# Well-regarded bands that you don't like **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [August 1, 2024, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105 "2024-08-01T13:12:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/81 "2024-08-02T12:52:45Z")
Good point. Sry. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/82 "2024-08-02T12:55:12Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I like punk. Can’t stand The Ramones and only tolerate a couple of songs by The Clash. Ha! Clash is WAY up there at the top of my list, and Ramones were great fun. Both put on fantastic live shows. Do you dislike The Clash’s first 2 albums AND everything from London Calling onwards? I remember arguing at the time that as of LC, they were not punk. (LC was one of only 2 albums I was ever eagerly awaiting the release of such that I bought it the day it came out. As a bassist, I LOVED the cover!) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/83 "2024-08-02T13:06:54Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Both put on fantastic live shows. That was irrelevant to South African-living me. I went by their records and videos. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Do you dislike The Clash’s first 2 albums AND everything from London Calling onwards? Yep. Although not everything. _Guns of Brixton_ and _This is England_ are actually good. So’s _Police and Thieves_, but that’s not theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/84 "2024-08-02T13:46:17Z")
Cool. Personal taste. I imagine much of what I consider “punk” you might consider “punk-lite” or “punk adjacent.” Like I said, I’m a bassist, and there is a TON of fun basswork on those first 3 albums. And I think Joe Strummer was a pretty exceptional rhythm guitarist. Were you listening to them when their music came out, or later? What are some of the punk bands you do like? ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/85 "2024-08-02T14:51:35Z")
> [@TXRebel](#): > > I usually go with what is a band you like that not a lot of people do. For me it will always be The Guess Who but really in particular it’s Burton Cummings. Agree 1,000%. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/86 "2024-08-02T14:52:26Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > -You consider him a good guitarist but not a virtuoso? He is absolutely a virtuoso guitarist. Absolutely amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/87 "2024-08-02T14:55:28Z")
By all means, provide examples/analysis sufficient to persuade our friend. Because I lack the expertise to do so. I just know it sounds good to me. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/88 "2024-08-02T14:59:09Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > He’s not a band, but Art Tatum. He’s regarded by many jazz lovers as the greatest pianist of all time. While I agree that he was technically proficient, it always sounds to me like he was just showing off. “See how clever I am? What wonderful arpeggios! My fingering is superb! Don’t you admire how fast I can play?” [tangent] I learned to never click on those videos with titles like “I replaced the strings of my bass with barbed wire and you wouldn’t believe how it sounds” Every single one of those is a pretentious over-the-top “look at me!!!” video that is annoying. [/tangent] ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/89 "2024-08-02T15:13:49Z")
Generally not worth the effort. Detailed descriptions followed by a reaction of, “Meh! I still don’t hear it.” I don’t try to convince people they’re wrong about the Beatles anymore either. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/90 "2024-08-02T15:24:21Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I imagine much of what I consider “punk” you might consider “punk-lite” or “punk adjacent.” […]What are some of the punk bands you do like? Probably not - I mean, the punk I like includes Sex Pistols, The Stranglers, The Damned, The Buzzcocks, Siouxsie and the Banshees, the Police, Wire, (the early punk incarnations of most of those) … those weren’t all hardcore or anything. I mean, I _also_ like Black Flag, Crass, Dead Kennedys and Bad Brains, so I’m not _not_ into hardcore. But I don’t _not_ love the Clash because they were lighter or anything. I just found most of their output not to my taste - too, I don’t know, “hard rock”-y or something, compared to the pop-ish sensibilities of a lot of the other acts I do like. Maybe some things like _Rock the Casbah_ and _I Fought The Law_ and _Should I Stay…_ were also way overplayed in the clubs I frequented, as well. I only started listening to punk in the mid-80s, mostly by getting into postpunk, New Wave & Goth bands and following their antecedents. Sometimes directly, like Sex Pistols → PIL or Buzzcocks-\>Magazine, sometimes indirectly. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/91 "2024-08-02T15:37:03Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Generally not worth the effort. Detailed descriptions followed by a reaction of, “Meh! I still don’t hear it.” I don’t try to convince people they’re wrong about the Beatles anymore either. Cool. I just thought it pretty obvious that he was - at the very least - a very good guitarist. And I’d heard enough folk sing his praises that I was willing to accept their judgment. Oftentimes when the common opinion of a performer is x, and someone say y, I at least consider the possibility they are just trying to make some point. I’ve heard many guitarists who are generally lauded as among the best - Metheny, Coryell, Tony Rice… And the music isn’t appealing to me, so while I can appreciate their incredible ability, all I can say is they are not to my taste. I encounter that a lot in the BG/oldtime music I play on upright bass. I regularly encounter folk (most often guitarists) who can pleay a helluva lotta notes, but to my ear, their doing so does not enhace the music. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/92 "2024-08-02T16:10:11Z")
So I was thinking about the title of this thread and kind of narrow-focused on well-regarded and bands. Well-regarded in the sense of respected by a preponderance of critics, rather than in terms of popularity and mass appeal. Bands as in a group that however weighted to one or more dominant talents still would not be considered solo artists, but some technical approximation of a collective effort. If I sit and think about it I don’t know that I flat-out hate any of them. The closest I can get are groups like The Eagles. I’ve often said I mildly dislike The Eagles and will scramble to change the station when Hotel California comes on. But a lot of that is over-exposure. When I was eleven I didn’t dislike The Eagles and I did like Hotel California. I also loved songs by other bands like Freebird or Stairway to Heaven that you’d have to pay me to sit through now. With virtually every critically well-received band I think I can find something I like/respect about them. I think I will maybe slightly hypocritically continue to say I dislike bands like Journey or The Eagles, because for the most part I will actively avoid listening to them anymore. But honestly I can find things to like about both of them if I try. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/93 "2024-08-02T16:15:39Z")
Phil Collins was mentioned: I will add him to my list. I dislike him so much I forgot him. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/94 "2024-08-02T16:27:13Z")
I can’t stand The Doors, but I think a lot of that comes from oversaturation during my high school years. I was friends with some fanatics that played nothing but The Doors and my annoyance with them grew exponentially. Queen is another band where I simply don’t understand their popularity. Freddy Mercury’s voice grates on me like no other, and the multitracked guitar harmonies got old after the first time I heard them. Nirvana still sounds like a crappy garage band to me. I get that they were innovative; I’m just not a fan of where they took rock and roll, nor the many imitators they inspired. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/95 "2024-08-02T16:28:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Didn’t Pink Floyd have an album where the entire side of the record was one song? Maybe it was another band. I’m not sure. _Meddle_ was cited above, but their album _Animals_ had a track so long it started on one side and continued on the other. And Jethro Tull had at least two albums that were all one song/suite (_Thick as a Brick_ and _A Passion Play_). Thought of another. He’s quite revered up here in Canadia, and my Facebook feed was filled with teary reminiscences when he passed, but I’ve never been able to tolerate Gordon Lightfoot. Every track seems utterly passionless and sterile to me. When I was in high school, I worked at a neighborhood shop in which the owner mandated the main easy listening station play during working hours. A lot of my least-favorite music comes from that station: granted, most of the artists weren’t critical favorites (was Ronnie Milsap ever “well-regarded?” as per the OP?) but they’d occasionally spin the blandest Elton John track they could find. Can’t stand Jim Croce, either, because of longlasting damage from “Time in a Bottle.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/96 "2024-08-02T16:30:26Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > I guess I’ll start off with a bang: The Beatles. I’ve never understood what all the fuss is about I’m with you. The Beatles are objectively the greatest rock band of all time. That to my mind is absolutely beyond any reasonable debate, in terms of their musical skill, their popularity, their influence, their impact on the music industry. But their music simply doesn’t move me at all. I get almost nothing out of it emotionally. I find none of it compelling and never feel like listening to it. How odd. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/97 "2024-08-02T16:34:55Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#): > > Queen is another band where I simply don’t understand their popularity. Freddy Mercury’s voice grates on me like no other, Me too. For whatever reason, “operatic” rock singers like Dio and Mercury seem to get endless praise from critics. My opinion only, but I don’t think that singing style belongs in rock music. ---
**Author:** ![WalterBishop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@WalterBishop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WalterBishop)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/98 "2024-08-02T16:42:45Z")
I was never much of a fan of Prince or David Bowie. They’ve both got a couple of good songs that I like, but other than that their stuff never really clicked for me. ---
**Author:** ![XOldiesJock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/ec9cab/32.png) [@XOldiesJock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XOldiesJock)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/99 "2024-08-02T17:56:26Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > _(was Ronnie Milsap ever “well-regarded?” as per the OP?)_ Not if we’re only discussing Pop and Rock performers, but he certainly was a mega-star in the world of Country music, with 40 number-one hits! He also managed a few crossover tunes on the Pop Top 40 and Adult Contemporary charts in the 70s and 80s. I remember spinning a few of his records on the radio, and though his music wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, I regarded him as a very talented man. Blind from birth, abandoned by his mother (!) and dirt-poor, he faced more adversity growing up than any one person can imagine, yet he persevered and became one of the top Country performers of his time. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105/100 "2024-08-02T18:11:23Z")
Not sure exactly why I fell in love w/ Queen as a high schooler - at the time of their 2d album/tour. They put on an amazing show that tour. And I was so tired of so much synth, that I appreciated their “no synths” approach. Brian May was a pretty amazing guitarist. Watching/hearing him layer his tracks live was (to me) quite impressive and enjoyable. Add them as another band that I liked less as they became more popular. 1 and 2 are my fave albums, declining steadily after Sheer Heart Attack through Day at the Races/News of the World, and becoming unlistenable by Fat Bottomed Girls. I feel each singer must be assessed w/in their work - even if their style might not be my fave. Some people dislike Geddy Lee, but IMO he works w/in Rush. And IMO, Freddie works w/in Queen. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-regarded-bands-that-you-dont-like/1005105.md?page=6)