like Slipknot. It was that ridiculous.
- When people try to judge bands based on irrelevant facts. The worst type of this is when people go {My Frontman} could beat the hell out of {Your Frontman}. Maybe so, but does it matter? They're musicians, not boxers, they aren't GOING to have a fight! Don't try to base musical talent on who would win a hypothetical punch-up.
- When people hate a replacement band member just because they aren't their successor- it's horrible when you see people being bashed before they've even had a chance to prove themselves.
- People demanding a band sing in a language that isn't their native one. Normally it's bands from Europe or Asia being ordered to sing in English "So I can understand", but I did once see someone express a desire to see Chinese band Silver Ash sing in Japanese (
). People, if a band want to sing in a different language to increase overseas popularity, then that's up to them, but it should NEVER be a requirement!
And even after all that, I have a feeling I've forgotten some so I might come back in a minute with yet more...
) and maybe something stronger - but for those morons to claim that their music was written and played under the influence of heroin, crack and E, is ridiculous beyond belief.
