@audioman58 I really like the Cash/Rick Rubin "American" series. II was Tom and the Heartbreakers as I am sure you know - and the production values are quite good.
Opinion: Modern country is the worst musical genre of all time
I seriously can’t think of anything worse. I grew up listening to country music in the late 80s and early 90s, and a lot of that was pretty bad. But this new stuff, yikes.
Who sees some pretty boy on a stage with a badly exaggerated generic southern accent and a 600 dollar denim jacket shoehorning the words “ice cold beer” into every third line of a song and says “Ooh I like this, this music is for me!”
I would literally rather listen to anything else.Seriously, there’s nothing I can think of, at least not in my lifetime or the hundred or so years of recorded music I own, that seems worse.
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@baylinor I think you may have misunderstood my post. I said I respect that you don't like country music...and to clarify - I was presuming that you don't insult people that do. It was intended as a compliment not an insult by any means. |
Music is terribly personal. I'm not into country music but I know there are genres I like less. So I don't listen to them I had a friend, Bud Fried(Irving M Fried who was the name sake of IMF speakers and later Fried speakers. Bud only listened to classical music, of which opera was his greatest form, of which Wagner and the Ring operas were the highest musical form of all time. I loved folk music. He called it tinkle music. Think of all the great music, pop, blues, jazz, folk, world music he deprived himself of without even giving it a chance. |
@baylinor - I know there are a lot of country music fans in the UK and Japan and elsewhere not-US. I don't think you need to be born somewhere to appreciate what the culture produces. I don't need to be Jamaican to get reggae. I'm American and have lived here my whole life and I have the same attitude towards country music that you have. It does nothing for me, but I'm glad that people who enjoy it have it to listen to! |
@baylinor My bad on the question mark, corrected - my apologies. |
I spent three months in Europe in the fall of '82, traveling around via a Eurail pass. I used my sister's apartment as my "base camp" (she was in the Navy, stationed in Stuttgart, but lived off-base), and in December she and I went to a nearly mall to shop for Christmas. The mall was 2-leveled, with an open area in the middle. I was upstairs and heard music emanating from the open area, so walked over to the rail and looked down. The music was being played by an American Country outfit, and all the Germans stopped what they were doing and watched and listened attentively, applauding appreciatively at the end of each song. A better audience than many American ones, I wager. |
The OP got me thinking. Seems over the years I have heard (and myself said) similar remarks about "current" music of this sort or that. I believe that what happens is that over time, the true artist shake out from all the fluff and go on to become big, often evolving tremendously. Guess the music scene has always been this way. |
Americana is great. Bluegrass can be great if you understand it. Modern country is what it is. I don't like it, preferring to get my country "fix" on classic country radio stations when I'm in the mood for it. But by the same token, even though I dislike rap, I've forced myself to listen to some Eminem just to hear his rhymes and fast delivery to see if I can keep up. But yeah, if something isn't your cup of tea, just leave it be. I grew up on Zeppelin, YES, Rush, ELP, classical, and rock. In my old age I've discovered more electronica and ambient music that I love and pop groups like The Lone Bellow and Lake Street Dive. |
Couldn't agree more regarding the new 'Bro-country' genre or whatever they call it now. There's no story telling like classic country (60s - 80s). Like many on here, I also grew up with classic country as well as pop and rock. 70s and 80s soul/R & B was good too. I try and listen to new music on my local Top 40 but most of it is crap. There's an occasional song that's pretty good but not good enough to add to my Spotify.New country has gone the way of current Pop---there's no imagination or story telling---it's all very egotistical. Lyric writing is a fading art. |
I issue with the said to be "Bad" music is fake Texas twang. Same goes for a white guy faking an accent like a "Bro". The Thumb & little finger out with the gold chain on the chest, baggy saggy pants. Such may make good comedy, but not music, in my "Old white guy" opinion. As Ravi Shankar said, "Nada Bramha", I think that means, "Sound is God". No offense to anyone, just my 2 cents in this "Dumpster fire". |
Thank you @bdp24 and others for making something worthwhile out of nothing with this thread. Rosanne Cash’s latest(2014 & 2018) Blue Note releases are a good place to start for anybody looking for good Country rooted music, Jason Isbell would be another artist at the top of my list. Austin City Limits has Adia Victoria and Brandi Carlile two artists who will be my next big music purchases. Ken Burns Country and Jazz docs are worth the time and effort or at least they are for me... Personally I will take what the OP @bhagal has described as worst music genre ever, modern Country music, over with my least favorite music genre any day and everyday. Antebellum Southern romanticism themed Country music and the symbolism that comes with is at the bottom my list and is tied at the bottom with repeat a derogatory word over and over Rap music. Death Metal is a solid second place holder for me, a little kindling to keep this "dumpster" fire going.
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@moonwatcher Opera is a form of theater with the vocalist playing the acting role by singing. Not understanding Italian, German or any other language is not a valid excuse to avoid opera. How many out there know every word to many classic rock songs that have been heard a thousand times over? Over time you pick up nuances/words of different languages and there are plenty of liner notes with opera recordings. Lastly the most important aspect of opera is singing at the highest level a human being can achieve. My apologies to the OP for going off topic but the ill-conceived comment demanded a reply. |
Classic one up trollmanship….. Nice going!! And I agree with the original poster (OP). Todays country by male singers all sounds alike. I can’t tell them apart by their music. And it’s awful with very few redeeming qualities. When I listen to country music, I listen to Classic Country, exclusively.
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@pwoodard922 My wife and I saw Erich Church, then 2 days later Dave Matthews in Tahoe last summer, same venue, Harvey's. Erich Church: Sound was really good, clear, not too loud. I saw multiple guys doing mobile sound checks all over the place. The concert rocked from start to finish, the people were awesome - vibe was super upbeat, polite, friendly, safe. No one wasn't dancing. We had a blast. Dave Matthew: The SQ was terrible. Too loud, too much distortion. He took way to much time between songs, so each song was a restart in terms of keeping the audience's attention. The vibe wasn't as fun and I'll leave it at that. We went in expecting Dave to be better / more fun than Eric. Just sayin' |
Never owned a pickup, maybe that is why I never developed a taste for old country? I don't hate rap even though I am between 50 and 70. I like new country. It sounds like old soft rock with some twang added. Never felt a need to jump on the net and tell everyone what I don't like, except politicians. Man of Constant Sorrow (Union Station band) is Folk/Bluegrass fusion, as distinct from old country as new country is. |
I’m in my seventies and do like quality music in every genre including Rap, Country, Classical, Rock n Roll, R&B, Bluegrass, Jazz, and all the rest. That’s a great quality I picked up from my Mom who grew up in the Swing era and played Classical piano, listened to the Dick Clark show daily, and generally liked almost all music, good bad, and indifferent. She passed away at age 95, and I love the memory of her playing music from the "Phantom of the Opera" Broadway show on the piano up until her eighties, struggling with Boogie-Woogie style piano playing when I was a kid, and always asking me to play a favorite Santana song on the stereo when she visited. We could all stand to learn something from her. Being an old fart who generically doesn’t like Rap is just as lame as those same oldsters who thought Rock n Roll was some sort of unlistenable menace in the fifties. The more things change the more they remain the same it seems. Mike |
Old Country is where it's at. Todays Country is all about pretty boys & gals and pretty faces. Give me some man in black or Hank Williams Sr any day. Good conversation here, and I will certainly look into some of the artists mentioned especially Marty Stuart. In the meantime, Classic Rock and some Alternative is where I'm at. More Cowbell! |
I dunno. Billy May. Prog. Ken Nordine. French Rockabilly. There are a few things that I believe may sound worse. Either way, an aesthetic judgement that I may normally keep to myself. Everybody’s got their thing. It’s one thing to pass judgement on the sincerity of the option, but not the opinion itself. I have about 6 bands the significant other puts on the do not play with her around list. They are Slapp Happy, The Butthole Surfers, Shake Chain, Marina P, any band with Lydia Lunch, and Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Makers. Judge away. |
@thebingster: As you have evoked the name of Merle Haggard, allow me to offer a couple of stories about the great man.
By the early-90’s I had already discovered Lucinda Williams (her album on Rough Trade), seeing her and her 4-pc. band play in small joints around Los Angeles (once in a pizza parlour to an audience of about a half dozen), Lou Ann Barton (her great debut album on Asylum Records, produced by Jerry Wexler and Glenn Frey. Lou Ann was the lead singer in the original version of Double Trouble, double referring to her on vocals and Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar, he doing no singing. Lou Ann now works a lot with Jimmie Vaughan. She’s a fantastic singer!), and all the "New Traditionalists", the term some marketing man came up with for the emerging crop of young Country artists whose influences were Hank Williams and all the other "real" Country artists of yore. That crop included Steve Earle, Dwight Yoakam, Lyle Lovett, Randy Travis, Ricky Skaggs, George Strait, Clint Black, Patty Loveless, Carlene Carter, Rosanne Cash, Rodney Crowell, Marty Stuart, Jim Lauderdale, etc. I read an interview with Haggard, in which he heaped massive praise on a new female artist: Iris DeMent. So I of course got her new 1992 debut album (Infamous Angel) and immediately fell madly in love. She instantly became my new favorite female singer (displacing Tammy Wynette), and remains so to this day. Rock critic Robert Christgau gave her follow up album (My Life) a grade of A+ (!) in his Creem magazine review. My Life contains the single most devastating song I have ever heard: "No Time To Cry", which Merle himself recorded. His version is good, hers brilliant.
Second Merle story: In the early 1970’s Merle played the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, a half hour south of San Francisco. Doing sound at the theater that night was a soundman who had done sound at a lot of shows my bandmates and I had played around the Bay Area. My bassist partner was a huge Merle fan, and attended the show. Standing at the theater’s monitoring board and chatting, the sound man asked my bassist if he would like to go on Merle’s bus and meet him. Well duh ;-) . When they got up the stairs and into the buses "living room", Merle and his band were sitting around a table, playing poker. In the middle of the table was the biggest pile of blow my pal had ever seen. They might not smoke marijuana in Muskogee, but they apparently snort coke ;-) . |
Right on @winoguy17 @llg98ljk @tomcarr Hip hop is the poorest, closely followed by rap. Especially the stuff that incites easily impressionable people to violence rape and murder and glorifies such criminal activity. There is good rap, eg Subterranean Homesick Blues, I'm Waiting for my Man - his man was presumably a rapper, located at Lex and 125. And quite a bit of 1970s UK punk. But my superficial interest in country doesn't stretch beyond Johnny Cash, Which rather excludes modern country. |
I grew up with country music, from 60s on. My OPINION is its is nothing like the original. All you have to do is look at Dolly Parton and you can see the problem. She is so disingenuous, and obscenely rich, and there aint no soul inside. Just loves the money. I do believe she was talented. But now?? UGGG. I wish she would ride off into the retirement sunset! Some country music is good. And some of the artists are genuine. Chris Stapelton,, Etc. But, most is just a act. She just makes my skin crawl. At least she states she is what she is and if you dont like it!??? Well Dolly honey, I dont care for your fake act. Rap, and Hip-hop is just horrible. I would rather her nothing. I hope the country music changes. We were in trouble when they changed it from Country AND Western. |
@dayglow I'm sure it can be good. I have a friend from Argentina whose son is on his way to being an opera singer and I wish him the best. I may give it (opera) another chance one day. Having liner notes would definitely be helpful. Is there a "more accessible" opera or recording you would recommend for a neophyte? I do imagine that seeing a real opera in person would be a good experience, like seeing a Broadway play. Regarding language barriers, well, I have enjoyed "Krautrock" and the German versions of Kraftwerk's albums even though I don't speak German. |
I don't much care for radio bound pop country nor country in general but I do love me some good old fashioned blue grass. If you haven’t heard “Will the Circle be Unbroken” by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, do yourself a favor and have a listen. I’m not a fan of Hank Willians…so why do I get tears in my eyes every time I hear “ I’m so lonesome I could cry”. Music can move us in mysterious ways. When Rap/Hip hop first hit the air waves, it was fun and fresh but it quickly devolved and descended into the dark, almost sinister gangster vibe of today’s rap. I try to keep an open mind about music of different genres and will give a listen to any song…at least a few bars before I move on. |
@skyscraper +1. Rather disappointing display. It seems pretty clear that most are not even aware of what they are putting down. |