Being in an unsigned band sucks
and it always has.
The rose-tinted view of the past was the inspiration for the alt q - people have always complained about the lack of whistleability* of current output compared with what they grew up with.

*What? That is a perfectly valid word.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:33, 1 reply, 15 years ago)

Originality is all but gone from popular music
and you know whose fault it is? Steps. Or "ABBA v2.0", as they should rightly be known.
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:34, Reply)

it's the publics fault
same as everything.

the festival we played at over the weekend was a case in point. Most of the public loved the boring droning dub/reggae, where every song was exactly the same, or they loved the covers bands, but when a band doing something a bit different or interesting (and I'm not just talking about my band) came on they just stared, or left. You get a few people who are well into it, but most just lap up the same old shit.
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:41, Reply)

I agree with the initial sentiment wholeheartedly
but have no "I'm in a band" anecdote to back it up with
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:48, Reply)

But that has always been the case
Most people don't want to hear challenging or new music, they want something safe and familiar. Most older music that is considered great today was not that popular when it was released. Sure, some of it may have charted but that is more down to the fact that there were far fewer records released in 1965 than there are today.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:48, Reply)

I agree entirely

( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:51, Reply)

Yep, I can't argue with any facet of that
Monty will, though. Whether he believes it or not.
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:54, Reply)

I don't think he has reason to
The stuff he is into is as rare as rocking horse poo on vinyl. The reason he has to pay so much for original vinyl is that they did not press many copies as few people bought them.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:02, Reply)

That's a good point
How old are you, just out of interest. I'm 32
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:09, Reply)

34
For one more month.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:13, Reply)

Ha
That wasn't meant to sound like a kid rounding their age up by including fractions of a year
"I'm 8"
"Yeah? Well I'm 8 and a half"
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:14, Reply)

Hahaha!
We're almost a year apart then, I'm 6 weeks shy of my 33rd

Not helping the playground pedantry pageant image here
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:16, Reply)

Ahem
*2 years
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:20, Reply)

Fuck me that's embarrassing

(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:22, Reply)

Uh-oh showing your age there...
Or are you being ironic?
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:41, Reply)

I'm not even sure
I do blame Steps for basically covering Abba's music and somehow getting away with it, effectively allowing everyone else to do the same. But then you could just blame Oasis, but that's too easy.

Aren't we about the same age?
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:47, Reply)

I would guess we are about the same age
What I meant was you were falling into the trap of thinking there was a golden period for pop music, which has now passed, even trying to pinpoint where it went wrong. In 20 years time maybe people will be nostalgic for the classic era of Steps (or perhaps not).
I don't think Oas*s should be acknowledged at all.
But from what I can see you are more a metal fan than a pop fan. Now if you wanted to have a debate about when metal stopped being good...
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:56, Reply)

That I could get into!
Depends how you define "metal" though. I personally was a big fan, at the time, of the likes of KoRn and Limp Bizkit, although I can now see how limited they were. But they're not metal in the strictest sense. Depends how wide you want to cast the net.

Alternatively, the answer is "when Dimebag Darrell was killed"
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:00, Reply)

I realise this thread is dead
but I am warming to my theme here.
For me the classic era of metal is of course the Maiden/Metallica/Anthrax/etc years. I certainly would never have counted Korn or Limp Bizkit, and only recently discovered how good the likes of Pantera were.
The correct answer is that it didn't - sure it ebbs and flows like all music genres, but there is still new and interesting stuff being released (off the top of my head the last Sunn o))) album was great)
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:19, Reply)

I don't think I've really been in to what you'd call a real metal band since Pantera
Gave up on Metallica a long time ago, circa Reload I think, and definitely after the abortion of St Anger. On the other hand I'm a huge Slipknot fan, and Corey Taylor's original band Stone Sour are bloody great - they're pretty much straight-up metal.
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:24, Reply)

You did well to stay with Metallica as long as that
Turning point for me was the Black Album.
Mind you, I quite enjoyed the last one.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:32, Reply)

Didn't bother with it
I heard one single - once - and concluded after two minutes of it that they'd learned nothing since St Anger. This was probably highly premature of me but my decision was reinforced by the discovery of a track on the album called Unforgiven III. F. F. S.
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:37, Reply)

They learned to get rid of Bob Rock
Who had been with them since the Black Album (and Unforgiven#1), but you really haven't missed much.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:43, Reply)

Even if Death Magnetic is as good as Vippers says it is
I really doubt I'll appreciate it as much as I would have 20 years ago anyway. I'm more about the bleepy bleepy nowadays. I know, I know.
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:45, Reply)

I used to love steps
I occasionally flash back to "The Way You Make Me Feel"
gosh I love that song
( Lisette von Falcon, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:42, Reply)

That's a Michael Jackson song
NEVER get the two confused
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:47, Reply)

I fucking hate michael jackson's music

( Lisette von Falcon, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:50, Reply)

Then you are an idiot

(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:52, Reply)

And why is that? Because my opinion is different from yours?
Or because I've offended you?
( Lisette von Falcon, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:56, Reply)

The former
MJ is the King
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:58, Reply)

he may have been popular with the masses but I've never liked him
never.
( Lisette von Falcon, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 14:59, Reply)

Popularity with the masses is of no concern to me, you know that
Each to their own
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:01, Reply)

And as such, I don't like him, I hate his music. I'm not calling you an idiot because you like him.
So why feel the need to call me an idiot because I don't?
( Lisette von Falcon, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:03, Reply)

What is it people keep saying to me...
"This is B3ta. Stop taking it so seriously."

I'd have said the same to anyone in the same circumstance, don't take it personally. Vippers and I call each other idiots all the time and we agree on 90% of music.
(Darth Foxtrot A one-man army dedicated to making fetch happen, Tue 19 Jul 2011, 15:10, Reply)