# Singers/Groups that are popular, but their music sucks. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020 "2010-10-04T18:13:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/21 "2010-10-05T22:26:06Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > > The same is true of Lady Gaga, except she isn’t comely. > > I’ve heard her singing just to her own piano accompaniment, and she actually has a fantastic voice. If you say so. I’ve only seen a couple of her videos, which I found uninteresting at best, irritating on average, and vomitous at worst. But then I’m old. > [@](#): > > I don’t know why she released music that clutter it up so much. Well, I guess it’s a particular sound she’s going for, but IMHO, she’d be much nicer to listen to without all of the electronic stuff going on. [pig mode] Plus she fails at the prime duty of a pop tart: she isn’t hot. [/pig mode] > [@](#): > > OTOH, I’ve never heard anyone describe Brittney Spears’ unedited voice as particularly good. Lord yes. I have no idea how anyone can even listen to her on the radio. Even re-engineered her voice is at best not ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/22 "2010-10-05T22:28:11Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > > [@MTCicero](#): > > > > \*\* > > The Alan Parsons Project\*\* > > Hey, now! Them’s fightin’ words! > > I put most rappers in this category, except Eminem. But then, I hate most rap (at least most rap that I’ve heard), so I’m probably not objective. > > I also don’t know what people ever saw in Van Halen during the David Lee Roth era. Every time one of their songs came on, I wanted to toss the radio out the window. If I hit Roth’s smirky face, that would be a bonus. > > However…I don’t know how anybody could listen to Tori Amos’s “Winter” and say she sucks. Not to mention the beautiful and heartbreaking “Me And a Gun.” And it’s not just the subject matter; her voice is just so beautiful expressive and sad. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/23 "2010-10-05T22:33:10Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > [pig mode] > Plus she fails at the prime duty of a pop tart: she isn’t hot. > [/pig mode] Actually, out of the fright night costumes, Lady Gaga is very attractive. We had a fight about this in the last Gaga thread and the “she’s ugly” side couldn’t really say why she was ugly other than that her nose is kind of big. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/24 "2010-10-05T22:37:12Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > > [pig mode] > > Plus she fails at the prime duty of a pop tart: she isn’t hot. > > [/pig mode] > > Actually, out of the fright night costumes, Lady Gaga is very attractive. We had a fight about this in the last Gaga thread and the “she’s ugly” side couldn’t really say why she was ugly other than that her nose is kind of big. I didn’t say she was ugly. I said she wasn’t comely. But I’m the weirdo who doesn’t think Halle Berry and Jessica Alba are anything to write home about either. If the face doesn’t move me, the body rarely does either. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/25 "2010-10-05T22:40:56Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > > > Actually, out of the fright night costumes, Lady Gaga is very attractive. We had a fight about this in the last Gaga thread and the “she’s ugly” side couldn’t really say why she was ugly other than that her nose is kind of big. > > I didn’t say she was ugly. I said she wasn’t comely. > > But I’m the weirdo who doesn’t think Halle Berry and Jessica Alba are anything to write home about either. If the face doesn’t move me, the body rarely does either. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you don’t find any women attractive. But I know you’ve one or two you like, but damned if I can remember them. Not even Jessica Alba, really? Anyway, you’re wrong on that mark too. She’s quite comely. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/26 "2010-10-05T22:54:45Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > > [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > > I didn’t say she was ugly. I said she wasn’t comely. > > > > But I’m the weirdo who doesn’t think Halle Berry and Jessica Alba are anything to write home about either. If the face doesn’t move me, the body rarely does either. > > If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you don’t find any women attractive. But I know you’ve one or two you like, but damned if I can remember them. Not even Jessica Alba, really? > > Anyway, you’re wrong on that mark too. She’s quite comely. Alba or Gaga? Anyway, comeliness is largely subjective. I can see the comely bits of all three, but they don’t add up to make a comely whole in any of the three cases. ETA: as to the (famous) women I find attractive, there’s Angela Bassett, Natalie Portman and Kate Winslet, just to name three. ---
**Author:** ![ladeda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbe5ce/32.png) [@ladeda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladeda)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/27 "2010-10-06T01:37:30Z")
I love all different kinds of music. My IPOD includes everthing from ABBA, Rush, Nightwish, Lacuna Coil, Ozzy, Jazz, Metallica, Classical, showtunes, Sarah Brightman, Loreena Mckennitt, etc. One of the groups I do not have is Rolling Stones. Nor do I plan on getting any. I just never ever got into their music for some reason. To be honest, I DO have one song from them, “Paint it Black” which I like. Most of their stuff is just “meh” to me however. So Rolling Stones is my choice for this topic. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/28 "2010-10-06T02:04:04Z")
What’s mook rock? From googling I got “suburban angst and pasty faced punk” and it seems to involve Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit… ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/29 "2010-10-06T04:10:47Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > However…I don’t know how anybody could listen to Tori Amos’s “Winter” and say she sucks. Agreed. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/30 "2010-10-06T04:12:31Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you don’t find any women attractive. Seconded. ---
**Author:** ![MTCicero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@MTCicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MTCicero)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/31 "2010-10-06T04:14:29Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > What’s mook rock? From googling I got “suburban angst and pasty faced punk” and it seems to involve Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit… Bingo. It also goes by the monikers “nü metal” and “rap rock”. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/32 "2010-10-06T06:37:43Z")
All the DMB talk is so dead on. In college, at coffeehouses ALL kids did was play Dave Matthews on their gutair…they’re a lame ass Yah Dude college coffeehouse band. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/33 "2010-10-06T06:55:29Z")
In defense of DMB, their studio albums are over-produced and kitschy. Their live material is incredible, when they turn a three-minute song into a twenty minute long symphony by just letting the band members go nuts in solos one at a time. “Lie in Our Graves” from Live in Chicago is a prime example of this. > [@](#): > > Insane Clown Posse What up, ninja! Although I wouldn’t go so far as to describe ICP as popular per se. My main nominee is Van Halen. How anybody likes these guys is beyond me. I also don’t get the love for Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Bon Jovi (I used to think he was the coolest guy in the world… when I was five), Def Leppard, Led Zeppelin (recently noted that one of their songs [the one P. Diddy covered] would be the coolest song ever if not for the whiny douchebag singing over the excellent music), Neil Young, Nine Inch Nails, Tool, Eminem and Snoop Dogg. ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/34 "2010-10-06T07:14:33Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > But I’m the weirdo who doesn’t think Halle Berry and Jessica Alba are anything to write home about either. If the face doesn’t move me, the body rarely does either. Heh. Brown paper bags and/or doggy style exist for that very reason 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/35 "2010-10-06T07:17:08Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Their live material is incredible, when they turn a three-minute song into a twenty minute long symphony by just letting the band members go nuts in solos one at a time. That makes them even _worse_, I guess. 20 minutes of torture (including instrument wankery) instead of 3… ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/36 "2010-10-06T08:47:08Z")
The 2 in the OP are right on the money, and I’ll add Bruce Springsteen and Jack Johnson. At least Bruce can write songs that other people can make listenable, but JJ has no redeeming value at all. Who listens to that crap? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/37 "2010-10-06T10:45:01Z")
I’m pretty eclectic in my tastes, and human music is so insanely varied, that I hesitate to judge what really flips someone’s switch. When a person starts drawing lines in the sand that say “This is real music, and this is not” it says more about them than it does about the music. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/38 "2010-10-06T11:37:46Z")
Guns 'N Roses, and this from an old-school metalhead who’s “expected” to like them. I just don’t get why anyone thinks they’re so great. Particularly annoying is when people declare, “Appetite For Destruction is the best metal album of the 80’s!”. Seriously? Are you going to tell me with a straight face that AFD is better than British Steel? Or Piece Of Mind, Ace Of Spades, Rust In Peace, Back In Black, Heaven And Hell, Master Of Puppets, Blizzard Of Ozz, or Holy Diver? Shit, even KISS had a better album in the 80’s (Creatures Of The Night). ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/39 "2010-10-06T12:04:42Z")
I think Britney Spears has one shining moment: “Toxic”. That single has great beats, very catchy. But even then, it feels… Engineered, yes. Manipulated. I will still defend it though. There are a lot of popular artists I don’t understand. Some I believe are propelled by marketing or hype. But this is true for most mainstream culture, I think. The Da Vinci Code, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020/40 "2010-10-06T12:20:46Z")
By the time many acts get popular, they’ve already written their best material, possibly to no avail, and are just hacking out schlock for cash. Some artists hack out schlock for cash from the gitgo because that’s what they think being a musician is all about. Half of us are below average, and it’s no barrier to buying pop music. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/singers-groups-that-are-popular-but-their-music-sucks/556020.md?page=3)