Mainstream music has been horrible since..

it hasn't. the lyrics are a bit rubbish, but otherwise, these songs are great examples of well written pop songs - the production is great, maybe a tad over produced, but still

musically, they aren't terrible at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mC2ixOAivA"]YouTube - ‪Chris Brown - Yeah 3x‬‏

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RnPB76mjxI"]YouTube - ‪Usher - OMG ft. will.i.am‬‏

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-vTaktsUSw"]YouTube - ‪Nicole Scherzinger - Right There ft. 50 Cent‬‏

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZeyl0I"]YouTube - ‪Lady Gaga - Bad Romance‬‏

 

The Black Keys are mainstream, not only does their music appear in countless movies and commercials, but they also won 2011 Grammy's
Their song Tighten up charted number 1 for US Alt and US Rock, and their CD Brothers charted number 3 for US charts.


MGMT's Congratulations charted number 2 US charts.
But we would probably both agree about their music being too overloaded with effects =P


This is just one great band, and one arguably decent (=P) one in a sea of mediocrity though.




Imaginary, Bad Romance is the only song there that isn't absolutely terrible.
And I say this as a hater of Lady Gaga =P

 

counting crows, coldplay, placebo, oasis, nirvana, rage against the machine, blur, tool etc.

 

ah yes, but it's all down to personal taste - and anyways, i never said i liked these songs (*which i do, but still)

i addressed your question

these are not terrible, watered down songs. some of the people producing at present are actually very talented at what they do.

personal taste means nothing, because if it did, the thread is almost redundant - everybody likes different things!

pop punk is uninspired, if i had to wager an opinion.

 

:2thumbsup:

 

I don't know what "mainstream" music is supposed to 'contain', honestly. I have had a general dislike of 'radio-music' my whole life, and was raised by parents who have always been interested in off-beat, music-for-music's-sake type material, so I really don't know the answer. I dislike most radio music from the 1950s right through the 2010s. I would say that in the years surrounding 1970 or so, radio music was its LEAST boring, but I still wouldn't say it was ever good.

So my answer is that 'mainstream' (it it means radio-friendly) music has always been second-rate.

 

thank you for being you.

 

I don't know exactly what you mean by mainstream, but 'My Morning Jacket' had an album on the billboard charts for 13 weeks and made it to #9, so I'd say thats pretty mainstream.

They are an amazing band live and in the studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOXgGzDYmhU"]YouTube - ‪My Morning Jacket - One Big Holiday (live)‬‏

 

HAHAHHAHAHHA! No effects or synths whatsoever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKXfqpg-Q-k"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKXfqpg-Q-k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09e_naTLVxo"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09e_naTLVxo

 

A lot of the mainstream artists are overloading their songs with synthetic sounds, but there is a lot of really good alternative music also coming out IF YOU LOOK FOR IT that uses synth but does it tastefully and interestingly.

Sorry as much as I love the 60's and 70's too and all the irreplaceable bands that were around then I have no time for those who complain about todays music. It's been going on since the 80's and has everything to do with the amount of coverage in the media that the mainstream gets.

If you can't find any new music these days to inspire you then it's YOUR fault for not looking hard enough, because there has never been a time in the history of the universe that music of all locality has been so easily accessible.

So you don't like the music they play on the radio. Don't listen to the radio.

Mainstream is always watered down alternative music from yesteryear anyway.

Either way, if you like the way it sounds then that is all that matters.

Have you ever tried writing a song? I have. I stopped after about 20 minutes and realised that I was no Bob Dylan. Whatever the people who do make music these days come up with I am not going to complain because it doesn't compare with the days of Led Zeppelin.

And usually i actually really like some of it a lot.

there is more great music out there than anyone on the planet will be able to listen to in a lifetime, so quit moaning and go and get stoned and listen to it.

Why has no-one ever started a band called The Cavemen?

Oh they have, I'm assuming. I didn't check but I bet there is a band called the cavemen.

 

...which were all formed in the 90s, not the 00s

If you'd read the rest of my post you'd see that the point I was trying to make was that bands like the Beatles and Zeppelin did it TASTEFULLY. They could do stuff like that well, and then they could go on to do stuff like this:

http://youtu.be/lY5i4-rWh44

and this.

http://youtu.be/S4v-_p5dU34

They didn't feel obliged to overload EVERY song with effects. Whereas the popular artists of today do.

 

I don't see how you see the effects used on the Weekend wars by the MGMT song I posted is done any less tastefully then Tomorrow Never Knows or Lucy in the sky with diamonds.

 

There's always gonna be an exception to the rule, but we are talking the rule (ie. the mainstream). To be honest, I'd never even heard of MGMT. I checked them out, and I'm not fussed. But yeah, they did it more tastefully than most.

 

This is probably their most popular song, I found the synth somewhat annoying initially but this song grew on me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=canpQNO6Wgs"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=canpQNO6Wgs

 

they are just a couple of guys who met at college. They are no troubadours, but have been known to pump out a few nice synthy beats. Time to pretend is one of the most epic songs of the 00's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTiFNQBRwwU"]YouTube - ‪MGMT - This Must be the Place (Talking Heads)‬‏

 

Look, perhaps I didn't get my point across. It isn't about synths, or effects or anything specific like that. My point is this: Do you think that it 50 years time people will look back on MGMT and bands like them and say that they were geniuses who would go on to influence a whole new movement in music? Because that is what the current generation of musicians lack.

The whole industry needs to be seriously shaken up by something big, something different, something talented and something POPULAR. Hopefully this coming decade will see that come to fruition.

 

Maybe people will consider MGMT that type of band?

Led Zeppelin got trashed by critics when they were around and never had a #1 song, The Velvet Underground was all but unheard of in the 1960's and is considered one of the most influential bands of the era these days.

 

But Led Zeppelin had a HUGE, initially underground audience. The Velvet Underground influenced their contemporary artists, who went on to become huge and then cited them as an influence.

Perhaps I don't know enough about them, but do MGMT have a huge underground audience or are they creating a buzz amongst other musicians?

There is nothing really standing out in the current crop of musicians, especially lyrically.

 

the thing about MGMT though is that they are not the only band around today, there are fucking millions of them!

Back in the days of Zep there were only a few.

And don't forget also that Zep borrowed a lot from musicians as far back as the 1920's, same as MGMT and every other band is doing.

It's got a lot to do with nostalgia too.

I think people will look back on the period of music we are in and Time to Pretend will be regarded as epic. It's a song that will stand the test of time. Have you ever listened to the whole album also, Oracular Spectacular? As manufactured as i may a little be, it is still a really good album. All 10 songs are great. Of the many albums I have been exposed to over the past few years it is one that I given a lot of time to and probably listened to maybe 50 times at least I reckon, usually at 4am on the way home from a night out at my stop off for a beer and get stoned place.

 

They have a pretty overt following, here is a cover of an MGMT song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psk09J-ZqXU"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psk09J-ZqXU