Reel Society Music

[Geezer]

I literally couldn't have loved this article any more!
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/your-ba ... -sucks.php

[silversurfer19]

What a pretentious snob!

[Shrykespeare]

Yowch. Harsh.

[silversurfer19]

It's very easy to stand on a soap box though and proclaim something as rubbish without backing yourself up with anything to validate your statement. He doesn't say who are good and why, he just slams Radiohead because he doesn't like them. Saying things like "I won't tell you what mine is, because even if you'd heard of them, which you haven't, you couldn't even begin to understand them. I like my favorite band because they're great", established in just a few lines how much of an idiot he is. And then to dig his grave even deeper he then goes on to spend a few paragraphs making himself more pretentious, arrogant and snobby than Radiohead have done over the last 20 years!

In 50 years, everyone will still know who Radiohead are and the influence they have had upon music. Will anyone know this guy? I don't think I even need to answer the question...

[Buscemi]

They should do Blink 182 Sucks to even the score.

[Shrykespeare]

While I did find some humor in the article, I think I have to side with Surfer on this.

He calls himself a "scientist". LIke, what does that even mean? Does he have a doctorate in musicology? I find that a bit insulting, like the cliched, arrogant movie/TV Federal Agent who finds it only necessary to show his ID to the lowly street cops for like 1/10 second before snapping it shut and put it back in his pocket. If we're supposed to be impressed by his credentials, it would be nice to know WHAT THE FUCK THEY ARE.

And then, when you include lines like "I'm not condescending to you. I'm smarter than you. There's a difference." Reeeeeaaalllly? Maybe I'm The Mayor of Simpleton, but I'm finding myself hard-pressed to understand just what that difference is. I know many people that I consider myself smarter than, but I don't go up to their front doors, ring their doorbells and tell them that.

So he thinks Radiohead sucks. Big fat hairy deal. So do a lot of people. And a lot of people think they don't. Such is music. I'm sure a lot of people at the time thought the Beatles sucked too. And Elvis. And James Brown. And Bob Dylan. And Elton John.

Thing is, I find the guy's whole opinion elitist and cowardly. He doesn't want to tell us his favorite band because "we've never heard of them". To which I'd say, "Well, how the FUCK would you know? Maybe you'd be surprised of who I've heard of." The only reason you're not telling us who your favorite band is is because then you assume we'd take equal delight in trashing them. Again, such is the way of the world.

God knows, Radiohead are not my favorite band. For the most part, I don't "get" a lot of their music. But this guy has made a preemptive strike against anyone who might rise up to take a contrary position... anyone who defends Radiohead will instantly be dismissed as an "internet nerd", or a "glassy-eyed follower", or a "lazy tin-eared baby".

Imagine a political debate where one candidate viciously rips the other candidate's prospective policies and reforms to tiny shreds. Just then, the bell goes "ding", and the other candidate opens his mouth to begin, "Well, I think..." only to look over at the other podium to find that his opponent has already left the building. If you were watching this debate, who would you side with?

To quote Anton Ego, "Bad reviews are fun to write and to read", and I do enjoy it when something bad, whether it be a book, an album, a movie, a restaurant, etc. gets torn a new orifice by someone with the vocabulary to leave an indelible scar on whoever perpetrated the offense . And this guy's opinion was, at times, quite fun to read. But after a while, it seemed more like a vendetta, like he was getting even with Radiohead because in high school his girlfriend dumped him for some guy who always wore a Radiohead T-shirt.

Tell me I'm wrong.

[silversurfer19]

How can you always so eloquently translate exactly what I have been rambling on about, Shryke? [wink]

[Shrykespeare]

Practice, brutha, practice.


And, let me add, his final line, "Feel free to never under any circumstances e-mail me and share your mentally stunted rambings", which includes a FUCKING LINK to his e-mail address, is maybe the most arrogant thing of all. Like he's double-dog daring us to send him our opinion, and telling us that he's not going to even bother to read them even if we do. Sheesh, what a prick.

Sounds like he's gearing up to trash other bands that have spent years garnering respect, admiration and a healthy longevity. ("I look forward to the opportunity to shit upon all that you hold sacred, because it’s the only way you’ll ever learn, you media-addled philistines.") I wonder if his next targets will include bands like Green Day, or Red Hot Chili Peppers, or Foo Fighters, or any other popular band that is destined for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In fact, I'd bet that they are. He could slam Lady Gaga, or Justin Bieber, but that would make him no different than EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO LEAVES HATEFUL COMMENTS ON YOUTUBE, would it? (I mean, doesn't it just gall you when you get to read about how much Justin Bieber sucks while you're watching the video for Pink Floyd's "Money"?)

Geez, if this guy does any more articles like this, please provide links so I can delight in how much he's overcompensating for some deep-rooted inner turmoil.

[Buscemi]

Shryke, you are one hell of a critic and analyzer.

Now analyze Armond White for us.

[silversurfer19]

Geez, if this guy does any more articles like this, please provide links so I can delight in how much he's overcompensating for some deep-rooted inner turmoil.

Take your pick... http://www.somethingawful.com/d/your-band-sucks/

[Shrykespeare]

Yikes. I hope all that bile becomes malignant. I went through a few of his movie reviews to see if there were any that he liked. Surprisingly, there were, but not many.

Analyze Armond White, Boosh? Just remind me who that is again...

(kidding, kind of... shows you how much of my brainspace I devote to his drivel)

[numbersix]

Actually I keep meaning to write an article on Armond White, as I do believe he has a method and a philosophy, even if it comes out as stark raving bonkers sometimes.

As for that article, I didn't finish it. Don't see much point in debating it as its more a form of well-written trolling than anything else. A few thing sI will say: Radiohead were huge before the internet. He claims Paranoid Android is "basically Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, weirded up about 80% and without the element of irony that made it at least bearable". If he doesn't get the irony in a band who utilise irony in the majority of their songs, then the joke is on him.

Finally, his early point "the basic problem of rock fans is that they're a bunch of lazy tin-eared babies who would gladly gobble up whatever some circle-jerking hype-rag like Spin or Rolling Stone tells them to like" is applicable to EVERY FORM OF MUSIC, and without doubt the music he likes has fans who appreciate it for those same reasons.

The fact that he refuses to state the music he likes (and says we wouldn't konw them) leads me to believe this is some sort of parody article, and not worth much because it's impossible to know if it's genuine or not.

[Buscemi]

Seeing that he's a Goon (the nickname for Something Awful members), he probably likes Blink 182, Korn and any style ending in core.

[Geezer]

Love to see how personal you Radiohead fans take this shitty band!!!

The article is obviously over the top, and it wasn't written to be all that serious. You should be able to tell that by the first few paragraphs. I take it more as an article which is meant to make fans of any particular band look at why they like said band, more so than actually bashing Radiohead. Because that part is SO over the top, and more humorous than it is serious. I thought it was funny, and I also hate Radiohead, which makes it even better. The fact that the fans among us didn't catch the humor, and just sprung to the defense of their shitty music and decided to bash the writer of a humorous piece, well, it just kinda proves the point.

At least 6 brought this up at the end of his post.

[silversurfer19]

To be honest though Geez, most of us haven't really "sprung to the defence" of Radiohead's music, most on here wouldn't even call themselves fans, it's more we've just been irritated by this guys obvious obnoxiousness and how he basically makes an idiot of himself in just a few short paragraphs. And yeah, I got that he was maybe trying to be ironic, but if that was his intention it came off pretty poorly.