Bands whose music you love, but personally despise

[PumpkinPatches 48]

We all have that band whose music you love unconditionally, but as human beings you think would probably deserve painful, painful things.

 

For me, I LOVE Megaromania's music, but I would rather bite off my own hand than have to deal with them.

(This topic probably may cause a bit of a stir, but I figured it would be acceptable as long as we just keep in PG and don't start fights with one another. Everyone has an opinion! You can give a reason or not, it's up to you.)

[sai 868]

Well, to be quite honest, I don't care about the personalities of my favourite musicians. I'm there for their music, and if they happen to be drama queens, then so be it. Doesn't make their music any less good

 

I never really read their blog entries or follow their twitters because I'm not interested in doing so, but what I've seen from them are mostly interviews. The two bands I like most seem like professional artists who know what they're doing and for that I respect them. That is all. I don't think anyone like that deserves to have anything horrible done to them. People with attitudes will see the consequences of their actions one day anyway.

[Thedane 176]

I listen to their music, I don't get to know them in person, even if I did (and for the sake of the topic, lets say I'd considered the person to be bad) I'd still listen to them.

 

The few band members I've gotten to know though (through ameba), have been pretty much awesome, heck, even going to meet one of them when he pays europe a visit.

[Heroin 53]

I dont recall any band that I hate personally or have any type of dislikes of their personal life.

It's just me not giving a shit about their personal life.

[Zeus 7997]

I don't care about the personalities of my favourite musicians. I'm there for their music, and if they happen to be drama queens, then so be it. Doesn't make their music any less good.

[miyuu 40]

i completely disagree. to admire someone and to be my most favorite, i have to like his personality.at least what he shows to the fans

and what the lyrics say. and when i say personality i don't mean if he is friendly or asshole but mostly

i mean his ideas.what he wants to show with his art.

 

of course there are many songs and music that i listen without knowing anything about their musicians personality.

but i don't admire them.i don't think of them as most favorite.maybe i 'll say he's got talend but nothing more.

 

and to be honest i don't understand people who don't care at all about the personality of their fav band. i don't say to care about  everything they listen but just their favorite.

i think they are ignorant , if they say they admire or love someone without knowing his beliefs

 

 

[Slsr 207]

I don't know, honestly don't bands usually show rather good side to people? I can't come up with many vkei bands (surely there is some) that would be all that much worth of hate due how they are as persons, or does shit not just get to outside Japan? Or is this more of thing with major/more known vkei bands as I usually stick with indie scene anyway, lol.

 

Anyway for foreign fan of Japanese music I think it is rather understandable point of view that personality won't mean that much. Besides possibly simply not caring things outside music/looks all that much there is kinda language barrier anyway many times, it is often impossible for many to even know band members well enough to form legit opinion about such thing. Of course many care those things too still but as wrote there, not many know musicians all that well. So I think it can be seen many times kinda pointless in the end, it is often more about imagination than actually knowing person, lol. But yeah, even if I can't say I'd know my favorite band musicians all that well in the end either, really find it cool if there is seemingly awesome people in a band I like, always plus if I can have respect to them otherwise as musicians too, so that said like to follow my favorite musicians at least a bit. But as for hating, currently no, I don't think I'd hate them too easily either, need to do pretty bad things or have some ideals that are really bad IMO.

[Number Girl 48]

Most of the musicians I like, through reading what I can of their blog entries and seeing them interact on stage or with fans, seem like generally decent, friendly people. The others either don't reveal enough about themselves for me to form a strong opinion, or they are just very complicated, difficult to read individuals. 

 

Chances are if they are horrible human beings, to the point where they deserve some kind of cruel treatment, I probably wouldn't be too enthusiastic about their music either. :/ 

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

For the most part I don't care to learn about the people in a band, at the end of the day I'm just there for the  music.

 

Yet sometimes it's hard to avoid learning about band members and Black Metal is a bit of a grey area for me. Varg/Burzum is an example of this, I could see myself enjoying his music but he's such a shitty person I just can't support him or anything he does. Yet then here I am playing Nokturnal Mortum even though they're all just as shitty as Varg.

 

Jayrawk has a language barrier so I don't pick up on the bad and toxic personalities these guys might have. I am told the guys from CELL (particularly Nao) are all jerks and pretty shitty to fans. Yet it doesn't really phase me since all I care about is if he's gonna write good music in CELL and do what he does that makes me interested in the band. I also don't try to talk and interact with him or any band men, so I won't have to experience Nao or anyone's douchey personality.

[miyuu 40]

vkei fans say they love someone because he is pretty without having any other clue about him.and they are serious about it.this is why people think vkei fans as idiots.

i think i have a different perspective about personality.doesn't the visuals and the lyrics or the music style show some part of their personality?or the interviews and the way they react with the puplic in videos

i am sure most people end up choosing their favorite band from their personalities together with music.i mean look versailles is an obvious example.fans except that they love their music also love the idea of romantism and vampires etc
doesn't the whole concept of their music  show something from their personality and ideas.

about black metal i don't think people take too seriously the lyrics are just for shocking factor and actually i think people who choose that except from the music they like "the visuals" too and the whole concept

but what if someone was a killer i don't know i haven't thought about it.
but is there a limit that when someone did something so Disgusting that you would want to stop listenig to them or even boycott their music.
you can always say about artists he is a huge asshole and a terrible person but he has such an amazing talent .isn't this what this thread asks?
i don't understnnd how people can say i don't care at all about their personalities when actually you can see parts of their personality in their music.

also many times in visual kei you can say omg this looks so ridiculous and their personality must be annoying .i don't like their band concept  but they still have awesome music
i can't remember now examples to write

[Zeus 7997]

i think i have a different perspective about personality.doesn't the visuals and the lyrics or the music style show some part of their personality?or the interviews and the way they react with the puplic in videos

i am sure most people end up choosing their favorite band from their personalities together with music.i mean look versailles is an obvious example.fans except that they love their music also love the idea of romantism and vampires etc

doesn't the whole concept of their music  show something from their personality and ideas.

 

While this is true, the language barrier makes this a non-issue for most fans. There just isn't enough information about most artists in the scene for most people to care. Hell, for most people we don't even know their names. A lot of the charm in visual kei comes from the mystery of who these people are. Bringing personality and ethics into the mix ruins that.

On that same note, this may all just be an elaborate act and who you see on camera is who they want you to see, another part of the act and mystery. The psychotic dictator and poet Shan Yu once said, "Live with a man 40 years. Share his house, his meals. Speak on every subject. Then tie him up, and hold him over the volcano's edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man."

Visual kei isn't much different in the end.

 

about black metal i don't think people take too seriously the lyrics are just for shocking factor and actually i think people who choose that except from the music they like "the visuals" too and the whole concept

but what if someone was a killer i don't know i haven't thought about it.

but is there a limit that when someone did something so Disgusting that you would want to stop listenig to them or even boycott their music.

you can always say about artists he is a huge asshole and a terrible person but he has such an amazing talent .isn't this what this thread asks?

i don't understnnd how people can say i don't care at all about their personalities when actually you can see parts of their personality in their music.

 

I want you to read up on Varg Vikernes and Euronymous and the people they associated with. There's a lot more to both of them but I'll give you a quick synopsis of some of the fucked up things the both of them did. Starting with Euronymous, when his friend Dead committed suicide before he called the authorities he took pictures of him, purportedly made a stew with bits of Dead's brain and had made necklaces with bits of his skull. Vikernes later was responsible for the death of Euronymous and claims that he acted in self-defense because Euronymous wanted to kill him...but this is after burning down several churches and spewing hateful, racist, malicious ideas.

Point is, the fucked up mentality and personalities of these two people were responsible for somewhat popularizing and legitimizing a genre that early 90's visual kei bands took a smattering of influence from. If a majority of people always took people's personalities into account when enjoying music, visual kei wouldn't be what it is today. Music wouldn't be what it is today.

And it's for this reason why I can listen to Burzum knowing full well that I don't want to be in a well-lit room alone with Vikernes.

tl;dr - No one listens to shitty music just because the artist funds cancer research. It should extend the other way too.

[PumpkinPatches 48]

Well, for example I know many people on this site know about Wataru of 12012 choking the crap out of some woman. So, knowing this, does it affect how you view their music? If you loved their music before, just because the singer did something awful, does that mean you will no longer enjoy their music?

 

One things that comes to mind immediately is Sid Vicious. He was an awful human being who brutally murdered his girlfriend, but whenever any of the stuff he did comes on I don't get up and turn it off. It doesn't mean I don't still enjoy his music. I love  old-school Metallica, even if the members are complete jerks on and off camera. Taiji of X Japan was well known for having an absolutely horrible temper and  abusing his first wife. Does that mean I don't love old X Japan?

 

I guess some people would completely sour at a musician if they did anything, but as I see it I don't think it affects their musical capabilities at all. 

[miyuu 40]

.

EDIT:

what did magaromania do??and you don't like them

 

 

While this is true, the language barrier makes this a non-issue for most fans. There just isn't enough information about most artists in the scene for most people to care. Hell, for most people we don't even know their names. A lot of the charm in visual kei comes from the mystery of who these people are. Bringing personality and ethics into the mix ruins that.

On that same note, this may all just be an elaborate act and who you see on camera is who they want you to see, another part of the act and mystery. The psychotic dictator and poet Shan Yu once said, "Live with a man 40 years. Share his house, his meals. Speak on every subject. Then tie him up, and hold him over the volcano's edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man."

Visual kei isn't much different in the end.

 

 

...................................

 

 

. If a majority of people always took people's personalities into account when enjoying music, visual kei wouldn't be what it is today. Music wouldn't be what it is today.

And it's for this reason why I can listen to Burzum knowing full well that I don't want to be in a well-lit room alone with Vikernes.

tl;dr - No one listens to shitty music just because the artist funds cancer research. It should extend the other way too.

 

i understand.also i know is more difficult with japanese and people like the mystery

but there are 2 perspectives.

 

sometimes i think that people always cared about personality when choosing music.
that the band it self has a personality that people choose maybe without realising it or admit it

there is a different between personal life and personality

how can you disconnect completely art from the artist personality?is it possible?

you can see aspects of an artist's personality and ideas in his art
(even if it's fake.it's  ideas he wants to present)
also there must be a limit. a value that you won't accept loosing.that can make you stop listening to someone nomatter how much the talent.would you accept everything for the sake of talent
(maybe murder is not the worst thing)

or maybe it matters when it comes to choose between 2 bands with equal talent
maybe you are going to choose the one that you like more as personality
and there is the opposite thread about admiring someone that you don't like his music

[PumpkinPatches 48]

My opinion stems from the things my friends have experienced and what I have experienced going to their lives.

Not to get too descriptive, but back in December I went to a live where Megaromania performed. Not only was one of the members inappropriate and kind of creepy, he actually insulted the bands and label who were sponsoring the event. I found it incredibly unprofessional that a musician would mock the people who invited them to play. (The joke was about how such a label shouldn't waste money on big venues they couldn't /ever/ fill.)

However, I stated you don't actually have to state reasons why you dislike a band.

[miyuu 40]

i don't like satsuki's current personality but i like res music.

and this annoys me somehow

[stylelover 1086]

I don't care about the personalities of my favourite musicians. I'm there for their music, and if they happen to be drama queens, then so be it. Doesn't make their music any less good.

 

I need to agree with this too.

 

Couldnt care less about personalities, so i cant really contribute to the discussion.

Its not like i completely ignore everything, but it doesnt affect my love for the music.

 

Still going to listen to bands i love, regardless on how they are regarding their personality.

[hyura 465]

I agree with miyuu!

Of course I don't care about every little thing every member of a band I listen to does. If it's not one of my absolute favorites I won't know anyway because I just buy the cd, listen to the songs and maybe look for some info that I want about a certain song or something.

As for my favorite bands I really like to read interviews and  blogs, write fanmail and also meet the bands at events. (I don't try to get in touch with bandmen outside of music though, I don't see a point in that.)

But I care for the overall personality and image a band shows in their music and their performance. Of course that doesn't mean I get angry when I hear bad rumors about somebody private live, but if for example the message in the lyrics is stupid (or inexistent) or the bandmembers are rude at lives that will change how I perceive their music!

There is a high percentage of assholes in the overall human population and of course their are assholes in japanese music, too. It sometimes even seems as if VK especially was full of indecent people. But the core is whether they carry this into their stage persona or just leave it at home.

 

Well and of course I don't wish pain to anybody, one really shouldn't say this.

But, for example:

 

In the darker genre of visual kei violence against fans is a thing. There are quite a few bandmen who (at lives) insult people, pull their hair and even kick or punch them in the face.

And that's not okay. I mean some fans might enjoy it, some might endure it, but the others only have the option to not go or stay in the back. This made me like bands and bandmembers a huge lot less.

 

Another problem is constant whining and begging for expensive gifts on blogs. It makes the whole band look like a way to find girls who are willing to pay your poor ass.

 

An example from the major world is dir en grey. I love dir en grey and they are great musicians and I often read interviews with them to know more about their compositions etc.

However, pretty much since they expanded to overseas they tend to say extremely self-absorbed things and it annoys me. While I still like the music I don't like reading newer interviews which makes me know less about the newer songs, which makes my connection to the band how it currently is fade.

 

 

 I am told the guys from CELL (particularly Nao) are all jerks and pretty shitty to fans. Yet it doesn't really phase me since all I care about is if he's gonna write good music in CELL and do what he does that makes me interested in the band. I also don't try to talk and interact with him or any band men, so I won't have to experience Nao or anyone's douchey personality.

 

Somehow it surprises me to see CELL as an example for an asshole band. I know that NAO is (and always has been) a weirdo and that MASATO was a huge jerk to the other members before he left, but so far I never heard that any CELL member was an ass to fans, at least not in a band-related context.

So far whenever I had contact with them (or ex La'Mule) they were really friendly and the atmosphere when they are on stage is lots of fun and warm towards the fans. There is some bitching about what they (well actually just the guitarists) do in their private, but nobody forces you to date them or anything.

[bonsaijodelfisch 328]

this kind of argument probably is as old as music itself

one of the most prominent examples outside of pop-culture would be Richard Wagner, a known and outspoken anti-semite and racist, but at the same time celebrated as one of the greatest composers.

 

i am kind of split with this one, one the one hand i'm sort of with sai and zess that music objectively doesn't become any better or worse with the personality of the writer.

on the other hand pop-culture always sells the whole package, so the artist/image is also part of that. 

and also there are different levels of dickishness. whilst i'm almost perfectly fine with artist beeing divas and generally awful human beeings to be around, there's for example no way in fucking hell i'd ever listen to some RnB-Song by Chris Brown even if for the sake of the argument i would have liked it before.

 

Edit: and thinking about it that's pretty hippocritical, because i'd probably totally listen to Burzum (and perhaps enjoy it, depending on the music) and see it as a fascinating manifesto of a madman (in this case it also fits very well with the music itself....) in the same way that i watch series like "hannibal" and am completely drawn in by mass-murderers...

 

no, i absolutely don't know what i should think about all this, still for some reason i'd rather listen to burzum than to chris brown (regardless of musical taste...)

 

Edit 2: i might also add that this kind of situation is very much observable right now with "as i lay dying", with their vocalist now beeing accused of arranging the murder of his wife. their facebook is a pretty interesting comment-read on the subject

[stylelover 1086]

this kind of argument probably is as old as music itself

one of the most prominent examples outside of pop-culture would be Richard Wagner, a known and outspoken anti-semite and racist, but at the same time celebrated as one of the greatest composers.

 

i am kind of split with this one, one the one hand i'm sort of with sai and zess that music objectively doesn't become any better or worse with the personality of the writer.

on the other hand pop-culture always sells the whole package, so the artist/image is also part of that. 

and also there are different levels of dickishness. whilst i'm almost perfectly fine with artist beeing divas and generally awful human beeings to be around, there's for example no way in fucking hell i'd ever listen to some RnB-Song by Chris Brown even if for the sake of the argument i would have liked it before.

 

Kind of agree a bit with your last sentence, but for me it also depends on what i know first.

Regarding Chris Brown for example, i never (consciously) listened to him and i will never try him, because i know what a huge ass he is.

On the other hand, i dont think i would stop listening to him , if he was like my favourite artist before he did what he did.

 

and totally offtopic: i love hannibal. i need to watch the latest epsiodes :x

[TheBistroButcher666 228]

Edit: and thinking about it that's pretty hippocritical, because i'd probably totally listen to Burzum (and perhaps enjoy it, depending on the music) and see it as a fascinating manifesto of a madman (in this case it also fits very well with the music itself....) in the same way that i watch series like "hannibal" and am completely drawn in by mass-murderers...

 

 

no, i absolutely don't know what i should think about all this, still for some reason i'd rather listen to burzum than to chris brown (regardless of musical taste...)

 

Edit 2: i might also add that this kind of situation is very much observable right now with "as i lay dying", with their vocalist now beeing accused of arranging the murder of his wife. their facebook is a pretty interesting comment-read on the subject

 

 

 

 

That's a good way to look at it. I just can't support the Neo-Nazi bands or bands that have members that support that movement. I listen to some artists that fall into a grey area since they tend to be more nationalistic than skinheads but it's not surprising if there's an interview or lyrics that are basically a bunch of supremacy bullshit.

 

I know dumb VK boys will dress up in S&M Nazi outfits but I'm not talking about that. They're just ignorant and fetishizing it and they're not actually supporting the Neo-Nazi white supremacy political agenda. If they say they are, they're probably just being an idiot and more into it for the image.

 

Somehow it surprises me to see CELL as an example for an asshole band. I know that NAO is (and always has been) a weirdo and that MASATO was a huge jerk to the other members before he left, but so far I never heard that any CELL member was an ass to fans, at least not in a band-related context.

So far whenever I had contact with them (or ex La'Mule) they were really friendly and the atmosphere when they are on stage is lots of fun and warm towards the fans. There is some bitching about what they (well actually just the guitarists) do in their private, but nobody forces you to date them or anything.

I don't want to put words in my friend's mouth or give out any more details since I don't know if she wants to share it with people (I don't even know the whole story). Just that basically, she still likes CELL. She goes to their lives all the time, buys merch and CDs just that after whatever happened. Basically she's like, yeah CELL is great but fuck Nao.

[Yadora 32]

I actually think this is a pretty interesting thing to think about. As I read the topic title, I thought 'how is it possible to love a band, but despise them at the same time?'. And then I thought 'but why not, the music has nothing to do with who plays it, right?' Of course it isn't the case that I love music because the people playing it are great, but I don't know if I could fully love someone's music being aware of them being 'bad people'.

 

However, in the case of the artists that I love, I either like their personalities or I don't know anything about them. I can't think of any examples of band members I dislike for some reason. And the few bands I have read bad things about, I also happen to not like their music, but I don't think those 2 facts are connected in any way. 

 

But if I suddenly started liking a new bands and later found out that all/some of the members are terrible people... I don't know what I would do actually. I think I unconsciously would take their music less seriously? Especially if they make very happy/romantic music, I wouldn't be able to listen to it without thinking about those things, and it wouldn't be the same. But they'd have to have done some really bad things for me to completely avoid them, especially if I really loved them before. And it's not like, if there's information about a members losing temper or being very drunk and shouting at everyone that I would suddenly dislike the band for that. In the end they are just people, they make mistakes like everyone else. 

[auroradesu 8]

I can't personally think of too many bands that I enjoy the music but despise the personality but I will say that usually when it comes to me really getting more into a band outside of the music I like learning their personalities.  DOG inthe PWO and Sadie are two of my favorite bands and I feel that my love for them grew stronger as I learned more about the musicians and how much they appreciate their fans.  I feel its humbling for bands to show so much appreciation for fans considering we're what keeps them together in a sense.  

 

I also really like learning the dirt on band men as well through tanuki sadly because it breaks down that wall of idol praising and shows that they are people too. You can see that they're real people through other things too but its like when all you see are oh they went shopping, omg I do that too etc and people keep holding them in this high light  I feel that they need to see good with bad.  Everyone has two sides and just because they're in bands and make music doesn't mean they're all good.

[DogManX 179]

Hmm.. the first one that would come to my mind, though not japanese, is Burzum. Really. His ambient black metal is one of the best music i've heard in a long time, but as a person I can't arrange myself to not give a fuck on the fact that he's a fascist and murderer.

[Gizorz 24]

I can't personally think of too many bands that I enjoy the music but despise the personality but I will say that usually when it comes to me really getting more into a band outside of the music I like learning their personalities.  DOG inthe PWO and Sadie are two of my favorite bands and I feel that my love for them grew stronger as I learned more about the musicians and how much they appreciate their fans.  I feel its humbling for bands to show so much appreciation for fans considering we're what keeps them together in a sense.  

 

I also really like learning the dirt on band men as well through tanuki sadly because it breaks down that wall of idol praising and shows that they are people too. You can see that they're real people through other things too but its like when all you see are oh they went shopping, omg I do that too etc and people keep holding them in this high light  I feel that they need to see good with bad.  Everyone has two sides and just because they're in bands and make music doesn't mean they're all good.

 

You realize that tanuki is 90% lies right? I agree that they're just human and that people shouldn't put bandmen on a pedestal, but if you're using tanuki to see what they're really like you're going about it wrong.

 

 

 

I guess it would depend on how much I like a band's music whether I'd care about their personalities. If I think a band is mediocre I wouldn't bother with them if they had shitty personalities but if it was the opposite I'd probably be more inclined to give them another shot. 

[AlienX 1]

I generally don't have a problem with artists' personality. Most vk artists (or most of Japanese/Korean music scene where it's more about the labels than the actual artists) are devoid of any authentic personality because they are supposed to play a fantasy role to hungry fangirls/boys anyway. There's quite a few times where I'm relatively OK with a particular artists' output, but completely appalled by the bands' aesthetics. Fortunately, most of the time I can pretty much tell from the sound how ridiculously bad the artist dresses, so shitty looks go hand in hand with the awful music (gazette become tolerable around the time they toned down their visuals. maybe not the best example though). Still, the times where this is not the case, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth that keeps coming back every time I listen to the music. I think a fine example is para:noir. I sort of dig their stuff (at worst, they're cheesy fun), but they just look so bad. 

 

Mind you, I'm not talking about how handsome the members are, but when the when the whole band looks like a fashion experiment gone horribly wrong.