# The musical artist you should love... but can't get into **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 4, 2020, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063 "2020-06-04T19:13:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/81 "2020-06-09T02:28:39Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > What about Mahler? There is an episode of Frazier, where he is reminding Niles about how he would get up every day and play Mahler for Marris. On the piano? Maybe that’s the problem. Mahler didn’t really write piano pieces. His symphonies are great, but I don’t think I’d want to hear them played on a piano. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/82 "2020-06-09T02:47:47Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > On the piano? Maybe that’s the problem. Mahler didn’t really write piano pieces. His symphonies are great, but I don’t think I’d want to hear them played on a piano. Well I found this, just piano. Not so good to my uneducated ears. All the other things I found, the piano was just in the background. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PScJkkQPwwE/hqdefault.jpg "Gustav Mahler, complete piano rolls recordings (1905)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PScJkkQPwwE) ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/83 "2020-06-09T03:06:18Z")
> [@Flare4roach](#): > > Neil Young is such a mystery to me. I just don’t see it. I love Bob Dylan and friend of mine try to convince that Neil is songwriting genius but he doesn’t click with me. To me, the songs are nothing special and his voice is too whiny to be taken seriously. I even hate his electric guitar playing. Yuck…not for me. Well, as a big Neil Young fan I will respond. He has put out so many albums, and not all have been good, and I totally get it about your feeling about some of the songs. And he is not really known for his lyrics in a Dylan-esque sort of way. And his guitar playing in the last few years has become extreme. Way too much distortion and not enough concentration on melody. Which is what Cortez the Killer had. Melody and great lyrics. And The Needle and the Damage Done. And Thrasher. Still one of my all time favorites. Come on, dude. Join the Neil Young fan club. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/84 "2020-06-09T03:29:45Z")
ETA. If your friend recommened Cowgirl in the Sand for guitar playing, it sucks. Down by the River mostly sucks except for the lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/85 "2020-06-09T12:57:45Z")
> [@Mike\_Mabes](#): > > Which is what Cortez the Killer had. Melody and great lyrics. Wonder if he ever got around to penning & recording Montezuma the Killer. [quick Google search] Nope, I guess not. ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/86 "2020-06-09T15:23:04Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > My favorites include Boston, Styx, Reo Speedwagon and Foreigner. I do not like Journey. It’s Steve Perry’s voice. Some of the earlier stuff is okay. I don’t ever want to hear Don’t Stop Believing again - but you can’t avoid it. I was a fan of Journey till Steve Perry took over. Went from a promising rock band to pop dreck. Fleetwood Mac is another band that made some changes and turned to crap. I loved their early prog rock sound, the addition of Stevie Nicks turned them into another pop music act. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/87 "2020-06-09T15:24:32Z")
[quote=“Mike\_Mabes, post:82, topic:855063”] Well I found this, just piano. Not so good to my uneducated ears. All the other things I found, the piano was just in the background. [/QUOTE] Oh, that’s GREAT stuff, if you are as much of a Mahlerite as I am. Gustav played piano versions of his orchestrated songs and movements from symphonies on the Welte-Mignon recording apparatus, which transcribed the exact performance, more perfectly than the standard player piano. It’s like having Gus play for you in your living room. Sure, he hits a few wrong notes. He wasn’t Liszt, okay? It’s still a fine piece of musical history! [https://www.min-on.org/the-welt-mignon-reproducing-piano/](https://www.min-on.org/the-welt-mignon-reproducing-piano/) ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/88 "2020-06-09T16:10:46Z")
Personally, I loathe the Beatles, and I understand that that’s heresy. The main thing is Paul McCartney’s voice which to me is ultra whiny. A lot of their music (“Mockingbird”, “Rocky Raccoon” wtf??) sounds like something off of a children’s record or something. I’ve always felt that they felt that they could put anything they wanted to on a recording and everyone would just think it was so, so clever. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/89 "2020-06-09T16:51:47Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > The main thing is Paul McCartney’s voice which to me is ultra whiny. Oh yeah. Like [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOWrScjXMRE)and [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWW2SzoAXMo). I’ll let someone else jump in on their version of “Mockingbird.” ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/90 "2020-06-09T16:52:25Z")
I love jam band music. I’m a huge fan of the Grateful Dead, String Cheese Incident, moe., Dark Star Orchestra, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Widespread Panic, Galactic, etc. I have seen literally hundreds of live shows by bands like this. So one would think that Phish would be squarely in my wheelhouse. But I just don’t like them. I don’t like Trey’s guitar work very much, and I think their lyrics are, pretty much without exception, really stupid. The only time I can listen to them is when they cover a song I like, like “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley”. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/91 "2020-06-09T17:54:12Z")
Yeah, the Beatles and Carly Simon doing Mockingbird was hard to take. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/92 "2020-06-09T18:56:47Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I love jam band music. I’m a huge fan of the Grateful Dead, String Cheese Incident, moe., Dark Star Orchestra, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Widespread Panic, Galactic, etc. I have seen literally hundreds of live shows by bands like this. So one would think that Phish would be squarely in my wheelhouse. But I just don’t like them. I don’t like Trey’s guitar work very much, and I think their lyrics are, pretty much without exception, really stupid. The only time I can listen to them is when they cover a song I like, like “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley”. Interesting, and maybe the basis of a whole ‘nother thread. I grew through my teens in the 70s, and always followed the Dead, owning several live and studio albums and finally attending my first show in 1978. When Phish appeared on the national scene, I ignored them. Many years after Jerry died and the Dead were but a fond memory, I listened to Phish occasionally…I think the studio version of “Cavern” on **Picture of Nectar** won me over. Still not a huge fan, but I can’t understand how anyone who liked Garcia’s guitar would not be into Trey. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/OB6fzWsdJWc/hqdefault.jpg "Phish: Cavern") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB6fzWsdJWc) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/93 "2020-06-09T21:01:32Z")
I confess, part of my distaste for Trey stems from his abysmal performance at the Fare Thee Well shows. After hearing his repeated wrong notes, missed cues, even seeing him wince at his own mistakes, I felt like shouting “Couldn’t you have spent a few hours to learn the damn songs before playing them for 300,000 people?” ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/94 "2020-06-09T22:28:13Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > Oh yeah. Like [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOWrScjXMRE)and [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWW2SzoAXMo). > > I’ll let someone else jump in on their version of “Mockingbird.” I’m trying to figure out exactly what you’re trying to say here. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/95 "2020-06-09T22:41:30Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I love jam band music. I’m a huge fan of the Grateful Dead, String Cheese Incident, moe., Dark Star Orchestra, Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Widespread Panic, Galactic, etc. I have seen literally hundreds of live shows by bands like this. So one would think that Phish would be squarely in my wheelhouse. But I just don’t like them. I don’t like Trey’s guitar work very much, and I think their lyrics are, pretty much without exception, really stupid. The only time I can listen to them is when they cover a song I like, like “Sneaking Sally Through the Alley”. Oh, Phish’s lyrics are playfully abstract and nonsensical or, just plain silly and inane. (For the most part, not all their songs. They have some sincere songs out there like “If I Could,” off the top of my head.) That said, I only went through a brief (maybe two year) jam band phase in college and, oddly, The Grateful Dead were the ones I couldn’t get into. Phish I really enjoyed, because I enjoyed the oddball music and the playfulness of it all, and, playing in a jam band, it was almost required you loved the Dead but, no, minus a song here and there, I just couldn’t get into it. I’ll do the Allmans, though. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/96 "2020-06-09T22:58:29Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > I’m trying to figure out exactly what you’re trying to say here. Yeah, do we take you at face value and these your whiny examples? Or are you being Too Cool For School, sneering at another poster? Is this another example of “sarcasm does NOT work on a messageboard”? ---
**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:** [June 9, 2020, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/97 "2020-06-09T22:58:32Z")
I should really like **Alabama Shakes** (and I do like a couple of tunes), but can’t take the way Brittany sings. I’m also mad at them for (what I consider) their undeserved success. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/98 "2020-06-09T23:07:10Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Rush. I should love Rush, people are often very surprised not only that I don’t like them, but that I actively dislike them. My problem with them is, 100%, Geddy’s voice. I just can’t get past it. I’ve even, a few times, turned on the radio to some great guitar solo or instrumental part of a song, wondering who it is, only to hear Geddy come shrieking back into the mix. > It seems to throw people even more that know my taste in music and know I like bands like Supertramp or Yes. Oh yes! Three very talented musicians playing great stuff, all of it ruined, all of it, by that screeching Geddy Lee. You guys could have hired a singer, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/99 "2020-06-09T23:26:58Z")
[American Football](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NfnXdXpjL0). I like all varieties and eras of emo, and this is the album that inspired emo revival from roughly 2006-2016. I like bands that do what’s known as “twinkling” with fast, open tuning/weirdly tuned guitars that jump octaves a lot, and I like at least like some stuff from Kinsella’s other projects like Cap’n Jazz, Owen, and Joan of Arc. I just can’t get into American Football. Their guitar just never stops. I couldn’t even play this, their most famous song, until the singing starts. I liked it when I heard Owen play this in concert, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063/100 "2020-06-09T23:46:52Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > I’d still consider that a bit of noodle, but it’s a damned good one. (sigh) Okay, I’m bringing out the big guns. Here’s “Hard to Handle” live at the Hollywood Bowl in August, 1971. Noodle me THIS, big guy. The major shit begins to fall out of the sky around 5:30, and it gets better from there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-musical-artist-you-should-love-but-cant-get-into/855063.md?page=6)