Entertainers you like, but only in theory

[Koxinga]

I would tell anyone that I like Frank Zappa, but I think if anything it's the idea of Frank Zappa, his philosophy or anti-philosophy or whatever. I really enjoy riffs on or homages (parodies) of his style (like Genius In France (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzQn2HBRACQ) or Cruisin' (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRWTz3zY1WY)). But while listening Frank's actual stuff, at least as far as I've found on Youtube, I'm ashamed to admit I find myself getting fidgety and usually cut the video short.

I'm sure there are other examples, but can't think of them right now.

[Stauderhorse]

I should like Jimi Hendrix. I love the hippie culture, psychedelic music, and killer electric guitar riffs. But when I actually listened to his music, it got grating very quickly. I can only take him in small does, to be honest.

[Koxinga]

Ah! I remember the other example I wanted to trot out.

Kurt Vonnegut.

I'm so ashamed.


ETA: And Devo. I appreciate what they do, but I think I'd eat a bucket of orange toothpaste sherbet before sitting down and listening to entire Devo album in one sitting.

[Ephemera]

Tim Burton. I love his aesthetic, but rarely his movies.

[WordMan]

Neil Gaiman. I grew up with comic books and love Alan Moore's work with the giddiness of a young girl for a horse ;). So hearing that Moore has this protege who has demonstrated excellence across a variety of written forms, movies, etc. - wow, he must be the guy for me!

I still don't get the love. Whatever is the final piece to the puzzle that clicks into place for me with Alan Moore is missing from my equation with Gaiman. I read American Gods when it came out and was left thinking "Really? That's it?"

My loss, no doubt - I've tried a number of times and come way feeling the same each time.

[salinqmind]

George Clooney. I admire him for living his life the way HE wants (living in Switzerland instead of Malibu, serially dating cocktail waitresses instead of hooking up with Another Celebrity and having Celebrity Kids). I like his looks. I LOVE the fact he doesn't do crappy rom-coms or movies about toys, just for the money. And he seems like a swell guy you would like to know. I even technically find his choice of movies unique and worthy of any number of major awards. On paper, all is well. It's just that I find actually watching one of those movies a bit taxing. (I'm content to watch all my old favorites over and over again instead of concentrating on something different.)

[gallows fodder]

Neil Gaiman. I grew up with comic books and love Alan Moore's work with the giddiness of a young girl for a horse ;). So hearing that Moore has this protege who has demonstrated excellence across a variety of written forms, movies, etc. - wow, he must be the guy for me!

I still don't get the love. Whatever is the final piece to the puzzle that clicks into place for me with Alan Moore is missing from my equation with Gaiman. I read American Gods when it came out and was left thinking "Really? That's it?"

My loss, no doubt - I've tried a number of times and come way feeling the same each time.
I was just having a conversation with my best friend about him in this very way! We were both kind of moody goth-ish teens into fairy tales and grim art when we were in high school, and some of our peripheral friends were very into Gaiman (especially the Sandman series). From their description of his work and their praise of it, we both thought he would be right up our alley but.....somehow he just felt a little flat. Well, I can admit that I found the art for the Sandman comics to be frankly ugly, so that was a big strike against it. But I've read American Gods, Stardust, and some of his short stories, and they all struck me as merely decent at best. Like Hades says about Tim Burton (who is kind of in the same boat, although I genuinely love his earlier movies), I appreciate Gaiman's aesthetic, but his actual work leaves me a bit cold.

[Alka Seltzer]

On the Neil Gaiman theme, I thought the Sandman was fantastic, but I found his novels and short stories disappointing. Some great ideas, but his characters strike me as flat and unsympathetic. Strange, as the Sandman characters really come to life for me.

On the Sandman art, a succession of artists was used over the series. Some of it is quite ugly, but The Wake has excellent artwork.

[Jophiel]

I like the idea of Parker Posey as an abstract than I actually enjoy her as an actress. I keep thinking "Oh, hey, Parker Posey!" and then being underwhelmed. She's done some good enough stuff such as the Christopher Guest flicks but her more standard acting always makes me wonder why I was interested in her behalf.

[Serenata67]

Tim Burton. I love his aesthetic, but rarely his movies.

I'm with you on this one. I like some of his stuff, but a lot of it's more of an aesthetic appreciation.

The other one I'm mildly ashamed to admit is Bob Dylan. I love a lot of people who list him as an influence, and I love a lot of other artists from the area, but I'm just not that into Dylan. Maybe I just don't understand him.

[Bridget Burke]

Neil Gaiman. I grew up with comic books and love Alan Moore's work with the giddiness of a young girl for a horse ;). So hearing that Moore has this protege who has demonstrated excellence across a variety of written forms, movies, etc. - wow, he must be the guy for me!

I still don't get the love. Whatever is the final piece to the puzzle that clicks into place for me with Alan Moore is missing from my equation with Gaiman. I read American Gods when it came out and was left thinking "Really? That's it?"

My loss, no doubt - I've tried a number of times and come way feeling the same each time.

Agree. But I loved The Doctor's Wife (http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/The_Doctor's_Wife).

[Snarky_Kong]

I'm with you on this one. I like some of his stuff, but a lot of it's more of an aesthetic appreciation.

The other one I'm mildly ashamed to admit is Bob Dylan. I love a lot of people who list him as an influence, and I love a lot of other artists from the area, but I'm just not that into Dylan. Maybe I just don't understand him.

It's pretty common to like him as a songwriter but hate him as a musician. Is that where you are?

[GargoyleWB]

Also agree with Neil Gaiman, he was who I was coming in to mention. He has wonderful ideas and concepts, but his execution as a writer is simplistic. I always feel like I'm reading a Reader's Digest abridged version of a better book.

[WordMan]

Hmm - feels like maybe we should start a "is Neil Gaiman really all that?" kinda thread...

[ZipperJJ]

Miles Davis.

I appreciate what he did for jazz and who he was as a musician. Played some of his stuff in various jazz ensembles, wrote a paper on him for a black history class, have a couple of his CDs from my brother...

Never really listen to anything but "All Blues" and "So What" and that's probably just because we played those charts in band.

[Starving Artist]

The blues! I really love blues music.

But only for about twenty five minutes.

I'm a lot the same way with smooth jazz. I love, love, love smooth jazz. But I get tired of it after a couple of days and start listening to something else.

[Sunshine and Smiles]

I'm in the category of liking Bob Dylan as a songwriter but hating him as a musician.

All signs seem to be saying that I should love Animal Collective. They're cutting edge, a bit dancey, spacey, my friends are all into them - and I only (barely) like three songs by them.

[Ephemera]

Hmm - feels like maybe we should start a "is Neil Gaiman really all that?" kinda thread...

Go for it. I actually like Gaiman, but I'd like to see other people's perspectives.

[dropzone]

I'm in the category of liking Bob Dylan as a songwriter but hating him as a musician.I try to think of his recordings as demos to sell his songs to better musicians and singers.

[Serenata67]

It's pretty common to like him as a songwriter but hate him as a musician. Is that where you are?

Yeah, I'd say that.

[Ogre]

I refer to this phenomenon as "I appreciate X more than I like them", and I use the descriptor most often with musicians. It refers to anyone who perhaps I should like, who has actually made significant contributions to music, or their genre, or whatever - but for whatever reason, I can't fuckin' stand them.

My list is a mile long. :) Here's a small sampling.

Miles Davis
The Grateful Dead
Phish (or hell, almost any jam band)
Rush
King Crimson
Joan Baez
Steely Dan

There are so many, many more. I'm a hater, I admit it.

[gaffa]

There are so many, many more. I'm a hater, I admit it.
Best username match ever.

[gaffa]

I like the concept of Ani DiFranco, but think she is given attention far out of proportion to her actual level of talent.

[Icarus]

Conan O'Brien

[punch line loser]

I really hate Weezer, but once a friend of mine said, "I like the concept of a song about destroying a sweater, and that's as far as it goes." I can dig that.

[Typo Negative]

The blues! I really love blues music.

But only for about twenty five minutes.



I can only hang for a song or two. I can appreciate it, but not really enjoy it that much.

I once saw Bobby Blue Bland, Albert King and B.B. King in L.A. Man, that was a long night.

Even Stevie Ray Vaughn. Enourmously impressed by his playing. But I can only stay in for a couple of songs before my mind goes elsewhere.

[Alessan]

J.R.R. Tolkien.

[Starving Artist]

I can only hang for a song or two. I can appreciate it, but not really enjoy it that much.

I once saw Bobby Blue Bland, Albert King and B.B. King in L.A. Man, that was a long night.

Even Stevie Ray Vaughn. Enourmously impressed by his playing. But I can only stay in for a couple of songs before my mind goes elsewhere.Slightly off-topic but you might want to take a look at R.L. Burnside. I got his album Wish I Was in Heaven Sittin' Down as a gift about ten years ago and found myself playing it over and over again. The only blues music I never got tired of. Great stuff. There are currently several songs from that album on Youtube. You might want to check them out.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

James Joyce.

I respect him. I understand, in principle, what he was trying to do. I'm in awe of his intellect.

But actually reading his stuff is just way too much work for me. I'm no dumbass and I have far above average abilities with understanding the English language and comprehending literature, but trying to wade through Joyce is a goddamn Herculean effort which I do not find enjoyable. I can get most of it it if I try hard enough, but I don't enjoy it. Joyce is the only writer who makes me feel like a drooling moron.

[Hampshire]

Conan O'Brien

So true. I was really missing him a lot after he quit NBC and was wishing he came back soon with his own new show. Then he comes back and I never watch it.
Maybe the filler stuff annoys me too much to wait around for the inspired bits.

[Annie-Xmas]

J.R.R. Tolkien.

And Kurt Vonnegut, who tops my list of "creative types who were very lucky to be born when they were, cause they would not have made it in any other era."

[divemaster]

I am a big aficionado of Korean movies. Plus, I like filmmakers that challenge me; show me something other then the tired old clichés. So you would think I would be a huge fan of Ki-duk Kim, who is a highly regarded filmmaker.

Can't stand most of his movies. The only one I actually liked was Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring; and 3-Iron was okay. The rest, awful. In fact, Bad Guy may be the most unpleasant movie experience of my life.

[Zeldar]

After a fair amount of head-scratching the only name I can comfortably add to what I consider a decent list so far is Woody Allen, as a filmmaker. His early stand-up comedy was okay, but the way he and his audience started taking him seriously as a modern philosopher and spokesperson for a generation just left me wondering what I was missing. I can accept that a lot of people think he's terrific. I just don't.

[TreacherousCretin]

John Denver.

I always liked him in interviews (print and video), loved him as an "actor" in Oh God.

I really wanted to like his music, but I just can't stand it.


.

[MegaBee]

J. R. R. Tolkien. I'm a huge D&D geek and a fan of fantasy novels, so I should love the Hobbit et al, right? Nope. Tolkien's is way too verbose for my tastes. I got maybe fourteen pages into the Hobbit before giving up.

[ianzin]

This is my 'this thread could have been made for me' moment. I agree with many of the choices already offered.

Hendrix: guitar god, genius, pioneer, innovator, peerless energy, shattered our understanding of what the electric guitar could do... yada yada. Do I actually want to listen to him? Mm, not so much. 'Live in Winterland' is good in parts, and I can enjoy the high flying on 'Nine to the Universe', but by and large I'm okay listening to something else.

Tolkien: admire the achievement, don't actually want to read through it all.

Dylan: I understand how he important he was and is, and I recognise the brilliance of the writing... just can't stand actually listening to him. Not for 10 seconds. I have this lazy preference for singers who can, um... sing.

And so on. I think this thread is actually kind of therapeutic. It gives you a nice 'Oh, so it's not just me...' feeling.

[Slithy Tove]

Modern Art: I'm the last person who'd spout that "my kid could do that" crap. Pollock, Rothko: love them. Could look for miles into their paintings. The late Cy Twombly though, I just can't pick anything up there.

[Steophan]

James Joyce.

I respect him. I understand, in principle, what he was trying to do. I'm in awe of his intellect.

But actually reading his stuff is just way too much work for me. I'm no dumbass and I have far above average abilities with understanding the English language and comprehending literature, but trying to wade through Joyce is a goddamn Herculean effort which I do not find enjoyable. I can get most of it it if I try hard enough, but I don't enjoy it. Joyce is the only writer who makes me feel like a drooling moron.

Have you read "Dubliners" or " A Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man"? They have almost none of the stuff that make "Ulysses" or "Finnegans Wake" such hard work, and are very good books.

[NDP]

I refer to this phenomenon as "I appreciate X more than I like them", and I use the descriptor most often with musicians. It refers to anyone who perhaps I should like, who has actually made significant contributions to music, or their genre, or whatever - but for whatever reason, I can't fuckin' stand them.

Except for the "I can't fuckin' stand them" part (since I like a few of his songs) that almost exactly describes my feelings about Prince. I like and respect the fact that he's a prodigiously-talented musician who, for the last 30 years, has been doing what he wants artistically and has still managed to be commercially successful during most of that time without feeling the need to water things down for mass consumption or cave in to the record industry. And yet, when it comes down to it, I'm personally indifferent about most of his stuff.

[Indyellen]

J. R. R. Tolkien. I'm a huge D&D geek and a fan of fantasy novels, so I should love the Hobbit et al, right? Nope. Tolkien's is way too verbose for my tastes. I got maybe fourteen pages into the Hobbit before giving up.
This. I managed to make it through the Hobbit, tried to start Lord of the Rings, and gave up.

I describe him as chewy. You know, like a tough cut of meat that hasn't been cooked quite long enough.

[Namkcalb]

Can't stand most of his movies. The only one I actually liked was Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring; and 3-Iron was okay. The rest, awful. In fact, Bad Guy may be the most unpleasant movie experience of my life.
Bad guy was amazing... I love the way he gets in the pimps mind in the begining, and by the end, the audience are not sure whether whats been shown is real or a pleasant fiction.

[Crawlspace]

Dickens. I love sprawling epic novels. East of Eden, A Confederacy of Dunces, Don Quixote - awesome. What I've read of Dickens sets me on edge.


The Grateful Dead
Phish (or hell, almost any jam band)The funny thing is, I actually really like Phish and The Grateful Dead albums and listening to recordings of their shows. Going to their shows bores the hell out of me. I suppose it has something to do with needing to stand and dealing with people who are there for the open air drug market aspect.

[Snake Plissken]

One of the best thread subjects I've seen in a long time. I've had the feeling, but never actually asked the question. I'm in agreement with alot of the artists mentioned, and Zappa was the one that hit me the hardest.

While I understand the comments about Dylan, I cant get on board with the general feeling provided thus far. I got into him when I was around six years old, and I have loved him ever since.

My careers have afforded me the opportunity to meet hundreds of artists, athletes and celebs. There have only been a couple that really rocked me upon meeting them. Dylan was one.

[cmyk]

Rather than just a particular entertainer, or bands in genres of music I love yet just never seems to take to, I should LOVE going to concerts. I've gone to plenty, especially my favorite bands... ones whose albums I've ground into a fine powder, snort, repeat.

I'm a mega-fan of hard rock and metal. I love going out for memorable entertainment. It should be the aural equivalent of going to the movies for me (in of which I do, indeed, indulge in as often as possible. Perhaps more rich and epic, even. Yeh?

Nope, bored to tears. I'll admit, I don't like crowds very much... but, I'm not that sensitive to masses of humanity. Perhaps it's because I'm not a musician, myself? But then why do all my other non-musician friends LOVE going?!

I tried. I really did. I've been to 40 or 50 concerts, from the big arenas, the sprawling outdoor affairs, to the intimate, small venues, right up against the stage floor, taking a peak at the set list.

Why my buddies have to pull my arm to get me to go to a mutually adored band, or one I love even more than them... I just can't pin it down.

I'll just say it straight; I hate going to concerts.

[GuanoLad]

Joss Whedon.

I ought to love his stuff, all my friends do, and he seems like my kind of thing; I certainly don't have any real problem with anything that I've watched, as I can't pin down things I actually dislike. But I just don't get into his stuff at all. I can take it or leave it, and generally I've left it.

He has a cult following, but it's small, so I don't think he'll ever have a surefire hit. Even Buffy was only a lucky minor success. And he's doing a mainstream film, I suppose, The Avengers, but at a time when superhero films are starting to wane in popularity.

[Annie-Xmas]

John Denver.

I always liked him in interviews (print and video), loved him as an "actor" in Oh God.

I really wanted to like his music, but I just can't stand it.


.

A ouple of people I know who worked with Denver said he was the biggest pile of shit in the industry. He was a fine actor--his whole persona was an act.

[The Other Waldo Pepper]

He has a cult following, but it's small, so I don't think he'll ever have a surefire hit. Even Buffy was only a lucky minor success. And he's doing a mainstream film, I suppose, The Avengers, but at a time when superhero films are starting to wane in popularity.

I don't want to hijack this overmuch, but CAPTAIN AMERICA is still in theaters turning a profit, and so is THOR, and while IRON MAN 2 admittedly racked up more of a profit last year, that wane doesn't mean as much when Iron Man will be the guy teaming up with Thor and Captain America to -- I dunno, battle a rampaging Hulk, or something? Does it even matter? I'm not actually sure they could lose money on this movie.

[TreacherousCretin]

A ouple of people I know who worked with Denver said he was the biggest pile of shit in the industry. He was a fine actor--his whole persona was an act.

I'm surprised and disappointed to hear that. Oh well.

Although come to think of it, I was a little put off by his being someone who was a drunk driver, and then a drunk flyer.

.


.

[Blaster Master]

I'll just say it straight; I hate going to concerts.

I too am a metal/rock fan and I have sort of a love hate relationship with them. I love the energy, I love seeing them perform live, but standing and dealing with aggressive crowds for 6 hours gets tiring really quick. I still go though because, usually, the discomfort of all of that gets forgotten, but seeing the great riff live or some other moment lives on in memory. Only a couple times have I had lasting negative memories that ruined an otherwise good concert.

And it's sort of the opposite problem with sit down concerts. Yeah, I'm comfortable, the crowds aren't a problem, but I don't get to really get myself lost in the music or in the energy of the band. So it ends up being a lot more comfortable but not very memorable. And, of course, arena shows are the worst because they have the worst of both where you're dealing with the massive crowds and still can't see a damn thing.

That all said, I live close to a venue that is both inexpensive and has many of my favorite acts go through, and because it's small, I have no trouble getting up front or hanging out with the band afterward. So, I still go to concerts often, but I definitely get what you're going at here.



Specifically to the OP, there's a lot of artists that fit in this. Most often, they're bands that set the groundwork and are considered essential, like Black Sabbath or Led Zepplin. Yes, they were innovative at their time and everyone is basing a lot of their stuff on what they did, but since I wasn't alive then, I've already heard everything they've done a thousand times before and whatever innovation they may have had just sounds cliche and boring to me.

There's also a similar phenomenon when I really like a particular genre but I haven't ever gotten into a particular band. They are modern and sound a lot like a lot of other bands, but by the time I get to them, they just don't stand out to me. I imagine if I'd picked them up and not one of the other favorites of the genre instead, the notion would be reversed.

[salinqmind]

Paul Newman. I like Paul Newman, I admire him. But I can't sit through his movies and I can't exactly say why. (maybe Cat On A Hot Tin Roof). He's cool - too cool.

[Morbo]

Love the Grateful Dead, love Widespread Panic, String Cheese, Leftover Salmon, have been to countless concerts of all of them, I even enjoy the parking lot scene, etc.

But I simply cannot get into Phish. I've tried, for freakin' 20 years. In fact, I just went to see them not two weeks ago at an outdoor venue at the Columbia Gorge with friends. Had a great time...just didn't like the music.

[Sam A. Robrin]

Someone once said of the Marx Brothers that they never made a movie as wonderful as they were. And I think applies to a lot of artists, particularly those who died young, such as Janis Joplin. (Though not all, as it's amazing how much stuff exactly as wonderful as he was Jimi Hendrix left behind.)

[pulykamell]

I've mentioned this one before, but Husker Du is the one that I can't quite wrap my head around. I admit, I've warmed a bit to them in the last few years, but I still appreciate and respect them far more than I actually enjoy them. It's weird, because given my musical tastes, every indication is that I should absolutely love them. But they've never quite resonated with me.

In terms of literature, James Joyce and Tolkien. Perhaps even T.S. Eliot. Joyce is just impenetrable to me; I don't have the attention span for Tolkien (except for The Hobbit); and T.S. Eliot, while having penned some poetry I enjoy immensely, I like overall more in theory than in practice. However, all three of these writers I respect and recognize as geniuses.

[YaraMateo]

Liz Taylor - I LOVE old Hollywood glamour. She was probably the prettiest woman of her time. I actually like about three of films, but I can't watch any of the others. I didn't even like Cleopatra. I don't think she's a good actress. She has this bitchy smugness to her that I can't stand. The funny part is I think she deserved her oscar forWho's Afraid Virginia Wolfe, but I think she's one of the worst actresses ever.

Madonna - I kind of grew up on her (my mom is a HUGE fan). I like that she used sex to her advantage. I also like the charity work she does. I kind of like her as business woman and not as a singer, actress, or person. She seems like a huge hypocrite. I watching some doc on her. She was all sell all your stuff and give it to African orphans one minute and the next minute complaining a hotel wasn't posh enough for her.

Kurt Cobain/Nirvana - A lot of the people I used to hang out with really worshiped him. I get he was trying to do, but seriously half of Nirvana's songs suck. The ones I do like were written by Grohl. He's not a good singer. I don't think he'd still be famous if he was still alive. (Yes, I know that's fucked up but I don't care.) I think I would have like Nirvana if Grohl was the lead singer. The more I learn about him he seemed like classic douche artist.

[Paranoid Randroid]

Throw in another vote for Tolkien. My eldest brother, for the most part a large influence on my early intellectual development, adored Tolkien (and popular fantasy literature generally). So I read LOTR early and wanted to like it — heck — pretended to like it. But eventually I had to come to grips with the fact that Tolkien just wasn’t a very good writer. I appreciate the exercise in world-building, but clearly that alone just doesn’t do it for me.

I’ll also second Miles Davis. I really want to like him, I feel as if I should like him, but I find Kind of Blue to be rather difficult to listen to in one sitting.

Stretching the topic a bit … the (well-regarded) superhero flicks just seem as if they should be right up my alley, but although I always go in hopeful, I leave the theatre disappointed. The Sam Raimi Spider-Man flicks, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, &c, they all just fall flat.