Music snobs: songs/albums that are popular but nonetheless not bad
 

Some of us hold to the rule that if more than 3 people know about it, it sucks. What groups/albums are the exception?

I'd say most stuff by Interpol, The Gorillaz first album was great, oh and Last Splash by the Breeders

Fleetwood Mac, The Pretenders, Motorhead, Blondie... etc...

Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips (before the last album)

This is stupid, Sonic Youth is popular. The Velvet Underground is popular. Cat Power is popular. etc. If you mean mainstream success, then there are a lot.

I never get you indie kids. I like whatever rocks my boat, not what is trendy or is obscure. Some of it is, some of it isn't. Who cares enjoy music you BASTARDS!!!

Rolling Stones- most of it up to about 1975
The Misfits- all danzig era
Dr.Dre- 2001


Didn't Loveless reach the top 20 in the UK charts? Most music snobs dig that album.

Agreed.

Silverchair and Incubus are two mainstream bands which I dig.

And I like them for the reason which Synth stated.

Black Sabbath
White Zombie
Metallica
Primus
Soundgarden
Alice in Chains

I thought the whole premise of the thread was bands that you like that just happen to be mainstream? Because I've liked Modest Mouse when I first heard them years ago and I really dig this new album as well. Wouldn't this prove that obscurity/trend doesn't effect me? At least in regards to this band?

Because, you know, trying to one-up people in honesty/integrity is still oneupmanship.

I think that's a very odd rule.

uhhh

bush
toadies
system of a down first album
deftones
tool
static-x first album
limp bizkit first album
chevelle first album
refused
early modest mouse
bad religion
dead kennedys
misfits danzig-era

god, i dunno.. a shitload.. pixies are popular, sonic youth is popular.. if you've had a gold record or been on like epitaph you're popular.. so yeah..

Heehee... so it is.

hahahaha you suck.

Girls Aloud
Sugababes
S Club 7
Atomic Kitten

Hope that's sarcasm ^^
I'm going for the beastie boys. To be fair, most mainstream music is pretty shite.

Sugarbabes are fine. I second.

Megadeth

Hell Yeah..

And dont forget the mighty Spice Girls

I Hope Its Not :p

The Beatles, Bob Dylan, The Kinks, Neil Young, Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix, The Who...

oh I forgot: weezer.

i can get into pretty much any pop punk band that isn't MEST.. i also love surf music, dick dale and such, ventures, which are VERY popular... uhhh.. soundtrack work by danny elfman and howard shore and other popular musicians heard by MILLIONS.. i like that.. i also dig gwen stefani's solo stuff...

I dunno. if you dislike something, if you don't give something a chance just because a few people tend to like it, you're a fucking idiot. that last justin timberlake album was great! it had GLITCH BEATS on it and robot vocals! inspiring. it had moments of robotic glitch future-pop. truely nuts. lots of good madonna stuff too. i loved britney spears's "Toxic". i loved the last nine inch nails album. stuff like aphex twin is also popular.. come to think of it, i dig tons of popular things.

...yeah. i think more radical and amazing things come out of the underground, obviously shit like polvo, thinking fellers union local # 282, renaldo and the loaf, etc. aren't on the radio.... but when bands like wolf eyes get offered spots on lollapalooza, boredoms are comissioned to play with 77 drummers in new york, rhys chatham and glenn branca are both on tv playing with huge symphonies.. is there really even an "underground" any more? every noise musician you like is a click away on soulseek or information on wikipedia, so yeah.. pretty much everything you can think of is known by many many people.. there are still tons of little bands around, but yeah.. i don't think it's stretching it too much to say that it's impossible in this age to be a music snob.

ps: get crazy with the Cheez Whiz

well put

Zing to the above. Although I'm not sure Atomic Kitten did more than one good thing.

What about the RnB stuff, your Missy Elliots, Jay-Zs, Rihanna, Mis-teeqs (God I love that band), Usher (handful of singles), Shaggy (silly but fun), R Kelly (Ignition is a dancefloor filler, don't care what you say) or that sort of thing?

Some of you may have noted that I'm quite a fan of Avril Lavigne and MCR, both of which are incredibly good at the whole pop thing.

Abba gold remains one of the few albums I've ever heard that everyone should own.

And, having only heard the actual albums lately, Alisha's [sp?] Attic did nothing but great albums.

And I like Cradle of Filth.

And other things probably.

One of those other things that I'm an absolute idiot for forgetting is The Carpenters who are amazingly brilliant.

And Edith Piaf, she's mahoosive.

And Herb Alpert.

And the continued existence of Happy Hardcore.

Contrary to atsonicpark's things, I haven't heard anything I thought was amazing from the (so-called) 'underground' for ages now, but I keep hearing things that are incredibly/ moderately popular that make my face explode in excellentness.

Despite some of the negative opinions of many on this board, I do like me some Mars Volta. It's rare to find a band that puts latin sound to the whole rock thing (at least for me) and TMV do it well. Concertina is beautifully haunting and indignant. Eunuch Provocateur, Drunkship Of Lanterns are both amazing tunes.

U2 up to and including Achtung Baby
Led Zeppelin
Edith Piaf indeed
Serge Gainsbourg
Early Pink Floyd
Early Metallica
Björk
The Smiths
Nina Simone
Radiohead
The list could go on for very long (including many bands revered on this board).

I was going to write in French and then realised my French is appaling (ma Francais c'est trés mal). Any recommendations on the French chanson front? I only really know Jacques Brél and Edith P and another chap I heard the other day whose name escapes me. Oh, and Serge, but I'm not too fussed about him.

Françoise Hardy
Jacques Dutronc (her husband)
Léo Ferré
Barbara
Serge Reggiani
Michel Polnareff
Dominique A
Jean-Louis Murat
Silvain Vanot
Alain Bashung (especially Fantaisie militaire)

How about Francois Breut?

When I see thread slike these I think of bands that are mainstream, but which 13 year old girls to 45 year old mainstream radio rock listeners listen to. Sonic Youth and the Velvet Underground etc are not those types of bands.

I don't know that many people that know Sonic Youth actually.

here here

Resurrecting the thread for a 'thanks' - people should check out this list. All about the chanson, innit?

As the music industry grows older, the amount of good popular music goes down. When was the last time a band as good as the Beatles played in front of stadiums of screaming fans and were everywhere you looked?

If I liked the Beatles I'd point to Radiohead.

I've probably said it before, but in my meagre experience I've noticed that history tends to erase the details of popular consciousness. I've met kids younger than me who are totally in awe of the mid- to late-90s when I grew up. Because of Blur and Pulp and the like. History tends to forget the Sleepers and Rialtos and Republicas of this world, and I am convinced the same must have been true in the 60s (or whatever decade).

i find these kind of threads tedious but people seem to love them

i don't know whether to laugh or despair