Highly praised?

 

Yeah I feel the same about that band and Arcade Fire, The White Stripes (though to a lesser extent), etc.

 

They just sound like pretty bland and typical indie rock acts to me.

 

I have to agree :nod:

 

I really like some of their songs but generally they sound pretty average to me

Highly praised?

 

Yeah I feel the same about that band and Arcade Fire, The White Stripes (though to a lesser extent), etc.

 

They just sound like pretty bland and typical indie rock acts to me.

 

Have you listened to Funeral?

The 2nd Law has a score of 70 on Metacritic. That's just sad. They needed a new direction so they followed U2 and dubstep, how unambitious can you get? They're not even well-written songs, they're badly churned out, predictable, and there's nothing near to musical genius of something like the Butterflies and Hurricanes solo, the chord progression of Knights of Cydonia or the solo in Showbiz. I can rant all day about it, I think it's an absolute heap of shit and all my mates are falling over their tongues declaring it a return to form. Blasphemy.

 

I just don't like the Strokes because they're so style-over-substance for me. The White Stripes I found to be cleverer, more interesting and their music's sexier because it doesn't try as hard. I'm well aware I'm in the minority though.

 

And whilst I'm on this rant, I dislike the Killers so much because they're so overrated. All These Things That I've Done is a quality song, but bands as big as them release four that good before they're huge. Mr Brightside is melody-less, self-pitying, limp rubbish, and Brandon Flowers has literally nothing interesting to say on any subject whatsoever. Okay, you're from Las Vegas, we get that, but it's not enough to build a band identity on, you need to combine it with satire, wit or a poetic turn of phrase like James Murphy and New York, Jarvis Cocker or Alex Turner and Sheffield, Damon Albarn and London/Essex. Again, I'm virtually alone in thinking this, but The Killers I find to be the typical, bland, indie band stereotype that you mention: boring frontman who longs to be an amalgamation of about three people, cheap, tired riffs that Johnny Marr might chuck away and nice bright synths that add little but paper over the fact that none of you are playing anything particularly exciting.

 

Funeral on the other hand is the opposite: fresh, innovative, beautiful. Putting their name amongst The Killers, The Kaiser Chiefs, latter Kings of Leon et all, is like opening a window in a stuffy room.

The 2nd Law has a score of 70 on Metacritic. That's just sad. They needed a new direction so they followed U2 and dubstep, how unambitious can you get? They're not even well-written songs, they're badly churned out, predictable, and there's nothing near to musical genius of something like the Butterflies and Hurricanes solo, the chord progression of Knights of Cydonia or the solo in Showbiz. I can rant all day about it, I think it's an absolute heap of shit and all my mates are falling over their tongues declaring it a return to form. Blasphemy.

 

70 isn't that high of a score, if you think about it. 70/100 is 7/10. Now, if they gave it a 90 or a perfect score like Pitchfork did with Kanye's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," I could maybe understand why you're so fussed about it. Speaking of Pitchfork, they gave T2L a 5.5 (I myself would give it no more than a 6, but that's beside the point), and a good chunk of us that regularly visit the Muse thread on this forum (myself included) concede that it's their worst album, so I honestly don't even see where you're getting the idea that T2L is so highly praised.

 

Also, I don't really understand some of the points that you're making in terms of genius. "Showbiz" doesn't that have much going on in itself (not knocking it, as it's one of my faves off that album, just saying), KoC's chord progression isn't THAT revolutionary, and as much as I love B&H (It's my favorite song), the solo was very heavily inspired by Rachmaninoff, and some speculate that it might even be a ripoff from one of his piano concertos.

 

(Now, it looks like I'm dissing Muse here, but I'm not. Anyone who knows how much I truly love them knows that. I'm merely playing the devil's advocate here.)

 

Having said all that, yes, I agree, T2L is subpar. I listen to maybe half of it on a regular basis. I find "Explorers" to be boring, and I've never hated a Muse song as much as I hate "Panic Station." At any rate, it's all a matter of personal taste.

I've never really been able to "get" the beach boys. I like pet sounds but it doesnt seem anything more than just nice pop songs to me

 

you should listen to surf's up (the album)

 

disney girls, til i die, surf's up...some of the finest pop tracks ever tbh

The Beach Boys are all about their ability to fuse together the immediacy of pop with the complexity of symphony. There is a reason why they serve as huge inspirations for some of the biggest indie bands today like Animal Collective, Fleet Foxes, and Grizzly Bear. As Robin Pecknold of the Fleet Foxes put it, "The Beach Boys' music soaks up all of America, from the sunny sound of Hawaii to the folk songs of the south to the intelligence of the north-east. In hard times, it's about remembering the romance of the country, and also about the power of the human voice to convey those emotions."

 

I'll admit, I didn't really love Pet Sounds when I first listened to it. Sure, I could appreciate the absolutely gorgeous musical arrangements but the sheer beauty of the album really didn't hit me until I got older and experienced love and heartbreak (This is similar to how OK Computer really didn't hit me until I started working and had to commute on the crowded A train every single day).

 

There are very few people I consider musical geniuses but Brian Wilson is one of them - he was just 24 when Pet Sounds was released!

 

I'll end yet another one of my embarrassingly long posts with a simple Youtube link. If the following video doesn't move you, then you have no heart (or ears):

 

tbh pet sounds isnt even my favorite beach boys record

 

i love today! and surf's up much much more tbf, although i still hold pet sounds in fairly high esteem

70 isn't that high of a score, if you think about it. 70/100 is 7/10. Now, if they gave it a 90 or a perfect score like Pitchfork did with Kanye's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," I could maybe understand why you're so fussed about it. Speaking of Pitchfork, they gave T2L a 5.5 (I myself would give it no more than a 6, but that's beside the point), and a good chunk of us that regularly visit the Muse thread on this forum (myself included) concede that it's their worst album, so I honestly don't even see where you're getting the idea that T2L is so highly praised.

 

Also, I don't really understand some of the points that you're making in terms of genius. "Showbiz" doesn't that have much going on in itself (not knocking it, as it's one of my faves off that album, just saying), KoC's chord progression isn't THAT revolutionary, and as much as I love B&H (It's my favorite song), the solo was very heavily inspired by Rachmaninoff, and some speculate that it might even be a ripoff from one of his piano concertos.

 

(Now, it looks like I'm dissing Muse here, but I'm not. Anyone who knows how much I truly love them knows that. I'm merely playing the devil's advocate here.)

 

Having said all that, yes, I agree, T2L is subpar. I listen to maybe half of it on a regular basis. I find "Explorers" to be boring, and I've never hated a Muse song as much as I hate "Panic Station." At any rate, it's all a matter of personal taste.

 

And 7/10 is a favourable score; if an album's rated that highly, it's considered a good album.

 

The 'genius' is not knowing how they do stuff, and the examples I picked were things I wouldn't know where to begin writing or bits where I just marvel every time. He could've written none of it, my point would still be that there's nothing of that quality to sink your teeth into on the 2nd Law.

 

I feel with Muse that in the past, the hits have been huge, the misses have been average. The hits on the 2nd Law range from average to good, and the misses range from terrible to boring. Panic Station is just awful. Madness is not a patch on the old stuff. Supremacy wears thin after a while. It's just not what it was billed to be for me :(

Arcade Fire are anything but bland and typical, Dee :bigcry:

Have you listened to Funeral?

Yep. Quite a lot of times actually. Sorry.

The White Stripes I found to be cleverer, more interesting and their music's sexier because it doesn't try as hard.

White Stripes had a lot of gems throughout the years. But 90% of their catalogue is dull as dishwater, in my opinion. When I decide to sit down and listen through the entirety of one of their albums I feel like they're using the same three notes over and over and just changing the order of them in the next song. And in the next album they're using those same three notes. And in the next album. And in the next album.

 

I do respect them more because they weren't just trying to be an alt music magazine's flavor of the week and actually had their own unique thing and it went well for them, I just get pretty impatient listening to them past those few hits, dunno why.

Funeral on the other hand is the opposite: fresh, innovative, beautiful.

Maybe I just don't understand the time it was made in? Was something like this made in the mid 2000s or so when it came out? Or did it pioneer this sound?

 

Dunno, when I listen to it, I think "this sounds like a 45 minute soundtrack to an iPhone commercial, this has all been done before, I've heard every technique in here been done before a thousand times"

 

So I'm gonna assume this album started some huge huge huuuge movement in the indie rock genre that prompted nearly every other artist to sound exactly like it, because if not, I don't understand what's interesting about Funeral or Arcade Fire in general.

And whilst I'm on this rant, I dislike the Killers so much because they're so overrated. All These Things That I've Done is a quality song, but bands as big as them release four that good before they're huge. Mr Brightside is melody-less, self-pitying, limp rubbish, and Brandon Flowers has literally nothing interesting to say on any subject whatsoever. Okay, you're from Las Vegas, we get that, but it's not enough to build a band identity on, you need to combine it with satire, wit or a poetic turn of phrase like James Murphy and New York, Jarvis Cocker or Alex Turner and Sheffield, Damon Albarn and London/Essex. Again, I'm virtually alone in thinking this, but The Killers I find to be the typical, bland, indie band stereotype that you mention: boring frontman who longs to be an amalgamation of about three people, cheap, tired riffs that Johnny Marr might chuck away and nice bright synths that add little but paper over the fact that none of you are playing anything particularly exciting.

 

Honestly I think Hot Fuss was a really fresh album upon it's release, the way they mixed the synths with "heavy" guitars seemed pretty new for me. I can agree with you if you are talking about theire last 2 albums wich aren't really that original but the first 2 were pretty great. I know in the end it's all a matter of taste but I think the Killers have (or had) much more to show than The Strokes, Artic Monkeys or any other UK garage band from the 2000s.

 

btw, I love Arcade Fire :heart:

Dee, you suck. How can you not like these bands that we like :angry: FUCK YOU!!!

Yep. Quite a lot of times actually. Sorry.

 

White Stripes had a lot of gems throughout the years. But 90% of their catalogue is dull as dishwater, in my opinion. When I decide to sit down and listen through the entirety of one of their albums I feel like they're using the same three notes over and over and just changing the order of them in the next song. And in the next album they're using those same three notes. And in the next album. And in the next album.

 

I do respect them more because they weren't just trying to be an alt music magazine's flavor of the week and actually had their own unique thing and it went well for them, I just get pretty impatient listening to them past those few hits, dunno why.

 

I respect your opinion, and I understand the sameyness you feel, but I just like Jack White as a songwriter and musician. I just find Elephant and even Black Rebel Motorcycle Club more exciting, electric and alive than anything the Strokes ever did. Fun fact: Jack can play piano with one hand, guitar with another and sing all at once.

 

Maybe I just don't understand the time it was made in? Was something like this made in the mid 2000s or so when it came out? Or did it pioneer this sound?

 

Dunno, when I listen to it, I think "this sounds like a 45 minute soundtrack to an iPhone commercial, this has all been done before, I've heard every technique in here been done before a thousand times"

 

So I'm gonna assume this album started some huge huge huuuge movement in the indie rock genre that prompted nearly every other artist to sound exactly like it, because if not, I don't understand what's interesting about Funeral or Arcade Fire in general.

 

Nah, they didn't start anything, but it was pretty different to start an indie troupe with what, seven members is it? I only say they're innovative because they proved you can be "stadium rock" without being U2. When the album was released, I wouldn't say rock at that scale wasn't massively popular, but if you look at the resurgence of Blur, Viva La Vida etc, I think wide-scale rock owes something to the ethic of Funeral: you don't have to compromise your art to do something so mass-appealing.

 

Honestly I think Hot Fuss was a really fresh album upon it's release, the way they mixed the synths with "heavy" guitars seemed pretty new for me. I can agree with you if you are talking about theire last 2 albums wich aren't really that original but the first 2 were pretty great. I know in the end it's all a matter of taste but I think the Killers have (or had) much more to show than The Strokes, Artic Monkeys or any other UK garage band from the 2000s.

 

btw, I love Arcade Fire :heart:

 

The synths weren't adding anything though, and the guitars weren't doing anything exciting. It's just like a Springsteen tribute act, and it doesn't matter how many times they crowbar in a real-life story or a mention of home, their identity just doesn't sit for me. They seem indebted to everyone else, and without their own ideas.

 

Arctic Monkeys were a true encapsulation of youth culture: wit, excitement, drive and sheer consistency on that album. They are the greatest band of the last ten years and no one comes close to that, for me at least.

^ Are you saying sounding like U2 is compromising your art?

^ Are you saying sounding like U2 is compromising your art?

 

I'm saying that wanting to be the biggest band in the world, and therefore copying the biggest band in the world is, yes. A lot of acts decide they want to be big and crank up the delay pedal, just because the Edge does.

 

A lot of U2's stadium-filling stuff I find insipid, and I think there's more beauty in a song like White as Snow.

I think there's more beauty in a song like White as Snow.

 

Which is basically just a rewrite of O come O come Emmanuel.

Which is basically just a rewrite of O come O come Emmanuel.

 

I still like it :(

Arctic Monkeys were a true encapsulation of youth culture: wit, excitement, drive and sheer consistency on that album. They are the greatest band of the last ten years and no one comes close to that, for me at least.

 

Umm, no.

I still like it :(

 

:nod:

Umm, no.

 

They do a cracking version of Love Machine, you might like it.

I forgot to add these:

44. Friendly Fires - Pala

45. David Guetta - One Love

46. The Beatles - Yellow Submarine Songbook

47. Jonas Brothers - A Little Bit Longer

48. Andy Grammer - Andy Grammer

49. Beastie Boys - To the 5 Boroughs

50. Coldplay - Parachutes

Let's revive this, shall we?

 

http://top50.topsters.net/

 

 

Oh boy. It's been a while since I posted my top 50 albums. I've listened to so many new bands since then so I might actually be able to do one album per artist (maybe)

 

The problem would be deciding which old albums to kick out of the list in favour of newer ones :confused:

I love Ray Of Light, it was on repeat when I was at college!

Gave it another shot...

 

Gonna give it a try now. Wish me luck.