It seems like we’re simply incapable of considering that it is not the definition of the “genre” that is the problem, but the “genre”-mongering itself that is the problem.
In lieu of talking about how to define a “genre” and then describing music in those woefully over-simplified, dismissive, unhelpful/inefficient terms, a person could simply address music by saying things like,
- “it’s not particularly aggressive, more mellow, but with similar song structures to their previous LP”
- “to me it sounds similar to Bitches Brew but more tightly structured, more conventional harmonic relationships / composition,”
- “it reminds me of Ace of Spades but with more overt melodicism,”
- “it has harmonically sophisticated melodic composition provided by rich, lush orchestral instrumentation with simple percussion arrangements and impressionistic lyrics that depict desolation, squalor with a touch of gallows humor”
- “the harmonic composition and song structure is unremittingly formulaic, be it I-IV-V, or I-VI-IV-V, and the arrangements and lyrics are rich in vapid cliches,”.
- “it has pedal steel guitar, brilliant James Burton-esque guitar, but employs more orchestral accompaniment and more sophisticated harmonic composition than a typical Merle Haggard record”