sai

Thanks for bringing this to our attention!
 
I personally would not advice to use a full template, because I appreciate users who try to make their posts as pretty as possible and we should just let them. I do think however that a few more things should be mandatory, being:
The name of the release and the band name in both kanji and romaji for easier searching purposes. The release date The tracklist (already mandatory) A cover image of the CD (except for cases of old rips where it's near impossible to find a cover image) I'll discuss this with the other staff members and I'll get back to you about this, but I think that yes, the posts should be a bit more elaborate and informative.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention!
 
I personally would not advice to use a full template, because I appreciate users who try to make their posts as pretty as possible and we should just let them. I do think however that a few more things should be mandatory, being:
The name of the release and the band name in both kanji and romaji for easier searching purposes. The release date The tracklist (already mandatory) A cover image of the CD (except for cases of old rips where it's near impossible to find a cover image) I'll discuss this with the other staff members and I'll get back to you about this, but I think that yes, the posts should be a bit more elaborate and informative.

holy shit that music video looks like it's going to be corny as FUCK

I did not give them permission to recap my personal dramas, calling a lawyer asap

Maybe my point didn't come across as clearly as I would like.
Yes, of course there's the entire cluster of issues with subjectivity/taste/personal preferences. I'm quite the relativist with respect to that (you can read my previous exchange with relentless on "progress" on pg.18), and unlike some others I don't think there's objectively good music. So you can rest assured that I will never try to impose my own opinions on others - I'd rather spend my time focusing on what I enjoy instead of trying to change other people's mind lol.
Anyway I was trying to make 2 other points:
1) To say that x is bad because x sounds the same as everything else is an incredibly lazy way of dismissing something. Firstly it's almost always grossly inaccurate (like what Biopanda has said), so there's that. What irks me more is that people who say that pretend they don't have a kind of sound they like and return to, which they usually have. So that's a strange assertion at best and pure hypocrisy at worst; because as much as genres are exceedingly slippery, people do tend to identify with them. I haven't met anyone who, when asked what they listen to, responds by answering "Oh, I only listen to music that is different". And if being different is not so important after all, why say that x cannot be good music because it is not different? In short: I'm not saying that original music cannot be good (which is a broad-brush sweeping generalization); I'm saying music need not be original to be good (which is an opinion that gives people the autonomy to identify what is good for them).
2) My other beef was that the phrase "pop rock" (and other variants e.g. oshare, neo-vk, what have you) is an empty concept usually mobilized and abused by people who don't listen to - and cannot specify - what this elusive genre is supposed to mean. I'm reminded of how the term "otaku" is used by the larger part of the Japanese society to "label" and derogatorily stereotype certain groups of people as social rejects, when the fact of the matter is these people whom they call otaku are mostly well-adjusted individuals who happen to have an "unfashionable" hobby and who don't identify with the term itself in the first place. It's the same problem with pop rock. Whenever a term like this is stretched from wall to wall to mean everything you want it to mean, then it becomes a useless concept to say anything meaningful with. Except as a shorthand for "all these are stuff I don't like and so why is it that others like them?!".

This is basically the main issue, or that's how I see it. Artists within a genre follow a manual that makes them part of that genre and there are plenty of bands who don't do anything outside of that manual. That's either because they don't want to (mostly those that don't feel like stepping out of their comfort zone), they're being restricted by their label, or they simply don't have the musical qualities for it.
 
I personally don't mind if bands don't take that step. I agree with Bear however, that you're going to have to stand out, and you can't do that if you blindly follow a manual over and over again. That's what I deem "generic", in this case. It's a well-loathed term, but for me it equals bands that don't work outside a certain framework, yet a framework that is also used by a lot of other artists. That doesn't mean however that the experimentation that a band does outside of said framework will always be succesful. It can be a huge trainwreck and in that case you sometimes wish they had stayed INSIDE of the framework, lol. However, when a band plays outside of a certain framework and does it well, that's when I would say that yes, different does equal good, but only in that case. Sometimes the framework itself is enough too, but that depends on each individual's taste.

This is basically the main issue, or that's how I see it. Artists within a genre follow a manual that makes them part of that genre and there are plenty of bands who don't do anything outside of that manual. That's either because they don't want to (mostly those that don't feel like stepping out of their comfort zone), they're being restricted by their label, or they simply don't have the musical qualities for it.
 
I personally don't mind if bands don't take that step. I agree with Bear however, that you're going to have to stand out, and you can't do that if you blindly follow a manual over and over again. That's what I deem "generic", in this case. It's a well-loathed term, but for me it equals bands that don't work outside a certain framework, yet a framework that is also used by a lot of other artists. That doesn't mean however that the experimentation that a band does outside of said framework will always be succesful. It can be a huge trainwreck and in that case you sometimes wish they had stayed INSIDE of the framework, lol. However, when a band plays outside of a certain framework and does it well, that's when I would say that yes, different does equal good, but only in that case. Sometimes the framework itself is enough too, but that depends on each individual's taste.

I actually don't think, at least from what I've seen, that this opinion is unpopular at all. There is a legitimate case to be made that "different" music does not always equal "good"; but I feel that the people who say "oh it's different, so it's better" are trying to articulate something within musical vocabulary that they are ignorant of. Engage someone who says "this music is all the same" or anything related, and watch as they resort to gymnastics to articulate what it is that makes the music "all the same" or what makes it "different". When you actually talk to the person making the point, and inquire "well, what is it about this music that makes it so different?" or "well, what is it about this music that makes it the same from everything else in the genre?", they're using phrases that lack actual substance without context or further understanding of the music.
 
What, I think, they're trying to say is that something is derivative, which is a legitimate complaint; but one which says very little of the quality and more on its basis in genre conventions and the inability to set itself apart from them. Take any generic "-core" band and you'll find sections (i.e. "breakdowns") that are just there....to be there. To widen the scope, take generic Pop music and its lack of invention when it comes to chord progressions. The I-IV-V is a staple of Pop music and is the basis for hundreds, upon hundreds, upon hundreds of songs. Pair that with the widespread form of "verse, chorus, verse", and you have a formula for a song that can be likened to manufacturing. Take the individual parts, piece them together, and you have a Pop hit. This, though, is not always the case, as even Sting, Roy Orbison, and the Beatles are/were able to become creative in those conventions, especially the Beatles' expanded harmony in their middle to late period.
 
The premise that "if it's not different, it's not good" is faulty; but I feel as though there is at least SOMETHING to be said of the opinion "this sounds exactly like all this other music I've heard, it's incredibly boring".

No, I do it sometimes as well
I like to draw doodles of Kiwamu vs. other label owners during class (when I'm not playing Pokemon). Am I weird?

Here's my unpopular opinion so feel free to disagree.

Different ≠ Good. I'm tired of hearing "so-and-so is the 1251878th pop-rock band, therefore they are shit." I need someone to explain to me - logically - how people actually arrive at the ludicrous position that being different is a necessary condition for being good. If someone likes a certain style or sound - isn't it obviously natural to continue seeking out the same sound he enjoys so that he can derive the same satisfaction from it? People who love 90s nagoya kei are unwavering fans because of its very distinctive sound which has been arguably "lost" - and hence the nostalgia for that period. Is that really hard to understand? No. While having some originality is always welcome, it is neither necessary nor sufficient (nor even the most important) criterion for enjoying the music in question.

Pop-rock tends to be unfairly tagged as "the genre where everything-sounds-the-same" although pretty much the same thing can be said of "dark/gloomy kei", "core-ish music", electro, etc. Any counter-objection that I'm over-reducing the complexity of latter "genres" can be likewise applied to pop-rock, which I believe is more diverse than what most people (especially people who despise it) assume it to be. These days everything from Royz to Xepher to AKB48 are being carelessly chucked in the amorphous and ever-extending category of "poppish music", which allegedly (and almost by definition) sound the same. I do wonder if it isn't laughingly pretentious for people to dismiss stuff they don't like by saying "pop-rock all sound the same, hence they are garbage" while remaining willfully blind to their own human impulse to seek out the same sound/style when it comes to their pet subgenres. (I'm not going to name anyone.)

It's incredibly easy to sound different. I can record 620 minutes of belting chromatic scales non-stop, or 4 seconds of farting into the microphone. Sadly that makes for neither good nor enjoyable music.

Plus, in general you don't know someone's reason for ignoring people asking for music. I know a friend of mine who ignores requests too, mainly because every time he used to answer them he got terrible insults coming his way. Can you really blame him for not responding to requests anymore because of that?
 
I can understand in such cases that people would not want to reply to requests anymore. Rude requests just as well. I'd personally never ignore someone who asks kindly for something. I do have to say that I think that completely ignoring someone is kind of rude. Of course you don't owe them any of your time, but a short message of a few words saying "sorry, my last.fm is not a freepass for sharing" would suffice more than enough.

Perhaps not much of a musical opinion, but I do think it belongs here in some form or manner.
 
The attitude of some visual kei fans annoys me so much. The fact that people are getting harrassed because they decide to share a PV on the internet (and said people actually plan to report the video for copyright breach) because it's a rare item baffles me. I feel like the "I do it to respect the band"-excuse is usually just another wording for "this thing is rare and for having it my e-penis enlarges and anyone who decides to share it with others must be stopped or my status will decrease". Not to mention that people like this usually flaunt their purchases around in other people's faces, then get upset when someone else does decide to share it. Lmfao grow up.

Perhaps not much of a musical opinion, but I do think it belongs here in some form or manner.
 
The attitude of some visual kei fans annoys me so much. The fact that people are getting harrassed because they decide to share a PV on the internet (and said people actually plan to report the video for copyright breach) because it's a rare item baffles me. I feel like the "I do it to respect the band"-excuse is usually just another wording for "this thing is rare and for having it my e-penis enlarges and anyone who decides to share it with others must be stopped or my status will decrease". Not to mention that people like this usually flaunt their purchases around in other people's faces, then get upset when someone else does decide to share it. Lmfao grow up.

Whoa. That's taking this whole thing to an extreme level. This is talking about people who you don't know requesting music from you that you aren't obligated to share in the first place. This is not ignoring that kid in school who needs friends. This is the internet, and people need to back off of it half the time. Seek help, don't blame people on the internet for ignoring you if you're to some kind of mental breaking point. How is that some stranger on the internet's responsibility???? No one is attacking you.
 
And just because you think you're asking politely... the whole act of asking without knowing a person is just as rude in my book. Seriously, if that same person wrote me in the beginning like "Oh hey, I noticed we like the same band, can I add you?" And then we exchanged a few messages. Guess what? I'd be like 90% more inclined to fulfill their request. But these people are coming up as entitled strangers with "Upload this album for me, please?". That is barely polite in my book. Barely. I'm sorry but I don't owe them anything. Not even a reply. They don't care about me, I'm not wasting my time. Like I already mentioned, I do this because too many people have been rude to me and bullying me for turning them down but you don't seem to understand that. I have a similar history as stylelover. I used to reply to everyone but I got too many nasty comments when I didn't want to share. Even some who harassed me for months and found me on other media sites. It was really awful. So I stopped sharing anywhere outside of these kind of places. Equating ignoring upload requests on the internet to bullying is such a load of crap, because it's not even close. You're asking people to be kind out of respect to you're unknown past but you're not giving anyone else the same treatment. 
 
I  upload on places like MH and jps because when I do feel like uploading something; I will make it easy to find. I am not your personal music vending machine. If I don't share something I probably have my reasons and It'd be nice if people respected that. 

Plus, in general you don't know someone's reason for ignoring people asking for music. I know a friend of mine who ignores requests too, mainly because every time he used to answer them he got terrible insults coming his way. Can you really blame him for not responding to requests anymore because of that?
 
I can understand in such cases that people would not want to reply to requests anymore. Rude requests just as well. I'd personally never ignore someone who asks kindly for something. I do have to say that I think that completely ignoring someone is kind of rude. Of course you don't owe them any of your time, but a short message of a few words saying "sorry, my last.fm is not a freepass for sharing" would suffice more than enough.

Dragon Age II - About 15 hours in now. I don't really like the characters or the story as much as in Dragon Age: Origins, and some parts of the game feel rather unfinished (yet this is EA's fault for giving Bioware about one year to make this game, and I do have to say that for the timespan they had Bioware delivered really well), but MAN did they improve the combat system. I've played as a mage in both games and I find it a lot more fun and interactive in Dragon Age II. The movement of the characters is a lot more fluid and I feel like directing your party members has become a lot more accessible.
 
My current party consists of Aveline, Anders and Varric (love that guy!). I might add Fenris after I recruit him but I pretty much experienced that having him and Anders in the same party is like being a babysitter. DON'T MAKE ME TURN THIS HAWKE AROUND.

Perhaps not much of a musical opinion, but I do think it belongs here in some form or manner.
 
The attitude of some visual kei fans annoys me so much. The fact that people are getting harrassed because they decide to share a PV on the internet (and said people actually plan to report the video for copyright breach) because it's a rare item baffles me. I feel like the "I do it to respect the band"-excuse is usually just another wording for "this thing is rare and for having it my e-penis enlarges and anyone who decides to share it with others must be stopped or my status will decrease". Not to mention that people like this usually flaunt their purchases around in other people's faces, then get upset when someone else does decide to share it. Lmfao grow up.

Perhaps not much of a musical opinion, but I do think it belongs here in some form or manner.
 
The attitude of some visual kei fans annoys me so much. The fact that people are getting harrassed because they decide to share a PV on the internet (and said people actually plan to report the video for copyright breach) because it's a rare item baffles me. I feel like the "I do it to respect the band"-excuse is usually just another wording for "this thing is rare and for having it my e-penis enlarges and anyone who decides to share it with others must be stopped or my status will decrease". Not to mention that people like this usually flaunt their purchases around in other people's faces, then get upset when someone else does decide to share it. Lmfao grow up.

VK is like gang life: once a blood, always a blood.

thats probably the main problem and the one thing people should get. like you said its totally ok to decide to keep something for yourself, but then you shouldnt go around and talk about said releases. thats just low. i guess its fine to post in threads like "what did you buy" (i do that too), but going around like "oh bought that release and its awesome!!!!" is just low.

Perhaps not much of a musical opinion, but I do think it belongs here in some form or manner.
 
The attitude of some visual kei fans annoys me so much. The fact that people are getting harrassed because they decide to share a PV on the internet (and said people actually plan to report the video for copyright breach) because it's a rare item baffles me. I feel like the "I do it to respect the band"-excuse is usually just another wording for "this thing is rare and for having it my e-penis enlarges and anyone who decides to share it with others must be stopped or my status will decrease". Not to mention that people like this usually flaunt their purchases around in other people's faces, then get upset when someone else does decide to share it. Lmfao grow up.

Perhaps not much of a musical opinion, but I do think it belongs here in some form or manner.
 
The attitude of some visual kei fans annoys me so much. The fact that people are getting harrassed because they decide to share a PV on the internet (and said people actually plan to report the video for copyright breach) because it's a rare item baffles me. I feel like the "I do it to respect the band"-excuse is usually just another wording for "this thing is rare and for having it my e-penis enlarges and anyone who decides to share it with others must be stopped or my status will decrease". Not to mention that people like this usually flaunt their purchases around in other people's faces, then get upset when someone else does decide to share it. Lmfao grow up.

I think I have all of you beat with my ultimate otaku desktop screenshots from 2004
 

 

Romancé PV:
 

We going old school here?
Here's one from 2005!