Music: Songs You Love by Artists You Dislike

[kihei]

I've been mulling this over a while, and I could only come up with two examples because I almost invariably don't like any songs by artists who I dislike. However, I really like Tie Your Mother Down by Queen. I don't hate Queen; I just find there music pompous and bloated, and can't think of another song I like by them. And I like both I Can't Tell You Why and Best of My Love by The Eagles, a band I normally waste no time on. Good hurtin' songs, those.

 

[VMBM]

Certainly not a fan of Christopher Cross and the kind of music he represents (yacht rock?), but can't help liking this one (even Michael McDonald doesn't spoil it!). Apparently, it was also dedicated to, or inpired by Lowell George or something, which is always a plus for me.


This might be just ignorance, since I've never bothered to investigate them, but I hate "You Sexy Thing" and the ballad I've heard from them (don't know the name) doesn't do anything for me either. This is cool, though; the riff reminds me of Led Zeppelin's "Out on the Tiles" somehow.

 

[phrenssoa]

After searching far and wide, I have FINALLY found a song I really like by The Beach Boys:

 

[Hierso]

Heaven & Hell from the Dio era of Sabbath.

Never had anything against Dio as a muscian or anything like that, i just hate the Dio era of Black Sabbath.

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

The one Drake song I like. Is it because his voice is more normal in this one? I don't know.

 

[I am not exposed]

I have to say that my dislike for Bowie is not in any way objective. 80s music, and a lot of 70s pop music in general, just don’t appeal to me. The synthesizers, the echo-y snare, the guitar tones of that era and the high-pitched harmonies get on my nerves for some reason. That being said I do love Space Oddity and Under Pressure (though I always thought of that as Queen’s song).

Better when it became Ice Ice baby.

Always disappointing when the song starts and you realise it is Under Pressure instead of Ice Ice baby. Under Pressure sucks. I have no interest in listening to two gay Brits warbling at each other. Yeah, not a fan of David Bowie. Maybe half a dozen songs at most.

 

[PANARIN BREAD FAN]

Better when it became Ice Ice baby.

Always disappointing when the song starts and you realise it is Under Pressure instead of Ice Ice baby. Under Pressure sucks. I have no interest in listening to two gay Brits warbling at each other. Yeah, not a fan of David Bowie. Maybe half a dozen songs at most.

if you sorta like 5-6 songs by bowie that sounds to me like you don't dislike him. you're just not a fan. my friend said he despises the rolling stones. i told him that if i can name a bunch of songs by them and he replies that he likes at least 5 of them then that means he doesn't hate the stones. he ultimately had to admit that he guess he doesn't hate the stones as much as he thought.

 

[I am not exposed]

if you sorta like 5-6 songs by bowie that sounds to me like you don't dislike him. you're just not a fan. my friend said he despises the rolling stones. i told him that if i can name a bunch of songs by them and he replies that he likes at least 5 of them then that means he doesn't hate the stones. he ultimately had to admit that he guess he doesn't hate the stones as much as he thought.

I don't hate Bowie. Just not a fan either.

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Foo Fighters - Big Me
Eagles - Take It to the Limit

 

[Mescaleroman]

Wham - Young Guns ( Go for It )

 

[HisIceness]

As far as I'm concerned, the only music that Gwen Stefani/No Doubt recorded was Don't Speak. Do I "love" it? Not really, but I don't change the radio when it comes on.

California King Bed by Rihanna, same thing.

 

[VMBM]

I have no interest in listening to two gay Brits warbling at each other.

Freddie Mercury and...? I realize you mean Bowie, and I know that having relationships with women doesn't make anyone necessarily not gay (even Freddie had those), but did he ever say that he was gay?

 

[Shareefruck]

Don't really understand this thread subject , to be honest. If there's one song I really like, that's usually enough for me to have a generally favorable opinion of an artist. The idea of a one-hit-wonder is pretty rare for me in general, though.

 

[phrenssoa]

Don't really understand this thread subject , to be honest. If there's one song I really like, that's usually enough for me to have a generally favorable opinion of an artist. The idea of a one-hit-wonder is pretty rare for me in general, though.

That’s an interesting perspective. Is there not an artist from whom you really like just one song, but whose discography you dislike otherwise?

 

[Shareefruck]

That’s an interesting perspective. Is there not an artist from whom you really like just one song, but whose discography you dislike otherwise?

Not off the top of my head (usually when I actually dislike an artist outright, even their "hits" sound bad to me), but if there were, I don't see why I'd care about the part of their discography that I dislike. They've already contributed something to the world that I appreciate, I don't see why I'd expect that to be maintained throughout their career. Even the greats of all time tend to have a period where they're kind of terrible (and only have a limited stretch of time where they're actually great), but it generally doesn't move the needle on your perception of the artist one way or another, IMO. I mainly just care about the notable things that they HAVE done.

I understand being lukewarm or finding an artist mediocre because they only have one good song (or being annoyed by the parts of them that gets over-exposed), but why would you full out dislike them if they've already cleared that bar in providing something of value to you? Unless they've done something truly heinous beyond simply making bad music sometimes.

 

[phrenssoa]

Not off the top of my head (usually when I actually dislike an artist outright, even their "hits" sound bad to me), but if there were, I don't see why I'd care about the part of their discography that I dislike. They've already contributed something to the world that I appreciate, I don't see why I'd expect that to be maintained throughout their career. Even the greats of all time tend to have a period where they're kind of terrible (and only have a limited stretch of time where they're actually great), but it generally doesn't move the needle on your perception of the artist one way or another, IMO. I mainly just care about the notable things that they HAVE done.

I understand being lukewarm or finding an artist mediocre because they only have one good song (or being annoyed by the parts of them that gets over-exposed), but why would you full out dislike them if they've already cleared that bar in providing something of value to you? Unless they've done something truly heinous beyond simply making bad music sometimes.

You can word it however you like (“dislike”, “find mediocre”, whatever). The point is to share personal “one-hit wonders”. I personally go out of my way constantly to listen to genres/artists I don’t really like in hopes of finding gems, and as a result I have a lot of personal one-hit wonders. But I understand that most people don’t listen to music the way that I do.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Time after Time - Cindi Lauper

 

[Shareefruck]

You can word it however you like (“dislike”, “find mediocre”, whatever). The point is to share personal “one-hit wonders”. I personally go out of my way constantly to listen to genres/artists I don’t really like in hopes of finding gems, and as a result I have a lot of personal one-hit wonders. But I understand that most people don’t listen to music the way that I do.

I try to do that as well, I'm just saying that once/if I find that, my perception of them is no longer "dislike"-- it's at least slightly more positive than neutral at that point (I don't mean mediocre in a bad way).

But if the point of the thread is just one-hit-wonders, that makes a bit more sense to me-- how it was framed sounded a bit different to me.

That said, I'm not a big one-hit-wonder kind of listener in general. I feel like usually, if one thing hits, at least a few others tend to follow or there's a gradual climb down. The things known for being total one-off outliers, I tend not to end up liking as much as others do in the first place for some reason.

 

[sr edler]

Dancing Queen by ABBA, I guess, though I wouldn't say I actively dislike ABBA, I just find their remaining catalog a bit boring and empty. Even Dancing Queen carries an element of that as well, IMO.

I don't love Dancing Queen, btw, I just like it, it's a nice catchy song.

 

[sr edler]

I saw Bowie mentioned up thread. Young Americans, Ashes to Ashes, those songs are great. Then he also recorded a whole bunch of trash. It is what it is.