I keep listening to Lucinda Williams’ “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”. I’ve got friends that love it, I’ve read reviews that say how great it is, it’s right up my alley in terms of genre and I actually like her self-titled CD and her “Sweet Old World” CD too.
Yet, with all of that, “Car Wheels” just leaves me flat every time.
What CDs do that to you?
Sorry if this has been done before, I couldn’t find a similar thread when searching.
Pretty much anything by Sleater-Kinney. I can see that their songs are pretty good – better, even, than 90% of the schlock currently going for popular music currently. But many of my friends worship the ground the band walks on, claiming they’re the best thing since the Beatles (I do not exaggerate).
Frankly, I just don’t hear it. It just sounds like kind of bland punk-y grrrl rock to me, and I’ve heard better. I’ll take Visqueen, Cat Power, Heather Nova or Patty Griffin over Sleater-Kinney any day. But that’s just me.
I feel like I should like The White Stripes. But I don’t. I like “Fell In Love With A Girl”. But that’s it.
I feel like I should like the Beatles. And I don’t HATE them. But it just doesn’t connect with me.
For me it was Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by the Smashing Pumpkins. God knows, I tired to love that record. And I gave it the ultimate tryout. I had to make a drive from Miami to Chicago alone. So I bought the album to listen to on the drive. Just me and the music - that’s always been a great way for me to get to know a record. I listened to it all the way through from Miami to Tampa. Then I listened to it again from Valdosta to Atlanta. Then I listened to it a third time from Atlanta to Nashville. When I crossed the Ohio River from Kentucy into Indiana, I threw it into a trash can at the Indiana welcome center. I’m sorry Billy Corgan. I really wanted to like it, but I couldn’t stand a fourth listen!
:smack: Of course I meant I tried to love it. It made me tired!
As an big indie guy, I know that I should adore everything Radiohead, but, while I recognize they’re “not bad,” I just can’t make myself like them as much as I should. I feel like such a disappointment to my brethren whenever Radiohead comes up.
I have to totally agree wit you Skwerl , I’ve tried so many times to get into them and have gotten to the point where some songs are ok, but that’s the best I can give 'em.
When Oasis was big, I hated them. I hated every one of their songs! I don’t even see the whole Beatles similarity in them because the Beatles are good. Oasis reminded me more of a knockoff of some bad 60’s Brit pop band. (I don’t know any names off hand to compare them to.)
Pearl Jam’s 2nd album, Vs., was huge in its day. Even in the present time I know loads of people who think it’s the best Pearl jam cd. I do like one or two songs on it, but for the most part I dislike it.
I also don’t care much for the White Stripes and am very tired of hearing everyone applaud them for their greatness, which I can’t see.
I like the Beatles, but I don’t care for the supposed greatest album, Abbey Road. I like The Beatles(The White Album), Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper, etc., but not Abbey Road.
Miles Davis “Sketches of Spain.” Can’t stand it. Have trouble admitting it.
I’m another “should like Radiohead” guy. But I find them…meh.
Yet another “why don’t like Radiohead?” guy chiming in. We need a support group or something.
I vaguely feel like I should gain at least some enjoyment from The Joshua Tree because I don’t necessarily have anything against the songs in particular, or U2 at that point, but the album completely puts me to sleep about a quarter of the way though.
Why “should” anyone like any band or album? I love Metallica, but that doesn’t mean I force myself to listen to Load.
That said, I’m in with the “I don’t get the White Stripes” crowd. I really, really like “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” and “Fell in Love with a Girl” isn’t bad, but aside from that…I don’t know.
Same story with Bush’s 16 Stone, love “Glycerine” but can’t actually LISTEN to the album. Playing in the background is about it.
Pink Floyd. I don’t know if I don’t do enough acid, or just can’t appreciate their vision, or what, but I cannot stay awake for more than maybe ten minutes if Floyd is playing.
I’ve been dealing with this for 25 years but…
I don’t get this whole Bruce Springsteen adoration thing.
I don’t hate him by any means; I even like a couple of songs, but man, you’d think he wrote the Bible’s Third Testament according to many of his fans.
It takes all kinds I guess…
All you guys who don’t quite see the White Stripes – it’s OK. Don’t worry about it.
How do you get along with old blues musicians? And 60’s garage bands? If you dig these, but can’t quite get the White Stripes, stop feeling ashamed.
It’s not that you’re missing out on the best band this year, it’s actually your finely attuned musical sensibility telling you, quite correctly, that you’d rather listen to the real thing, rather than a thin, unsatisfying pastiche.
I read that Jack White insisted that no instrument, effect or recording device invented after 1963 would be used on “Elephant”. That, to me, is a triumph of style over substance.
The White Stripes have some nice songs and some lovely hooks, but they’re pale imitations.
As for Radiohead, are you actually supposed to like them? I admire them, all excellent musicians, perfectly at home in odd metres and keys, they’re “real” musicans who have demonstrated their mastery over electronica, and Thom does the best line in anomie you’ll ever hear. Doesn’t actually mean they’re likeable.
Slightly OT Hijack: Apparently there are those out there who do worship the ‘White Stripes’.
Parked on the shoulder of a busy road waiting for a friend, I was playing a DJ Compilation disk, and ‘Dead Leaves…’ came on. In a car next to me, waiting for the traffic light, the male passenger heard the opening notes, said (loudly) ‘White Stripes’ and started frantically punching the radio buttons in a mad search for the station playing that song, while the female driver asked (somewhat irritated) what was he doing? [“Oh, Nothing Honey”] Alas, they drove off before I could tell him the song was on a CD… 
Just what is the big deal with London Calling by The Clash?
hrh
I agree with Bwana… The Boss never did it for me. Don’t tell my Jersey frind that, she’ll tear me up. But yeah he never did it for me…
The Album I SHOULD Like but rather, hate… Pet Sounds…
I’ll admit it
I’m American
And I hate the beach boys
I think their songs are dumb. They all sound the same. I like “God Only Knows” But i like the cover that The Manhattan Transfer did, much better than the original recording… I used to really like “Don’t worry Baby” until I figured out it was about stupid drag racing… CARS! GIRLS! SURFING! That’s all the songs are about. I mean I guess when you’re trying to escape petty every-day life, and you need to hear about problems that aren’t always so time-consuming or stressful, then yes The Beach Boys is the perfect selection. But I’d rather listen to something that I can relate to as well as enjoy, I can’t relate to cars, girls, or surfing… aside from the fact that I am a girl, and Idrive a car… Call me Un-American, not liking Springsteen or The Beach Boys, but I need to listen to something a little more challenging, and less repetitive.
[sigh] John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme.
I have bought this album on three separate occasions, always revisiting it with an open mind and heart. I love his other albums I have, along with Monk, Mingus, and other contemporaries. I have read a lot about the album, have some background in music theory, am religious (so I admire the thematic undercurrent), and feel I have a pretty good intellectual grasp of what he’s doing throughout the album.
I just don’t enjoy listening to it. 
Springsteen doesn’t do it for me either.
Re: The White Stripes…I just don’t get it. They’re pretty alright as alt-noise-rock goes, from what I’ve heard.
But I still can’t figure out why everyone hated The Strokes.