#170657 - Thu May 01 2003 07:00 PM
Over-rated Classics?
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Prolific
Registered: Fri Jun 21 2002
Posts: 1061
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Does anyone have any so-called 'classic' songs that they just don't get? You know the type - songs that send everyone else into lighter-waving, larynx-straining raptures, yet leave you rapturously indifferent, or worse?
A couple spring to mind for me.
The first one is 'Knocking On Heaven's Door'. This has to be the definition of BORING. It has no redeeming values at all for me.
The second will probably get me deported for blaspheming an Australia icon, but I'd have to list 'Most People I Know (Think That I'm Crazy)' by Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs. Once you get past the so-called sing-along aspect of it, you start to realise that all it consists of is the same 4 bars repeated ad nauseum, followed by a guitar riff to pad it out and make it sound like a serious song.
Anyone have their own songs?
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#170658 - Fri May 02 2003 08:22 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Prolific
Registered: Mon Aug 26 2002
Posts: 1131
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Pretty much anything by U2, but especially "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." I don't even know that that can be called music. It is certainly unencumbered by harmony, melody, tone magnetism or anything else that might conceivably be pleasing to the ear.
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#170659 - Fri May 02 2003 08:52 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Enthusiast
Registered: Thu May 16 2002
Posts: 403
Loc: Er, Islington.
London, UK
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And what's with these "Beatles" that everyone makes such a fuss about? What did they ever do?
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#170661 - Fri May 02 2003 03:27 PM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Participant
Registered: Thu Feb 06 2003
Posts: 15
Loc: Sussex, England
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A couple of much-played "Classics" spring into my mind here.Procul Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale" and The Moody Blues' "Nights In White Satin".Both are such depressing dirges that I would be happy never to hear them again.
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#170662 - Sun May 04 2003 02:04 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Forum Champion
Registered: Mon Apr 22 2002
Posts: 5007
Loc: Western Australia
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I can't understand what people liked about Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" - it has no redeeming musical features and totally stupid lyrics.
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#170663 - Sun May 04 2003 04:15 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Prolific
Registered: Wed Oct 10 2001
Posts: 1127
Loc: Louisiana USA
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"Stairway to Heaven" doesn't do anything for me..I just don't get why everyone thinks that song is so great. And anything by Pink Floyd....the most overrated band of all time.
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#170664 - Sun May 18 2003 01:57 PM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Participant
Registered: Thu Feb 06 2003
Posts: 15
Loc: Sussex, England
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Quote:
"Stairway to Heaven" doesn't do anything for me..I just don't get why everyone thinks that song is so great. And anything by Pink Floyd....the most overrated band of all time.
Agreed on both counts.I remember years ago sitting in room full of students all listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark side Of The Moon" and they were all coming out with things like "best album ever", "Brilliant" etc etc. I was bored rigid, and to this day still think it's possibly the most over rated album ever.
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#170665 - Sun May 18 2003 04:26 PM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Multiloquent
Registered: Fri Nov 23 2001
Posts: 3082
Loc:
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Since when has Knocking on Heavens Door been a classic, It doesn't hold a candle to Time's They are a Changing!
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#170666 - Mon May 19 2003 01:19 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Multiloquent
Registered: Mon Feb 10 2003
Posts: 2167
Loc: Sydney
NSW Australia
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Bye bye American Pie if I ever hear that again I,ll want to die.Hotel California,Bohemian Rhapsody,anything by Cold Chisel[esp.Bow River],Dire Straits[singing only, the instrumentals are great],Life In The Fast Lane,Cocaine by JJ Cale,Buffalo Soldier,Anything by the Doobie Brothers and most music from the 70s.
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#170667 - Mon May 19 2003 04:22 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Prolific
Registered: Fri Jun 21 2002
Posts: 1061
Loc: Sydney, NSW, Australia
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Quote:
Since when has Knocking on Heavens Door been a classic, It doesn't hold a candle to Time's They are a Changing!
In Australia, as far as classics for the tonedeaf go, it ranks right up there with 'A Horse With No Tune'.
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I don't get any older.... I just get better!
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#170668 - Mon May 19 2003 06:51 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Prolific
Registered: Mon Aug 26 2002
Posts: 1131
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Randy Newman famously described America's "Horse With No Name" as a "song about a kid who thinks he's taken acid."
I can get behind the anti-Eagles sentiment that seems to be welling up here.. though musically, I always felt their harmonies were quite good. It was the TENOR of many of those Eagles hits between 75 and 80 that was bothersome, which if I had to characterize it in general terms was "We get better drugs, more gorgeous women and more money than any of you peons do, and even THAT's not so damned great, so now we'll gripe about how JADED we are."
To be fair, though, Don Henley seemed to lose at least a bit of that when he struck out on his own.
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#170669 - Wed Aug 06 2003 08:48 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Participant
Registered: Fri Jun 27 2003
Posts: 49
Loc: Mumbai India
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I know how you feel about "A Whiter Shade of Pale" - idont get it, it does nothing for me, but I love all other Procol Harum.
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#170670 - Wed Aug 06 2003 01:25 PM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Mainstay
Registered: Sat Mar 03 2001
Posts: 571
Loc: Sykesville
Maryland USA
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"Freebird" most overrated song of all time.
Agreed with Pink Floyd as most overrated band of all time followed by (close second) U2.
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#170671 - Thu Aug 07 2003 07:48 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Enthusiast
Registered: Tue Jan 22 2002
Posts: 404
Loc: London
England UK
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Loathe the Eagles with a passion, that bit in the Big Lebowski where the Dude gets thrown out of a cab for complaining about "Peaceful Easy Feeling" (gggggrrrr!!!!) on the radio is one of my all time favourite scenes from a film. I'd also go along with most of what else has been cited, except to say that Pink Floyd are posiibly my favourite band and "American Pie" has to be oneof the most intelligent pop sengs ever written. But this is a matter of tatse, isn't it Can't BELIEVE I forgot to mention "Smells Like Teen Spirit", what a lousy song/band/singer/guitarist
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#170673 - Fri Aug 15 2003 04:34 PM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Mainstay
Registered: Wed Mar 06 2002
Posts: 587
Loc: Tennessee USA
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We analyzed songs as poetry in my junior English class (because my teacher rocked),anywho, we did "Stairway To Heaven". My teacher said that this song was one of the most misunderstood songs,and that most people either love it or hate it. I hear some people are obsessed. Me? I just don't get it. It really is not that great. Really. Oh,and I love The Eagles. My dad and his siblings grew up with them,and so did all of us kids! 
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#170674 - Sun Aug 17 2003 02:24 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Forum Champion
Registered: Mon Apr 22 2002
Posts: 5007
Loc: Western Australia
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"Stairway to Heaven" always upsets me when I hear it because they played it at my friend's son's funeral last Christmas. He committed suicide and I can never hear that song without thinking of that. Problem is, it's a popular song and hardly a day goes by when you don't hear it on the radio here.
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Don't say "I can't" ... say " I haven't learned how, yet." (Reg Bolton)
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#170676 - Sun Aug 17 2003 08:08 PM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Forum Champion
Registered: Tue Apr 17 2001
Posts: 7306
Loc: Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania USA
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Quote:
"Stairway to Heaven" doesn't do anything for me..I just don't get why everyone thinks that song is so great. And anything by Pink Floyd....the most overrated band of all time.
I thought I was the only person on the planet who felt this way. When I tell my friends that I don't like Pink Floyd, the look at me like I've sprouted a third eyeball.
I absolutely can't stand "Low Rider" by War. That song makes me cringe.
Edited because I forgot to add "Free Bird." If "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" counts as a classic then put me down for that one too. I heard it while touring a ship in Ohio once and it made me want to jump overboard. Anything by Jose Feliciano can go too. God lord, what that man did to "Riders on the Storm" should be illegal.
Edited by IndieQueen (Sun Aug 17 2003 08:11 PM)
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#170677 - Tue Sep 23 2003 07:50 PM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Enthusiast
Registered: Sun Aug 11 2002
Posts: 230
Loc: Riverside Chicago Illinois USA
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My vote goes for "Fly Like an Eagle" by the Steve Miller Band. The lyrics sound like they were written by a nine year old.
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#170678 - Wed Sep 24 2003 07:00 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Explorer
Registered: Thu May 01 2003
Posts: 50
Loc: Maryland USA
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I know music is a subjective thing, but good god.
Who are we gonna trash next, Beethoven?
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#170679 - Wed Sep 24 2003 10:34 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Forum Champion
Registered: Tue Apr 17 2001
Posts: 7306
Loc: Pittsburgh
Pennsylvania USA
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Quote:
I know music is a subjective thing, but good god.
Who are we gonna trash next, Beethoven?
There's quite a large difference between Beethoven and say Steve Miller. When Beethoven and Bach were creating their music, commercial success wasn't even thought of. There were no radio stations, music video channels or music publications to impress. Things have changed quite a bit since those days. What is now labeled "classic music" is often mass produced drivel. The writer are driven as much by the prospect of making money as they are by their desire to create.
Edited to day: I'm by no means a casual music fan. Music plays a rather large part in my life. I still can't understand why people get so bent out of shape about people criticizing music and musicians. Especially in today's music. Most artists don't even write their own lyrics anymore. That's not to say that song writers aren't highly talented people, but I like to hear a musician sing his or her own words about his or her own feelings. I don't get my knickers in a twist when somebody doesn't agree. And trust me, I'm very passionate about the music that I love.
Edited by IndieQueen (Wed Sep 24 2003 10:37 AM)
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#170680 - Wed Sep 24 2003 11:42 AM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Explorer
Registered: Thu May 01 2003
Posts: 50
Loc: Maryland USA
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I've been playing the guitar and piano for 35 years. I'm very passionate about music. Music plays a large part in my life.
When I listen to a peice of music that I've listened to and loved for years and years it's like visiting and old friend. So, if somone is trashing a peice of music that I love, be it Beethoven or Bach or the Beatles, I'm compelled to respond.
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"All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be"
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#170681 - Wed Sep 24 2003 02:05 PM
Re: Over-rated Classics?
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Enthusiast
Registered: Tue Mar 18 2003
Posts: 309
Loc: Minnesota / Iowa USA
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I'm not sure that you are correct when you say that commercial success wasn't important to the classical composers, IndieQueen. The people that hired and paid people like Bach and Beethovan were rich folks who wanted to hear some good music. They had to be impressed, or they would fire their musicians.
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