Music.....isnt it just sad???

[KeithReynolds]

Im so bored with music.
I cant stand to listen to the radio, and even stuff I used to like has become annoying. Ive found myself listening to alot of 80's pop/new wave music recently.
Metal totally has me bored. So many bands sound the same and rip eachother off. I just cant take it. Basically the formula is: fast double bass, blast beats and fast schizophrenic guitar parts. The almighty "Riff" has become done away with for this crazy fast stupid guitar parts. Vocals are all the same too. Scream scream scream growl scream growl growl scream. Cavemen can do did that shit, haha. Recently, ive refuse to listen to metal. Well, besides a few here and there. Its just became parody of itself. Its pretty funny though. I just cant take it seriously anymore.

Modern rock...oh WTF?!?! The lyrical content of: drinking, doing drugs, stripping, partying and having sex are OVERUSED!!!!!!!! Its old and stupid....but for some reason, it sells. Again, every band tries to sound like eachother. Why? Have people become tired of different things?

Rap/hiphop....not only does it allready suck ass, but they are ripping eachother off too and not making anything new either. Autotune is used way too much for that stupid "t-pain effect". Btw, he wasnt the first one. Go back to 1999 and listen to "Believe" by Cher. Again...nothing new.

Country....has become pop country. I dont like country at all, but apparently alot of people do. No more "my dog died, and wife left me"... Its now the same lyrical content as modern rock. yuck!!!

Originality just doesnt exist anymore. Im just sick of music I guess. I used to think it was full of originality, but on all fronts, ive been proven wrong. Im starting to only prefer 90's and before...well besides a few select newer bands.
The best part is, I dont miss it. I am much happier that I dont have to endure listening to 6,000 metal bands that sound the same. Its just old and stagnant. The search for "brootalness" has ended. I just wish it didnt take this long!



Long live Pink Floyd!!!!!! ....and Type O Negative!!!! haha


Anyone feel the same?

[f.sciarrillo]

Pink Floyd is the greatest band in history, Period.

[Banned]

I recommend a good dose of jazz. Look up some old Eric Dolphy. This guy pushed it, he was too far out there for Miles!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXZtokCj ... re=related

As you listen to Dolphy, try to imagine all his runs as being played on guitar. I don't there is a guitarist today who could hang.

[Jim Price]

Music hasn't all gone to hell...You just have to dig deeper and underneath the surface of the popular artists and genres to find the new gems out there that offer something fresh.

I just attended the Millennium Music Conference in Harrisburg over the weekend, and discovered a number of up-and-coming bands and artists doing things a little differently...From a band called The Devyl Nellys from New York City that does rocking bossa nova (it works, and their singer, Nelly Levon, has an excellent voice) to Pittsburgh's Lovebettie with their funk and soul-geared hard rock (also with an excellent singer named Alexandra), to the Stella Frays from the U.K., who take old-school British Invasion-flavored rock and give it a modern hard edge. This year I saw a lot of impressive female-fronted acts, including the two I already mentioned, plus the band who opened for Halestorm, Nashville's Fools For Rowan, New Jersey's New Day Dawn, North Carolina's Dreamkiller, and The Taken from Harrisburg.

It's one of the reasons I love going to Millennium each year, because there are always new bands and artists with interesting, fresh and original sounds.

But the point is, the fresh stuff is out there, you just have to dig around for it.

[MOONDOGGY]

I feel the same too Keith. But I've come the realization that I'm just getting old and starting to hate this younger generation's music (and fashion, and language, and any other trend they have)! It happens with every generation. The generation before us probably hated grunge crap like Pearl Jam, Chains, STP etc. Now I look at that a just pure rock! Imagine what they thought to goofy nuts like RHCP and Faith No More! It's just age man. Wait until we get to use motorized carts and swear at young kids from our front porch!!!

As for the cure to music boredom.....I can't get enough of the standards! Sinatra, Deano, Sammy, Darin, and a lot of these other guys just had the ultimate cool factor, and it's just feel-good music. If that stuff doesn't get you goin, jump ahead a few years and crank up some ear candy like James Brown, Parliament, Earth Wind & Fire, and a whole slew of funk masters. I've even gotten so sick of pop radio that I even listen to 40's station on XM.

When all else fails.....I listen to NPR or BBC on my way to work!

[todd17063]

funny you should mention 80's pop and new wave.... thats what my band is basically covering now... its alot of fun music to play.......

[KeithReynolds]

funny you should mention 80's pop and new wave.... thats what my band is basically covering now... its alot of fun music to play.......

that would be awesome!!!!

[f.sciarrillo]

I agree, Jazz is the shiznit..

[Jasaoke]

Try flipping things. Pick up a different instrument and play a familiar song in a new way. Play metal on a madolin. Change time signatures (I'm a sucker for anything in 6/8). Learn the chords to an overdone candy-pop song and make it tear the roof off. Force yourself to explore a new genre; and not just Pandora - research decades of something. Music that sticks around is worth a listen.


And you obviously have internet access...
It's kina impossible to 'run out' of new music

[songsmith]

Yeah, Keith, your current stage in your musical development may be more the issue than whether there's good music to be had. I've often talked about the whole Nirvana thing, how in my late 20's my favored genre needed and got a huge change, and left me behind. The truth is that YOU evolve, too. I looked at rock music overall, and realized that I didn't care for the new shoe-gazers, but I was sick of the shiny pouf-haired boys, too.
I went backwards. I started listening to 60's stuff I hadn't been exposed to yet. I listened to blues of all kinds. I got really heavy into old country music. I discovered James Brown, The Meters, Miles Davis, Tower of Power, Sonny Boy Williamson, Cephas & Wiggins, Susan Tedeschi, Allmans, the Dead, man, so much music! And I haven't even mentioned bluegrass!
Obviously, you have to forge your own path, my likes and dislikes are irrelevant... a great place to start is to listen to your parents' records, and your grandparents', and whomever's records. If you think that 20 years ago, I saw myself playing in a bluegrass band, you'd be WAY wrong, but it turned out that way, and I have more fun now onstage than I ever did, and I had LEGENDARY fun then. You just have to let go of the idea that music has to be filtered by what you liked when you were a teenager, because you're no longer a teenager.
I agree that music for the young crowd sucks. On the other hand, you have a hundred years of recorded music that you haven't listened to yet. You're obviously a huge music fan, you're just at a crossroads.

[RobTheDrummer]

Just listen to every Tool album from front to back.....that's what I do when I get bored with the same old.

[tornandfrayed]

Dude, I could do without Tool, but there are a few bands that are doing things.

Try Red or Shamans Harvest and see what you think.

There is also a huge subculture built around bands like;

Sparks the Rescue
Never Shout Never
Hey Monday
River City Ransom
Connor Oburst

and so on...

These bands travel in little caravans and put on shows that are cool. They each play for 30, 40 minutes and you get 4 or 5 bands a night! They are huge high ENERGY and they are not pretentious at all..

Just saying...

You know me, I just love music! Can't help myself!

[moxham123]

Try Red or Shamans Harvest and see what you think.

I saw Red live at the Bryce Jordan Center recently for the WinterJam concert. I was impressed with their talent but was disappointed that all of their songs were so overloaded with music backing tracks live. They perform live with guitar, bass, drums, and a lead vocalist but there were lots of extra keyboard and guitar parts tracked. I felt the songs could have been better but the positive lyrical messages are good. I also saw them last week on The Tonight Show. I do think that they will eventually do well in the long run because they have the ability. Most people don't realize they are a Christian rock band.

[moxham123]

And, now for something completely different. How about mixing different old and new styles and genres.

Beatallica - ...And Justice For All My Loving

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqEJoQ3Z5v4

[gibson980]

I'm with this post 100%. I've been sick of all music for the last couple of months. I catch myself sitting at the youtube homepage struggling to type in a band that I want to hear.

You nailed it, the rock industry today is about sex, drugs, strippers, and money. For Christ sakes listen to that porn star dancing and new saving abel song. I can't remember the last time I turned on 104.9; thats the reason (and overload of AC/DC). I LOVE MUSIC and I find myself listening to ESPN radio in the car anymore because of the shitty music on the radio. I don't look for it to change. Good post, you read my mind to a T.

Bands I've been listening to that are somewhat different:
Volbeat and Pendulum

[mjb]

what songsmith said!

[gibson980]

Here's something different if your bored. Brazilian band... Who would have figured, and he can sing!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77AjeL2Kztk

[Jim Price]

I know I'm referencing Millennium Music Conference a lot this week, but it's fresh on my mind and it ties in...

The last panel every year at Millennium is the "Smash or Trash" panel, were a panel of music industry people listens to submitted songs from unmarked CD's and critiques them live on first listen. The panel this year featured 105.7 The X music director Jen Shade, 105.7 The X "Under The Radar" local music show host Maria, K-Rock (Syracuse) music director Nixon (formerly of 105.7 The X), Julie Kubacki of Atlantic Records, and producer David Ivory.

As the panel listened to the various song submissions, several prevalent themes surfaced as far as what they were listening for. They wanted songs that got to the point quickly, established the melody off the bat and delivered a chorus hook pronto. They generally frowned on long song intros or long instrumental passages that delayed the song hook payoff. The songs needed to be well-produced, and vocals needed to be out front. David Ivory explained that the singer is the person listeners identify with first, so buried vocals are not preferred. They looked for songs that appeal to the short attention spans of the average radio listener.

We here on Rockpage are NOT the average radio listeners, and we are in the minority. We care about the music we listen to. The average radio listener - the majority - is your 9-to-5'er, the soccer mom, the office worker; in general, people who don't want to think about the music they listen to. They want instant gratification from the radio, otherwise they tune to somebody else's station. They want familiar songs, quick melody/hook combinations that don't waste their time, and simple themes like sex, drugs and rock'n'roll that they don't have to think about. They aren't interested in music seriously enough to want to purchase satellite radio or seek out internet radio. They surf for the station they feel most comfortable with, stick with that station, and ultimately hear that station's advertisers (the lifeblood of commercial radio).

In short, what you hear on commercial radio is music that gets to the point quickly and has an immediate payoff with a quick melody and chorus, not to mention simple, easy-to-digest lyrics. That's why "Porn Star Dancing" and "Sex Is Good" are pushed as rock radio hits, while Dream Theater compositions are not.

Being a radio insider myself, I understood what the panel was saying. However, I note that some of rock's most famous songs didn't follow that quick melody/quick chorus formula...Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven” and “Kashmir," Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" and "Iron Man,” to name a few. But alas, they are the exceptions, not the rule.

I personally would like to hear more variety on the airwaves myself, but “sheeple” drive the market, and radio has to cater to the “sheeple’s” short attention spans to survive. The only way that changes is if the “sheeple’s” tastes change and demand something different. Given that none of us has hit the million-dollar lotteries and can afford to put our own broadcast station on the air to reach the masses with different music, that’s not likely.