Great bands/performers you just can't fall in love with.

I have broad musical tastes - pretty much everything with the exception of Rap and Opera can be found on my playlists. However, there are a few great - even legendary - bands that I just can't seem to fall in love with. For example, The Rolling Stones. I've tried, on numerous occasions, to really like them - and I come up empty every time. That being said, I have tremendous respect for the group and what they have accomplished, but outside of 4 or 5 songs, they just don't click with me.

Any of you have a similar experience with a group or performer that you feel like you should like, but you just don't?
"Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


“Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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  • motorhead43026
    motorhead43026 Posts: 3,892
    edited March 2017
    Eagles
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    The best way to predict the future is to invent it.

    It is imperative that we recognize that an opinion is not a fact.

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  • decal
    decal Posts: 3,205
    Rush and Boston top my list.
    If you can't hear a difference, don't waste your money.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 10,716
    U2, Guns and Roses, Green day (o.k. don't know about great)
    Frank Sinatra
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    Doors, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Phish, Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Mathews Band... that's all i got for now.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 10,716
    That is strange in that those are the only artists I DO like.
    Nightfall wrote: »
    Doors, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Phish, Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Mathews Band... that's all i got for now.

  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,034
    edited March 2017
    Slim Whitman, Whoopee John and the Six Fat Dutchmen, , Lawrence Welk, and The Bay City Rollers...

    Edit**** how could I have forgotten the incomparable Engelbert Humperdinck. Something about his last name always made me laugh like Bevis and Butthead.
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    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited March 2017
    There are certainly renowned bands/performers I can only take in small doses.
    Hendrix, Clapton (with or without "the Cream"), Rick Wakeman, the Doors, ELP, and U2 all come to mind.


    Bands like REM and Rush I cannot in any sense of my own taste in music or performance consider "great". I find both very tedious. In the latter case nearly unlistenably so. There are a couple of REM songs I enjoy, but they always seemed too self-consciously portentous (and pretentious) to me.

    Speaking of "pretentious", as a teen and very young adult, I really liked Yes. Now, there are only a few songs of theirs I ever actively feel like hearing. Having said this, I will admit that The Yes Album still sounds pretty good; goofy, juvenile lyrics notwithstanding :/

    For me, Yes jumped the shark the moment after the track And You and I ended on the otherwise tedious (and oh-so-pretentious) album Close to the Edge. And the other Yes albums thereafter are of no interest at all to me. I do, in full disclosure, own a copy of Going for the One, which I did listen to back when it was new.
  • OleBoot
    OleBoot Posts: 2,065
    U2, Jeff Beck, Tiny Tim
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited March 2017
    You know what? (FWIW) I don't think I have an opinion one way or another about Jeff Beck.

    Oh, speaking of British "white boy plays the blooze" guitarists -- that band that guy Jimmy Page was in -- you know, the one after he was in the Yardbirds. That one that, supposedly, Keith Moon & John Entwistle named.

    I recognize that that Lead Balloon band had members that were pretty talented, but I never much cared for them. Too much pretend teenage macho swagger for my tastes (much of it in the guise of ripped off blues songs).

    Actually the only one I have any respect & admiration for is the guy who sang for 'em (even though he kinda looked like Roger Daltrey). He's still even got something of a viable career going, last I knew.

    :)

  • gce
    gce Posts: 2,158
    The Stones are definitely a band I could never get into for some reason. I do like some of their songs but I don't own any of their music.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited March 2017
    FWIW: Well, I certainly used to feel fairly similarly to the post above vis-a-vis the Rolling Stones -- but their apex was (I'd even say unarguably) the trilogy Let it Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street. Worthy of the attention of anyone who likes, or effects to like, rock and roll, I'd opine.

    I didn't own 'em then -- but I do now.
  • OleBoot
    OleBoot Posts: 2,065
    mhardy6647 wrote: »
    You know what? (FWIW) I don't think I have an opinion one way or another about Jeff Beck.

    Oh, speaking of British "white boy plays the blooze" guitarists -- that band that guy Jimmy Page was in -- you know, the one after he was in the Yardbirds. That one that, supposedly, Keith Moon & John Entwistle named.

    I recognize that that Lead Balloon band had members that were pretty talented, but I never much cared for them. Too much pretend teenage macho swagger for my tastes (much of it in the guise of ripped off blues songs).

    Actually the only one I have any respect & admiration for is the guy who sang for 'em (even though he kinda looked like Roger Daltrey). He's still even got something of a viable career going, last I knew.

    :)

    Wouldn't have thought that Jeff Beck would be a "white boy that play the blooze guitarist" - to my ears he just makes a sort of discordant noise and always has since the Yardbirds. As to Lead Balloon, I did not actually like them at the time for pretty much the same reasons that you point out, but now have a greater appreciation - maybe time has made me forget the bare chested outfits.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    I am adding no value to this thread :blush:
    but, for Dylan, I'd just say -- give a listen to

    When I Paint My Masterpiece
    Desolation Row
    My Back Pages
    and/or
    Tangled Up in Blue

    Had he never written any other songs, I'd probably still say he was Nobel-worthy.
  • Emlyn
    Emlyn Posts: 4,346
    There are a lot of bands/performers that I initially did not appreciate when I first heard them. I would put the Beatles and Led Zeppelin in that crowd. The Beatles struck me as bubble gum pop poseurs and Led Zeppelin overhyped and poorly recorded. I thought the Rolling Stones and Black Sabbath were contemporaries who blew them away. I also disliked Crosby, Stills & Nash, Willie Nelson, and Neal Young for many years. I have grown to appreciate all them as I've got older though. But, there are still two that stick out as things I will turn off immediately: Grateful Dead and WINGER.
  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,305
    I have to agree with quite a few of these.

    U2 - a little goes a long way, and I could vomit coat hangers when people mention The Edge in the context of greatest guitarists.

    Rush - quite possibly the most over hyped band of all time, IMHO.

    Greatful Dead - I just don't get it...

    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    daddyjt wrote: »
    Rush - quite possibly the most over hyped band of all time, IMHO.

    That stings! Peart is widely regarded as one of the best drummers of all time. Very talented trio. I can understand Geddy's voice being a turn off though.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,305
    Nightfall wrote: »
    daddyjt wrote: »
    Rush - quite possibly the most over hyped band of all time, IMHO.

    That stings! Peart is widely regarded as one of the best drummers of all time. Very talented trio. I can understand Geddy's voice being a turn off though.

    Agreed, Peart is awesome, but I just can't get past Geddy. As much as I'm not a Rush fan, I do have to say that Brother Where You Bound is one of my go-to test tracks.
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    Perhaps you like YYZ? No vocals. ;)
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • lightman1
    lightman1 Posts: 10,776
    Nightfall wrote: »
    Perhaps you like YYZ? No vocals. ;)

    He makes a valid point, daddyj.....
  • treitz3
    treitz3 Posts: 18,230
    I think the Grateful Dead would top my list. Lots and lots of followers but I never really dug their style.

    Tom
    ~ In search of accurate reproduction of music. Real sound is my reference and while perfection may not be attainable? If I chase it, I might just catch excellence. ~
  • Toolfan66
    Toolfan66 Posts: 16,834
    The Who
    U2

    Are my top 2, I have mad respect for them but I can do without them. With that said I wouldn't mind seeing U2 live..
  • DollarDave
    DollarDave Posts: 2,575
    The Beatles and the Dave Mathews Band. Nirvana is pretty close to being on the list.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 10,716
    Bob Dylan is Jehovah. Clapton was a poser.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited March 2017
    Of the 'OO I will say -- from my perspective, the band for all intents and purposes ceased to exist when Keith Moon died. The chemistry (no pun intended) between Moon & Townshend was phenomenal.

    Something about the other three boys ;) I reckon must have kept Townshend's huuuuuuuuuuge ego in check. But John's gone, too. Townshend & Daltrey's recent antics as the "Who" (c'mon? Really!?), to me, are just embarrassing.

    Cue up the extended version of Live at Leeds and hear the group that was, for a couple of years, the best thing rock & roll had to offer (from my perspective)

    - and, yeah, unfortunately, you can skip most of the rest :(

    PS Townshend's first 'real' solo album Who Came First is very good, and his album with the late Ronnie Lane, Rough Mix is simply outstanding. I would still classify myself as a Townshend fan (even more than a Who fan), but he got sucked under by his own pretentiousness quite a few years ago.
  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 32,926
    edited March 2017
    Oh -- could I put in a half-vote for Pink Floyd, too?

    I really admire Pink Floyd. Heck, I even have a lot of admiration for Roger Waters -- but his obsession (not inexcusably, given his own life story) with the past (specifically WWII), for me, sank the band.

    I do (did) like Gilmour's work, both as a guitarist & as a vocalist, though.

    I really enjoyed their soft side: Grantchester Meadows, San Tropez, Wish You Were Here. Heck, I played Fearless the morning of my dissertation defense to psych myself up! I occasionally enjoy their more serious work (e.g., Shine On You Crazy Diamond), too, but on the whole -- I've kind of lost my taste for and interest in the band & its work (especially past Wish You Were Here).

    I will say, though, that Comfortably Numb was phenomenal.

    And then there was Syd. Of course, Pink Floyd's other big obsession with the past seemed to be its own past, and particularly with the fate their lost comrade. While it was, and is, fashionable to consider the Syd Barrett era PF as "the actual Pink Floyd", quaint, charming and weird as their early output was, I am, by and large, not a big fan. I do quite like Arnold Layne (don't read too much into that! ;)) and See Emily Play, though, and Bike is bizarrely fun. I find Jugband Blues almost painful to listen to given poor Syds descent into madness and ultimate irrelevance. :(

    As to The Dark Side of the Moon, even in the 1970s I realized that, as long as there are teenagers, stereos, and marijuana, that album will be popular.

    I know all y'all needed to know all that! ;)
  • stones89
    stones89 Posts: 229
    Elvis Costello - voice brings me to tears, The Boss, except for Nebraska and Darkness, The Eagles…..any of it.
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  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,305
    lightman1 wrote: »
    Nightfall wrote: »
    Perhaps you like YYZ? No vocals. ;)

    He makes a valid point, daddyj.....

    I gave YYZ another listen last night (gave me an excuse to fire up the TT, as I only have that album on vinyl), and it actually wasn't too bad... :smile:
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn