Dead Horse Music Genre: Difference between revisions

Amateur music critics on the Web aren't quite as dogmatic as the professionals, because the amateurs aren't part of an establishment that declares who is hot and who is not. But since anybody with an internet connection and music library can be a critic, amateurs often have their own personal [['''Dead Horse Music Genre]]''', which they flog as hard as the professionals do with theirs.

So why kick a music genre until it's a dead horse? Because music critics regard what they do as [[Serious Business]]. They're trying to calculate the canon of Great Works of Western Music here, and there's no room for anything less. They seem to think that [[Utopia Justifies the Means|if enough people listen to good music]], people will start giving out flowers and candy and overthrow [[The Man]] and cure cancer, but if they listen to bad music, people will have their souls crushed and vote to establish fascism. Critics with strong political beliefs go further -- somefurther—some are still angry that the decline of music in the late 60s prevented the revolution that was so, so close then. (They seem to forget, or maybe they never even realized, that so much of that music was brought to us - and perhaps could never have existed otherwise - by [[The Man Is Sticking It to the Man|corporate entities]].)

Another reason for this is that entire genres have been created by taking a style the musicians hate, and then doing the exact opposite. Critics who like these rebel genres have to pan the ones they rebelled against. Maybe both genres have something to offer? Don't be silly! [[Serious Business|This is music]], and [[With Us or Against Us|there's only one way to do things]].

There ain't no respect for 1970s bands who made songs specifically for arena spectacles, like [[Foreigner (band)|Foreigner]] and [[REO Speedwagon]]. Critics regard them as pompous, fake, and not real music because their songs aren't really played -- theyplayed—they're performed. Especially to fans of [[Three Chords and the Truth]], this is unacceptable. And since arena rockers usually wrote straightforward lyrics, those who feel that [[True Art Is Angsty]] have nothing.

'''Exceptions Include:'''

* [[Journey (band)|Journey]] is played almost nonstop in just about every bar and karaoke joint in America and the United Kingdom.

* [[Rush]], mainly due to their massive success, as well as the presence of hits like "Tom Sawyer" and "Limelight". They also are usually categorized as progressive rock, are heavier than most of their peers, and the members are heavily acclaimed for their instrumental skills.

'''Exceptions:'''

Incidentally, musical theater fans have their own Dead Horse Genres: [[Jukebox Musical|Jukebox Musicals]]s, European pop operas such as the output of [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]], Disney musicals, etc. The hate for those is similar to the hate others have for Manufactured Bands (see below).

Albums by the likes of [[Fleetwood Mac]] or [[Eagles]] -- which—which seem to consist of the same song repeated for seven tracks or more -- sendmore—send a shiver down the spine of every amateur critic. After all, it's produced by [[The Man Is Sticking It to the Man|The Man]], who is the root of all evil (but not [[Root of All Evil|that one]]); and it probably got played due to payola anyway. The fact that lots of people love it is only proof that it's bad -- whatbad—what do the proles know, anyway? Also currently applies to bands such as [[Nickelback]] which have the "sold 10 million albums but I don't know anyone who owns one" type of fanbase.

'''Exceptions:''' Professional reviewers like this stuff more (for obvious reasons.) Every now and then, a mega-hit album like the Eagles' ''Hotel California'' [[Crosses the Line Twice]] for amateur reviewers -- firstreviewers—first it's so popular and formulaic that they hate it on principle, but then it gets bigger and bigger until they feel they can't dismiss it. [[Fleetwood Mac]] usually get a pass, on account of being incredibly successful, being famous for their troubled history, being actually really good at catchy pop-rock and not being as wimpy as the soft rock bands they were usually lumped with.

Probably more of a target for amateur critics than professionals, this genre is also the one that most non-critics who start getting interested in music will hate the most. From Fabian and [[The Monkees]] to N'Sync and [[Britney Spears]], performers who serve as faces for a faceless team of composers are viewed as outright traitors to music. They are the monster, the roots of the evil corporate machine that suppresses true music. They perform catchy but empty pop designed to hypnotize teenagers into becoming shopping-obsessed zombies. They... well, you know the drill. The average critic cares a lot about sincerity, so singers who only sing (instead of writing their own material) are unacceptable (depending on how long ago the artist came to prominence -- noprominence—no one's criticising Nat King Cole or [[Frank Sinatra]] for not writing their own tunes...) Professional critics have to (publicly) give 'equal time' to modern manufactured bands for obvious reasons, but are free to trash selected out-of-date whipping boys (like the Monkees) with gusto. And don't even mention the words "Milli Vanilli" around them.

The older bands suffer the same fate as hair metal -- manufacturedmetal—manufactured bands prospered most between Elvis getting drafted and the Beatles arriving, so they are seen as the horror which the Beatles saved music from. Speaking of "older", note that in recent years manufactured bands and their intended demographic are getting ''younger''- Miley Cyrus, [[The Jonas Brothers]] and ''[[The Naked Brothers Band]]'' are presumably marketed to kids whose parents think they're [[New Media Are Evil|too young to go on the Internet]]. Interestingly, manufactured bands targeted toward girls get far, far, ''far'' more criticism than those targeted toward boys even if their music is of the ''exact same quality''. Manufactured bands targeted at girls almost always acquire the [[Periphery Hatedom]] of their generation.

'''Exceptions:''' The formulaic hit factory of Motown, which -- aswhich—as a black-run business with heavier blues and jazz influence -- doesninfluence—doesn't seem bland or inane to critics like the whitebread Monkees do. Motown also has the advantage that a lot of its bubblegum acts (like [[Marvin Gaye]], [[Stevie Wonder]], and [[Michael Jackson]]) showed some creative talent and eventually moved on to their own things, while tools at other companies rarely did. Even the major studio band of the company's golden age, The Funk Brothers, got their belated due as the craftsmen that made the company sound so good. Recently, some critics have discovered manufactured bands -- theybands—they're so hated that liking them ironically seems cool and daring. Other amateur critics, in a reverse of what the pros do, don't like the Monkees but make a point of how much better they were than today's manufactured groups. The Monkees themselves also often get bonus points for successfully rebelling against their puppetmasters (and for Mike Nesmith being one hell of a songwriter).

In some cases, if a manufactured band breaks up then regroups a few years later when they're a bit older and wiser, there's sometimes a good chance that they will manage to win the favour of critics and the public. [[Take That (band)|Take That]] is a pretty good example.

'''Exceptions:''' [[Deftones]] and [[Disturbed]] are more [[Alternative Metal]] than the rest of the bands they're often grouped with, and as a result they are more well-respected; Deftones in particular seem to have attained an [[Ensemble Darkhorse]] status within nu-metal. [[Slipknot]], at least with the release of ''All Hope is Gone'', [[Rescued Fromfrom the Scrappy Heap|has seemed to have shed the nu metal tag]] and [[Vindicated by History|there have been arguments among music critics concerning whether or not they were really a nu metal band]]. [[Korn]] and [[Limp Bizkit]] are also sometimes given a pass, possibly due to them being the first bands to play the style (and, as a result, their bands that tried something "different"). [[Internet Backdraft|However, have fun mentioning the last two bands to a metalhead]]. In the case of Korn, their latest album has arguably made them [[Acceptable Targets]] not just to metalheads, [[Enemy Mine|but even to some NuMetal fans as well]].

* Two lesser-known (but still somewhat popular) bands, [[Ill Nino]] and [[Nonpoint]], are also labeled (or were labeled) by many as nu-metal bands. The latter especially, due to their vocalist's rap-like harsh vocal delivery and youthful clean vocals. Nonpoint is still going strong, however, having been a band since the mid-90s, and are ready to release their 7th studio album later this year. Critics love them, though they still consier them nu-metal, with some stating they are 'one of nu-metal's most talented acts', implying the genre still is around in some ways. [[Ill Nino]] is a bit more of a controversial example. [[New Sound Album|All of their albums have a new sound]], so it's debatable that they have moved away from the genre, but even fans agree that their first two releases qualify. Their diversity as writers, as well as their Latin influences have somehow allowed them to get away with the nu-metal label, as the band is very well-received critically and has a rather passionate fanbase in the metal community. Also, while [[Sevendust]] is more of an [[Alternative Metal]] band, they are still classed as nu-metal by some, and nobody dares to insult them.

Many think the genre died in the late 90's (Dr. Dre himself thinks so as well). But this is somewhat contested because some think it's still the popular hip hop genre. The problem with this is that a lot of hip hop that didn't fall into the indie, pop, or alternative banner was automatically placed under the gangsta rap umbrella term...unfairly or not. A more accurate explanation is that the grittier type 1 variants are dead, while a glossier [[Lighter and Softer]] version exists in it's place.

* ''[[Dschinghis Khan]]'' is considered by many to be [[So Bad It's Good]], and made a comeback thanks to their song "Moskau" becoming an internet meme.

Lounge Music has always earned the loathing of critics even in heyday of the mid-1960s and early 1970s, being typified as the musical equivalent of Valium. 'Easy Listening' derivatives of Jazz especially earn the enmity of rock critics -- evencritics—even those unfamiliar with jazz in general -- becausegeneral—because it is seen as a neutered form of a real genre. Popular acts such as Barry Manilow in the 1970s and Kenny G. in the 1990s are especially reviled for being both banal and successful -- Manilowsuccessful—Manilow especially for admitting to doing the most soulless of music before turning to pop: commercial [[Jingle|jinglesjingle]]s. New Age/Worldbeat music, like Yanni or Enigma's output, is usually lumped into this category.

In Europe, everything and everyone that has anything to do with the [[Eurovision Song Contest]] is reviled by critics. This includes such acts as [[ABBA]].

'''Exceptions:''' It could be argued that Hip-Hop Soul is more or less a modernization or continuation of New Jack Swing.

As in Mainstream Radio above, these bands are often accused of being repetitive and banal - if not outright bashed, there's a good chance that they'll be described as "middle-of-the-road, comfort food rock". These bands tend to fall in the [[Critic Proof|sold millions of albums but nobody seems to actually like them]] trap. It's also unpopular among fans of the original grunge bands, who see it as a watered-down, mainstream-baiting response to an "authentic" rock movement.

For about a year between the start of 1996 and the end of 1997, third wave ska was pretty big in America, propelled into the charts by multi-platinum albums like ''[[No Doubt|Tragic Kingdom]]'' and ''[[Sublime]]''. However, after it's brief time in the limgelight third wave ska basically disappeared, and many bands (including [[No Doubt]] and [[The Aquabats!]]) changed their sound.

As far as the fandom went, ska punk occupied an uncomfortable position; it was simultaneously seen as geekish (many ska groups were former band geeks, and there's a curious tendency towards ska musicians being [[One of Us]]) and [[Jerk Jock|fratboyish]] (due to the party anthems many groups became known for and the inclusion of ska songs in late nineties comedy movie soundtracks). Further, third wave ska was often criticised for straying too far from the original Jamaican style (and even the British revivalists who'd been popular in the eighties), hence the derogatory "punk with horns" nickname.