Bands And Albums.

Then you've been a fan prior to our exchange?

There's that tasteless self-flattery being used as a meaningless, sarcastic tool I was referring to. lol. If by "fan" you mean a reader of posts as I've done with many other users on this forum, then yes, I'm just as much a fan of you as I am everybody else. lol.

Like you, I've been exposed to a lot of music - willingly and unwillingly. Unwillingly only when a friend plays something that doesn't particularly appeal to me or if it's something I can see through.

Perhaps I have gained my tolerance for music via similar scenarios. Thanks to my wonderful girlfriend, I'm gaining a hearty exposure to country. It's been difficult but I'm finally coming around to a lot of it. I will say that if there is any genre I just can't stand a majority of these days, it's hip-hop. I understand why the music makes people want to shake their butts, lol, but it's the lyrics and talentless talking into the mic for singing that really urks me the most. This isn't for all hip-hop bands, though. Clearly, my opinion as such places me in a minority as these rappers are making an amount equal to that which I will probably never see a fraction of in my entire life but that's alright. Anyway, apologies for the short rant.

Uematsu does do film and video game soundtracks doesn't he? How does that show that I'm stuck in a 'Rock and Roll' box.

While his career has been shaped with his works for video games, his solo endeavors, such as the album 'Phantasmagora', are rich with musical genius. You may laugh at "video game music" but outside of the context of video games, the music he created for the later Final Fantasy series is absolutely incredible. The fact that he landed such a job is just icing on the cake for the man. To laughably shrug him off as solely a "video game musician" is why I said you're stuck. No, you're not truly "stuck," I was merely exaggerating a point.

We both know that our influences don't show all that we listen to so neither of us truly knows the extent of the other's musical taste.

Then why make the comment you made regarding this?

Even though it means nothing, my small list of 'influences' cover more genres than your list...

Let's compare, shall we?

Music as a whole influences me.

A genreless generalization of music, thus encompassing all genres. I've got you beat right there. lol. Only kidding.

I find myself wishing I could do everything from write with Seal or Sting to write polymetric material like Textures or Meshuggah. I find inspiration from all ends of the musical spectrum. (It's worth mentioning that there is plenty of terrible music out there as well that influences me to NOT want to sound like it, lol) In no particular order and certainly nowhere near the full extent of my influeces:

I wrote this to sum up and at least tweak the interest of those like you who would possibly question my musical exposure and full range of influence. While I listed my immediate influences (which isn't even half of who immediately influences me these days), I more than expressed my inclination to be influenced by much more than what you see. From there, people could either assume and walk along, as it seems you would have, or they could approach me and ask, which seems to be something you're fond of pointing out.

Code: Select allTesseracT: Polymetric Ambient Metal
The Chronicles of Israfel (Dominic Cifarelli): Ambient experimental progressive rock
Textures: Polymetric Metal
Seal: Pop and New Age
Yanni: New Age
Sting: New Age, Pop and Classic Rock (The Police included when I say Sting but I know that isn't obvious.)
Steve Vai: Instrumental Rock
Bumblefoot: Instrumental Rock, Rock, Pop, Jazz, Funk, Blues, Chicken Pickin'
Fabrizio Leo: Jazz, Fusion, Blues, Instrumental Rock
Scott Mishoe: Instrumental Fusion, Funk
DJ Noumenon: Hip-hop DJ with very relaxing tracks.
Meshuggah: Polymetric Metal
POD: Hard Rock
Ra: Hard Rock and Hard Rock Ballads
Nobuo Uematsu: Classical, New Age
Periphery (Bulb): Polymetric Ambient Metal
Symphony X: Progressive Rock/Neoclassical
Dream Theater: Progressive Hard Rock
Rush: Classic Progressive Rock

...all musicians who are proficient with their instrument - regardless of what instrument they play,

Speaks for itself and covers every genre. I literally meant that.

Code: Select allSikth: Polymetric Metal
Ankla: Metalcore
Puya: Hard Rock fused with Latin elements.
Dark New Day: Hard Rock
Sevendust (before Clint left to form DND): Hard Rock
Divine Heresy: Heavy Metal
Silverchair (Daniel Johns is a genius): Rock, Hard Rock, Pop, Dramatic (Broadway-type of songs in albums such as Diorama)

the list just goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and you get the picture...

Simply a reiteration of all of the aforementioned.

As for you, well, you covered many genres and gave specific examples of each. You listed early folk music, early blues, R&B, country, jazz, rock, motown, soul, funk, and R&B from the '60s.

I do believe you are correct in saying you listed more genres than me but my reiterations were meant to allude to (not specify) much more. I really am looking forward to what it is you've written. My assumption (bear with me here) is that you will sound nothing like 90% of your influences. Nice list, though, as I stated previously and I do enjoy at least some of the music of every single artist you've listed there sans Carter Family and Maddox Brothers of whom I don't recall hearing but may have, just unknowingly as to who I was hearing.

The whole 'doom, apocalyptic, gloomy, angry, satan, death' Metal pretense is quite cliche in my mind - but that's my opinion. I like some heavy music but in the long run it's just not that important to me - I find a lot of it to be too pretentious. And calling some of what you like 'good' is up for debate... it's all relative to personal taste. Yes, you'll just have to trust that I'm open minded...

I'll take gloomy and angry as they can be found in just about every genre but everything else is a 90's metal state of mind. Doom, apocalypse, satan and death... meh, I tend to ignore the lyrics when it comes to such cliches. I will give you those but they are simply commonplace and a staple for their specific place within the metal spectrum. I may be really into metal but certainly not all of it. I can't stand black metal and a majority of death metal. Oh, and power rock annoys me these days, too... Sonata Arctica, Dragonforce, etc. Talented musicians but boring music.

I'm not yet up for debating why you think a lot of what I listen to is sub-par and I don't. You're absolutely right that it's all relative to personal taste, so for the time being, let's just leave it at we like who we like. I AM up for debating the issue, just not in this thread. Rain check?

This last reply of yours allows me to see you for being a little more open-minded than I had originally thought. +1, Seth.

Like I said, my list of influences covers more ground then yours does. I never listed my influences but I suppose you could have looked them up and somehow concluded that I'm not well rounded. Your very last sentence above can be said about me as well - we're the same here. I could go into why I don't enjoy many of the artists you listed if you'd like me to. Throughout the history of music there have been so many great artists, creations, innovations; Heavy music just seems entirely insignificant to me - again, I could go into why if you'd like.

See reply above regarding list of influences. I'm curious as to what you mean by you never listed your influences. I got them from your bandmix profile. You certainly seem well-rounded with what you like but you didn't even allude to anything other than the genres you specified. It seems as though my listing the likes of Muddy Waters and B.B. King would be equal to that of you listing early Silverchair or Rush. If someone wants to know, we'll tell them, otherwise, it's moot to bash one another for not listing everything we enjoy.

Why would you claim to be well rounded and post such a vague list? If you were trying to prove something then you should have listed more bands and genres for me to sift through. I'm not assuming, I'm concluding based on what you've given me (sound familiar?). If it's important enough for you to prove otherwise then I'll be looking forward to it. What other assumptions have I made? I've got time; I'm taking online classes so I'm here for hours...

Once again, you missed my point. My claim of well-roundedness was to be fully supported by solely my bandmix list of influences. I've just been using that which I've mentioned and written here on bandmix, as have you. What you consider vague was merely an effort to allow an avenue for those interested to inquire on what more they'd like to know that wasn't listed. That's all. If you wanted more bands to sift through, all you had to do before was ask. I won't sit here and attempt to prove my well-roundedness right now - I have a feeling we'll both demonstrate our well-roundedness in the end. I will just trust you for now.

Quote:
- but, different strokes I guess...

Uh oh... Is that what I think it is?

An aphorism?

Clever twist but you're not getting away with it that easily, Seth. lol.

I didn't assume your influences aren't well rounded, all one has to do is look. And nobody's perfect... we all know that. And by all means, listen to my song when I post it. I'll listen to your music as well - when I'm not sitting here with a throbbing headache.

Agreed. I would like to think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you hear. If you listen to my songs with a critique on songwriting and production, you'll be disappointed. What I posted was merely to showcase a few of my ideas as a guitarist to tweak the interest of potential musicians I'd like to work with. Unlike MacLeod, I rather enjoy a lot of what I write regardless of negative opinion from others. Constructive criticism is one thing but just as everyone likes music, they also like to hate music. Take what I have posted on my player for what it's worth and if you don't have anything good or positively (not sarcastically) constructive to say, then please refrain from commenting and I'll do the same with yours.

A reiteration without my having to type it:

I acknowledge your intelligence and feel that your opinion could be beneficial on any given topic. Don't let that go to your head, though. Self-flattery is incredibly tasteless - even when used solely as a meaningless sarcastic tool.

Well said.

You know neither of us would return and waste the time if it were completely fruitless...

Good call. Agreed.

You'll agree that blasphemy from a nonbeliever is less severe than from a believer. Perhaps you didn't find my preface as humorous or ironic as I did.

I actually thought I found your preface to be more ironic and humorous than you, seeing it as without being face-to-face with you and getting a feel for your sarcasm, it appeared as if you were just making your closing remarks. And yes, I will agree. 110%.

-Stephen

Ok, ok, the sarcastic banter is gone. No more of that... I know I'm not speaking with an invalid here so I'll respect you and leave it out...

I'm gaining a hearty exposure to country. It's been difficult but I'm finally coming around to a lot of it. I will say that if there is any genre I just can't stand a majority of these days, it's hip-hop. I understand why the music makes people want to shake their butts, lol, but it's the lyrics and talentless talking into the mic for singing that really urks me the most. This isn't for all hip-hop bands, though. Clearly, my opinion as such places me in a minority as these rappers are making an amount equal to that which I will probably never see a fraction of in my entire life but that's alright. Anyway, apologies for the short rant.

Country is one of America's great enduring genres born out of folk music. It also comes from blues before the turn of the (20th) century. I honestly have trouble getting into a lot of the country music made post 1990s but there are so many great country artists out there. George Jones and George Strait are living legends (the latter still achieving #1 hits on the charts) and Willie Nelson had some avant guard country records in the '70s that are interesting. Of course there's Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline... I could go on and on but I'd write for hours...

I too dislike a lot of the hip hop that's around. Just like movies were made to do in the '80s, a lot of popular music is made to cater to the lowest common denominator. Rap, not all, but most (it seems) today typically has a simple beat, cheap instrumentation, nonsensical/hedonistic/immature lyrics, and pretty much just ruins the reason rap was created - to give a voice to black people and 'the streets'. I doubt the evolution of black music into hip hop was so a little idiot can inform us all that 'this is why I'm hot, I'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you ain't 'cause you not...' (referencing a certain Rap single that's out).

Now let me apologize for that rant!

You may laugh at "video game music" but outside of the context of video games, the music he created for the later Final Fantasy series is absolutely incredible. The fact that he landed such a job is just icing on the cake for the man. To laughably shrug him off as solely a "video game musician" is why I said you're stuck. No, you're not truly "stuck," I was merely exaggerating a point.

I do recognize the genius of his art and it's great that he has an outlet for his work that may not have otherwise been available. It's more the 21st century virtual reality obsession that rubs me the wrong way. I dislike the depersonalization, desensitization and individualism that comes with it. That's an entirely different topic though!

This is only for fun and is not meant to prove or mean anything - but since you listed the genres/sub-genres of the influences in your profile I will do the same for mine:

Field Recordings, Traditional Folk, Political Folk, Old-Timey, Traditional Country, Appalachian Folk, Close Harmony, Folk Revival, Prewar Country Blues, Acoustic Blues, Country-Blues, Delta Blues, Prewar Blues, Slide Guitar Blues, Gospel Blues, Piedmont Blues, Prewar Gospel Blues, Prewar Country Blues, Folk-Blues, Gospel, Piano Blues, Electric Blues, Chicago Blues, Soul, R&B, Urban Blues, Jazz Blues, Country-Soul, Pop-Soul, Pop, Texas Blues, Rock & Roll, Country Boogie, Bakersfield Sound, Cowboy, Country-Pop, Rockabilly, Honky Tonk, Jazz-Funk, Bop, Cool, Fusion, Post-Bop, Hard-Bop, Modal Music, Jazz-Rock, Avant Guard, Free Jazz, New Orleans R&B, Blues Rock, Harmonica-Blues, Electric Harmonica-Blues, British Invasion, Psychedelic, British Psychedelia, Merseybeat, Pop/Rock, Folk-Rock, Country-Rock, Album Rock, Singer/Songwriter...

Those are all (or most) of the possible sub-genres my list of influences fall under. The basic genres, though, are Folk, Blues, Country, Jazz, R&B, and Rock & Roll. I won't even go into the 'various Motown, Soul, Funk, and R&B sub-genres from the '60s' part of my influences...

I'm not yet up for debating why you think a lot of what I listen to is sub-par and I don't. You're absolutely right that it's all relative to personal taste, so for the time being, let's just leave it at we like who we like. I AM up for debating the issue, just not in this thread. Rain check?

Defintiely. And I'll leave out the sarcasm too (seriously)...

See reply above regarding list of influences. I'm curious as to what you mean by you never listed your influences.

I just meant that I never posted them in this thread.

I would like to think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what you hear. If you listen to my songs with a critique on songwriting and production, you'll be disappointed. What I posted was merely to showcase a few of my ideas as a guitarist to tweak the interest of potential musicians I'd like to work with. Unlike MacLeod, I rather enjoy a lot of what I write regardless of negative opinion from others. Constructive criticism is one thing but just as everyone likes music, they also like to hate music. Take what I have posted on my player for what it's worth and if you don't have anything good or positively (not sarcastically) constructive to say, then please refrain from commenting and I'll do the same with yours.

I'll listen to your ideas and discuss them constructively. I'll do so soon enough; I'm about to fall asleep right now!

Kenny Rogers.... I think is one of the best songwriters there ever was. You know he wrote "I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in"... I was just watching the big lebowski the other day.
THE DUDE ABIDES.

Anywho, I think of the song "the coward of the county" and think it is perhaps one of the best stories I've ever heard. "Don't take yer love to town" -another great.
and of course "In a barroom in toledo, across from the depo..." You really have to get past his genre to like his lyrics... but he's def one of the best.
AFA loggins... he wrote: "even tho we ain't got money, I'm so in love with you honey"
he wrote a crapload of populare music that was recorded by other musicians. He wrote "I'm all right... don't nobody worry bout me... why you got to give me a fight... why can't you just let me be" - caddy shack.
He wrote footloose. Not a big fan of his style but def respect him as a songwriter. He's a lot like john hiatt - except he actually had some popularity.

AFA math... I'm a big fan. I've always enjoyed it... right up untill I had to take "discrete math". Then I cried and cried... combinatorics... now that's some difficult stuff to grasp.

Oddly enough dr169 is sticking to his claim that he is as smart as steven hawking... of course he offers nothing whatsoever to back that up...
hmmm, why isn't he working for NASA? I think he might be adding a one at the front... gives new meaning to the phrase "off by one".
I bet he could answer the math questions I posted in seconds...
mv

ONE OF THE GREAT ARTIST LIONEL RITCHIE, PRINCE, & WILLIE NELSON ?

what do you mean vandb?

what do you mean vandb?

Rodgers, Ritchie, Prince, & Nelson. Are all great song writers. Wrote alot of good songs for other Artist.......Later.

oh, yeah, I'd have to agree.
I wasnt' sure if you were saying krodgers wrote for nelson, richie, etc.

well who can hate prince the mans a genius

i'm not sure how smart he is but he certainly wrote a great album w purple rain - I don't care if it is a metaphor! great gtr playing skills.
his solo on prpul rain is fantastic. the song breaks my heart every time I hear it.
I'm not sure he has written so many "great stories"... little nicky might not qualify!

Yeah, I think Purple Rain is a great album (and song) as well. The Neo-Psychedelia of his music with the Revolution is intriguing. I think his other records such as Dirty Mind, 1999, and Sign 'O' The Times are equally as impressive. And he definitely knows how to rock a guitar!

speaking of gtr tho... that friken symbol gtr is damn ugly. when he threw that thing out into the crowd at the supbowl I thought for sure someone would be dead. whatever happened to the white one he had on "when doves cry" - now that was a nice and unique gtr shape. I love why he renamed himself the symbol... but that gtr is perhaps the ugliest thing I've ever scene barring perhaps steve vais heart shaped 3neck.
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugly. can I get an amen?

Ok, ok, the sarcastic banter is gone. No more of that... I know I'm not speaking with an invalid here so I'll respect you and leave it out...

Likewise. I must say, though, I haven't had a good run for my money like that in a good couple of years or so!

Country is one of America's great enduring genres born out of folk music. It also comes from blues before the turn of the (20th) century. I honestly have trouble getting into a lot of the country music made post 1990s but there are so many great country artists out there. George Jones and George Strait are living legends (the latter still achieving #1 hits on the charts) and Willie Nelson had some avant guard country records in the '70s that are interesting. Of course there's Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline... I could go on and on but I'd write for hours...

I too dislike a lot of the hip hop that's around. Just like movies were made to do in the '80s, a lot of popular music is made to cater to the lowest common denominator. Rap, not all, but most (it seems) today typically has a simple beat, cheap instrumentation, nonsensical/hedonistic/immature lyrics, and pretty much just ruins the reason rap was created - to give a voice to black people and 'the streets'. I doubt the evolution of black music into hip hop was so a little idiot can inform us all that 'this is why I'm hot, I'm hot 'cause I'm fly, you ain't 'cause you not...' (referencing a certain Rap single that's out).

Agreed with all. And yes, that lyric is retarded. I've never seen such an over-glorification of ego in my life. Even egotistical musicians like Yngwie Malmsteen would be put to shame with the level of ego some of these rap "artists" have. Ugh, I start to get angry just thinking about it...

This is only for fun and is not meant to prove or mean anything - but since you listed the genres/sub-genres of the influences in your profile I will do the same for mine:

Field Recordings, Traditional Folk, Political Folk, Old-Timey, Traditional Country, Appalachian Folk, Close Harmony, Folk Revival, Prewar Country Blues, Acoustic Blues, Country-Blues, Delta Blues, Prewar Blues, Slide Guitar Blues, Gospel Blues, Piedmont Blues, Prewar Gospel Blues, Prewar Country Blues, Folk-Blues, Gospel, Piano Blues, Electric Blues, Chicago Blues, Soul, R&B, Urban Blues, Jazz Blues, Country-Soul, Pop-Soul, Pop, Texas Blues, Rock & Roll, Country Boogie, Bakersfield Sound, Cowboy, Country-Pop, Rockabilly, Honky Tonk, Jazz-Funk, Bop, Cool, Fusion, Post-Bop, Hard-Bop, Modal Music, Jazz-Rock, Avant Guard, Free Jazz, New Orleans R&B, Blues Rock, Harmonica-Blues, Electric Harmonica-Blues, British Invasion, Psychedelic, British Psychedelia, Merseybeat, Pop/Rock, Folk-Rock, Country-Rock, Album Rock, Singer/Songwriter...

Those are all (or most) of the possible sub-genres my list of influences fall under. The basic genres, though, are Folk, Blues, Country, Jazz, R&B, and Rock & Roll. I won't even go into the 'various Motown, Soul, Funk, and R&B sub-genres from the '60s' part of my influences...

I read this and giggled. I forgot to mention in my last reply that I understood it looked like I was trying to get into sub-genres. My reasoning for mentioning it wasn't to try to add more genres than you but rather to convey that my list didn't solely consist of simply "metal," per se. I'm sure you realized the difference within the sub-genres but I wasn't sure if you were aware that I did as well. I'm generalizing with what I'm about to say, so don't think I'm aiming this at you: It does aggrivate me to a degree when someone bashes metal in it's totality and then classifies me as a metalhead. I'm sure there are a lot of guys out there like that but not all metal is what I would consider "great" by any stretch of the imagination but... there are fans out there for just about everyone who would beg to differ, so I usually just leave people to like what they like without challenging them. I'm not sure if you saw my rant in another thread regarding people making personal and emotional connections with the music they like regardless of if they realize it or not but I think that's why people take it so personally when others bash the music they like. I feel these things simply can't be explained to or solved for select individuals solely through debate. I suppose that's one of the things I find incredible about music is how everyone uniquely perceives it.

Defintiely. And I'll leave out the sarcasm too (seriously)...

I'll listen to your ideas and discuss them constructively. I'll do so soon enough...

Likewise.

When are you planning on posting that song at this point? I'm looking forward to your thoughts on what I have posted; just remember what I said about them before you listen to them and try to go into them without any preconceived notions. (Impossible, I know, but I thought I'd mention it) I certainly have a lot more I can upload for opinions if what I have posted doesn't give you any positive vibes regarding my playing but I'll leave it up to you as to if you want to go that far with it.

Boy, that was a rocky start to where we are now... lmao.

-Stephen

Mike,

Oddly enough dr169 is sticking to his claim that he is as smart as steven hawking... of course he offers nothing whatsoever to back that up...
hmmm, why isn't he working for NASA? I think he might be adding a one at the front... gives new meaning to the phrase "off by one".
I bet he could answer the math questions I posted in seconds...

Haha I get some kind of weird satisfaction out of referring to him as 169! I wonder, though, if that's really just feeding his ego... I was going to strike up something with him when he responded to my Rock and Roll Republicanism comment by replying to Dionyses and saying it was for both of us. Seriously, only the 'haha' in his reply had anything to do with my comment - that makes me want to call him 169 even more. And that was perfect saying maybe he added a one to the front of his IQ score hahaha... He probably really does score highly, but every test is different. He said the lowest he scored was in the 140s, right? Of course one will pick his highest score to gloat on... Once I scored in the 110s, which is just above average; on another test I scored in the 120s, which is a step over above average; and in another test I scored in the 130s which is genius... How can you really test intelligence? There are so many different kinds of intelligence, you know?

Stephen,

yes, that lyric is retarded. I've never seen such an over-glorification of ego in my life. Ugh, I start to get angry just thinking about it...

Yeah, I know what you mean. I always think I overreact when I hear those kinds of songs but really I think we have a good basis for frustration with those artists.

I forgot to mention in my last reply that I understood it looked like I was trying to get into sub-genres. My reasoning for mentioning it wasn't to try to add more genres than you but rather to convey that my list didn't solely consist of simply "metal," per se. I'm sure you realized the difference within the sub-genres but I wasn't sure if you were aware that I did as well. I suppose that's one of the things I find incredible about music is how everyone uniquely perceives it.

Oh, I totally understood what you meant. I only listed those sub-genres because I'm so obsessed with music that I feel elation just by listing them - simple as that. It may sound sad, but I had fun making that list haha. And I completely agree with your last sentence above.

When are you planning on posting that song at this point? I'm looking forward to your thoughts on what I have posted; just remember what I said about them before you listen to them and try to go into them without any preconceived notions. (Impossible, I know, but I thought I'd mention it) I certainly have a lot more I can upload for opinions if what I have posted doesn't give you any positive vibes regarding my playing but I'll leave it up to you as to if you want to go that far with it.

I should be finishing my song sometime this week. I was supposed to go into my friend's studio and finish it last week but that never happened. Anyway, the song I recorded is just a basic Pop-Rock song. The guitar part is simple enough (with hardly any variation complete with a solo in that context); the emphasis in my song is more on the interweaving vocal parts and the arrangement. I'm not the greatest singer but I'm definitely trying! I probably should have recorded a song that was more influenced by Folk and Blues to suit my voice.

I'll give your songs/ideas a good and constructive listen tomorrow or the next day. I've been inundated with homework lately so I haven't had time for much else. I'll start by listening to what you have, and if you want me to hear anything else I'd be happy to listen to whatever you upload. I'll also try to download those Silverchair songs/albums you wanted me to hear...

["quote="phrailguitarist"]Boy, that was a rocky start to where we are now... lmao.[/quote]

Yeah, tell me about it! It's funny because after all that I can't say I dislike you one bit. Mike and I did the same thing under another thread in the General Chat section a while ago. Much respect to you both.

I gotta say davis... dude IS pretty smart. I asked him a reletively tuff question and he knocked it outta the park. 2 of 3 programmers at my work got it right away and we tend to be "spocks" afa logic goes. I've talked to him on occassion and he is actually a pretty nice guy too.
I'm just still trying to get over the fact that al gore is apparently smarter than me based on IQ. How the hell did he get all those math related problems right? vin diagrams and what not... guess I'll just go home and cry.
IQ tests are only relatively valid anyway... how else do you explain warholl scoreing an 86, james woods scoring 180 - and hawking scoring a 160? what the?
Plus, based on your experience, how accurate can they be if you don't score the same every time? or at least within 10 pts of prev scores? If it's really measuring your intelligence potential you'd think there would be some consistency, right?
Did I mention al gore is smarter tham me?

Yeah, I know what you mean. I always think I overreact when I hear those kinds of songs but really I think we have a good basis for frustration with those artists.

I know exactly what you mean about wondering if I'm overreacting! My girlfriend really likes hip-hop and isn't bothered one bit by any of it. When we're riding somewhere and she radio-surfs her way to the hip-hop station around here, she'll start wanting to dance and what not and I get it that it's enjoyable for her ONLY in that aspect. She acknowledges that the lyrics are stupid in a majority of the songs but when I hear her singing them sometimes I just get really, really aggrivated. It's like I can't help but be negatively affected by crap like the lyric you typed a couple of posts ago. Now, guys like Ludacris and Eminem... They make me laugh. I don't mind the rappers who, even though they don't have much to seriously say, add the comedic element to their rapping. I love comedy, so in a sense, I look at albums by those guys as somewhat of a comedic performance over beats. I know a lot of people find them solely aggrivating because they have nothing to say but for me, it's like going to buy an Adam Sandler CD. It's comedic and he throws that content over songs sometimes. Granted, it was years ago that I enjoyed Adam Sandler on CD but you get my point. I don't take the comedic rappers seriously at all but these guys who are just so full of ego absolutely... man, I just can't even begin to express to you how angry I get when their words polute my ears either through their songs or through when my girlfriend is humming a tune. Now, she's mainly into country - she really is a country girl but she really likes to dance and I know that hip-hop can be an excellent source of music to dance to. Seeing it as I prefer to dance my fingers all over a fretboard as opposed to shakin' my ass, so to speak, lol, I can't relate to that aspect of it... but I understand it. Anyway, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who gets aggrivated by ignorant hip-hop. It also perturbs me that they make the gross, gross amount of money they make for their "music." Dare I say I feel that someone such as you or myself or any other number of talented musicians who have a passion for more than ignorant lyrics deserves that type of money instead? That's not to undermine those who have a real talent and passion for what they do in hip-hop but there are so many more deserving musicians out there who will never see a fraction of what just one of these guys makes. It's quite disheartening, actually, but that's the hip-hop music biz, unfortunately.

I should be finishing my song sometime this week. I was supposed to go into my friend's studio and finish it last week but that never happened. Anyway, the song I recorded is just a basic Pop-Rock song. The guitar part is simple enough (with hardly any variation complete with a solo in that context); the emphasis in my song is more on the interweaving vocal parts and the arrangement. I'm not the greatest singer but I'm definitely trying! I probably should have recorded a song that was more influenced by Folk and Blues to suit my voice.

I'm looking forward to it, Seth. I completely understand listening to a song as a whole and not singling out just one part (i.e. just your guitar part, etc.). I attempt to sing, too. Sometimes, I feel like I'm really on but most of the time, not so much. I've contemplated taking vocal lessons and what not... I still might but I guess my main deterrent is that I'm a self-trained guitarist, so I'm not used to thinking about learning, musically, in the context of lessons. My playing lacks from me not knowing any theory or what a D chord from an A chord is or what a major or minor scale is, I've been told it's amazing that I play the things I play without such knowledge but I personally feel it's a bit ridiculous. I where I accel with technique, I lack equally as much in theory, so it's almost like I have to go back to the beginning and learn this stuff the right way! I'm seriously not gloating or ringing my own bell by any means, either. I've worked hard and practiced many an hour to get to where I am as a player but I'm far from complete or well rounded as a player. I guess I can chalk it up to no patience and wanting to be a shred-head up until the last couple of years of my playing, so maybe I should take all that into account and just bite the bullet and take vocal lessons if I want to sing worth a hoot, lol.

I'll give your songs/ideas a good and constructive listen tomorrow or the next day. I've been inundated with homework lately so I haven't had time for much else. I'll start by listening to what you have, and if you want me to hear anything else I'd be happy to listen to whatever you upload. I'll also try to download those Silverchair songs/albums you wanted me to hear...

I completely understand and I look forward to your constructive criticism. I may leverage you for your opinions on later works as well depending on if you think you may halfway be interested in anything of mine outside of what I have on my profile. I definitely want you to hear those Silverchair songs, too. If you haven't heard them since the first two albums, you're going to be shocked that it's the same band - trust me.

["quote="phrailguitarist"]Boy, that was a rocky start to where we are now... lmao.

Yeah, tell me about it! It's funny because after all that I can't say I dislike you one bit. Mike and I did the same thing under another thread in the General Chat section a while ago. Much respect to you both.[/quote]

Likewise with the respect and in the end of that little episode, I think we actually achieved a greater good as a basis for exactly where our individual opinions and sincerity stands. Suffice it to say, I think we can all add something constructive and meaningful to each other's beliefs.

-Stephen