Do you ever wonder?

This thread shows that there is truly no accounting for taste.

Depends on what you like.

I too am not a fan of anyone in Audiofeil's list, nor own anything by them. (And I could say the same about almost anything and everything played on popular radio these days, irrespective of genre.) But that's not the same as asking how they can move units and put butts in seats, which they do plenty well without me. I can easily understand why the answer to those is affirmative, and recognize, even appreciate, their talent -- which is not to say artistry or integrity. I may (may!) even slightly enjoy some small percentage or aspect of their work, in an incidental, disposable way. Or not.

Personally I think it's naive, snobbish, or disingenuous to imply that, if you or I don't like something, no one else should. The answer, in case it needs spelling out, is that there's simply no accounting for taste -- in any direction. I take it for granted that if somebody enjoys something which I don't, the feelings it generates in them are just as valid, for them, as those I feel listening to something that pushes my own buttons (and which they may hate). We're just different; no way am I gonna say I'm somehow better. (Which is what this query is really about, IMO. I might think it -- I might even say it, in so many words, to friends who share my tastes. But I'm not gonna be insecure jerk enough to feel I need to proclaim my supposed superiority in public to those I don't know.)

Vive la difference! (...Just don't make me have to shop to your crap!)

Ever wonder how boring it would be if we all had the same tastes? We'd have nothing to complain about...

Ac/dc
Guns and roses
Queen
Motely crüe
Peter frampton

To name a few.

Best,

Dave

To each is there own I guess but hasn't this been going on for decades? Subpar musicians sell millions of records based on looks, the time their hit single broke out, the push they get from their record companies etc etc.

Well this weekend I got stuck in the car listening to Pop radio stations. Nothing like hearing the same songs over and over and over on pretty much every radio station my car antenna could pick up.

The "artists" I'd like to add to this thread are:

Ke$ha
Britney Spears
Justin Beiber
Jason Derulo
Ne-Yo
Any of the boy bands from the late 90s.

Pretty much if the artist needs a lot production tricks or Autotune to make their voice sound palatable their name should be on this list.

You know Dave (Corazon), I thought the same thing about Queen for over 10 years. Never took the band seriously. Then I saw their performances at Live Aid and Wembley. Been a big fan ever since.

As always YMMV

Audiofeil,
I've never seen them live. Perhaps, like you, I would appreciate them more.

Not that I completely dislike them, their staying power after all these years surprises me.

I must agree with you concerning the Grateful Dead. Those are my 3 favorite albums. In fact Workingmans Dead is one of the first albums I ever bought.

Like you I find some of Garcias solo work interesting. Particularly with David Grisman.

Best,

Dave

It's all plain and simple to finalize:
There are bands that have most of income from recordings and there are bands that have most of income from live performances. There are also bands that are happy with income from recordings and would not wish to work harder to perform live.
Here also comes very important show-biz factor: frequency. Frequency of live performances, number of sold recordings affect consumer demand. More frequent live performances and frequent large distribution of recordings certainly can decrease demand on artist. So there's always a decision to make: to tour or to record a new album.
The year of 2011 seemed to shut up most of the good artists as I haven't had any descent live concert exposure.

Practically every other person I ever come across likes music that I find unfathomable. Their entire listening habits are populated by artists that possess little or no talent that I can see or from musical genres that I loathe. It's often stated that if we were all alike life would be boring and of course that rings true with music. It does allow some of us to bask in the warmth of superiority and that does provide some solace to this occasionally dreary life.
My personal list of artists I cannot stand and that are hugely popular would be far too many to list. Although, it would be a pretty safe bet to state that 99.9(recurring)% of all artists to have charted in either the UK or USA in the last 35 years would make the list.

Jsd52756 saying that Tom Waits is bad means you diddnt aquire good taste yet...but maybe youll learn someday...maybe...reading your post makes me shure that hes any album is better than anything you have in your CD pile(what a waste of money)...cheers...