Songs everyone hates that you like

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veganvalentine
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by veganvalentine »

A lot of these aren't hated, but I love the following songs and albums not on AM:

albums
Pink Floyd The Division Bell (hated by many critics)
Porcupine Tree Deadwing and Fear of a Blank Planet
Pendragon The Masquerade Overture and Not of this World (This is the only music i listen to that my gf absolutely detests and i admit the lyrics are absolute crap)
several IQ albums
early Alan Parsons Project albums

songs
Broken Bells Holding on for Life (thus my profile pic)
twenty one pilots Stressed Out
Young the Giant Cough Syrup

By the way, my ex gf loved Nightwish so youre not alone. also, i like tubthumping, if you had my love, and i love shine.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by StevieFan13 »

Future Critic wrote:Time Magazine called Justin Timberlake's CAN'T STOP THE FEELING the worst song of the year, but I had it in my top 50. And I'm fairly certain that I'm the only music snob in the world who put The Fray's How to Save a Life on a top 50 of the year list.
I pretty much only listened to FM radio as a kid, so I'm pretty nostalgic for How to Save a Life and Chasing Cars (and to a lesser extent The Reason).
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Pierre
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Pierre »

Future Critic wrote:Call Me Maybe topped the 2012 Pazz & Jop poll and nearly doubled the votes of the runner up; there's no way it belongs in this topic. In fact, probably half the songs that have been mentioned would probably fall somewhere on AM's top 10,000 songs, proving that our taste is simply too good to like bad songs. ☺️

Now if someone mentions "Who Let the Fogs Out" or the "Macerana", I'll take my statement back.
Well, "Macarena" has been an unlikely fixture of the Acclaimed Music website ever since I discovered it (about ten years ago) and I'm under the strange impression that it's not going away. In fact, I believe it's even rising somewhat occasionally. Are we missing something?

Otherwise, I said it before, but I agree with you that people either have frighteningly good taste (or to sound less snobbish, a taste that corresponds best to what this forum considers good taste) or they are too shy to assume the novelty crap that I believe we all have somewhere. I'm not blaming them, after all, when we're accustomed to keep something embarrassing secret, we don't change that easily. But that confirms to me that some people are taking music too seriously.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Honorio »

Well, the two songs I'm going to mention are probably not hated by everyone but surely they are not praised because they are overtly sentimental and bombastic. Those two songs were featured on films I loved as a child, so I loved the songs before learning about tastes (and all the prejudices that come with learning). Even if I hadn't the nerve to put these songs as favourites on our different polls I should admit the emotions that produced in me as a child are not completely gone. So, time for some schlock now...

"Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)" was the central piece of the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" and it's written as a prayer from Jesus Christ to God expressing his doubts before his passion and crucifixion, with a strong emotional content ranging from fear to anger but ending with acceptance. The original version was part of a concept album released in 1970 and was sung by Ian Gillan of Deep Purple fame (this version still can be considered almost cool, you can listen to it here). But the one I like the most was sung by Ted Neeley for the 1973 motion picture. It's strange because despite my catholic upbringing now I consider myself an agnostic. But what can I do? This song still send me chills...
"There Are Worse Things I Could Do" was part of the soundtrack of the movie "Grease" and was sung by Stockard Channing on her role of Rizzo. The song is a monumental piece of schlock, kitsch or whatever other German word you want to use but in my opinion it succeeded in depicting the vulnerability that lies at the core of the archetypical bad girl.

And, after losing the last ounce of my coolness credit posting these two songs I'm going to try to redeem myself with the following list. That's something I compiled some years ago, after the first round of the decade polls but never posted (to my knowledge). It was the highest ranked song on my year lists that were not featured on anyone's else Top 25 (so maybe these songs are not "hated" but "ignored") . Since the polls were repeated (with a higher level of participation) probably some of these songs appeared on other people's list later. But anyway here's the (not too embarrassing I hope) list:

1900-1949: LOTTE LENYA "Seeräuberjenny" (#5 of 1900-1949, #113 of all time)

1950-1952: BENNY MORÉ "Mata Siguaraya" (#19 of 1950-1952)

1953-1955: DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH "Symphony No. 10 in E Minor: III. Allegretto" (#12 of 1953-1955)

1965-1958: ELLA FITZGERALD & LOUIS ARMSTRONG "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" (#6 of 1956-1958)

1959-1961: WES MONTGOMERY "West Coast Blues" (#31 of 1959-1961)

1962-1964: FRANK SINATRA & COUNT BASIE "Fly Me to the Moon" (#2 of 1962-1964, #32 of all time)

1965: THEM "Here Comes the Night" (#16 of 1965)

1966: THE SMALL FACES "My Mind's Eye" (#12 of 1966)

1967: FRANKIE VALLI "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"(#10 of 1967, #223 of all time)

1968: LAURA NYRO "Stoned Soul Picnic" (#17 of 1968)

1969: VÍCTOR JARA "Te recuerdo Amanda" (#17 of 1969)

1970: KING CRIMSON "Cadence and Cascade" (#5 of 1970, #215 of all time)

1971: JAMES TAYLOR "You've Got a Friend" (#9 of 1971, #155 of all time)

1972: TODD RUNDGREN "Cold Morning Light" (#22 of 1972)

1973: GRAM PARSONS "She" (#1 of 1973, #159 of all time)

1974: ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM & ELIS REGINA "Águas de março" (#1 of 1974, #126 of all time)

1975: ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA "Strange Magic" (#22 of 1975)

1976: AL STEWART "Year of the Cat" (#7 of 1976)

1977: THE CLASH "Career Opportunities" (#9 of 1977)

1978: JOHN WILLIAMS "Cavatina (Theme From “The Deerhunter”)" (#9 of 1978, #222 of all time)

1979: MADNESS "My Girl" (#9 of 1979, #231 of all time)

1980: THE CLASH "Version City" (#7 of 1980, #243 of all time)

1981: RAMONES "The KKK Took My Baby Away" (#1 of 1981, #127 of all time)

1982: PSYCHIC TV "Just Drifting (For Caresse)" (#2 of 1982, #175 of all time)

1983: PALE FOUNTAINS "Palm of My Hand" (#4 of 1983, #176 of all time)

1984: RUBÉN BLADES "El Padre Antonio y el monaguillo Andrés" (#8 of 1984)

1985: THE CHURCH "Already Yesterday" (#6 of 1985, #188 of all time)

1986: JONATHAN RICHMAN & THE MODERN LOVERS "Just About Seventeen" (#9 of 1986)

1987: TOM WAITS "Temptation" (#15 of 1987)

1988: THE POGUES "Fiesta" (#6 of 1988)

1989: XTC "The Mayor of Simpleton" (#14 of 1989)

1990: SOUL II SOUL "Get a Life" (#4 of 1990, #148 of all time)

1991: ELVIS COSTELLO "So Like Candy" (#5 of 1991)

1992: LOU REED "Sword of Damocles (Externally)" (#15 of 1992)

1993: JOHN WILLIAMS "Theme From Schindler's List" (#2 of 1993, #200 of all time)

1994: SEBADOH "Skull" (#5 of 1994, #163 of all time)

1995: GORAN BREGOVIC "Mesecina" (#3 of 1995, #92 of all time)

1996: LAMBCHOP "I'm a Stranger Here" (#4 of 1996)

1997: THE FLAMING LIPS "Thirty-Five Thousand Years of Despair" (#16 of 1997)

1998: BELLE AND SEBASTIAN "Dirty Dream Number 2" (#11 of 1998)

1999: ELVIS COSTELLO "She" (#4 of 1999)

2000: KYLIE MINOGUE "Spinning Around" (#11 of 2000)

2001: RUFUS WAINWRIGHT "California" (#12 of 2001)

2002: DAMIEN RICE "Amie" (#12 of 2002)

2003: THE VEILS "Guiding Light" (#9 of 2003)

2004: RUFUS WAINWRIGHT "The One You Love" (#2 of 2004, #114 of all time)

2005: MARY GAUTHIER "I Drink" (#2 of 2005)

2006: M. WARD "Poison Cup" (#11 of 2006)

2007: BON IVER "Lump Sum" (#4 of 2007)

2008: SPIRITUALIZED "Death Take Your Fiddle" (#12 of 2008)

2009: PREFAB SPROUT "Music Is a Princess" (#1 of 2009)
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by StevieFan13 »

Honorio wrote:Well, the two songs I'm going to mention are probably not hated by everyone but surely they are not praised because they are overtly sentimental and bombastic. Those two songs were featured on films I loved as a child, so I loved the songs before learning about tastes (and all the prejudices that come with learning). Even if I hadn't the nerve to put these songs as favourites on our different polls I should admit the emotions that produced in me as a child are not completely gone. So, time for some schlock now...

"Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)" was the central piece of the musical "Jesus Christ Superstar" and it's written as a prayer from Jesus Christ to God expressing his doubts before his passion and crucifixion, with a strong emotional content ranging from fear to anger but ending with acceptance. The original version was part of a concept album released in 1970 and was sung by Ian Gillan of Deep Purple fame (this version still can be considered almost cool, you can listen to it here). But the one I like the most was sung by Ted Neeley for the 1973 motion picture. It's strange because despite my catholic upbringing now I consider myself an agnostic. But what can I do? This song still send me chills...
"There Are Worse Things I Could Do" was part of the soundtrack of the movie "Grease" and was sung by Stockard Channing on her role of Rizzo. The song is a monumental piece of schlock, kitsch or whatever other German word you want to use but in my opinion it succeeded in depicting the vulnerability that lies at the core of the archetypical bad girl.

And, after losing the last ounce of my coolness credit posting these two songs I'm going to try to redeem myself with the following list. That's something I compiled some years ago, after the first round of the decade polls but never posted (to my knowledge). It was the highest ranked song on my year lists that were not featured on anyone's else Top 25 (so maybe these songs are not "hated" but "ignored") . Since the polls were repeated (with a higher level of participation) probably some of these songs appeared on other people's list later. But anyway here's the (not too embarrassing I hope) list:

1900-1949: LOTTE LENYA "Seeräuberjenny" (#5 of 1900-1949, #113 of all time)

1950-1952: BENNY MORÉ "Mata Siguaraya" (#19 of 1950-1952)

1953-1955: DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH "Symphony No. 10 in E Minor: III. Allegretto" (#12 of 1953-1955)

1965-1958: ELLA FITZGERALD & LOUIS ARMSTRONG "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" (#6 of 1956-1958)

1959-1961: WES MONTGOMERY "West Coast Blues" (#31 of 1959-1961)

1962-1964: FRANK SINATRA & COUNT BASIE "Fly Me to the Moon" (#2 of 1962-1964, #32 of all time)

1965: THEM "Here Comes the Night" (#16 of 1965)

1966: THE SMALL FACES "My Mind's Eye" (#12 of 1966)

1967: FRANKIE VALLI "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"(#10 of 1967, #223 of all time)

1968: LAURA NYRO "Stoned Soul Picnic" (#17 of 1968)

1969: VÍCTOR JARA "Te recuerdo Amanda" (#17 of 1969)

1970: KING CRIMSON "Cadence and Cascade" (#5 of 1970, #215 of all time)

1971: JAMES TAYLOR "You've Got a Friend" (#9 of 1971, #155 of all time)

1972: TODD RUNDGREN "Cold Morning Light" (#22 of 1972)

1973: GRAM PARSONS "She" (#1 of 1973, #159 of all time)

1974: ANTONIO CARLOS JOBIM & ELIS REGINA "Águas de março" (#1 of 1974, #126 of all time)

1975: ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA "Strange Magic" (#22 of 1975)

1976: AL STEWART "Year of the Cat" (#7 of 1976)

1977: THE CLASH "Career Opportunities" (#9 of 1977)

1978: JOHN WILLIAMS "Cavatina (Theme From “The Deerhunter”)" (#9 of 1978, #222 of all time)

1979: MADNESS "My Girl" (#9 of 1979, #231 of all time)

1980: THE CLASH "Version City" (#7 of 1980, #243 of all time)

1981: RAMONES "The KKK Took My Baby Away" (#1 of 1981, #127 of all time)

1982: PSYCHIC TV "Just Drifting (For Caresse)" (#2 of 1982, #175 of all time)

1983: PALE FOUNTAINS "Palm of My Hand" (#4 of 1983, #176 of all time)

1984: RUBÉN BLADES "El Padre Antonio y el monaguillo Andrés" (#8 of 1984)

1985: THE CHURCH "Already Yesterday" (#6 of 1985, #188 of all time)

1986: JONATHAN RICHMAN & THE MODERN LOVERS "Just About Seventeen" (#9 of 1986)

1987: TOM WAITS "Temptation" (#15 of 1987)

1988: THE POGUES "Fiesta" (#6 of 1988)

1989: XTC "The Mayor of Simpleton" (#14 of 1989)

1990: SOUL II SOUL "Get a Life" (#4 of 1990, #148 of all time)

1991: ELVIS COSTELLO "So Like Candy" (#5 of 1991)

1992: LOU REED "Sword of Damocles (Externally)" (#15 of 1992)

1993: JOHN WILLIAMS "Theme From Schindler's List" (#2 of 1993, #200 of all time)

1994: SEBADOH "Skull" (#5 of 1994, #163 of all time)

1995: GORAN BREGOVIC "Mesecina" (#3 of 1995, #92 of all time)

1996: LAMBCHOP "I'm a Stranger Here" (#4 of 1996)

1997: THE FLAMING LIPS "Thirty-Five Thousand Years of Despair" (#16 of 1997)

1998: BELLE AND SEBASTIAN "Dirty Dream Number 2" (#11 of 1998)

1999: ELVIS COSTELLO "She" (#4 of 1999)

2000: KYLIE MINOGUE "Spinning Around" (#11 of 2000)

2001: RUFUS WAINWRIGHT "California" (#12 of 2001)

2002: DAMIEN RICE "Amie" (#12 of 2002)

2003: THE VEILS "Guiding Light" (#9 of 2003)

2004: RUFUS WAINWRIGHT "The One You Love" (#2 of 2004, #114 of all time)

2005: MARY GAUTHIER "I Drink" (#2 of 2005)

2006: M. WARD "Poison Cup" (#11 of 2006)

2007: BON IVER "Lump Sum" (#4 of 2007)

2008: SPIRITUALIZED "Death Take Your Fiddle" (#12 of 2008)

2009: PREFAB SPROUT "Music Is a Princess" (#1 of 2009)
Hey, anyone who's a fan of of musical theatre and "Strange Magic" is cool by me.
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by veganvalentine »

I second strange magic (and ELO for that matter). Year of the Cat and Elvis Costello's She too. Some other "corny" songs I love are

Moon River Andy Williams
Breath of Heaven Amy Grant
Everybody Backstreet's Back Backstreet Boys
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Live in Phoenix »

Pierre wrote:or they are too shy to assume the novelty crap that I believe we all have somewhere.
I'm fairly sure that I enjoy any & all 1980s training/athletic montage music, on a not very ironic level.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by StevieFan13 »

I'll bring up the following (all of which I think are legit great songs):
Say It Right - Nelly Furtado
Complicated - Avril Lavigne
I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys
Just a Friend - Biz Markie
Jesse's Girl - Rick Springfield
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Pierre »

Live in Phoenix wrote:
Pierre wrote:or they are too shy to assume the novelty crap that I believe we all have somewhere.
I'm fairly sure that I enjoy any & all 1980s training/athletic montage music, on a not very ironic level.
That's a good one there; personally I'm pretty sure I can't stand any. Not sure that's worse than liking some Chipmunks songs, though :angry-banghead:
StevieFan13 wrote: I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys
I personally believe that everyone who has listened to this song actually enjoys it, but refuses to admit it. According to AM, at least eight critics do (seriously, it was featured in a list actually titled "The 100 greatest pop songs since the Beatles").
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by StevieFan13 »

Pierre wrote:
Live in Phoenix wrote:
Pierre wrote:or they are too shy to assume the novelty crap that I believe we all have somewhere.
I'm fairly sure that I enjoy any & all 1980s training/athletic montage music, on a not very ironic level.
That's a good one there; personally I'm pretty sure I can't stand any. Not sure that's worse than liking some Chipmunks songs, though :angry-banghead:
StevieFan13 wrote: I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys
I personally believe that everyone who has listened to this song actually enjoys it, but refuses to admit it. According to AM, at least eight critics do (seriously, it was featured in a list actually titled "The 100 greatest pop songs since the Beatles").
And rightfully so - I'd call it one of the best pop songs ever made.
Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand - Sir Duke (1976)
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Pierre »

StevieFan13 wrote:
Pierre wrote:
StevieFan13 wrote: I Want It That Way - Backstreet Boys
I personally believe that everyone who has listened to this song actually enjoys it, but refuses to admit it. According to AM, at least eight critics do (seriously, it was featured in a list actually titled "The 100 greatest pop songs since the Beatles").
And rightfully so - I'd call it one of the best pop songs ever made.
The one pop song from the 1990s that seems to raise eyebrows among hipsters (although it's pretty acclaimed) that I do like personally is New Radicals' "You Get What You Give". Even so many years in, I don't think I've ever listened to anything more smile-inducing.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

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Pierre wrote:
StevieFan13 wrote:
Pierre wrote:


I personally believe that everyone who has listened to this song actually enjoys it, but refuses to admit it. According to AM, at least eight critics do (seriously, it was featured in a list actually titled "The 100 greatest pop songs since the Beatles").
And rightfully so - I'd call it one of the best pop songs ever made.
The one pop song from the 1990s that seems to raise eyebrows among hipsters (although it's pretty acclaimed) that I do like personally is New Radicals' "You Get What You Give". Even so many years in, I don't think I've ever listened to anything more smile-inducing.
I love that song. It's basically an American interpretation of Britpop. That whole album is actually very good (I'd also recommend you listen to "I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away the Ending"). I keep hoping for the day that more music critics besides Rob Sheffield or Andrew Unterberger can appreciate a pop song on whatever merits it has as opposed to it being trendy or making them seem relevant (here I think of all the crap pop songs Rolling Stone puts on their year-end lists just to show that they don't just like indie and whatever new song a classic rock icon did).
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by prosecutorgodot »

Honorio wrote:"There Are Worse Things I Could Do" was part of the soundtrack of the movie "Grease" and was sung by Stockard Channing on her role of Rizzo. The song is a monumental piece of schlock, kitsch or whatever other German word you want to use but in my opinion it succeeded in depicting the vulnerability that lies at the core of the archetypical bad girl.
Yes, Grease was part of my childhood too. All of the songs in the movie are terrific songs about young love and teenage feelings. :D
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Kingoftonga »

If we're really confessing our guilty pleasures, I own Yanni's Live at the Acropolis, quite enjoy it, and have come close to nominating it in the Moderately Acclaimed contest several times.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by babydoll »

StevieFan13 wrote:
Pierre wrote:
StevieFan13 wrote: And rightfully so - I'd call it one of the best pop songs ever made.
The one pop song from the 1990s that seems to raise eyebrows among hipsters (although it's pretty acclaimed) that I do like personally is New Radicals' "You Get What You Give". Even so many years in, I don't think I've ever listened to anything more smile-inducing.
I love that song. It's basically an American interpretation of Britpop. That whole album is actually very good (I'd also recommend you listen to "I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away the Ending"). I keep hoping for the day that more music critics besides Rob Sheffield or Andrew Unterberger can appreciate a pop song on whatever merits it has as opposed to it being trendy or making them seem relevant (here I think of all the crap pop songs Rolling Stone puts on their year-end lists just to show that they don't just like indie and whatever new song a classic rock icon did).
What crap songs?
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

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babydoll wrote: What crap songs?
Some songs, to my mind, didn't strike me as good enough to make the grade. Like Blurred Lines being on the best of 2013 list, or Rock Star being on the best of 2007 list. If you like them, that's fine, but considering Rock Star made the cut but Paper Planes didn't, I'm not sure if they were on the money with that one.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

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BTW, how'd I forget about this? Never got its due, but sometimes, given my mood, I like it even better than Dancing Queen.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by babydoll »

One of the best ABBA songs is a crap song on the Rolling Stone lists?!
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

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babydoll wrote:One of the best ABBA songs is a crap song on the Rolling Stone lists?!
Oops! Forgot to separate thoughts. No, it's one of my favorite ABBA songs and to my knowledge it has never been on a RS list.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by veganvalentine »

There's a lot of shame in this thread, which just seems silly to me. Who's to tell you that a C note followed by an E in one song is inherently undignified, but oh man, the C E F phrase in that other song is real music.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

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veganvalentine wrote:There's a lot of shame in this thread, which just seems silly to me. Who's to tell you that a C note followed by an E in one song is inherently undignified, but oh man, the C E F phrase in that other song is real music.
I'd like to think that it's a sort of "faux-shame." I'm not ashamed of any of my picks, but sometimes it's fun to make fun of people who have to only find artistic merit in things that everyone agrees are good ("Oh, woe is me! I find this Migos song...enchanting! And in a way that I cannot justify through legitimate criticism! Oh, the shame of it all! I must hide myself away from society for liking a fairly popular song!"). Individuality is a blessing, honestly.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Pierre »

babydoll wrote:
StevieFan13 wrote:
Pierre wrote:
The one pop song from the 1990s that seems to raise eyebrows among hipsters (although it's pretty acclaimed) that I do like personally is New Radicals' "You Get What You Give". Even so many years in, I don't think I've ever listened to anything more smile-inducing.
I love that song. It's basically an American interpretation of Britpop. That whole album is actually very good (I'd also recommend you listen to "I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away the Ending"). I keep hoping for the day that more music critics besides Rob Sheffield or Andrew Unterberger can appreciate a pop song on whatever merits it has as opposed to it being trendy or making them seem relevant (here I think of all the crap pop songs Rolling Stone puts on their year-end lists just to show that they don't just like indie and whatever new song a classic rock icon did).
What crap songs?
StevieFan13 - Thanks for the discovery, it's a good pop song, with a soothing melody and a pretty passionate performance from the band. For the first minute or so, though, I was wondering what I was listening to, since it just sounded like they were goofing off on their studio time singing off-key and stuff, but when the song kicked in, I admit I had a legitimate good time ;)

babydoll - Regarding Rolling Stone, it struck me particularly on their EOY lists for 2015. I saw Selena Gomez at #43 and #30 on their albums and songs lists, respectively, while Carly Rae Jepsen was at #48 and #49 on these, respectively. Even worse, they just shunned Grimes' album completely. OK, Revival is listenable (once but not much more) and "Good for You" has decent production even if the songwriting is pretty dull even by pop music standards, but Carly and Grimes had made pop gold with their stuff that year (throwing RS a bone - they had Grimes' "Flesh Without Blood" at #15 on the songs list, but that's hardly enough) and they should have crushed Selena like they did on pretty much everyone else's lists. I think RS evaluate pop music today by how much the artist has been in contact with Taylor Swift.
Kingoftonga wrote:If we're really confessing our guilty pleasures, I own Yanni's Live at the Acropolis, quite enjoy it, and have come close to nominating it in the Moderately Acclaimed contest several times.
Not sure you should be ashamed of that (although that cover art is... well, my opinion probably has much to do with Yanni's look on it) because it seems pretty acclaimed by new age music fans (I haven't listened to it so I can't tell if I actually think it's good or not). Granted, Robert Christgau slammed it, but the opinions of rock critics when it comes to this style of music might not be relevant.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Pierre »

Here are three songs that I've had on repeat at some time in the past, but which I'm embarrassed to bring up in a conversation. Two of them I think are legitimately good, the last one not so much. I'll start with this one. I'm keeping the YouTube links as hyperlinks out of respect for babydoll's Internet connection.

Faye Wong - Eyes on Me

Video game music is mostly a niche market, but it has never been a reason not to try to make a hit every once in a while. Some songs are pretty good; last year's "Warning Call" by Chvrches, the National's "Exile (Vilify)" or Grammy-winning "Baba Yetu" by Christopher Tin come to mind. However, one of the two best-selling songs in video game music history (more than 500,000 copies in Japan alone, the other being "Hikari" by Hikaru Utada) is Faye Wong's "Eyes on Me", which she recorded for the video game Final Fantasy VIII in 1999. Back in the early 2000s, I was crazy about this video game series and I was actually listening a lot to the games' music even when not playing them. Faye Wong's song was no exception although it could be the opening track of a compilation called If You Want Schlock, You've Got It given its extremely lush treatment and, man, those lyrics... At least the songwriter has the excuse of being Japanese-born and Wong herself is a(n extremely popular) Chinese artist, but people who listen to the song in the English-speaking world don't have that much excuses. Fortunately for me, I do: I'm French :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmW2UFqyX7M

Jerry Goldsmith & Paul Williams - Flying Dreams

The Secret of NIMH is the best American animated film of the 1980s, born out of the near-collapse of Walt Disney in the period, with several animators leaving the company in the wake of Don Bluth to produce the film. To support this masterpiece, Bluth enlisted Jerry Goldsmith to make the score. He reportedly had trouble, having to score scenes that were unfinished at the time, but it doesn't show that much; quite frankly, many tunes are strong. The standout is the vocal "Flying Dreams" which is sung in two different versions on the soundtrack, one by Sally Stevens, and the other by Paul Williams. Williams' version steals the show - talk about an underused singer, as his performance is incredibly touching. His recent contribution to Daft Punk's "Touch" (off Random Access Memories) shows that he has lost none of his talent. It's very sad and slightly baffling that he never made a career out of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTlRrgE8wWM

Ross Bagdasarian Jr. & Janice Karman (as the Chipmunks & the Chipettes) - The Girls of Rock and Roll (or The Girls and Boys of Rock and Roll)

I've said twice in this thread that I managed to enjoy some Chipmunks songs, but is there one I really like? Actually there is; the song comes from the soundtrack to the first feature-length venture of the licence, The Chipmunk Adventure in 1987. Surprisingly enough, the context of its genesis is identical to The Secret of NIMH, with animators leaving Disney in the mid-80s to regroup for other, supposedly more successful, projects. However, contrary to NIMH, the Chipmunks crashed and burned, and that's no surprise: the film is a disastrous collection of offensive ethnic clichés tied together by a stupid plot. It underperformed at the box office, and it would be more than a decade before Bagdasarian would (unfortunately) try to do feature-length films with the licence again. What about the music from the film? Unexplainably enough, the soundtrack has a glowing (4 star!) review on Allmusic (written by someone called Peter Fawthrop); I'd be less generous. For me, it only has two standouts: an original called "Diamond Dolls", and "The Girls of Rock and Roll", which has a strange story. Apparently, it was written by songwriters called Jay Levy and Terry Shaddick, who are more famous for about nothing else (unless you count the "Sue Ellen Theme" from Dallas as worthy of note) and first used in an obscure Z porn movie that sunk unnoticed. How Bagdasarian came to discover the song, I don't want to know. But I'm glad he did. The song isn't perfect in the least, actually, the songwriters only wrote one decent verse before calling it a day and completing the song with random lines. However, the music is a killer. I have a soft spot for this song, as I think there's a great 80s pop-rock song here that was lost on the sidelines of pop culture due to a lack of interest from its creators, and if Ross Bagdasarian Jr. did one good thing by resurrecting the licence his father created, it was salvaging this tune.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAQ7bxeNtxA
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by StevieFan13 »

Paul Williams is one of my favorite songwriters. That's why I also love his Muppet soundtracks.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by StevieFan13 »

Also, while The Secret of NIMH is the best '80d animated film I've seen, I wouldn't rule out My Neighbor Totoro (which I haven't seen) or Akira (which I haven't finished).
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Pierre »

StevieFan13 wrote:Also, while The Secret of NIMH is the best '80d animated film I've seen, I wouldn't rule out My Neighbor Totoro (which I haven't seen) or Akira (which I haven't finished).
Yeah, that's why I specified that it was the best American animated film from the 80s in my opinion ;)
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Jirin »

Something that really sours Secret if Nimh for me was the 'magic tear' deus ex machina ending that didn't happen in the book.

I loved the way Six Feet Under made fun of that change and made Billy flip out that when Nathaniel saved Isabel in the movie he did it with a magic tear.

I think most of the 'shame' people associate with 'guilty pleasures' is less about the progression of notes and more about the cultural associations of the song. Like, the artist may have really stupid ways of marketing himself or it might be the sort of song you and your social circle usually dislike.

Basically any song you like whose cultural appeal contradicts the image of yourself you want to project.
Last edited by Jirin on Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by StevieFan13 »

Jirin wrote:Something that really sours Secret if Nimh for me was the 'magic tear' deus ex machina ending that didn't happen in the book.

I think most of the 'shame' people associate with 'guilty pleasures' is less about the progression of notes and more about the cultural associations of the song. Like, the artist may have really stupid ways of marketing himself or it might be the sort of song you and your social circle usually dislike.
Haven't read the book. I really should.

I agree. Then again, by that logic, Kanye West or U2 could also be considered guilty pleasures.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Live in Phoenix »

Kingoftonga wrote:If we're really confessing our guilty pleasures, I own Yanni's Live at the Acropolis, quite enjoy it, and have come close to nominating it in the Moderately Acclaimed contest several times.
I haven't heard it, but a lot of New Age music might be something that's not just outside the top 6,000 or 10,000 songs, but receives a certain amount of music critic hostility. There's a distinct lack of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll, rebellious attitude, and outrageous spectacle. It's basically a genre where a lot of the music can be done by rather normal people (which could begin an argument over who is even "allowed" to make quality music).
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Pierre »

Jirin wrote:Something that really sours Secret if Nimh for me was the 'magic tear' deus ex machina ending that didn't happen in the book.
Like StevieFan13, I didn't read the book, although I've been meaning to. I should get to it.

Regarding the amulet, I've read interviews from Don Bluth mentioning that he added it to the story because he was unsatisfied with what he perceived as the restrictive "nature vs. science" aspect of the plot, and wanted to add a sense of mystery/magic/faith to it. It must probably be blamed on the fact that Bluth himself seems to be a rather religious person, and he felt that God was left out of this conflict. There's endless debate over this among people who have watched the film, personally it never undermined my enthusiasm for it (although I'm myself not religious) but I understand that some people are annoyed by it. Call me a fan, that's probably fair.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by PlasticRam »

Re: New age

I've listened to a lot of Enya recently and very much like her music.
I feel like that
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Rob »

Live in Phoenix wrote:
Kingoftonga wrote:If we're really confessing our guilty pleasures, I own Yanni's Live at the Acropolis, quite enjoy it, and have come close to nominating it in the Moderately Acclaimed contest several times.
I haven't heard it, but a lot of New Age music might be something that's not just outside the top 6,000 or 10,000 songs, but receives a certain amount of music critic hostility. There's a distinct lack of sex, drugs, and rock n' roll, rebellious attitude, and outrageous spectacle. It's basically a genre where a lot of the music can be done by rather normal people (which could begin an argument over who is even "allowed" to make quality music).
This is all true I think, but I think there is far more to it. I've met plenty of people who would rather die than listen to Enya or the likes and an important part of this is that New Age music is, logically, associated with New Age religion/ philosophy. That is not exactly everybody's cup of tea. I'm in between. New Age as a philosophy has no appeal to me, but the music gets to me, in the too rare instances I hear it. And it is rare music, because out of restricted New Age settings you really don't hear the music anywhere, which means its harder to get to know (and another reason it remains unpopular). Anyway, that music is due for re-evaluation.

Personally, I don't have all that much guilty pleasures in pop music, but then again I'm not really a pop guy. I do like those training montage songs though and I'm not even an eighties fan. Sometimes a certain context can help me love a song. I get Pierre's love for game songs. Last year, one of the songs I listened most to was Lost in Thoughts All Alone from the game Fire Emblem Fates. Not the type of song I would normally listen too and it is rather flawed. But somehow I can't resist it. It's here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENwFAmeWEYk
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by DaveC »

Another vote for Andy Williams - Moon River.

Plus my #1 song of all time: Gerry & The Pacemakers - You'll Never Walk Alone
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Jirin »

Pierre wrote:
Jirin wrote:Something that really sours Secret if Nimh for me was the 'magic tear' deus ex machina ending that didn't happen in the book.
Like StevieFan13, I didn't read the book, although I've been meaning to. I should get to it.

Regarding the amulet, I've read interviews from Don Bluth mentioning that he added it to the story because he was unsatisfied with what he perceived as the restrictive "nature vs. science" aspect of the plot, and wanted to add a sense of mystery/magic/faith to it. It must probably be blamed on the fact that Bluth himself seems to be a rather religious person, and he felt that God was left out of this conflict. There's endless debate over this among people who have watched the film, personally it never undermined my enthusiasm for it (although I'm myself not religious) but I understand that some people are annoyed by it. Call me a fan, that's probably fair.
Whether you're religious or not I just think deus ex machina is a poor plot device unless it's a case like Ordet where you make it a central plot point.

If you're marooned at sea dying at thirst, a real world Christian would say "God will send a boat your way to help you", not "God will magically teleport you back home". If Bluth wanted to put God in the story he could say, God was acting in the hearts of the rats who helped her out. There was no need to undermine all the previous action of the story by having magic suddenly fix everything.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Nick »

A couple of days ago some friends and I decided to just hang out and throw on a bunch of terrible music that we all hated because this is what constitutes my idea of fun.

Anyway, the topic of conversation moved to Avril Lavigne, who I generally dislike, and after a couple pretty bad Avril Lavigne songs, someone put on her 2007 single "Girlfriend".

It was then that I realized that, despite my feelings towards the rest of her music, "Girlfriend" is an amazing pop song. That hook will never ever ever leave my brain.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by StevieFan13 »

Nick wrote:A couple of days ago some friends and I decided to just hang out and throw on a bunch of terrible music that we all hated because this is what constitutes my idea of fun.

Anyway, the topic of conversation moved to Avril Lavigne, who I generally dislike, and after a couple pretty bad Avril Lavigne songs, someone put on her 2007 single "Girlfriend".

It was then that I realized that, despite my feelings towards the rest of her music, "Girlfriend" is an amazing pop song. That hook will never ever ever leave my brain.
Fun fact: Avril Lavigne is secretly amazing.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Nick »

StevieFan13 wrote:
Nick wrote:A couple of days ago some friends and I decided to just hang out and throw on a bunch of terrible music that we all hated because this is what constitutes my idea of fun.

Anyway, the topic of conversation moved to Avril Lavigne, who I generally dislike, and after a couple pretty bad Avril Lavigne songs, someone put on her 2007 single "Girlfriend".

It was then that I realized that, despite my feelings towards the rest of her music, "Girlfriend" is an amazing pop song. That hook will never ever ever leave my brain.
Fun fact: Avril Lavigne is secretly amazing.

"Girlfriend" is great, "Complicated" is decent. Everything else I've heard I don't like at all. And as someone who came of age around the time Avril Lavigne was REALLY big, I was subjected to a lot of her music. But if you like her, then all the more power to you! :D
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by StevieFan13 »

Nick wrote:
StevieFan13 wrote:
Nick wrote:A couple of days ago some friends and I decided to just hang out and throw on a bunch of terrible music that we all hated because this is what constitutes my idea of fun.

Anyway, the topic of conversation moved to Avril Lavigne, who I generally dislike, and after a couple pretty bad Avril Lavigne songs, someone put on her 2007 single "Girlfriend".

It was then that I realized that, despite my feelings towards the rest of her music, "Girlfriend" is an amazing pop song. That hook will never ever ever leave my brain.
Fun fact: Avril Lavigne is secretly amazing.

"Girlfriend" is great, "Complicated" is decent. Everything else I've heard I don't like at all. And as someone who came of age around the time Avril Lavigne was REALLY big, I was subjected to a lot of her music. But if you like her, then all the more power to you! :D
OK, I'll say that Hello Kitty is indefensible. But she's otherwise inoffensive.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by prosecutorgodot »

Nick wrote:Anyway, the topic of conversation moved to Avril Lavigne, who I generally dislike, and after a couple pretty bad Avril Lavigne songs, someone put on her 2007 single "Girlfriend".

It was then that I realized that, despite my feelings towards the rest of her music, "Girlfriend" is an amazing pop song. That hook will never ever ever leave my brain.
Truth about that hook, but I still can't stand that song. The way that Avril sings the lyrics, it just sounds so childish to my ears. And I like her other hits quite a bit! Maybe it's because my little sister was obsessed with that song for a while.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Pierre »

Jirin wrote:
Pierre wrote:
Jirin wrote:Something that really sours Secret if Nimh for me was the 'magic tear' deus ex machina ending that didn't happen in the book.
Like StevieFan13, I didn't read the book, although I've been meaning to. I should get to it.

Regarding the amulet, I've read interviews from Don Bluth mentioning that he added it to the story because he was unsatisfied with what he perceived as the restrictive "nature vs. science" aspect of the plot, and wanted to add a sense of mystery/magic/faith to it. It must probably be blamed on the fact that Bluth himself seems to be a rather religious person, and he felt that God was left out of this conflict. There's endless debate over this among people who have watched the film, personally it never undermined my enthusiasm for it (although I'm myself not religious) but I understand that some people are annoyed by it. Call me a fan, that's probably fair.
Whether you're religious or not I just think deus ex machina is a poor plot device unless it's a case like Ordet where you make it a central plot point.

If you're marooned at sea dying at thirst, a real world Christian would say "God will send a boat your way to help you", not "God will magically teleport you back home". If Bluth wanted to put God in the story he could say, God was acting in the hearts of the rats who helped her out. There was no need to undermine all the previous action of the story by having magic suddenly fix everything.
Thanks for your viewpoint. Personally, it doesn't bother me that much, but I do think too that deus ex machina is to generally be avoided (even though I curiously have no issues with it when I read novels by Victor Hugo, who loved the theatrality of the deus ex machina and used it a lot).
Rob wrote: Personally, I don't have all that much guilty pleasures in pop music, but then again I'm not really a pop guy. I do like those training montage songs though and I'm not even an eighties fan. Sometimes a certain context can help me love a song. I get Pierre's love for game songs. Last year, one of the songs I listened most to was Lost in Thoughts All Alone from the game Fire Emblem Fates. Not the type of song I would normally listen too and it is rather flawed. But somehow I can't resist it. It's here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENwFAmeWEYk
Thank you! At the very least I feel less alone :D
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by luvulongTIM »

Girlfriend sounds so much like Lush's version of the Rubinoos I Wanna Be Your Boy(or in their case GIRL)friend.
I've always had a soft spot for Celine Dion's To Love You More with the fancy strings. And of course her rendition of It's All Coming Back to Me Now is so insanely theatrical. You know a song is truly dramatic when the writer of the song starred in one season of the show Night Court ;)
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by ordinaryperson »

Macintosh Plus - Lisa Frank 420 / Modern Computing (as well as the rest of Floral Shoppe) - I really like the genre of Vaporwave. But a lot of people just see it as meme. I see it as an art movement, I also think Floral Shoppe will end up being considered the 21st Century version of Trout Mask Replica.

Linkin Park - Numb - Linkin Park is probably my guilty pleasure band. But the intro to this song really takes the cake for me.

Darude - Sandstorm - Despite being a meme I still think its a great EDM track.

Eiffel 65 - I'm Blue (Da Ba Dee) - Another one of my guilty pleasure bands. I have some sort of a soft spot for cheesy Europop.

... I may have more to add.
Last edited by ordinaryperson on Thu Mar 09, 2017 8:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Songs everyone hates that you like

Post by Pierre »

Another song I remembered liking although it's not particularyl great is Ylvis - The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?). I'm not sure it qualifies for this thread as I don't think anyone actively hates it, but it's not really a song people often claim to like either. I have some great memories of when it came out; where I live it crashed in the popular consciousness while PSY's "Gangnam Style" had not yet run its course (although the songs were released a year apart) and people were somewhat split about which of the two was the funniest. I ran with Ylvis; it did gather me some remarks dismissing me as a hipster, but I never really liked "Gangnam Style" so I didn't care much. Anyway, I gave it another spin, and I still find it entertaining today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE
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