The other day I was listening to the radio, and a John Mellencamp song came on. I don’t hate John Mellencamp, he’s not bad, but I found myself reaching for the dial. And it hit me. I don’t need to listen to John Mellencamp any more. I’m done. If I never hear another song by him I’d be content. There will never be an occasion where a song by John Mellencamp will be called for.
And I realized that there are several other groups just like him. The Eagles. The Cars. The Doors. Tom Petty. Jackson Browne. And others. These aren’t BAD acts. I’ve bought CDs by several of them. It’s just that they have nothing left to say to me. I’m never glad when I hear one of their songs come on the radio. Just a quiet “eh”, and hope that the next act will be worth listening to.
So what groups make your list? Not music you hate. Not one hit wonders whose time has come and gone. Not genres that you can’t stand. But musicians who you once kind of liked, or at least formed an agreeable background soundtrack to part of your life. But now just bore you. You might not muster up enough energy to want to change the station when you hear them. You might not be unhappy when you hear them. But you would never play them on purpose, and you definately aren’t interested when someone else plays them.
Pink Floyd. I can honestly say that much of Pink Floyd, beyond the Animals and Meddle discs honestly bores me. Maybe Piper at the Gates of Dawn, but their first two albums are so different from the rest that they almost don’t count. Perhaps if I heard the new SACD of Dark Side of the Moon in 5.1, I may rekindle part of the love that I had for them. Also, I heard that Live at Pompeii was released remastered on DVD and I may seek that out one day.
I was obsessed with them at the end of high school and the beginning of college. It was the first music I truly fell in love with. I bought everything they did – from the soundtrack to More and Obscured by Clouds to The Final Cut, Delicate Sound of Thunder, even a $90 4-CD boot set that I ordered from Italy with a really nice book and some really rare recordings. Right in the middle of this, they released the Division Bell and I bought all of the CD singles and the inane concert album (P.U.L.S.E) associated with it. It’s not that I really even loved everything they ever did – Ummagumma, Atom Heart Mother and a good percentage of their stuff has always seemed pointless. It is just that I loved their early/mid-70s stuff so much that I needed to have everything they (and David Gilmour and Roger Waters and Syd Barrett) ever did. And of course, I overlistened to it. I can’t stand Wish You Were Here and The Wall anymore. I purposefully never listen to Dark Side of the Moon because I don’t want to wear it out any more than I already have.
If “Hey You” or “Shine on you Crazy Diamond” comes on the radio, I probably wouldn’t change the channel. “Have A Cigar” or “Another Brick in the Wall”, I probably would. It is certainly nothing that I would actively seek out.
Metallica. I used to be a huge fan, but then came Load (which was when I really stopped listening) and Reload and St. Anger and Lars whining about Napster. And so many other bands do it better anyway. I have all their pre-Black Album CDs, but I doubt I’ll ever listen to em. All I can think of is that hysterical “Napster BAD!” cartoon from around 2000 and their whining, towering arrogance.
Hey, Lemur866, those of us who play in cover bands bow before you. The stuff you listed (and its ilk) should have been banished from most bar bands’ playlists ten or more years ago. My list would be something like:
Lynard Skynard. I was never exactly a “fan” - they were a bit before my time - but I thought they were good. Yet I can’t imagine buying an album. Wish I could delete Sweet Home Alabama from my band’s list.
Led Zeppelin. I grew up on their music, so I’ve heard all of their songs many, many times. Many, many, many, many times. I’ve memorized them all by now so I don’t ever need to hear them again, whether on classic rock radio or a car commercial.
The sad thing about a thread like this is, in many cases, we’re getting burned out on acts not so much because we don’t like them anymore, but because radio stations–with their emphasis on repetition and shrinking playlists of artists and songs–have overplayed them so many times that we don’t want to hear those songs that used to be our favorites ever again (or, at least, not for a long while).
Thank you, Clear Channel (and your ilk) for killing any desire I would have for hearing “Satisfaction” or “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for at least the next ten years.
edwino Actually I bailed out after The Wall. I never bought anything PF did after that* but I have everything up to that point, and all the Syd stuff.
Back to the OP. I couldn’t sit through loads of the stuff I grew up with (the obvious stuff Beatles/Floyd/Zepplin** also the Motels, B52s, Velvet Underground…) it’s all burned into my brain. I’ll play along with that stuff quite happily but just listening to it bores me stiff.
I dunno why but I’m not burned-out on Steely Dan or Frank Zappa (and some more obscure acts***) though they would’ve been on pretty continuous rotation too.
*and I gave The Wall away.
**oh gawd - the live version of Dazed and Confused what was I like
***Doll by Doll anyone?
Boston- I used to turn it up whenever a Boston song came on. At one time I thought about buying their older releases, but the classic rock station plays so much of them that there’s no need to have my own copies of them when I can count on a Boston song being played at least once an hour. Nowadays I feel so burned out on them that I can’t help but change the station.
AC/DC- I loved AC/DC as a kid. They were one of the first hard rock bands I got into (along with Kiss), but as I got into high school my interest in AC/DC waned. I associated AC/DC with the stoners, most of whom listened to AC/DC, and I didn’t get along with most of them. Nowadays I find their music totally grating and I can’t stand to listen to it. The first “bong” I hear when “Hell’s Bells” comes on the radio and I’ve already got my finger on the next station’s button.
Michael Jackson - After the Thriller Album, everything else he has put out has been just BAD, you can’t understand what the Hell he is singing about. Not to mention the Bizarre/Weirdness that he has become and the Child Molestation cases against him - past and present.
Pearl Jam - I used to love Pearl Jam. Any new album was a major event for me. Now, I don’t even know (or care) when/if a new album comes out. I also don’t play any of their old stuff. I probably won’t change the channel if a song comes on, but if it’s one of the horrifically overplayed ones (Alive, Jeremy, Better Man) I will.
I 2nd AC/DC and would 2nd Metallica, but I still like some of their old stuff. Everything post-black album has been crap, IMHO.
I still listen to Van Morrison. A lot actually. But I cannot listen to Brown Eyed Girl, Moondance, or Gloria ever again (or really anything on the Greatest Hits Vol. 1 Record).
The man has such a huge catalog of many great songs. He also releases a new record every year or so. So please, for the love of god, stop playing Brown Eyed Girl.
As for Pearl Jam, I used to also be a huge PJ fan, but lost interest when No Code came out. But, I picked up the new b-sides collection Lost Dogs and I must say that it kicks ass. If you were ever into PJ, you will love most of it.
I would sooner gouge my eyes out with the broken shards of a Debbie Boone CD than listen to a “classic rock” station. I’VE HEARD IT! FOR THE LAST TWENTY YEARS!
That relates to the reason I switched my regular radio station several years ago when I was still listening to country music. In spite of the fact that Shania Twain had at least six hit singles under her belt, KYSN in Wenatchee, WA continued to play Any Man Of Mine at least three times a day - more often than her more recent songs. I’d finally had enough and permanently switched my dial to KKRT.
whistlepig -
Which is why my band is attempting to shun “classic rock” from the 60s and 70s. Enough already!
Huge fan, but I realized some time ago that after Signals came out, I had hit my Rush Quota. Still play them occasionally, but I don’t even pay attention when they release a new album.
I hate to say it–I used to be such a big fan of his–but I’m starting to feel like Lemur866 does toward some of his music with regards to Ozzy Osbourne. Man, I grew up with Ozzy. But his last couple albums have definitely underwhelmed me and his little show on MTV made him look like a buffoon. Over the last year or two I’ve gone from a huge fan to somebody who wishes that Ozzy would just go away. Hey, John, maybe it’s time to retire again?
It makes me sad to type this post. Ozzy’s music, solo and with Black Sabbath, were such a big part of my youth.
Like others in this thread, I’m also growing tired of AC/DC. As for Metallica, well, I could definitely go without hearing these, um, gentlemen ever, ever again.