Band trends that need to go away

[coldbrightsunlight]

Totally agree about quitting while you're ahead being the best call. I can see why people wouldn't though, you always like your own songs so it probably wouldn't be easy to say "right, we've had it, let's quit" unless things got really bad.

[gunslinger_burrito]

lazy rhythm sections. Bassists should be doing more than just miming the guitarist/root notes all the time. Drummers: no more boring Lars Ulrich beats. I know I'm just a dirty six stringer, but sometimes I do want the rest of musical instrumentation to be exciting/prominent in music (which brings up something else; not being able to distinguish the bassist from the guitarist sonically)

FUCK, that makes me think of a "good" one. It drives me insane when I go to metal shows and sound is mixed poorly. Live, too many metal bands mix the vocalist WAYYYYYYY higher than the rest of the band, which, in turn, ends up sounding like undecipherable mush. So you end up with this kind of rhythmic rumble and some guy grunting loudly over the top of it. It diminishes the power of the band and makes everyone look bad.

[Achtane]

It bothers me when there's no bass or nobody taking over bassy duties. You know, bust out the synth, baritone/VI your guitar, shit, use an octave pedal, something. The last few bands I've seen have been like this.
Too much treble is annoying but no oomph is worse.

[D.o.S.]

Yeah, I hear ya. I guess the one I keep thinking of is Isis, which broke up right after releasing either their best album, or their second best (I would be fine agreeing with either statement). They hadn't gone stale or run out of ideas, in fact, they openly said they wanted to stop before that happened. And I really respect that, even if I would have loved to hear another album or two from them.

Every other Isis album is better than the forced naptime/quaalude-synth style rehash that is Wavering Radiant.

On the other hand, even Wavering Radiant is better than a whole lot of other records, so you know, even at half-mast they're still measuring like John Holmes.

[Moustache_Bash]

Also what I hate, bands that are too fucking loud. Maybe I'm getting old and/or lame, but I hate going to a show and not being able to hear the music. I understand loudness being part of the music/feel, but I'd like to be able to decipher what I'm hearing.

All apologies, but this is like by far the lamest thing I've ever seen on ILF.

Don't apologize, I never intended to be a cool dude and you can have your opinion.

[Joe Gress]

Huh. I kinda liked Wavering Radiant. Not as good as the ones before sure, but it's still a good album nonetheless. Prolly the most reachable by a general audience as well.

[jfrey]

Huh. I kinda liked Wavering Radiant. Not as good as the ones before sure, but it's still a good album nonetheless. Prolly the most reachable by a general audience as well.

Wavering Radiant is I think their best - most solid - album. Everyone always has a hard on for a band's earlier stuff, but compositionally I think Wavering Radiant blows most of their discography out of the water.

[bigchiefbc]

Yeah, I hear ya. I guess the one I keep thinking of is Isis, which broke up right after releasing either their best album, or their second best (I would be fine agreeing with either statement). They hadn't gone stale or run out of ideas, in fact, they openly said they wanted to stop before that happened. And I really respect that, even if I would have loved to hear another album or two from them.

Every other Isis album is better than the forced naptime/quaalude-synth style rehash that is Wavering Radiant.

On the other hand, even Wavering Radiant is better than a whole lot of other records, so you know, even at half-mast they're still measuring like John Holmes.

Interesting. I personally can't stand their early stuff. It's just straight sludge, which is not my thing. To each their own, I guess. Also, I think that Wavering Radiant is clearly heavier than Panopticon, so I find it odd you consider WR to be naptime.

For me, I would rank them like this:

Wavering Radiant and Panopticon in a death match for the top spot
|
Oceanic
|
|
|
In the Absence of Truth
|
|
|
|
|
... (this could take a while)
|
|
|
everything else

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

lazy rhythm sections. Bassists should be doing more than just miming the guitarist/root notes all the time. Drummers: no more boring Lars Ulrich beats. I know I'm just a dirty six stringer, but sometimes I do want the rest of musical instrumentation to be exciting/prominent in music (which brings up something else; not being able to distinguish the bassist from the guitarist sonically)

FUCK, that makes me think of a "good" one. It drives me insane when I go to metal shows and sound is mixed poorly. Live, too many metal bands mix the vocalist WAYYYYYYY higher than the rest of the band, which, in turn, ends up sounding like undecipherable mush. So you end up with this kind of rhythmic rumble and some guy grunting loudly over the top of it. It diminishes the power of the band and makes everyone look bad.

ppl do this is rap too....turn the mic wayyy up, beat is not loud enough.

[D.o.S.]

Yeah, I hear ya. I guess the one I keep thinking of is Isis, which broke up right after releasing either their best album, or their second best (I would be fine agreeing with either statement). They hadn't gone stale or run out of ideas, in fact, they openly said they wanted to stop before that happened. And I really respect that, even if I would have loved to hear another album or two from them.

Every other Isis album is better than the forced naptime/quaalude-synth style rehash that is Wavering Radiant.

On the other hand, even Wavering Radiant is better than a whole lot of other records, so you know, even at half-mast they're still measuring like John Holmes.

Interesting. I personally can't stand their early stuff. It's just straight sludge, which is not my thing. To each their own, I guess. Also, I think that Wavering Radiant is clearly heavier than Panopticon, so I find it odd you consider WR to be naptime.

For me, I would rank them like this:

Wavering Radiant and Panopticon in a death match for the top spot
|
Oceanic
|
|
|
In the Absence of Truth
|
|
|
|
|
... (this could take a while)
|
|
|
everything else

Panopticon has better songs, although it's my least favorite Isis album from a mixing/tonal perspective.

I'd throw Oceanic at the top, followed by Celestial, Panopticon and Absence (in no specific order), then the real early stuff, then WR. It just sounds uninspired to my ears... but I also haven't gone back and listened to it enough to see if it's a "grower," which I definitely found to be the case with Absence.


Also, regarding instrument differentiating, I've always really loved bands that lock the guitars and basses into one giant wall of loud.

[Gearmond]

boy/girl indie pop acts.

girl + ukulele

hip-hop acts trying to represent their city but end up making THE MOST GENERIC concious hip-hop album

bands that only go after the black hole if heaviness

math rock bands that sound like literally every other math rock band

"noise rock" bands that are either generic version of genre X + shitton of reverb. or intermittent nearly unrelated scramblings made just for the satisfaction of the musician

if you're familiar with the Cleveland metal scene: everything about that.
-using axefx and expensive as shit midi gear to model amps that cost half as much, seldom use the unit beyond that which can be achieved with the actual fucking amp
-at least 4 or 5 nearly identical boutique metal guitars with barely a difference between them (all the people i know who do this end up selling off all but one because
thats all they use anyway)
-immitating all the melodic bits of bands with the same damn tonalities and turns to the point where they sound identical

-candyrat acoustic guitar players. please stop. it was cool for about a year

-bands that claim to be unique, but basically just rip off a few bands that the general populous has never heard of

-middle of the road indie

-old european man prog/fusion

-brocore (devil wears prada, etc. etc.)

-the micromanaging of genres particular to the 2step/garage section of electronica

-quote unquote IDM

-maybe its just my friends' tastes, but EVERY band out of the UK and Ireland tends to have this really specific high energy poppy math rock thing going on, or is a ripoff of The Get Up Kids

-white collar blues and folk acts

so in summary: most of metal, more than half of the post-punk/post-rock/math rock/stonery/psychadelic bands ILF likes (basically a band that would be on a bill with Pelican, Kyuss, El Ten Eleven, Adebesi Shank, etc.), half of all local hip-hop scenes, half of any pop-rock derivative, the only "thriving" prog/fusion scene, like a third of all acoustic stuff, the plurality of folk music, and like a quarter of electronic music.

but these are just trends overall i hate. the bands in them i can't say i hate. they're just doing things that aren't cool anymore.

also, all y'all grandpas complaining about emo and shit are out of the fukkin loop forreal.

[goroth]

-candyrat acoustic guitar players. please stop. it was cool for about a year

Explain for the foreigner!

[coldbrightsunlight]

-maybe its just my friends' tastes, but EVERY band out of the UK and Ireland tends to have this really specific high energy poppy math rock thing going on, or is a ripoff of The Get Up Kids

Yeah I think that's just your friends' tastes, there's a bunch of stuff here not like that (though I will admit there's a decent amount of that sort of crap).

Everything else you said? Yes. In fact even that thing I quoted, there's so much derivative rubbish that's popular here, and of course everywhere else.

[Achtane]

-candyrat acoustic guitar players. please stop. it was cool for about a year

Explain for the foreigner!

Go get a capo and adjust it so it's only pressing on one or two strings.
Now knock on your guitar like it's a door.
SIGNED

[D.o.S.]

boy/girl indie pop acts.

girl + ukulele

hip-hop acts trying to represent their city but end up making THE MOST GENERIC concious hip-hop album

bands that only go after the black hole if heaviness

math rock bands that sound like literally every other math rock band

"noise rock" bands that are either generic version of genre X + shitton of reverb. or intermittent nearly unrelated scramblings made just for the satisfaction of the musician

if you're familiar with the Cleveland metal scene: everything about that.
-using axefx and expensive as shit midi gear to model amps that cost half as much, seldom use the unit beyond that which can be achieved with the actual fucking amp
-at least 4 or 5 nearly identical boutique metal guitars with barely a difference between them (all the people i know who do this end up selling off all but one because
thats all they use anyway)
-immitating all the melodic bits of bands with the same damn tonalities and turns to the point where they sound identical

-candyrat acoustic guitar players. please stop. it was cool for about a year

-bands that claim to be unique, but basically just rip off a few bands that the general populous has never heard of

-middle of the road indie

-old european man prog/fusion

-brocore (devil wears prada, etc. etc.)

-the micromanaging of genres particular to the 2step/garage section of electronica

-quote unquote IDM

-maybe its just my friends' tastes, but EVERY band out of the UK and Ireland tends to have this really specific high energy poppy math rock thing going on, or is a ripoff of The Get Up Kids

-white collar blues and folk acts

so in summary: most of metal, more than half of the post-punk/post-rock/math rock/stonery/psychadelic bands ILF likes (basically a band that would be on a bill with Pelican, Kyuss, El Ten Eleven, Adebesi Shank, etc.), half of all local hip-hop scenes, half of any pop-rock derivative, the only "thriving" prog/fusion scene, like a third of all acoustic stuff, the plurality of folk music, and like a quarter of electronic music.

but these are just trends overall i hate. the bands in them i can't say i hate. they're just doing things that aren't cool anymore.

also, all y'all grandpas complaining about emo and shit are out of the fukkin loop forreal.

Wait, so, what do you, you know... like to listen to?

full disclosure: I would love to share a bill with Pelican or Kyuss.