what's the most critically acclaimed band...

[leroysghost]

Listen to 'The Eternal' off Closer. If you don't like that then just give up on it

fwiw i find the production on The Eternal and Decades almost as unlistenable as the Love Will Tear Us Apart single. i might feel the same way about all their studio stuff if i listened again, but even when i was first hearing the band those three stood out as sounding particularly weak. The Eternal is hardly a very typical Joy Division song either so i don't see why it should be singled out as the ultimatum track.

[negative potential]

there is no reason that I would like Dinosaur Jr except that I like them

Well, ultimately all of this boils down to personal taste, but what makes threads like this fun is being forced to think about why it is that one likes some things and not others.

For example: lots of people who tend to like Jimi Hendrix also tend to like Eric Clapton. Especially among guitar players. Yet, I play guitar, and I love Jimi Hendrix, but Eric Clapton does absolutely nothing for me. I almost considered naming him on this thread, but I think he's probably actually not really "critically acclaimed" anyway, but is really more of a musician admired by other aspiring musicians mainly for his chops. So it's interesting to think about why I love Hendrix but am lukwarm-to-hostile on Clapton's music. The reasons are mostly banal: 1. Hendrix is an actual songwriter and not just a chops-meister 2. Hendrix has a personal style, Clapton is just a virtuoso who borrows from others 3. Clapton pisses me off for never apologizing for his support for Enoch Powell, etc. etc.

they are routine and nothing out of the ordinary but the 2 newer CD just *sound* good to me - and it makes me want to move up my purchase date on a new car with a state of the art kinda really loud stereo so I can hear everything from Contact to Beyond and as high a volume as I like.

Hey, keep on rockin' out Steve. If there's one thing I know about you since JCS days, it's that your taste is your taste and it's about as idiosyncratic as tastes goes. I don't like Traffic and Genesis, but you do, more power to you.

[jon abbey]

I love Jimi Hendrix, but Eric Clapton does absolutely nothing for me.

I think this is pretty common, a more interesting question is where you stand on Duane Allman, who's somewhere in the middle.

[MRS]

1. Hendrix is an actual songwriter and not just a chops-meister 2. Hendrix has a personal style, Clapton is just a virtuoso who borrows from others

To be fair, each was directly informed by Albert King.

[frozen reeds]

I love Jimi Hendrix, but Eric Clapton does absolutely nothing for me.

I think this is pretty common, a more interesting question is where you stand on Duane Allman, who's somewhere in the middle.

I'll take the DA of Muscle Shoals and Eat a Peach over both.

[negative potential]

I think this is pretty common, a more interesting question is where you stand on Duane Allman, who's somewhere in the middle.

Good question. I think the standard music snob answer is usually to affirm the Fillmore album, but not so much the ones after that, and of course to completely reject Dicky Betts-era Allman Brothers.

Truth is, I have deeply ingrained prejudices about what rock 'n' roll music is supposed to sound like that basically prevent me from getting into the Allman Brothers. I basically think rock 'n' roll should be uptempo, catchy, more-or-less dance music, basically descended from rhythm and blues. So my tastes basically tend along the continuum rockabilly-mod-garage rock-punk-post-punk.

My brother is a big Duane Allman fan, and while I find the Fillmore stuff fairly tolerable and inoffensive, I just think long, drawn-out, instrumental-based music is just out-of-place in a rock context. I go to Jazz when I want to hear something like that.

To be fair, each was directly informed by Albert King.

"Informed", ok, that's a sufficiently vague of stating influence, but c'mon, Hendrix' music really doesn't sound like Albert King (and I love Albert King).

[J.F.]

For me, this might be about the most irritating thread on IHM so far.

So many groups and musicians named here I can't relate to in any way (usually a generally genre-specific thing), and so many more to add - and at the same time I have not the slightest clue which ones are "critically acclaimed".

How do you people conclude that Eric Clapton is not critically acclaimed?

[negative potential]

For me, this might be about the most irritating thread on IHM so far.

No fucking way. This thread is easily one of the best. People should always think more about why they like what they like. My musical preferences are so instinctual and unexamined most of the time, it's good to occasionally hold them up to scrutiny.

How do you people conclude that Eric Clapton is not critically acclaimed?

Adoration by legions of guitar shop clerks does not equal critical acclaim.

[Gerardo A]

I should say that like you, Alex, I almost considered putting Clapton in this thread, but I decided I like the acoustic/electric versions of "Layla" enough to prevent me from saying outright that I don't like him. OTOH, even though I had to argue with myself to decide if I like him or not, I don't think it's fair to say he's not "critically acclaimed", as he's always in the top places in the polls for "best guitar player of all time" in mainstream magazines and that type of stuff.

[Tanner]

I don't know if I actively hate anything that's really critically aclaimed, but I do find a lot I don't connect with:

Neil Young (depends on mood, I suppose, but mainly bleh)
Bob Dylan
The Beatles
Zappa and all related stuff
Sun Ra (Although, I really haven't heard that much of him, but so far, so so...)
Radiohead (although I loved them when I was younger)
Blur
Johnny Cash
Clapton
The Who
The Rolling Stones
Velvet Underground
Sunn0))
Almost all techno
The Minutemen
Meat Puppets
Nirvana
Social Distortion

That said, it can all change blah blah blah

[faster]

Meat Puppets

Have you heard II? I'm not a fan, but that record is pretty unhinged and full of good songs.

[Tanner]

Meat Puppets

Have you heard II? I'm not a fan, but that record is pretty unhinged and full of good songs.

I think so, but I honestly don't remember... so this thread will now make me re examine the Meat Puppets or at least that album. Success!

[MRS]

"Informed", ok, that's a sufficiently vague of stating influence, but c'mon, Hendrix' music really doesn't sound like Albert King

His technique certainly comes right out of Albert, and you could argue there's a good bit of Cream that never happens without Albert. In any event, I've never been interested in either player much save the first three tracks of Band of Gypsies. But you said this: "Hendrix has a personal style, Clapton is just a virtuoso who borrows from others."

Otherwise mentioned above, Duane's Muscle Shoals work is boss, Aretha, Delaney & Bonnie, King Curtis, Clarence Carter, Wilson Pickett, most of the highlights available on those old two-fers. And everyone needs to hear the "You Don't Love Me" he turns into "Soul Serenade" after learning of King Curtis' murder. Truth be told after listening to and playing along with Duane as a kid over and over again, Dickey Betts' early solos on Ludlow Garage ("Dimples", "Outskirts of Town" especially) shit any electric guitar playing mentioned so far on this page.

[surfer]

I feel like I'm the only person on earth who doesnt like Patti Smith's Horses, god knows I've tried. Just wretchedly pretentious. imo

Also, The Cure, The Smiths, NIN, Radiohead, Panda Bear, Animal Collective, Pearl Jam, The Ramones, Honneger and almost all of Les Six, Sachiko M (though I've certainly only heard a handful of her albums - which reminds me - I think a lot of people here have strayed from the initial parameters of the thread. There are very few artists whose work I dont connect with at all, not a single track, not a single moment. Even bands I hate, some of whom I just listed, usually have something redeemable about them, either now or at some point in my past. ie the Doors, absolutely cant stand them now, but I liked a few of their songs back in HS . . . .)

[jon abbey]

I feel like I'm the only person on earth who doesnt like Patti Smith's Horses, god knows I've tried. Just wretchedly pretentious. imo

most of this doesn't hold up for me, but anyone who starts the first track on their first album with "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine" has my undying respect.

[Gaendaal]

The Eternal is hardly a very typical Joy Division song either so i don't see why it should be singled out as the ultimatum track.

If Jon doesn't like typical Joy Division, which Substance gave him, then he might like atypical Joy Division songs.

It's also my favourite track of theirs so...

The Cure

I've been on a bit of a Cure binge recently after not listening to them for ages. D'you not even like Pornography?

With you on Patti Smith, though. Have you heard the recent covers album? Ugh...

[Gerardo A]

The Cure

Seconded, really hate 'em.

[will]

This is a good question, and it's making me think more critically about what I do like. The below list ranges from things I really tried to get into, like Sun Ra, to things that friends liked but I didn't (The Fall), to things that I might like if I heard more of (Fela Kuti). I feel lazy listing entire small emerging genres, but 99% of all dubstep, haunted or hypnagogic pop, and post-eai pop dabbling hasn't done anything for me so far.

Critically acclaimed acts that I'm not a fan of:
Minutemen
Husker Du
Miles Davis
Frank Zappa / Mothers of Invention
Captain Beefheart
Celtic Frost
Fela Kuti
Burzum
Bob Dylan
The Clash
Radiohead
Sun Ra
Pink Floyd
Public Enemy
The Fall
Whitehouse
Bob Marley
Fennesz (solo)

Things I think that I might not like had I not gotten into them when I was younger:
Sonic Youth
The Ex
Slayer

[sevenarts]

I think it's funny, looking back on this thread, that I slagged off the Smiths five years ago and now, for the past couple of years I've absolutely adored them. They just clicked for me one day when I was giving The Queen Is Dead another shot, and I went on a binge of all their albums. Maybe I'm just getting emo with age.

Of others that I see getting mentioned a lot here, I think Sonic Youth has some really great stuff - they're inconsistent on record, maybe, and the last few have been dull as hell, but it doesn't get much better than Daydream Nation or A Thousand Leaves. I really like Murray Street too, actually.

The Minutemen never did much for me outside of a few songs. Same with Pere Ubu, though I like a much greater percentage of their stuff.

Frank Zappa's way too goofy for me. A problem I also often have with the Residents, though they have some albums I really like.

The Fall's Hex Enduction Hour is a damn near perfect album, but efforts to find anything by them that's anywhere close to as good have been mostly fruitless.

Somebody said "almost all techno" and I have to agree; it's really hard for me to get into the heavily dancey stuff, with occasional exceptions here and there, probably because I don't dance and wouldn't really want to dance to that kind of music if I did.

I like the Arcade Fire album that Steve R mentions but don't really get why everyone acclaims it as the second coming or something. It's a pretty good indie rock disc. Sigur Ros is so boring though.

I have nothing but love for Dylan, the Stones, the VU (really???), Neil Young (not even On the Beach?), Fugazi, and many others repeatedly mentioned here.

[Steve Reynolds]

A Thousand Leaves should be in my mailbox within a day or two as well as Murray Street and Sonic Nurse

do you really think Rather Ripped is dull?

It might be poppish or more mainstream (as is The Eternal) but some of the tunes are quite a bit better than the supposed classic tunes like Kool Thing or Teen Age Riot to these ears


maybe I am mellowing out (liking more accomplished recotrdings over Daydream Nation, Goo or Sister) but listening to the most recent records (2006 & 2009) have got me excited about rock music in a way that hasn't happened in 15-20 years.

yeah - the older stuff is more raw - but the band today *sounds* better fwiw - and the tunes are simply terrific - I think not to like Incinerate just means one is jaded to simple great tunes - and I have been there many many times...