# What band or artist, can you appreciate but don’t like **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [May 27, 2023, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667 "2023-05-27T13:38:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![FeRDNYC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferdnyc/32/14000_2.png) [@FeRDNYC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeRDNYC)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/81 "2023-06-02T05:00:33Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Personally, that’s an attribute I associate with Phish fans. Oh my, yes. OTOH, I quite like a lot of Phish’s music. I never felt the slightest compulsion to, like, quit my job and buy a Winnebago so I could follow them around the country like they’re Patchouli Jesus or anything, but I actually owned at least one Phish CD at one point, I know I did. (My entire music collection gradually “fell by the wayside” of my life, over the decades.) I was more a fan of the genre-/temporally-adjacent Blues Traveler, who could not-completely-unfairly be described as Phish without the subtlety. And Dave Matthews Band was cool for a while, but at this point, [even Dave Matthews is over Dave Matthews](https://www.theonion.com/dave-matthews-not-that-into-himself-anymore-1819568003).1 #### Notes 1. (Link is to an article at The Onion. The Onion is not real news. Do not take The Onion seriously. The Onion is multi-layered. The Onion will make you cry if you slice it.) ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/82 "2023-06-02T05:03:23Z")
> [@FeRDNYC](#): > > I had not one, but TWO college roommates who were Rush fans. And the thing about Rush fans is, nobody’s a _casual_ Rush fan. Every Rush fan is a drank-the-kool-aid, scientology-level obsessive. I lived with one of those guys on college, too. If it had been one Rush album per week, I’d have probably thought, yeah, I like Rush. No it was two or more everyday for a year. I’ve not voluntarily listened to any Rush since, and that was 1991. As this thread’s point is not just a pile on of bands we hate, I will moderate it by saying I think I do like some Rush, I just don’t get the obsession some people have, and I got my lifetime supply in one year. > [@FeRDNYC](#): > > “Closer to the Heart” Oh I’d managed to forget that one. It is not one I liked. ---
**Author:** ![FeRDNYC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferdnyc/32/14000_2.png) [@FeRDNYC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeRDNYC)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/83 "2023-06-02T05:05:29Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > > [@FeRDNYC](#): > > > > “Closer to the Heart” > > Oh I’d managed to forget that one. It is not one I liked. @scabpicker mentioned that Geddy’s vocals could be… grating, and “Closer to the Heart” is probably peak… _all that_. It is borderline painful to listen to, like hearing someone slowly strangle a goose. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/84 "2023-06-02T05:12:53Z")
And don’t forget, the lyrics compete with “The Trees” for being silly and didactic - ok, “The Trees” blow it away for silly. But they’re neck and neck for didactic-ness. I can still sing that part, but the lyrics are just, ugh. And to keep it on topic - I like prog rock and metal. I still like Rush. But I understand that they’re very silly, and grating to some folks. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/85 "2023-06-02T05:19:23Z")
Primus opened for Rush in 1994. I know this because I attended two of those shows. I agree about Primus; individual songs are OK but I don’t think I could listen to a whole album at a time. They were a lot of fun as a live band. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/86 "2023-06-02T11:56:19Z")
Good point about Rush fans. If you don’t think they’re the greatest band in the history of rock, they get all upset and huffy. Sounds defensive to me. I have never willingly listened to a Rush song to the end. When I forced myself to, I found nothing of interest. It’s boring and overly repetitive music and the lyrics are awful and technically sloppy. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/87 "2023-06-02T13:03:27Z")
Creed hasn’t aged well for me. They were OK in the 90’s and were a solid band, but now I hear them and I go meh and change the station. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/88 "2023-06-02T13:29:33Z")
> [@FeRDNYC](#): > > You all know The Seven Deadly Rush Songs. Anyone who’s been alive for more than 30 years knows The Seven Deadly Rush Songs. List them with me: Led Zeppelin is kind of like that for me. There are The Ten Or So Songs that always get airplay, and I like some of those (especially “Rock and Roll” and “Kashmir”) but some others for which once a year is too much (“Black Dog” and “Stairway”). Some fans listen to those ten and nothing else. My fave Zep song is “Tangerine” but that seems to rarely get a spin. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/89 "2023-06-02T13:44:58Z")
Bob Dylan I respect his writing. Adele recently did a fantastic version of Make You Feel My Love. Michael Buble also covered it. That says a lot about the quality. I can’t stand his voice. I’ve read he’s trying to sound like Woody Guthrie. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/90 "2023-06-02T14:11:02Z")
Pink Floyd. I recognize their technical talents and the high production values on their albums. But it’s all just so depressing. Roger Waters’ politics and anti-Semitism don’t help either, of course. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/91 "2023-06-02T14:19:39Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > Led Zeppelin is kind of like that for me. There are The Ten Or So Songs that always get airplay, and I like some of those (especially “Rock and Roll” and “Kashmir”) but some others for which once a year is too much (“Black Dog” and “Stairway”). Some fans listen to those ten and nothing else. My fave Zep song is “Tangerine” but that seems to rarely get a spin. Well, that’s kind of the nature of the Classic Rock format: for _any_ band, there’s a relatively small number of their best-known songs that get played (and played to death); programming directors seem to feel that their listener base wants to hear the “classics,” and pretty much only the classics. Sometimes you’ll find a more daring program director who employs a wider playlist, or a particular show or time-slot on a Classic Rock station that is devoted to “deep cuts,” but those are the exceptions to the rule for the format. I suspect that, in most cases, someone who’s actually a devoted fan of a particular band – Rush, Led Zep, or whoever – is well-acquainted with that band’s entire catalog, and will have favorite songs from the band which aren’t on the narrow Classic Rock playlist. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/92 "2023-06-02T14:19:42Z")
I can certainly appreciate musicians who have a lot of _technical_ skills. I mentioned Les Claypool above, and I would also Steve Vai in that category. But I can’t listen to them for any extended length of time. I am much more impressed with musicians who can write a good song. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/93 "2023-06-02T14:19:43Z")
My husband adored Frank Zappa and Bob Dylan. Had posters of them on his bedroom wall! I was indifferent to Zappa, liked Dylan a bit more, but only a handful of his songs. I never got The Grateful Dead. I only saw them once performing, a video on MTV, and the audience was standing on their seats waving their arms around like those blow-up things in front of used car lots. A lot of noodling ‘meh’. But I never fried my brain on drugs or had friends with a van who would follow them around from city to city. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/94 "2023-06-02T14:35:35Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Well, that’s kind of the nature of the Classic Rock format: for _any_ band, there’s a relatively small number of their best-known songs that get played (and played to death); programming directors seem to feel that their listener base wants to hear the “classics,” and pretty much only the classics. Oh, agreed. Similarly, as a Canuck, I should apparently worship at the altar of The Tragically Hip. When they’d pass through town while I was in uni, I was one of the few (it seemed) on campus who didn’t rush for tickets. I like the Hip well enough, but, unlike a band with a lot of gems that are deep tracks, I find that the singles are really all you need to listen to. I’ve listened to several Hip albums from beginning to end, and the only tracks that stick with me are the big singles, and everything else is totally filler. Like any self-respecting CanRock dude, I think “Bobcaygeon,” “Ahead by a Century,” “Little Bones” and “In View.” are absolute masterpieces, but album-wise, if you get their best-of, you’re completely set and aren’t missing very much. Also sticking with Canadians, Stompin’ Tom Connors doesn’t appeal to me at all, despite his general deification by north-of-the-49th musicians. Adoration for Connors is, I think, much more about his strident Canadian-ness than actual good songwriting. Just because he’s performed at every Moose Lodge and legion hall from Kapuskasing to Yellowknife singing odes to rural life doesn’t make him an icon in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/95 "2023-06-02T17:39:57Z")
Huh, the only Rush album I ever bought was “Hold Your Fire”, not generally considered one of their better albums, but I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/96 "2023-06-02T18:09:57Z")
Hold Your Fire is a great album (although not as great as Power Windows), as are most of the Synth-era Rush albums. That’s when they replaced screechy hard prog for more melody-driven songs, with airier arrangements and mellower vocals, while giving up none of the chops. With a band having a 50-year career comprising numerous stylistic changes, I can only surmise that people upthread describing Rush as ‘unimaginative’ and ‘repetitive’ have a very narrow sampling in mind. Few acts within the rock context have been as imaginative, and original, especially in instrumentation. ---
**Author:** ![TheTooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/919ad9/32.png) [@TheTooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTooth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/97 "2023-06-02T18:32:08Z")
There are a number of talented country music artists like Roy Clark, Leo Kotke, or Glen Campbell. But as far as I’m concerned the phrase “country music” is just short of an oxymoron. And I was raised listening to it so I should know. It’s just a bunch of drunken farmers warbling on about their failed marriages. Occasionally there’s a horse. It’s so grating it actually makes me sad to come across younger people who are into it. I’m tempted to tell them “I have good news!” and hand them a copy of Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan like I’m selling Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/98 "2023-06-02T18:40:16Z")
The above description of Rush fans seems _very_ accurate. I enjoy Stompin’ Tom and The Hip enough in reasonable doses. I like the Canadian blues man David Wilcox better, very good though not brilliant, who toured tirelessly over decades playing in every tiny town or dank watering hole in the country, always putting on a decent show. He never seems to be credited when unhip people simplify Canada into a short list of random things. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/99 "2023-06-02T18:59:53Z")
> [@TheTooth](#): > > as I’m concerned the phrase “country music” is just short of an oxymoron. And I was raised listening to it so I should know. It’s just a bunch of drunken farmers warbling on about their failed marriages. Your parents should be scolded if they only exposed you to the bad stuff. There is lots of great country music. As a genre, it can be limited but certainly not to the degree that blues, for example, is. The worst of it, in my opinion, is “new country” which is really all that gets played on the air these days. But there is some really good stuff out there, you just have to find it. > [@TheTooth](#): > > I’m tempted to tell them “I have good news!” and hand them a copy of Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan like I’m selling Jesus. On topic, The Dan of Steel is another group I recognize as being very talented but their sound is just grating to me. I can’t even pinpoint what it is I don’t like. If pressed I would have to say the writing and production. ---
**Author:** ![TheTooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/919ad9/32.png) [@TheTooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTooth)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667/100 "2023-06-02T19:22:00Z")
I’m okay leaving it for someone else to find. Steely Dan had a nifty jazzy/reggae/rock thing going. I can see why people wouldn’t like it but “grating” isn’t the word that springs to mind. Their production values, however, were top notch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-band-or-artist-can-you-appreciate-but-don-t-like/984667.md?page=6)