Post your "UNPOPULAR" music opinions!

[Lestat 2167]

Look, CAT5: this is exactly what I meant in my PM.

[hiroki 5521]

sigh. lets just say that while neither a complete lack of moderation nor obsessive micromanagement on the part of the mods is a very pleasant thing, striking a balance between the two is an unenviable job. so, let us help them by exercising some self-discretion/censorship, especially if you're the kind who take offense more easily than most and are aware that the thread is likely to contain content that will offend you.

it's not possible for the mods to keep everyone happy, but it is possible for you to not give others a chance to annoy you.

[violetchain 912]

 

But really though, this is quite tame.

Yes, I really don't see a problem here.

 

On one of the forums I used to post on there was an entire board dedicated to hating on other posters. There were people stalking posters they didn't like from thread to thread to bait them into arguments or to bring up stupid things they said in the past - completely derailing new discussions with pages and pages of repetitive bickering, there were people making horrible photoshops using pictures from the show yourself thread, people trying to find out the names and addresses of posters so they could harass them IRL and looking through their other accounts (facebook, myspace, online reviews, and even things like shopping wishlists) to try to dig up any sort of info they could use to make them look bad. Those are the type of things that make a forum feel like an unsafe place to express yourself, IMO. While it was never directed at me, the creepiness of some of the regular posters got so intense a few years ago that I just couldn't enjoy posting there anymore.

 

A little swearing and name-calling during an internet argument is really nothing to get worked up about - you just click on another thread and it goes away. Unless someone is following you around the board or spamming you with PMs, I really don't think you need to call in a mod to intervene.

[eiheartx 1310]

On one of the forums I used to post on there was an entire board dedicated to hating on other posters. There were people stalking posters they didn't like from thread to thread to bait them into arguments or to bring up stupid things they said in the past - completely derailing new discussions with pages and pages of repetitive bickering, there were people making horrible photoshops using pictures from the show yourself thread, people trying to find out the names and addresses of posters so they could harass them IRL and looking through their other accounts (facebook, myspace, online reviews, and even things like shopping wishlists) to try to dig up any sort of info they could use to make them look bad.

 

OMG this is scary as fuck

[Lestat 2167]

I am certain that some people are given more freedom to 'express' themselves than others — because I have seen others do the general swearing and they immediately got a warning while it was even less offensive than this is.

Once someone accuses you directly of being annoying like the always lovely and positive Sakura Seven just did, and you defend yourself, you are the bad guy and you will get moderators breathing down your neck. It's just ridiculous.

[JukaForever 758]

Yes, I really don't see a problem here.

 

On one of the forums I used to post on there was an entire board dedicated to hating on other posters. There were people stalking posters they didn't like from thread to thread to bait them into arguments or to bring up stupid things they said in the past - completely derailing new discussions with pages and pages of repetitive bickering, there were people making horrible photoshops using pictures from the show yourself thread, people trying to find out the names and addresses of posters so they could harass them IRL and looking through their other accounts (facebook, myspace, online reviews, and even things like shopping wishlists) to try to dig up any sort of info they could use to make them look bad. Those are the type of things that make a forum feel like an unsafe place to express yourself, IMO. While it was never directed at me, the creepiness of some of the regular posters got so intense a few years ago that I just couldn't enjoy posting there anymore.

 

A little swearing and name-calling during an internet argument is really nothing to get worked up about - you just click on another thread and it goes away. Unless someone is following you around the board or spamming you with PMs, I really don't think you need to call in a mod to intervene.

 

I used to be in FB groups for rap battle competitions to do exactly this, it would've been cowardly to keep your profile private. lol "show yourself threads" ? Everybody was going to get checked one way or another and a strong backbone needs to be developed early on. Even if you can't hold your own with comebacks, you can still learn when and when not to give a fuck about what anybody says.

[Zeus 7997]

Since everyone seems to be scared of CAT5's peace and happiness mod color I'll revive the topic again.

One of the problems with sustaining visual kei is that future musicians grew up enjoying the music of their time. This may not sound bad but the trend is for each generation of musicians to have a narrower and narrower experience until the genre becomes nothing but repeated cliches and tropes. We've already witnessed that happening with visual kei. It is the occasional person who comes into the scene with outside experiences and ideas that brings new ideas into the scene and they are either hugely successful or rejected entirely.

 

Visual kei is definitely at that point where the entire scene revolves around repeated cliches and tropes. Of course there are the outlier bands that play unorthodox music (and are either completely ignored or hugely successful) but there is definitely a strong preference towards metalcore / deathcore mixed with pop. But since visual kei bands tend to be influenced by one another, few bands can truly expand on the sound. They either rehash ideas or borrow riffs from Western artists and hope that nobody notices.

 

It's the new bands that don't play metalcore that are the true saviors of visual kei. Visual kei needs some new ideas and these bands are the ones brave enough to play something different. Whenever one of these bands comes across a winning combination of ideas it's co-opted by other visual kei bands and expands the scope of the whole scene by just a little bit. The surge of metalcore as the preferred genre of visual kei music within the last ten years (and the surge of additional electronic elements within the last three years) is proof in itself!

 

So what's my opinion? If we look back at the last twenty years, there have been two gigantic shifts in sound. They occur roughly every ten years. Now would be the time where a gigantic shift in stylistic influences would take place yet I don't see the signs of it happening. Visual kei needs to switch it up to stay relevant and it needs to do something to regain the identity it's been slowly losing. Bands have beat the metalcore / pop combo to death for so long that we're now flogging bedrock, and a lot of bands just look like mannequins for tacky clothing instead of using the aesthetics to tie into their concepts.

I'm waiting for a band to come in and change the entire game. I see a few contenders here and there but no one has struck gold yet.

[doombox 4421]

My thing is, everyone keeps throwing metalcore in as the main vk influence now, but either I don't listen to enough visual bands these days or I just happen to listen to ones mainly not using it because I don't hear all that much metalcore. I hear metal mostly. I hear an occasional breakdown but not enough to warrant it called metalcore to me. I'm not saying anyone here is wrong, but can someone give me a list of all these bands supposedly using metalcore as their main influence? Because everytime someone says that I'm just like... who are you listening to? I can only say I've heard a turn to metalcore/hardcore riffs in the very last 2-3 years from bands like Arlequin, girugamesh, and Nocturnal Bloodlust... I've heard MUCC and DADAROMA use a single metalcore riff as a song opener and I don't really count that as going metalcore. And even counting those, it feels like a small percent? 

[Jigsaw9 6783]

^ In my opinion (or view/experience), you shouldn't take the term "metalcore" here literally. Most of the bands in question would be laughed at, I'm sure, if they were to present their music to those who listen to metalcore on a daily basis (and I'm not talking about the appearance of the bands here, of course). What most vk bands do in this "metalcore" category sounds more like watered-down modern metal, or what a 6-year-old's concept of a "heavy br00tal" riff is. So you have to take this categorization with a grain of salt I guess. Unless we're talking about, like, NOCTURNAL BLOODLUST who play kinda legit (but still kinda bland) 'core music injected into vk.

 

Also it's a bit problematic cuz most of these bands dabble in other influences too and aren't so one-dimensional as one would think. You might notice that I didn't mention any bands by name cuz sometimes I'm baffled / uncertain about this "metalcore vk" thing. XD

[doombox 4421]

Eh, if you put it that way, then yes. I guess the term is used extremely loosely in vk circles.

[hiroki 5521]

Eh, if you put it that way, then yes. I guess the term is used extremely loosely in vk circles.

my own view:

i can't help but wonder to what extent these alleged 'metalcore-vk bands' describe themselves as such, and how much of it is in fact ascribed or attributed to them by people outside vk (especially foreign fans). from what i know metalcore as a genre/scene/whatever is hardly invoked self-reflexively by vk bands. when a new band forms, they typically describe their sound in much more amorphous terms (e.g. "heavy", "melodious", etc.) on their twitter/website; and ditto during interviews, in magazines, etc. i haven't seen 'metalcore' being used by band members often, and in the rare occasion that it surfaces, chances are the term isn't being used in the strict sense as an equivalent of its western counterpart.

pushing this point further: for me, each time we attempt to transpose a term that originates in one tradition to identify an analogous phenomenon in a disparate tradition, there's always this problem of "incommensurability" since different traditions inevitably have their own historical influences, assimilated elements, cultural roots, etc. of course that isn't to say that metalcore-vk isn't a meaningful label - i guess it's still very useful for gesturing towards a particular kind of 'vk sound' amongst many, and it's perfectly natural to approximate this sound using a term (e.g. "metalcore") that's familiar to most of us. but i'll have to agree with Jigsaw that it's a much weaker sense of the word than it might seem to imply, and perhaps even one that in all likelihood wouldn't make the same kind of 'sense' to the vk members themselves as it would to us. (even here we run into a problem, since "us" is not a homogeneous group at all. the subgenre debates on Mh are the best evidence that even we can't quite agree on what "metalcore" is XD)

[doombox 4421]

Just to be clear, when I said "vk circles" I did mean forums like this one or other foreign-based visual kei fan sites, not the actual musicians themselves. I do agree, that I highly doubt the musicians themselves are using that label. At least, I haven't heard of it.

[Jigsaw9 6783]

Yeah, at most what I've seen with bands is they label themselves like "metal" or "heavy rock" or maybe "emocore" (for example on Facebook).

[Lestat 2167]

— Visual Kei bands tend to disband much quicker than western bands —

 

This is a phenomenon that has been puzzling me for quite an extended amount of time. Now, this is more of a fact than an opinion (however, it could be seen as an opinion to others who don't have a foot in western music and solely listen to Japanese music), but it's still something I'd like to discuss, or hear from others about. 

 

I often read that bands feel they have 'accomplished everything' that they were aiming for. I wonder how exactly this is possible. Don't these musicians care for their income, the meager supply that they already have if they don't have a sidejob? What purpose has it to disband and form a new band with new members plucked either from the streets, fresh out of puberty or simply from somewhere else in the scene we know them from? Every new band has to build up a fanbase again, regardless of who the members are; they'll have new looks, new sounds, a new image in general that can either repel the fans who have been following certain members in these bands for longer, or miraculously attract them regardless of whatever their favourite guy does. It's an enormous risk to take and simply a leap of faith since there is no certainty on what the future brings. For bands that, let's say, have been going steady for several years, with a steady fanbase and a steady sound that they can either stray from on the odd release out there, or stick to and perfect it, what sense is there in disbanding only to start a new project all the way from the beginning if what they have at current is completely fine? It's totally pointless to me, it's like visual kei has this rotating-system where every member of every band must have been in a group together once otherwise it'll be bad for their reputation or something. 

 

For some bands it does work out, just look at THE BLACK SWAN or 黒百合と影, but more than often do these newly formed groups completely crash and the effort of disbanding and re-forming goes in vain. Just... why?

[doombox 4421]

 

— Visual Kei bands tend to disband much quicker than western bands —

 

This is a phenomenon that has been puzzling me for quite an extended amount of time. Now, this is more of a fact than an opinion (however, it could be seen as an opinion to others who don't have a foot in western music and solely listen to Japanese music), but it's still something I'd like to discuss, or hear from others about. 

As a musician in the American market for many many years. I can tell you that's not true at all. xD It's just they don't make huge announcement with giant last gigs, they usually fizzle out quietly and just announce the next project. 

[MikuKun 83]

An Cafe is great and Miku has an amazing voice, a lot of people seem to dislike them but for me they were the beginning of everything so that's my opinion! I hate most dub step! Forgive me for I have sinned now how many hail mary's must I say? I hated Lycaon at first then they grew onto me, I used to hate all high pitched nasaly voices but I was a lot younger and more judgmental  for zero reason, I have grown out of that though, I do think Lycaon was over rated though, I like them a lot but I don't think they are absolutely stunning nor were they ever, I think they wrote good music and could make some really great song's but nothing that I will remember ten year's from now. 

 

 I don't think Cat5 is actually a cat, THERE I SAID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALSO ZEUS ISN'T REALLY THE GOD ZEUS!!!!!!!!!!!

  

  I hate fighting and I think that a lot of Visual Kei fan's are very protective of their music which lead's to a feeling of better than other artist's which then lead's to argument's about how an American band doesn't even make music compared to "Insert and name here" it's the same with kpop fan's saying that their Korean rapper is better because "Obviously all American rappers talk about is sex and drug's and degrading women" I hate that about our fanbase. I would like to rise above that, also I don't like the way people make someone into an Idol, at the end of the day everyone in these band's are the same as us, they eat then maybe go on their phone or computer and write or listen to music or go on Youtube, let's not make them into someone better than us when we are all the same. So these are some of my opinion's, I'm not asking anyone to follow my mind set I just am saying my opinion on some thing's I wish were true. Like CAT5 being a cat, oh how I wish there was a cat behind that computer. 

 

  Oh and forgive my bad punctuation please haha thank you! 

   

   Final thing, I want us fan's to all be a community or a family and understand each other and give each one of us a friend a person who love's the same thing's we love, let's not fight, let's all help each other! Thank you!

[CAT5 9075]

I don't think Cat5 is actually a cat, THERE I SAID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like CAT5 being a cat, oh how I wish there was a cat behind that computer.

[MikuKun 83]

Haha yay! You have beautiful stripes! I love the cat at the computer haha thank you for the picture!!!!!!

[eiheartx 1310]

 

— Visual Kei bands tend to disband much quicker than western bands —

 

This is a phenomenon that has been puzzling me for quite an extended amount of time. Now, this is more of a fact than an opinion (however, it could be seen as an opinion to others who don't have a foot in western music and solely listen to Japanese music), but it's still something I'd like to discuss, or hear from others about. 

 

I often read that bands feel they have 'accomplished everything' that they were aiming for. I wonder how exactly this is possible. Don't these musicians care for their income, the meager supply that they already have if they don't have a sidejob? What purpose has it to disband and form a new band with new members plucked either from the streets, fresh out of puberty or simply from somewhere else in the scene we know them from? Every new band has to build up a fanbase again, regardless of who the members are; they'll have new looks, new sounds, a new image in general that can either repel the fans who have been following certain members in these bands for longer, or miraculously attract them regardless of whatever their favourite guy does. It's an enormous risk to take and simply a leap of faith since there is no certainty on what the future brings. For bands that, let's say, have been going steady for several years, with a steady fanbase and a steady sound that they can either stray from on the odd release out there, or stick to and perfect it, what sense is there in disbanding only to start a new project all the way from the beginning if what they have at current is completely fine? It's totally pointless to me, it's like visual kei has this rotating-system where every member of every band must have been in a group together once otherwise it'll be bad for their reputation or something. 

 

For some bands it does work out, just look at THE BLACK SWAN or 黒百合と影, but more than often do these newly formed groups completely crash and the effort of disbanding and re-forming goes in vain. Just... why?

 

 

because of the labels?

I can't help, I still have in mind the hello-damage itw. Is it right, or wrong? As far as I know, I'll never look at the VK world the same way again since that.

[JukaForever 758]

An Cafe is great and Miku has an amazing voice, a lot of people seem to dislike them but for me they were the beginning of everything so that's my opinion! I hate most dub step! Forgive me for I have sinned now how many hail mary's must I say? I hated Lycaon at first then they grew onto me, I used to hate all high pitched nasaly voices but I was a lot younger and more judgmental  for zero reason, I have grown out of that though, I do think Lycaon was over rated though, I like them a lot but I don't think they are absolutely stunning nor were they ever, I think they wrote good music and could make some really great song's but nothing that I will remember ten year's from now. 

 

 I don't think Cat5 is actually a cat, THERE I SAID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALSO ZEUS ISN'T REALLY THE GOD ZEUS!!!!!!!!!!!

  

  I hate fighting and I think that a lot of Visual Kei fan's are very protective of their music which lead's to a feeling of better than other artist's which then lead's to argument's about how an American band doesn't even make music compared to "Insert and name here" it's the same with kpop fan's saying that their Korean rapper is better because "Obviously all American rappers talk about is sex and drug's and degrading women" I hate that about our fanbase. I would like to rise above that, also I don't like the way people make someone into an Idol, at the end of the day everyone in these band's are the same as us, they eat then maybe go on their phone or computer and write or listen to music or go on Youtube, let's not make them into someone better than us when we are all the same. So these are some of my opinion's, I'm not asking anyone to follow my mind set I just am saying my opinion on some thing's I wish were true. Like CAT5 being a cat, oh how I wish there was a cat behind that computer. 

 

  Oh and forgive my bad punctuation please haha thank you! 

   

   Final thing, I want us fan's to all be a community or a family and understand each other and give each one of us a friend a person who love's the same thing's we love, let's not fight, let's all help each other! Thank you!

 

preach

[emmny 4139]

is it appropriate to state my complete and utter dislike of grieva??!?!?!

im complete dumbfounded as to why they're worshiped on MH when i can't see anything from their music beyond a boring old-diru rip off with a more -core edge. i know thats part of their image but its honestly tiresome to listen to considering they've beat that horse to death throughout all their releases. their latest single sounds like obscure so LOL they'll just end up copying diru in chronological order.

im curious to hear what keeps people hooked onto them as even listening to 'em as an old dir en grey cover band is kind of painful lol. im curious to hear grieva fans/haters' opinions so please do share.

[Bear 1817]

I'm all for bands copying/ripping off/paying tribute to good bands/albums/styles, as long as it gives me good music on the table. As for Grieva, it's a band I really like and I think they're ripping off/copying/whatever you'll call it in a good, tasteful manner. I also feel like the style they were going for, especially in their early days (as I haven't heard their latest), that old school Dir en grey-style, was close to lost and forgotten so someone picking up the torch and carrying the flame of that sound is just awesome. Well, to me at least.

 

 

Also, there might be a shitload of bands going for the same, old school Dir en greyesque sound, but I am not very familia with the VK scenes these days so I wouldn't know. And I don't really give a fuck either.

 

 

 

PS: I'd love for it to come a couple of bands who copied/ripped off Kagrra. I'd fucking love it! It'd be amazing as long as they managed to write/steal and put together (hohoh!) good songs. The same goes for Sigh. And plenty of other, unique bands like no-one else out there. Yes, please!

[Des 289]

That new and hyped Sufjan Stevens record is a summary of everything I strongly dislike about that sentimental singerysongwritery "indie" rubbish.

 

I really TRIED but failed to see what's so appealing.

[emmny 4139]

That new and hyped Sufjan Stevens record is a summary of everything I strongly dislike about that sentimental singerysongwritery "indie" rubbish.

 

I really TRIED but failed to see what's so appealing.

coming from a long time sufjan fan (disclaimer: havent heard the new one) its kind of an acquired taste tbh. if you go into it with the mindset that indie rock/folk is annoying then it'll probably annoy you even more. i was a huge fan when i was younger so im a little too jaded to revisit his stuff really frequently but i think sufjans stuff is amazing when you look past the indie-isms ya feel

[shinobu. 252]

 

 

PS: I'd love for it to come a couple of bands who copied/ripped off Kagrra. I'd fucking love it! It'd be amazing as long as they managed to write/steal and put together (hohoh!) good songs. The same goes for Sigh. And plenty of other, unique bands like no-one else out there. Yes, please!

 

Yes... This.