Post your "UNPOPULAR" music opinions!

[Zeus 7997]

Here's a probably unpopular opinion: I really don't care and would rather not have Japanese artists getting into the American/Westernwtvr scene, or being somehow validated by it. I don't understand why so many J-fans want /need/ this to happen and are constantly blathering about how they could achieve this. Most US releases, as in albums geared towards the US market like the English VAMPS album are so godawful and I'm just like, why.

 

I prefer Japanese music, it's 90% of what I listen to, I don't need it or want it in a music market I don't even like. And I don't need anyone to validate my music tastes either.

I would have to expand on this point to agree with you. Japanese artists wanting to strike it big in America is no concern of mine. Japanese artists who change their sound for the worse to try to garner appeal is what I dislike. I listen to Japanese music because I like the way the Japanese make music. If you can migrate into American mainstream insert-your-genre-here while not changing up your sound, more power to you. Go for it.

Miyavi is the most prominent example of a Japanese artist who I once enjoyed from time to time that I can't take seriously anymore once he changed his sound to try to appeal to Western audiences. You would never think that he was the one-man band who could do anything from pop to acoustic to hard rock and metal with decent success. Part of his change in musical direction may be because he's getting older but plenty of artists get older and still make great music. His main problem is that he hooked up with all these American DJs who promised him success and they filtered out his essence from his music, so now he's just blase radio-friendly pop music. That latest single is the perfect example behind what I mean.

Even the Kavki Boiz era, for everything it did wrong, still managed to be charming and feel Miyavi-esque despite the mountains of influence from Western and hip-hop music.

So tl;dr - Japanese artists who lose themselves while trying to find a new sound is what I dislike. But I agree with your general sentiment.

[Ro plz 1290]

ONE OK ROCK is one of the most generic and bland major J-Rock bands to date. I've given them a fair try many times only to find myself growing tiresome with how predictable and boring their songs are. To me, they are pretty much on MEJIBRAY's (and 90 percent of these indies bands) level in which they both add nothing new to music. They throw together something catchy and it resonates with the masses apparently. There's only one song that caught my fancy and that's DREAMER. Everything after that is just...bleh.

[beni 2149]

ONE OK ROCK is one of the most generic and bland major J-Rock bands to date. I've given them a fair try many times only to find myself growing tiresome with how predictable and boring their songs are. To me, they are pretty much on MEJIBRAY's (and 90 percent of these indies bands) level in which they both add nothing new to music. They throw together something catchy and it resonates with the masses apparently. There's only one song that caught my fancy and that's DREAMER. Everything after that is just...bleh.

 

Dumb use of GIF in forum, achieved

These guys just keep improving, I swear. Maybe a future release will grab your attention? And double 'oh no you didn't!' to MEJIBRAY. xD I've always believed most indie bands give a lot more to the scene in terms of something new and different. Maybe that's the unpopular opinion here, I can see many agreeing with you and I fail at supporting my opinion at the moment but I'm ever so fond of both bands because they keep getting better in their own terms and ways with each release.

On another note, boy am I glad to see this thread active again. And on a smaller one, please don't hurt me for this xD Opinions are opinions, responded to show they've got support lol

[Ro plz 1290]

Its all good! I respect your opinion as well, I love conversations like this.

And, I wouldn't mind peeping what they come out with in the future to see if my opinion has changed.

[doombox 4421]

I agree with  about both bands improving on their own sound, but I'm biased and like both bands already so that's not really news. But if people are waiting for ONE OK ROCK to step outside of their box, I wouldn't hold my breath. They have such a solid corner of the market, and it works for them, that I don't see them going out on a limb to risk that. Not everyone is gonna love every band. I can understand when people think OOR is on the generic side, they play radio friendly mainstream rock music. It's not a very experimental genre. But I have to give them credit that they take generic overdone music and make it extremely catchy and relate-able. It doesn't hurt they are 4 young, decent looking guys who have approachable dorky personalities that fans can gravitate to. This is a huge part of Japanese marketing, and they've found a way to make it work outside of Japan where many have failed. And to add to they "add nothing new to music" most casual listeners don't care if a band is adding anything new. They care that they can relate to it and sing along to it, and that the music makes them feel good when they hear it. And OOR are excellent at that.

[Ro plz 1290]

I agree with  about both bands improving on their own sound, but I'm biased and like both bands already so that's not really news. But if people are waiting for ONE OK ROCK to step outside of their box, I wouldn't hold my breath. They have such a solid corner of the market, and it works for them, that I don't see them going out on a limb to risk that. Not everyone is gonna love every band. I can understand when people think OOR is on the generic side, they play radio friendly mainstream rock music. It's not a very experimental genre. But I have to give them credit that they take generic overdone music and make it extremely catchy and relate-able. It doesn't hurt they are 4 young, decent looking guys who have approachable dorky personalities that fans can gravitate to. This is a huge part of Japanese marketing, and they've found a way to make it work outside of Japan where many have failed. And to add to they "add nothing new to music" most casual listeners don't care if a band is adding anything new. They care that they can relate to it and sing along to it, and that the music makes them feel good when they hear it. And OOR are excellent at that.

 

I totally respect that, especially the relating part. I'm just someone who likes to see bands progress with time and do something different. I blame a lot of this on the many metal/J-rock bands that I listen to. So when it comes to new release announcements, the first thing I think about is, "what have they done differently? What freshness did they add in? Etc."

[doombox 4421]

I totally respect that, especially the relating part. I'm just someone who likes to see bands progress with time and do something different. I blame a lot of this on the many metal/J-rock bands that I listen to. So when it comes to new release announcements, the first thing I think about is, "what have they done differently? What freshness did they add in? Etc."

There definitely seem to be 2 camps about that. I find myself being excited when bands try new things, but it's not always necessary for me to enjoy the albums.  It's more like an added bonus? XD But to say OOR haven't progressed at all, I'm not so sure I agree with that. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5BfWC-Ik14  

 

Their early stuff had a lot more progression between albums. But they've seemed to have settled into their own groove for the last 3 albums. I am noticing more electronics bleeding in than they used to have but that might just be the mainstream scene in general.

[sai 868]

ONE OK ROCK isn't a band that does anything special, but I do consider them one of the few mainstream artists that actually manage to captivate me from time to time. I don't like allof  their songs, but each album has a vast selection of catchy, fun songs for me to enjoy. Mighty Long Fall was a great track that I felt like was a bit outside of their regular comfort zone. I don't mind if a band plays a more generic sound as long as they do it well. That's why I do have to agree with Hellion on MEJIBRAY. MEJIBRAY brings absolutely nothing new to the table, and that wouldn't really be so bad if the execution of it wouldn't be so poor. Their riffs aren't all that special, the vocalist I consider absolutely terrible and the songs don't even sound that different. Of course that's my opinion, I just never understood how people managed to listen to their vocalist for more than 10 seconds without wanting to rip their headphones off.

[hitsuji-hime 211]

Sendai Kamotsu (or whatever they're called) is a sorry excuse for a band. I don't care if they're a joke, I hate their fucking guts and they should cease to exist.

[PsychoΔelica 648]

Call me odd but for me nitpicking my favorite bands' music takes out all the fun from listening to them. This is why I try to ignore any discussions about whether this or that band got better and tried something new or keeps stalling and producing generic and uninspired albums with bad vocals. This is how I stopped listening to MUCC. And maybe I shouldn't have. I feel like people are taking this whole thing way too seriously. But then maybe I don't because I don't buy every other cd that those bands produce I feel like people are getting way too analytical. It's your choice though if you want to write a double spread review on such and such album. But recently I find myself more often than not enjoying a selection of songs from different bands according to what I can relate to at the moment. To me this makes music a lot more enjoyable than turning it into your doctoral thesis. Ok you can throw tomatoes now

[relentless 254]

Call me odd but for me nitpicking my favorite bands' music takes out all the fun from listening to them. This is why I try to ignore any discussions about whether this or that band got better and tried something new or keeps stalling and producing generic and uninspired albums with bad vocals. This is how I stopped listening to MUCC. And maybe I shouldn't have. I feel like people are taking this whole thing way too seriously. But then maybe I don't because I don't buy every other cd that those bands produce I feel like people are getting way too analytical. It's your choice though if you want to write a double spread review on such and such album. But recently I find myself more often than not enjoying a selection of songs from different bands according to what I can relate to at the moment. To me this makes music a lot more enjoyable than turning it into your doctoral thesis. Ok you can throw tomatoes now

 

 

For many, music is a serious art. Simply hearing a song or piece of music isn't enough when the most subtle aspects are hidden within how the music works. And in many cases, digging into a piece of music to understand it further can reveal the wit of the artist. Many people don't bother with this approach and would prefer to do what you do: just listen to what is pleasing to you. That's the whole point of music, isn't it? Even to those that love to analyze music, this feeling is never lost; but there is at least something more there, under the layers of sound that can be just as rewarding as hearing a beautiful melody.

[PsychoΔelica 648]

For many, music is a serious art. Simply hearing a song or piece of music isn't enough when the most subtle aspects are hidden within how the music works. And in many cases, digging into a piece of music to understand it further can reveal the wit of the artist. Many people don't bother with this approach and would prefer to do what you do: just listen to what is pleasing to you. That's the whole point of music, isn't it? Even to those that love to analyze music, this feeling is never lost; but there is at least something more there, under the layers of sound that can be just as rewarding as hearing a beautiful melody.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't care about how the music was made. It can be intersting even for a non-expert like me. But it's a matter of taste like I said, I personally don't like overly verbal descriptions. Not to mention discussions in the spirit you see on youtube, and sometimes here too, which is plain bashing. (though sometimes it's fun to read, not gonna lie, but to a point).

[Lestat 2167]

I am growing quite bored of this hype where it is suddenly the thing to join a metalcore/deathcore band in the visual kei movement. Why not just dress up normally and actually enter the metalcore scene? There's much more potential in there than there is in visual kei because people will continuously look down upon bands that are dressed like this, even when they actually produce music in the sense and quality of Parkway Drive or Suicide Silence. Guys like Nocturnal Bloodlust could actually head somewhere if they hadn't chosen the visual kei scene — it's like they should've just followed the guys of Crossfaith in their direction, tour overseas and make money instead of being huddled up in dad's garage with no future.

[Traxan 148]

You're bored with it? Try the American metal scene. Nothing BUT metalcore. It's mainly the reasons my tastes run to Europe for the symphonic metal and Japan for the ladymetal.

[Ro plz 1290]

I am growing quite bored of this hype where it is suddenly the thing to join a metalcore/deathcore band in the visual kei movement. Why not just dress up normally and actually enter the metalcore scene? There's much more potential in there than there is in visual kei because people will continuously look down upon bands that are dressed like this, even when they actually produce music in the sense and quality of Parkway Drive or Suicide Silence. Guys like Nocturnal Bloodlust could actually head somewhere if they hadn't chosen the visual kei scene — it's like they should've just followed the guys of Crossfaith in their direction, tour overseas and make money instead of being huddled up in dad's garage with no future.

 

I agree with this. Especially in the case of Nocturnal Bloodlust. They're talented in a way that they can hold their own without the visual kei scene.

 

Its a double edged sword. Becoming a visual kei band is a guaranteed way in because of how devoted the fans are, especially because of the visuals. It works and to me it explains why a lot of bands outside of Japan have hopped on the band wagon, regardless of good or bad their music is. On the other hand, it could be seen as certain bands aren't confident in just their music holding its weight. 

[doombox 4421]

I am growing quite bored of this hype where it is suddenly the thing to join a metalcore/deathcore band in the visual kei movement. Why not just dress up normally and actually enter the metalcore scene? There's much more potential in there than there is in visual kei because people will continuously look down upon bands that are dressed like this, even when they actually produce music in the sense and quality of Parkway Drive or Suicide Silence. Guys like Nocturnal Bloodlust could actually head somewhere if they hadn't chosen the visual kei scene — it's like they should've just followed the guys of Crossfaith in their direction, tour overseas and make money instead of being huddled up in dad's garage with no future.

 

You realize they did try the whole metalcore thing without visuals first. But they got nowhere so they went visual where in that scene they were different.

And I highly disagree about their level of competence. But the real problem is their music lacks identity without the visuals. Crossfaith's music stands out in a sea of metalcore. You can easily tell when it's them. You can't do that with NB. 

[Lestat 2167]

Personally, Crossfaith doesn't do anything for me. I've heard their sound a dozen times before (and frankly, the same does go for Nocturnal Bloodlust) in the western metalcore scene, but they did make a name for themselves by being metalcore, and not jumping into the hellhole of screaming underaged women who rape their plush teddy bears pretending it's their favourite bandman called visual kei. For NB: trying for a year and a half doesn't get you anywhere, indeed. They didn't release anything until 2011 which is where their style had already made a turn toward visual kei. I met broke guys in 2007-2008 who were trying to form a band, trying to break through, and they made it only recently or in the past two years, or they didn't make it at all. Fact is, these Bloodlust guys didn't even try much to get into the metalcore scene before they made their leap of faith into the depths of despair.

[doombox 4421]

I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at since vk is like the antithesis of metalcore/hardcore, it's not a logical step for any metalcore band. And Crossfaith didn't make a name for themselves simply by being metalcore. They made a name for themselves because they had an intense live show and consistently decent music (up until recently I'd say).. unless that's what you're implying and I'm just getting tripped up by your wording. There are a lot of bands that don't even last a year in the scene, let alone a year and a half. If you're playing a year and a half and no one knows who you are in a scene that was fairly small (at that time), yeah it was time for some kind of change, imo. 

[Lestat 2167]

Metalcore a small scene in 2011? Please don't kid me. Those were the years band after band toured the world, without a single stop. Around that time I have seen countless metalcore and deathcore bands that I completely lost count of who and what I've seen. Shows every week, not just single lives but at least four bands performing at every gig, lasting for 6:00 til 0:00 — don't imply those years were bad for that scene because they were absolutely not, the scene was never bigger than at that time.

[doombox 4421]

Metalcore a small scene in 2011? 

"2007-2008" Just after was basically when the trend really started gaining ground and metalcore bands starting popping up out of the woodwork everywhere in Tokyo. But thank you for that history lesson that has nothing to do with the point.

[Lestat 2167]

Why do I even still write in this topic, having an opinion obviously isn't welcomed.

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

If Nocturnal Bloodlust had a future as a metalcore band then one would have at least expected them to come up with stuff that wasn't stolen for their demos. I'm willing to go as far as to claim that everything on those is stolen from riffs to vocal melodies to that sample from Eyeless. Coincidentally I also think this is their best material along with the song they ripped off from Chelsea Grin later on lolol.

 

Whether they became visual kei because they genuinely like it or because being a visual kei band seems to be a pretty good short term marketing decision for bands going nowhere, we will never know. However for example if any local band from where I'm from had ripped off the classics to the degree NB did, they'd be a laughing stock at gigs and on the web for sure - so re-branding is something to consider. All in all I think NB had absolutely nothing to give but relative instrumental virtuosity and that's not very rare in new metal.

 

I also think all those bands now having metalcore tropes in their sound is nothing new under the sun. It's just like when in the early 2000's bands started having nu-metal riffs and shouty angry man vocals, now this metalcore thing is the latest fad that is transforming the visual kei landscape. In my opinon All these bands are so distinctly visual kei that they wouldn't pass off as anything else without having to alter their sound and the way they go about on a fundamental level. 

[doombox 4421]

Why do I even still write in this topic, having an opinion obviously isn't welcomed.

Welcomed and agreed with are 2 different things. This is the unpopular opinion thread, after all.

[violetchain 912]

Welcomed and agreed with are 2 different things. This is the unpopular opinion thread, after all.

Yes, in the end, if a bunch of people disagree with your opinion in this thread then it really is an unpopular one and it should be here.

 

But it also means that tons of people are going to gang up to try to convince you you're wrong. Just comes with the territory. 

[doombox 4421]

But it also means that tons of people are going to gang up to try to convince you you're wrong. Just comes with the territory. 

I guess yes, some topics can get quite heated, but  generally I just see the regulars in here who like to put their two cents in and discuss the post of the day. Myself included. Generally because the unpopular opinions are much more interesting for me. Are we really that bad? lol