UKH

What are the bands or artists that the critics love that you just don't get? You know you "should" like them, but they don't do it for you? Let me start the flame war with a few from my list:

• The Fall
• The Black Keys
• Manic Street Preachers
• LCD Soundsystem
• Bloc Party
• Anna B Savage
• Two Door Cinema Club

What's on your list?

Don’t disagree with the MSPs. Bob Dylan, Amy Winehouse, Ed Sheeran and Joss Stone would be my initial thoughts…

Oh my god, this is gonna be quite the rant...

The Killers - It's just shout-along-rock-music-by-numbers.  There's nothing remotely interesting about their music.  I've no idea how they got so popular but everyone seems to love them?

Talking Heads  - This is just crap cliched pop-rock, that is regarded as interesting and different because the singer can't actually sing.  At all.  That's different, but not in a good way.

U2 - Their early stuff alright, but then they disappeared up their own arse.  All their songs now seem to just be an excuse to build to a big chorus so that Bon can shout some seemingly unconnected words that happen to rhyme - "Conurbaaaation.... Elaaaaaation.... Narraaaaation... Masturbaaaaaation"

David Bowie - I like some of the stuff from the middle part of his career, say from Young Americans to Let's Dance but all the stuff before and after that isn't for me. The early stuff is just a load of camp pretentious about spiders and spaceships, and the later stuff... Well let's just say if he'd started his career with that stuff he wouldn't have a career.  Just for the fans innit. 

That's it for now - I'm not going to get into the likes of Ed Sheeran or Maroon5.  I don't think I should like them.

People have different tastes.

I disagree strongly

I know everybody does.

I'd say it's a hill I'm prepared to die on, but I doubt I'd ever make it to the foot of said hill before I died, given the near ubiquitous popularity of David Bowie.

I think the critics didn't particularly like the recent Black Keys albums...

To answer your question I'm having trouble getting into either of Black Country, New Road's albums, despite them being declared best band in the world by various magazines last year.

The Beetles.

Stereophonics for me. Excepting Local Boy in the Photograph.  

1/10

What's on your list?

• 1990s BritPop, particularly Oasis
• The Verve - Fat Les captured my sentiment perfectly with the video to Vindaloo.

(Edit: My failing memory, I initially replied with the Fat Les comment to the Manics; it's the Verve I found to be far more up themselves...)

In reply to Iamgregp:

Used by one of my favourite TV opening sequences of all time -  youtube.com/watch?v=g1nFmQWR8GQ&

(Perhaps that says more about my lowbrow existence)

You wouldn't be alone on that hill, I can't stand anything he's done.  Whatever it is that others see in him, I just think it's tedious up-his-own-arse twaddle.  

Bob Dylan, I don't like either.  Good songwriter, not disagreeing about that, but as a singer he's dreadful.  

Metallica I do get.  They're a group formed when a group of record company executives gathered round a table and said something like, "This metal product seems popular with the kids, let's get a bit of metal product and give it some great marketing".  That's all it is to me, corporate metal 'product' backed by a lot of marketing.

I'd write more but having written what I have I think a cup of tea and some ECM-style jazz is needed to restore mental balance.

T.

Never got Oasis - they're just a shit shouty bunch. 

Amy whinehouse  (see what I did there)

Most punk bands during their 70's heyday. As an A level music 'graduate' I really couldn't see any joy in a bunch of yobs celebrating their own mediocrity. At the time I was a prog rocker (and still am if I'm honest) so was much more into music that took some effort to 'get'.    

Cheers! I loved that opening (and the band). These threads depress me because if we must focus on the negative I'd hope for some intellectual dissection or at least some quality caustic humour but too often it's just introspective opinion that I can't see anyone ever caring about. The last thing inane music needs is inane critique.

Oasis' first album is alright.  

Yes it is shouty and in your face, but it's really well produced and captured the excitement and raucousness of their early years.

Unfortunately part of the cause of that raucousness was cocaine, which is not much help for songwriting, so the rest of their output never matched that, and got progressively worse as the years went on.

Yes, I agree re:Bowie. His cult following actually makes me want to dislike to few parts of his work I enjoy.

Yeah I know exactly what you mean... Such is the cult of Bowie it pains me to concede that some of his work is objectively quite good.

Beetles

Clash

King Crimson

You, me and Ianstevens. We can make it to that hill!

With you on Dylan, wonderful songwriter, terrible singer...  Though hasn't done anything relevant or even notable for a long, long time.

Metallica I have a love/hate relationship with.  Some of it is overblown nonsense, some of it's great.  Like most big bands they got so big that they became bloated, over produced and over marketed.  But they did manage to release 5 classic albums before that, so fair play to them, that's more than most!

Kings of Leon

Yeah I don't like them either (it's his voice), but then do you think you "should" like then as per the OP's question?

I mean if we're gonna discuss music that we just plain old don't like, and don't think we should like then that's gonna be a whole other thread and a long one too!

What a great post!

1. by a country mile….U2. If you’re a guitarist and call yourself ‘the edge’ then you better be good. However, he’s not, and everything he plays on every album is the same. A wall of delay effects, and a smug self satisfied ‘vocalist’ rounds off the dreariness. Shame for the drummer and bass player who are competent and often overlooked.

2. Florence and the Machine. Shame really because she’s a good songwriter, but only for people who don’t mind ‘pitchy’ and ‘shouty’. Actually, The Machine are good players.

3. Metallica. Owe everything to Dave Mustaine, haven’t had a decent album since Master of Puppets, went dad rock on Load. Took 300 weeks in the studio to record St Anger. Didn’t have the critical sensibility to bin St Anger. Lauded as the best of the ‘Big 4’, actually the worst. Recorded that Lou Reed Album.

4. A special mention for Lars Ulrich, a monumentally ungifted drummer, with terrible drum sound, no sense of rhythm, no technique, and single-handedly prevented Metallica from ever redeeming themselves.

4. one for the jazz fusion crowd. John McLaughlin! The very worst tone in the history of electric guitar. If I was Paul Reed Smith, I’d send some people round to take that PRS away from him. It has to be said, a level of bombast that gives Jazz Fusion a worse name. To paraphrase FZ ‘you’d have to be an idiot not to recognise the amount of practice that goes into operating a guitar like a machine gun’. Thank you Frank!

So far, So good...

They were stuffed down our throats for months with that terrible breakthrough drivel, so yeah, I did feel a bit out there by disliking.

Not a great fan of his electric stuff but like his acoustic playing, especially with Shakti, or the trio with Paco de Lucia & Al di Meola.

Some really good suggestions. I agree with Kings of Leon, Oasis, U2 and Dylan. I strongly disagree regarding Talking Heads.

A few more for your consideration:

• Adele
• Rufus Wainwright 
• Elbow
• Happy Mondays

Few good songs, decent first album. Not really my scene, but nonetheless, one of the most overrated around. Only topped in that regard by Ed (f*cking) Sheerhan. 

Eh? Has he done anything since 2008?

Bland and snoozy. Don't think anyone thinks much of them beyond Radio 2/6 music?

Again, that highly rated? Don't hate them, but before my time so my primary interaction is the words "ya twisting my melon man"

Some being the key word I think. His final album, which the cult fawn over, was utter garbage IMO. 

That's more like it !

And that time they put that crap album on everyones iPod. And Bono being a general COAT.

Yeah. The beaty of the Mondays is that they, nor anyone, took themselves seriously. 

I saw Black Grape live once, who were guesting at a rave once in the 90s. Everyone including the band were utterly mullered and nobody cared.

Haven't heard of them... 🙄

I think that rather depends on whether it's being used to cut through the alcohol/heroin addiction. See for instance: Townes van Zandt, Keith Richard, Steve Earle and Gram Parsons, all of them touched with genius to a significant degree.

....So What?

10/10

I struggle with The Who. I know they are supposed to be good but it all sounds like show-tunes. Electric Light Orchestra the same.

Everybody loved Blur for a while. That bugged me.

Yes, couldn't disagree with that. That trio is sublime.

Too many to name, but have learnt nostalgia makes them a guilty pleasure and then a regular on your play list. Bony M, Culture Club, Jimmy Summerville, Supertramp to name a few, I'll even slip Abba on that list.

A few I have not ever warmed to are Oasis, Muse, Kings of Leon, Enya, Adel and most things after 2010. Who know's give it a few years and I may have a soft spot for mass produced 'music' these days.

The Doors. Pompous, overblown, overrated.

I protest in the strongest terms etc 

The Manics and Dylan are just great in my corner of the woods.

Cardi B

The Wurzels.

A lot of the ones named above I don't particularly like but I can see their talent or understand why others like them. Bowie and Prince definitely fall into this category for me.

Kings of Leon's first album was quite good, there was a rawness to it but they went downhill after that.

One band I just don't get at all is Biffy Clyro. Not sure they're critically acclaimed but they do have a big, loyal fan base.

That’s allowed

I’d also like to take this opportunity to add the Rolling Stones and James Arthur to my list.

Ed Sherhan is one I just don't get. To me his songs sound very "samey" and derivative. Interestingly, this has actually been his defense against plagiarism in the High in London in the last few days. During his trial he has gone out of his way to show that one of his melodies is commonplace in pop music. He even went as far as to say: "If you put [other peoples' similar songs] all in the same key, they'll sound the same"! 

AC/DC, utterly forgettable 

Agree about Bob Dylan! He might be a good songwriter but I don't like listening to him. Don't know why people go on about him so much.

U2. So, I like the odd song, but most of it is quite bland. Not offensive, I don't hate their music, but if we're talking overrated then yes, they're a great example for me.

My answers would be different if the question was music you hate. Also, there's plenty of really popular music which I just don't get, but is not critically acclaimed. However, I think the above two I mentioned fit the brief for critically acclaimed but overrated (IMHO).

Nirvana

I suspect the singer faked his own death as a career move. 

Horribly dated now and very much a product of their time. Thought Ryder was a good lyricist though.

No mention of Interpol. Every single song sounds the same, I've two albums back to back on the car usb stick that I keep forgetting to prune down.

I wasn't a fan at the time but they've really grown on me and I think some of their stuff, particularly the unplugged sessions is outstanding. Kurt Cobain's rendition of 'Where did you sleep last night' is a dark masterpiece. youtube.com/watch?v=hEMm7gxBYSc&

The Pet Shop Boys. Not sure how acclaimed they are really, but I was astonished and disappointed when 6 Music devoted a whole hour or so to them, as if there were listeners that actually remembered their insipid wibbling and wanted to hear it again.

The Verve were the first name that came into my head when I saw this thread. The absolute epitome of pompous indie whining. The entire genre is massively overrated and up it's own arse.

The Beatles

U2

Adele

Metallica

All of Britpop

CB

YES! Give me Megadeth over Metallica any day. No matter that Dave Mustaine can't sing either .

CB

I wonder if the point of giving His Bobness the Literature Nobel was damning him with faint praise. Yes, a good lyricist (number four on my off the top of my head list after Willie Tea Taylor, Ian Anderson and LKJ), but can't sing, can't play guitar...

There are at least ten cover versions of One More Coffee that are way better than the original.

CB

Megadeth or Slayer or Anthrax or Pantera or Sepultura or……

daves voice can be a bit ‘challenging’ but can you imagine anyone else singing Holy War?

Depeche Mode sucks

In roughly chronological order, I've been baffled by the critical acclaim of:

The Band

Yes

Queen

Michael Jackson

Tom Petty

St.Etienne

Metallica

Daft Punk

Drum 'n' Bass

The Libertines

Jay Z.

And a final thought. Did Miles Davis not realise that that everyone was there to listen to Coltrane? No one wants to hear a trumpet Miles. No one.

baffled at someone being baffled at the success of owd Mick Jickson. He a bad man but the music is pretty bloody good.

Queen, the beatles,  Ed sheeran,  

So the Gogarth of popular music in fact.

Yes, I remember you reacting to Mercury's passing with a degree of satisfaction: 

" Anyone responsible for that theer Bohemian Rhapsody ought to f*cking die" .

Pretty much verbatim

Fair point!  And to be fair Fleetwood Mac did mountains of the stuff right throughout writing and Rumours, so it didn’t stop them coming up with the goods!

Oof, I skim read that through tired eyes and thought you'd nominated Fleetwood Mac for a second, which of course would have you instantly kicked from the thread.

The Beatles are if anything underrated. They're so far in front of all the other contenders in popular music that it's not even funny. Take a song like 'Rain'. It's a B-side and doesn't appear on an album. For most bands it would be among their crowning achievements, for the Beatles it's almost lost in their vast richness.

My overrated bands are the Clash, REM, AC-DC, Oasis. 

There is only one correct answer

Pink Floyd

It's a mystery to me how the man who came up with the sublime Eleanor Rigby, could also produce nonsense like Maxwell's Silver Hammer and Ob-la-di Ob-la-da.

Good thread

Not critically acclaimed but  “The 1975” ?? Drivel. 

And amazed nobody as yet has mentioned his high t*watness… 
Van Morrison. What an utter ignorant asshole, and crap music too imo. 
 

I think there is sometimes a fine line between sublime genius and naffness. I think that Pink Floyd, Bowie and U2 tread that line, sometimes falling on the wrong side, but certainly often memorably on the side of genius. 

A bit OT, but mad me think of Los Naked Mariachi from the Stone/Parker masterpiece Orgazmo:  youtube.com/watch?v=XMgX1icYBgI&

Are you sure Queen are critically acclaimed? Incredibly popular and I loved them in my early teens but I'm pretty sure they were endlessly derided by music critics

This. 

They pretty much invented youth culture as a thing in itself too

The Rolling Stones. A handful of superb singles, but I find even their most acclaimed albums to be patchy and full of derivative filler

Can't agree with that.  Plenty groups around embedded in young people's culture before they came along.

T.

I'd not really listened to them for years, and then I saw the Get Back film a few months ago. Wow! This really captivated me, so I've been playing them fairly incessantly ever since. This morning I'm Only Sleeping and Nowhere Man. Most of their songs, and I'm referring to perhaps over a hundred, leave me in awe at the invention, complex simplicity, lyrics, melodic sense, vocal harmonies, guitar, bass and drumming. Was it Dave Gilmour who said they're not a band, they're a miracle?

Well, the woeful Bohemian Rhapsody is in the top 20 of Rolling Stone's Best 500 singles, along with the equally annoying Imagine, which would have been better left among the pages of Yoko's poetry, which John insisted inspired the insipid lyrics.

It was all downhill after Astral Weeks but still, Astral Weeks. 

Me too! Find early songs such as "Happy Jack" and "I'm a Boy" to be childish and simplistic. Hate "Tommy."- Find it depressing. I'll credit them with 2 good (great?) albums.  - "Live at Leeds" and "Who's Next" - but not enough to go out and buy them. 

I think Bob Dylan has a good if not a great voice. Able to change his tone to suit the material. eg "Nashville Skyline."   

I'm not sure Chuck Berry would have agreed with that!

Philistine.  You clearly haven't heard their cover of The Stranglers "Golden Brown"

youtube.com/watch?v=zC08zNhBXNs&

(to be fair, they do a pretty good cover)

Now I knew that this type of thread would bring in a lot of varying tastes with a lot of disagreement so I promised I would not get drawn into it.

But DM are gods.  End of story. 

I'm sending out the flying monkeys to destroy you for suggesting otherwise.

The Who? I was going to put them in too as I've never rated their songs, but a while ago I saw some earlyish gigs on YouTube, and there's no denying they were a fantastic live act, fabulous energy. 

And they deserve great credit for explicitly telling the older generation what they could do with their attitudes and values, and it wasn't "fade away."

Why don't you all f- f- f-

Sadly irony caught up with them and they didn't die before they got old.

I don't much care if Van Morrison isn't a paragon of virtue, who is? I have him alongside Yeats for his work. And no, I'm not just referring to lyrics alone.

Harrumph etc etc

Oh, and ELP

Agree about V.M. being a rude horrible guy but he made some great albums after Astral Weeks. - Moondance, His band and the Street Choir, Tupelo Honey, St Dominic's Preview, Into the Music and Avalon Sunset. I love his collaboration with the Chieftains. His country album, Pay the Devil, is a bit of a novelty but is ok. Most of his albums in the last 20 years have been mediocre but contain the odd good song.

When I say 'downhill after Astral Weeks' that doesn't mean crap after Astral Weeks, it was a real high water mark and 'not quite as good as Astral Weeks' is actually pretty complementary!

And don't forget Veedon Fleece: not well-regarded at the time, but up there with his very best. It's a great pity he's developed such tw*ttish views. He's certainly someone who's got old before he's died!

Aw, c'mon, who on UKC doesn't love a band that plays at -15C in an empty but snowy Olympic stadium?

youtube.com/watch?v=c2zurZig4L8&

There's a lot of talk of rubbish bands/acts in here, but I'm not going to get drawn into that as I don't think I "should" like the likes Ed Sheeran.  Not sure the critics love them either!?

But I am going to stick my neck out and make a staggering, staggering confession.

Now I love Hip Hop, especially Golden Age Hip Hop - always have done, obsessively collect it on vinyl etc, and I like the solo output of a lot of the individual artists from it, and love their style, imagery and ethos, buuuuut...

I'm just not that into Wu Tang Clan

There I've said it.  It's someone else's turn to talk.  

There are a few artists where, however good the music might be, I just have to draw the line. Especially when I've seen evidence first-hand at a gig of the kind of person they are. For me, VM falls into that (small) category.

A lot on here I agree with, a lot I don't but I refuse to downvote anything in this thread.

For me:

Led Zeppelin- One of the best rhythm sections of all time, but I don't get the hype over Robert Plants screechy, wailing voice. I like a couple of songs but don't get the acclaim. 

Ed Sheeran- a common one so far. Bland, uninspiring and unremarkable. Knows how to write (or steal given the number of lawsuits he's involved in).

Coldplay/Snow Patrol. I lump these two together because they're the same bland s£%"e to my ears. I wish Coldplay had been one-hit wonders with "The Scientist", a song I actually quite enjoy.

All references to the Beatles in this list suffer from mega-hindsight. Artists should be compared to what came before them, not to what came after. Almost everything after the Beatles owes some debt to them. Compared to what came before they were incomparably innovative. 

Martin

You mean the insects?

I give you James Blunt.

At least he has a sense of humour !

https://www.itv.com/news/2022-02-13/james-blunt-suggests-playing-his-songs-...

Forgot about Veedon Fleece. Great album.

Good point.

I agree that they made some marvellously innovative albums that forever changed popular music - but I think it's also important to remember that in making these the Beatles were hugely influenced by Dylan, whose even more innovative Highway 61 Revisited pre-dated Rubber Soul and whose Blonde on Blonde pre-dated Revolver. I know Dylan has generated strong feelings both ways on this thread: I'm an enormous fan and I think it's impossible to over-state the influence his lyrical revolutions had in changing rock, folk, country and pop.

Pink Floyd - tedious twiddling after Syd Barrett left.  It might have been drivel before, but it at leastwasn't boring.

The Fall. Just not that interesting .  I'm sure Mark E Smith was charismatic, but my god it's ranty and tuneless.  You know you're in trouble if Frank Sidebottoms version of Hit the North is more listenable (and also , apparently Mark E Smith didn't think FS version was funny either, demonstrating he was a humourless culture snob).

Don't think much of Sleaford Mods either.  

Re. the Wu Tang Klan - I'd have agreed, but this is good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALUKDkOxVPo&t=127s

Coldplays first album was pretty good, but after that.....

I'd also nominate The Offspring as overrated.

Havnt seen them mentioned yet, so im prepared for the pitchforks to come out but... Radiohead. What a snoozefest.

Radiohead - when Ok Computer came out everyone was falling over themselves to say how good it was (in my circles) I thought it was awful.

In truth, most of the bands/artists listed here are ones who've outstayed their welcome. Precious few bands/artists can release more than say, three albums and stay innovative or fresh. So it's actually quite easy to list any acts who've released albums into double figures and slag them for some of their (usually later) stuff for being derivative, repetitive or unimaginative, never mind over-rated.

Anyway, that being said, a few more:

Bruce Springsteen

Elton John

Genesis

Paul Weller

All the above have released a few good albums, then more of the same-old. Same can be said for Bowie, except he was pretty unique in dipping in and out of the rubbish. His career was like an old clapped-out shower with the hot spells of adorably blissful water, interspersed with cold, unpleasant downpours. The shower stopped working completely when it came to Tin Machine.

As an aside, every time I've met someone who says they like music, then say they're a Queen fan, my conversation moves on to the next subject. I immediately know they've a few albums somewhere in a cupboard they were bought as presents at Christmas time and they don't like music at all. Same goes for Madness. Second favourite band of Queen fans and vice-versa.

i agree with your list apart from Genesis- some early stuff is pretty good. How about Marillion or Yes?

In their heyday, Yes were simply the best (to quote some overrated yet critically acclaimed singer ) . However, the last 3 albums have been absolute pish. I saw their last tour in Glasgow in 2018 (post Chris Squire's passing) and was appalled at just how bad they sounded. Earlier gigs without Jon Anderson had also been a bit dire but at least I had a decent bass player to listen to. Definitely should have given up around the turn of the millenium (saying this as a fan since 1972).  

Seems to be the people who have had to spend actual time in Van Morrison's company that like him least. There's a well-known tour story about his roadies and his harmonica which attests to this.

i'll give early Yes another go.another band i never really got into was Deep Purple- maybe it's the singers...

You must be on a different planet. I think Pink Floyd is one of the greatest rock bands of all time. I find their music the opposite of tedious. To me, their albums Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here are note perfect and harmonically really interesting the whole way through. On a par with great classical music. I have not got tired of listening to them after half a century.

C'mon man, Gillan's scream? What are you talking about?

youtube.com/watch?v=7zKAS7XOWaQ&

Then there's this.

youtube.com/watch?v=51oPKLSuyQY&

I agree with Bruce Springsteen. One of the worst concerts I have ever seen (at Feyenoord stadium in Rotterdam thirty years ago). Horrible crowd, mostly biker slobs, who were pissing over the side of the stadium. When they all started jumping up and down in time with the music, the whole stadium started resonating at its natural frequency, so that we were being tossed about in our seats. Our party of eight walked out.

If you want tedious, may I suggest Police's Message in a Bottle.

For a sheer contrived pop cocktail - Toto's Africa. The final straw about that song is it evokes nothing whatever about Africa (including its music). The song could equally well have used the word Asia and it would be equally insincere and stupid (as though a whole continent could be treated as one country).

BTW, those who think the Beatles were over-rated obviously never lived through that phenomenon. 

May I ask: are you really into music?

every overrated band has a few good tunes

Yes I find almost unlistenable (earnest, twiddly, show-off, wilfully obscure, overblown, pompous...) Every worst thing you can reasonably say about prog rock you can level at Yes. 

As far as Genesis and Marillion, both bands are similar in producing brilliance at their best and embarrassing rubbish at their low points. Selling England by the Pound era for Genesis unfortunately contrasts to everything from Abacab onwards. At the time I really got into Fish-era Marillion, but now I find most of that era, apart from Clutching at Straws, embarrassing and strictly of its time. Brave is one of my all-time favourite albums though and never tire of listening, but then there's been some unlistenable crap such as Radiation. Again, both bands have produced an awful lot of stuff, so as I said, almost inevitably bound to fall below any threshold of freshness or innovation.

a rolling stones fan?

Taylor Hawkins, the drummer out of Foo Fighter is a massive Queen fan.  Reckon he knows a thing or two about music.

Here's a one we can all agree with...

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  Huge in the US, really well regarded, just never that big in the UK, never really clicked for us.  Well not like it did over there.

The exception that proves the rule?

Very likely.  Also he's American.  They're probably a niche taste over there, rather than the ubiquitous "Mum's Favourite Band" that they are over here*

*They literally are my Mum's favourite band.  And, guess what?  She's not really in to music!

I always liked Dylan a lot for his poetic songs. He was one of the influences on the Beatles, but they were influenced by so many (Elvis, the Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Lonnie Donnegan, Roy Orbison, etc etc). I only saw Bob Dylan live once, and it was a terrible concert. It was so bad I could hardly believe it was really him. Although I wasn't too far back in the crowd, I had my binoculars out and spent a lot of the time checking out his appearance on the stage - to make sure that it wasn't a cardboard cut-out of Dylan with an imposter hidden behind. He made absolutely no verbal contact with the audience at all. The only other time I have seen such a lack of acknowledgment of an audience, was at a Miles Davis concert. Miles spent the entire concert in a red leather jacket with his back directly to the audience, facing and playing his trumpet towards his band. He never turned around once, nor spoke a single word. The audience might as well not have been there.

The absolute opposite of Bowie, Queen, Bob Marley, etc, etc, etc.

Tom Petty. That was a pretty good band and they put on a good live performance.

I saw The Who at their Live at Leeds concert, and although it was great fun, it was pretty rough and ready, to the point I wondered how the producers would manage to make a decent record out of it. It was quite a long time before the record came out, which I eagerly bought and found that it bore only a passing resemblance to the actual concert. I think it was an eight-track recording, and I suppose each of the eight tracks must have been very extensively and carefully edited.

I tried my hardest with them and gave them fair shot, most of my mates at the time banged on about them, Pictures at ..... ,   works etc, I just didn't get them 

I also strongly disagree. I saw Bowie on his Serious Moonlight tour in Australia in about 1974 and it was one of the most polished performances I have ever seen. The movements of the entire band seemed to have been choregraphed. He was backed by an all-star cast of Nile Rodgers, Carmine Rojas, Carlos Alomar, Stevie Ray Vaughn etc.

Some of Bowie's live performances on YouTube are very well worth watching.

Evokes nothing about Africa?

Are you MAD???

When " kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengetti" you are transported.

Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you!

Oh yeah they could play, fantastic musicians and Tom Petty was a great songwriter.  They just don't seem to be very popular here?

Yep !

Cold play, absolute drivel 

youtube.com/watch?v=j2n0cd2kUVQ&

That video doesn't really do Bill Bailey's version justice.  I saw him do this live in Portree once and it was ace.

I'm never very good at knowing who is popular or who I'm supposed to like (esp these days). But, I'd offer:

Guns n Roses

Bruce Springsteen

Prince

You're right, they're mostly dire, but that's a special vid and I thought would appeal to the winter lovers on here (it's mimed, in any case . . .). I bought Brain Salad Surgery in the 70s as I liked both the name and the Giger artwork, but the music itself disappointed. You often never knew in those days until the needle hit the vinyl whether something was going to be any good. Imagine!

So the NME Encyclopedia of Rock, 1978 edition probably, was my bible, directing me to some great stuff (12 Dreams, Forever Changes, etc); I think I could quote the whole thing by heart when I was 15. Punk had only just reared its spiky head and NME was right on board, but it never did much for me, apart from Siouxsie and the Pistols. Wrong drugs. There was a squat nearby I used to hang out in and the punks were delighted with a five-litre tub of glue they'd managed to nick. I never much fancied that or lighter fuel.

The words say all that fine touristy stuff, but the song absolutely does not transport me back to Africa. There is nothing about it that feels remotely African (whether arabic or black or whatever). That's why it grates with me. The song would sound more convincing if it were about Florida, say, or almost anywhere else western.

is this a good Africa song?

youtube.com/watch?v=NqwY1a3EqOg&t=777

No, this is  youtube.com/watch?v=IQBC5URoF0s& 

No!!! It's a perfect 3 minute psychodrama with a coherent plot and big reveal at the end by the best white reggae band ever except for The Clash.

I agree with all of that.

There is some McLaughlin stuff I really like but I'm with FZ on this one. McLaughlin might actually be the artist I've tried the hardest to like but with a few exceptions haven't managed. His music is often quite stressful to listen to, and I like jazz that friends and passengers have described as 'fire in a pet shop' or 'a sheet metal delivery crashing into a sawmill.' 

I've been played music by the likes of Joe Satriani and all of it is tedious 'weedly weedly wee' guitar soloing over the top of a really boring rhythm section which makes a Bontempi organ on automatic sound like Frank Zappa and Don Caballero having an argument. 

Agree with all the U2, Oasis and Metallica bashing. U2 took the brilliant sound of the Public Image Theme, lightened it a bit and made an entire career out of it. I'd add the Foo Fighters. Mundane golf-rock for the most part. If they were paint they'd be watered-down magnolia.

I can't get Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan or David Bowie. I acknowledge their importance, but with Bowie I can't help but think his imagery and style compensated for good but not great music. No denying his positive influence though.

With the exception of a few Blur and Radiohead songs, Portishead and the Las, everything that came out of Britpop. Boring, annoying, derivative pigswill. 

Wasn't it "rises like a Memphis above the Serengeti". A good song I thought but I agree with others the Africa references seemed a bit contrived. Serengeti, pronounced properly, doesn't scan with the music, and the classic "memphis" view of Kilmanjaro is seen from Amboseli not Serengeti (I'm not an expert, but I have been there - Amboseli, Serengeti and Kilimanjaro). The following link https://www.ultimatekilimanjaro.com/blog/can-kilimanjaro-be-seen-from-the-s... is pretty definite.

Martin

Splendidly written stuff.

My tried-to-like, failed, well-regarded jazz fusion guitarist is Alan Holdsworth.  Noodly to the point it could put you off spaghetti.

T.

I always heard it to be "rises like an empress" but concede that it was actually Olympus. OK song in its day, even better retrospectively.

I think viewers of Tarzan and Daktari will sense a certain African vibe about the arrangement......

Don’t think anyone had legato technique or such a vision of the fretboard. Eddy Van Halen was a huge fan, and in spite of all that it’s just noodly. I want to love it because no one shreds like that, but just can’t.

All my assumptions, everything I know is WRONG!!!

Not so it seems. I was very confident it was "rises like a Memphis above the Serengeti" which made a lot of sense to me because I erroneously thought "memphis" was another word for "sphinx" which is apt for the profile of Kilimanjaro. But it seems Memphis only refers to the ancient Egyptian city (and it's namesakes). I listened to the YouTube version with lyrics at  youtube.com/watch?v=DWfY9GRe7SI& and was sure I heard "a memphis" again first time, then discovered memphis isn't the same as sphinx, listened again, and heard "Olympus".

But I was right about Serengeti though.....

And it's still a good track.

Martin

And this is why UKC trumps all other social media. My hat is doffed 

Could be worse. I thought it was "rises like a Lepress above the Serengeti"

Which I thought might have been a female leopard, or maybe a female leper. In my defence I was drunk most of the time back in those days.

Anyone who replies to “What is the significance of 1973?” With “It rhymes with “It rhymes with 'always be’” can't be all bad. He's my favourite ex-donkey walloper.

I would normally rate him as lowly as the eagles and other shit bands but: he knows his ale so I’ll let him off. And he’s a genuinely funny guy. He should join QOTSA. 
 

The Eagles a "shit band"?!

'fraid so. Gutted when Joe Walsh signed up.

Yes. Perhaps one day I might appreciate them. But for now, it’s Buffalo Tom (The Plank next !)

I suppose Joe had a different opinion about whether they were a shit band or not. 

Let's face it, it would probably pain you to concede that you liked ANY mainstream band.

That’s the first time I’ve seen Portishead categorised as Britpop!

Agree with the rest of what you said though, spot on!

Ohhh, I'll have to disagree.

Unfortunately, they are the kings of fillers. Violator could have been one of the best albums ever if they had taken the time to put four more quality songs alongside the four singles (Personal Jesus, World In My Eyes, Policy Of Truth, Enjoy The Silence) that are all brilliant.

sweet.

youtube.com/watch?v=rfkaCVmMAmU&

I've just re-read the full lyrics in what seems to be an authoritative version and realised that what I thought for years was "I guess it rains down in Africa" is in fact "I bless the rains down in Africa". And that line appears four or five times at least. Just shows how easily you can be misled.

Martin

I listened to violator at one of those formative times if my life, and then later on at another formative time of my life I spent time with a special someone who also loved it, and I learned to love it all over again.

There's not a single track on violator that I feel the need to skip over. Everyone is bang on, but its a personal point of view. I just love it 

Beyonce

Ellie Goulding 

Bob Dylan

Rolling Stones

Paul Weller, and he's a dick.

Walked out of a megadeth gig. They weren't helped by the awesome support band Pantera.

Megadeth just came across as a poor version of Status Quo and I'm no fan of status quo either. 

Kae Tempest.

An overindulged 6th form poet. 

Naah, they had one great piece of cover art back in the 80s*, shame about the music, though.

CB

*100 points for the correct guess!

Seen Megadeth a few times, but the standout was at the Marquee for Kerrang's 10th BD party (1991?) . I had bunked off college and queued all day outside the venue. They were supported by Alice in Chains who were on a massive high having just released Face Lift. Megadeth opened with Holy Wars, then straight in Hangar 18...Peace Sells, Wake up Dead , In my Darkest Hour...encore of Anarchy in the UK . Relentless, Marty Friedman killing it , one of my favourite gigs ever.

Since then they have released some terrible albums though 

A fair review 😄

I always thought Bill Bailey nailed it with regard to U2:

youtube.com/watch?v=H8dZwXnMrRU&

very good!

Rod Stewart? (apart from with the Faces maybe)

youtube.com/watch?v=6URKh__oO4o& (similarities with Changingman?)

Definitely one for the list. Much indulged by radio 6. 

Yes, very much so!  Although I'm a big fan of R6 they do get quite hung up on some acts and end up banging on about them obsessively.

A related daily mash today, glad to see my pick made the article.

https://www.facebook.com/28373121592/posts/10158906524956593/

Roxy music. Art school wankery of the first order.

Maybe so, but Virginia Plain is fantastic weirdness of the first order and has some awesome lyrics. 

Honestly, the rubbish that comes out of these places: John Lennon, Keith Richard, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton. (Admittedly, some of those did get kicked out.)

Saw Brian Ferry fairly recently ( at Monte Carlo Opera House don’t you know- free champagne at the interval!).  His voice had gone a bit; however, he played a lot of early Roxy Music and I was struck by how fresh and innovative the music sounded! ( and all the many Russians in the audience seemed to like it!).

One man’ s “fresh and innovative” is another man’s “ art school wankery” I suppose!

Brian Ferry was an underrated songwriter I think. 

Time to end the thread by invoking the one Austrian who didn't make it to art school?

CB

There's also a son of St Petersburg who has been known to enjoy the odd daub and I think is largely self-taught:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jan/19/vladimir-putin-art-auction

Serious Moonlight tour in 1974? Surely 84 or something, no? 

Oh Christ another untalented and failed artist whose plan B was a political career.

Did you ever have problems with thinking what words were being sung in "I am your Venus"?

My mistake: I meant ca. 84. It was actually in November 1983 in the Perth Entertainment Centre.

Marty Friedman is probably my favourite ever metal guitarist, he’s got everything. Megadeth have always had the best guitarists, esp Chris Poland and Kiko. The intervening albums are a bit variable, but I thought the last one was a real return to form.

Looks like there's lots of art school boys in the room!

I like my rock and roll to be immediate and heartfelt. RM always seemed like they were primarily trying to be cool and clever, which never floated my boat

They're in the same category as Talking Heads for me.  Critically acclaimed because of their perceived artiness, but that aside, uninteresting songs sung by a weak singer.

But to be fair you could say the same about The Velvet Underground.  But they're awesome. 

They always pushed the envelope and someone needs to do that for us to move forward. That's happened for centuries. I'm sure at some point someone grunted "these bone flutes are a bit fancy, I prefer some good old banging stones together".

If you haven't watched Stop Making Sense, you should try that and see if you have a different perspective. It's one of the best concert films I've ever seen.

Funny thing is...I would take Talking Heads discography over VU's any day (and when I was younger I much preferred VU). 

Primal Scream, who'd have thought you could win the Mercury prize droning on about getting stoned over an Andy Weatherall remix. (Before resuming attempting to be Mick Jagger)

Go on then. You added Lcd Sound System who I thought were ok and of a similar ilk.

Yeah, taste is a funny thing. I’m not a massive Primal Scream fan and I prefer their later stuff over Screamadelica, but I happened to see them play an awesome gig in NYC and that has kept them safely off my list. My daughter is still mad at me for putting LCD Soundsystem on the list as she got tickets to their upcoming London gig.

On a side note, the biggest surprise on this thread must be that no one has mentioned Arcade Fire. They seem like a very Marmite band.

I've never clicked with Arcade Fire either, always found Funeral to be clunky and predictable, Suburbs for me is a bit better but still doesn't draw me back.

I've never understood the appeal of The White Stripes. 

I saw Arcade Fire live in Princes Street Gardens as the support act for Franz Ferdinand. We'd never heard of them before but thought they almost upstaged the main act. Think I'd need to re-visit a few tracks to remind myself on what they were like.

Never understood what all the fuss about George Formby was about myself.

Well, diving in again. We got rid of all our CDs last year, and while we were at it I thought I would have a listen to my wife’s Radiohead collection, a band which had completely passed me by as I don’t listen to music radio and my interests are more hard rock/metal anyway.

The guitarist and band is certainly good value, and I did give OK Computer a few listens, but in fairness it is really dreary self indulgent  tosh. The singer would get on well with the dreary bass player from Pink Floyd who moans about being a multi millionaire rock star all the time. 2/10

I suppose you can't stand Velvet underground?

Never listened to any. 

Try "White Light/White Heat"

Tom Waites

Any metal after Deep Purple's early stuff and Sabbath.

Winehouse, apart from a few tracks.

Most Jazz, apart from swing jazz, like Louis Prima.

Dylan is the greatest.  Mind you, I also love The Grateful Dead 😁

Ok, I've kept out of defending Elbow (haunting, original music with lyrics that often stand up as decent poetry in their own right), AC/DC ('utterly forgettable'?! Seriously?) and Bowie (so far ahead of the trend most people still haven't caught up) but you've gone too far.  Made in Japan is one of the finest live albums ever made.  In his pomp Blackmore was peerless as a technical rock guitarist who also knew what melody meant.  Ian Gillan's voice was incredible.  I would concede that later incarnations of the band never quite matched the original line-up.  

This thread seems to have descended into I don't like this or that random band rather than ones that critics rave about (Coldplay????? arren't they notable for being hated by critics)

it's not very inventive saying Coldplay and Ed Sheeran all the time

I'm currently listening to so Laura Nyro albums tath were highly recommended but I'm struggling to enjoy them. I just can't stand her voice or the way she delivers her lyrics. I will persevere for a bit longer though.