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Khull
Metalhead

Joined: Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:44 pm
Posts: 568
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:49 am 
 

To Agentsteel: That guy is unfortunate, but I wouldn't let it get to you. I've talked with far too many people who share the same view of, "Oh, you like metal? You should try being more open minded to better genres of music." If there's one thing I wish I could do, it's to dispel this ungodly stupid stereotype society places on metal as a whole.

Alas, one person at a time. It's most likely an impossible wish to fulfill.

However, I've been experimenting on my family with various metal CD's. My dad was originally one of those "be more open minded" people until I started burning CD's for our car rides. It started with some Nightwish, Epica, and The Gathering. Now, I can pop in Blind Guardian, Symphony X, or Iced Earth without issue. Small steps like these go miles to convincing me that anybody can appreciate and enjoy metal.

I guess that was a bit of a tangent, wasn't it?

When all else fails, Berzerko's method is never a bad way to go, "Bah, fuck them all."

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Nochielo
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2008 8:20 am
Posts: 2388
Location: Puerto Rico
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:09 am 
 

agentsteel666 wrote:
Basically that is the message that I have gotten from people everywhere when I start talking to them about the music I listen to.

Today at work I got into a conversation with some guy and it went something like this:

Me: I'm looking for a bassist so I can start playing the type of music I like, which is metal. It's extremely hard for me to find someone that I want, because I'm very particular about my sound...I'm into a specific style and it's my goal to achieve that sound (I was referring to a traditional, pure, classic sounding metal).

Him: You know you shouldn't be closed off to other forms of music. You should welcome in all forms of new sounds so your creativity can reach its full potential.

Me: I don't have anything against other forms of music, it's just that metal is the music that I feel passionate about. I'm looking to create a certain sound, and I would be against forming a band with a bassist who was into funk, or reggae, or something that would stand in the way of our goal.

Him: That is such a closed minded way of thinking. You need to broaden your horizons, branch out your tastes a little bit. You can't be 40 years old and still playing the same music you've been playing forever.

Me: I've been a metalhead for 10 years, and a musician for 15 years. I have an appreciation for music in general, but I just can't quite get into other genres of music passionately like I do with metal.

He continued to call me closed-minded, apparently for not liking other forms of music.

The thing that bothers me is this isn't the first time this has happened. Almost everyone I talk to who isn't in to metal will tell me pretty much the same thing. When someone tells me that I need to learn to get into other forms of music like I do with metal, I just think that it cannot and probably will not ever happen, not because I am prejudiced against anything that isn't metal (I like a good bit of music from other genres), but because heavy metal has consistently been the specific style of music that always seems to lift the hairs off my arms and give me goosebumps. Heavy metal is practically a religion for me. It would be like telling a Muslim or a Buddhist to start accepting and embracing all forms of religion instead of just one. For me, heavy metal is something that I live for and love with a passion. I want to play the type of music I truly like. I respect other people's taste in music; why can't they respect mine? How does it mean I'm closed minded if it's just a matter of taste? Am I right or what?

I'm willing to bet the dude is a Christian fanatic. That speaks for itself. You have a goal, and you require a certain type of person to achieve that goal. For example, if a construction company needs to finish a project and they need a plumber, they are not going to hire an architect. That doesn't mean that the company hates architects, they just have no use for one at the moment.

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Zetan
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:54 am
Posts: 168
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:44 am 
 

Nochielo wrote:
I'm willing to bet the dude is a Christian fanatic. That speaks for itself. You have a goal, and you require a certain type of person to achieve that goal. For example, if a construction company needs to finish a project and they need a plumber, they are not going to hire an architect. That doesn't mean that the company hates architects, they just have no use for one at the moment.


Wow.. Really.

That is a leap of faith.... Or should I say: A jump to a conclusion.

I'm willing to bet you do this often.. I mean, there was no mention anywhere in that post that had any relation to religion, other than a metaphorical one.

Quote:
Heavy metal is practically a religion for me. It would be like telling a Muslim or a Buddhist to start accepting and embracing all forms of religion instead of just one.
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Hanggud
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 7:04 am
Posts: 19
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:50 am 
 

Speaking out of my own experience (regularly visiting various musical message boards, studying music for over a decay with people with all sorts of musical tastes), there are strong ''either you like metal or you suck'' vibes among many, many younger metalheads. Of course it's normal for identity-searching teenagers to want to strictly associate themselves with a specific ''group'' and strengthen that by closing off others outside it, but I've found it especially common and strong among young fans of metal (besides punk rock). Not sure why it's so, but I think that's where many of the stereotypes of metalheads as automatically closed-minded comes from.

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Zetan
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2008 8:54 am
Posts: 168
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:54 am 
 

Hanggud wrote:
Speaking out of my own experience (regularly visiting various musical message boards, studying music for a decay with people with all sorts of musical tastes), there are strong ''either you like metal or suck'' vibes among many, many younger metalheads (and punk rockers). Of course it's normal for identity-searching teenagers to want to strictly associate themselves with a specific ''group'' and strengthen that by closing off others outside it, but I've found it especially strong among fans of metal/heavy rock music. Not sure why it's so, but I think that's where many of the stereotypes of metalheads as automatically closed-minded comes from.


I agree, it's like they have assumed membership to an "elite" club. I'll admit to being a little guilty of it, but I wont say that I've ever been closed minded about other music, quite the opposite.
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Ribos
Radioactive Man

Joined: Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:10 pm
Posts: 2981
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 12:09 pm 
 

I've never had the "close-minded" argument used against me... although I've been called an elitist many times. That argument usually comes from me telling people their favorite bands suck, though, so it's understandable. Upon doing so, I'm often asked, "well, what do YOU listen to?" To which I reply, "Metal... and some classical... and synthpop, industrial, ebm, contemporary classical, classic rock, real punk, ..."

Yeah.

Back to the op, though, anyone who says that you should incorporate more styles of music should be punched in the face. Repeatedly. The only thing worse than being stubbornly stupid is being stubbornly stupid AND pretentious.
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Manic616
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Dec 05, 2007 12:01 pm
Posts: 572
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 12:40 pm 
 

Ribos wrote:
That argument usually comes from me telling people their favorite bands suck, though, so it's understandable.

I tend to do that with a guy I know becuase hes into Dimmu, Devildriver, Bodom and Machine Head. I have never been called close mined before though, I'm generally very open minded. The only situation close to that was when a Christian called me close minded for not agreeing with his views, which I found amusing.

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screamingstatue
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:06 am
Posts: 579
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 12:41 pm 
 

Zetan wrote:
Hanggud wrote:
Speaking out of my own experience (regularly visiting various musical message boards, studying music for a decay with people with all sorts of musical tastes), there are strong ''either you like metal or suck'' vibes among many, many younger metalheads (and punk rockers). Of course it's normal for identity-searching teenagers to want to strictly associate themselves with a specific ''group'' and strengthen that by closing off others outside it, but I've found it especially strong among fans of metal/heavy rock music. Not sure why it's so, but I think that's where many of the stereotypes of metalheads as automatically closed-minded comes from.


I agree, it's like they have assumed membership to an "elite" club. I'll admit to being a little guilty of it, but I wont say that I've ever been closed minded about other music, quite the opposite.


I absolutely agree, I myself being a teenage metal fan.

I abhor the ''tr00'' older elitist metalheads and their enforcement of the narrow-minded metalhead stereotype, but, holy shit, they're not as bad as those hordes of teens in Machine Head t-shirts who seem to enjoy shitting on people who dislike metal more than they actually enjoy metal itself.

I know far too many young-ish metal fans who forcefeed metal down people's throats, who believe everyone HAS to be ''converted'' to metal, who refuse to listen to anything aside from metal and who refuse to talk about any other topic than metal. Being around such people is so tiresome. They actually makes me want to distance myself from the metal scene because of the ''like metal or fuck off'' message they are putting out. I've had friends refuse to go to nightclubs for non-metal friend's birthdays because of the ''shitty music'', I've associated with people who can't walk past the new singles section in a music store without going on a rant about ''fucking talentless faggots'', etc, etc. No wonder so many people think metalheads are thick.

To the OP - wanting a specific type of player for a specific type sound is not closed-minded, it is a dedicated means of trying to achieve your goals. Fuck anyone who is moronic enough to see this as narrow-minded.

Sad thing is, chances are, if you were looking for, say a pop-punk bass player for a pop-punk band, he wouldn't call you close-minded at all. Just so many people see/hear metal and say/think ''close-minded''.

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PvtNinjer
Metal freak

Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:45 am
Posts: 4008
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 12:42 pm 
 

I was gonna say, as has already been hinted at, the reason why most people automatically assume you are close-minded/arrogant/elitist is that most metal heads are exactly that. Besides the e-folk here, most "metalheads" I meet are into fairly mainstream stuff, are fairly elitist and closed minded and are also the majority. Honestly, a member of one of the bigger metal groups in the city here didn't even know who Immortal where. For a better example, think of the stereotypical Slayer fan. That's what the majority of "real life" metalheads I meet are like. Knuckle dragging idiots who think the more you downtune your guitar the heavier you are. Maybe the demographic changes from place to place, but that's what alot are like around where I live. Seeing that, it's not hard to imagine a non-metalhead seeing this and making the assumption that we are all this way.

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foz45139
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:48 pm
Posts: 364
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 12:49 pm 
 

agentsteel666 wrote:
I just can't quite get into other genres of music passionately like I do with metal.


This is what I'm like. Believe me, I've tried.

I've tried listening to rap, jazz, funk, classical, classic rock - I can't get into it, because when I listen to it, I just think '... I need some heavy fucking metal!' The closest genre I've got to liking is blues, but it still nowhere near fulfills my needs like metal does.


agentsteel666 wrote:
Heavy metal is practically a religion for me. It would be like telling a Muslim or a Buddhist to start accepting and embracing all forms of religion instead of just one. For me, heavy metal is something that I live for and love with a passion. I want to play the type of music I truly like. I respect other people's taste in music; why can't they respect mine? How does it mean I'm closed minded if it's just a matter of taste? Am I right or what?


You're right. It's your opinion, so you can't be wrong. The thing you said about religion was spot on, they shouldn't tell you what you should listen to.
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zervyx
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 9:21 pm
Posts: 185
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:38 pm 
 

agentsteel666: That guy has no idea of what a closed mind really is. He is calling you closed minded just cause you want to play only metal, however, there's other cases in which people look specifically for a KIND of metal. I remember that I was looking members for my new band and I was looking not only for deathmetal or melodic death, I was actually looking forward to compose songs similar to At the Gates, and if somebody would've stop by to call me closed minded I would've say: Hell Yeah!.
The thing is, right now I play the kind of music I like, and even though I didnt succeed on finding the original At the Gates members, I did find people interested in that style. Closed minded? yeah, so what? I got what I wanted.

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Fearphobia
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:58 am
Posts: 88
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:08 pm 
 

Zetan wrote:
I abhor the ''tr00'' older elitist metalheads and their enforcement of the narrow-minded metalhead stereotype, but, holy shit, they're not as bad as those hordes of teens in Machine Head t-shirts who seem to enjoy shitting on people who dislike metal more than they actually enjoy metal itself.


The ironic thing is the reason they condemn to that loutish behavior is because they get teased for enjoying Machine Head by Black Metal elitists. Some Black metal fans are even close-minded enough to insult their own music, absolutely anything that does not fall within a random and arbitrary test of tr00ness will be branded 'faggoth' or 'norsecore.'

2 of my friends are learning to play guitar and are hoping to form their own band. However, all they listen to is Deathcore and Brutal Death Metal. They don't branch of into other styles of metal and explore like I did and are oblivious to NWOBHM and anything containing much melody.
They might become jaded soon, losing interest in metal due to their unwillingness to try new styles, and they may lack any innovation when it comes to writing their own music.

The guy the OP was speaking of was probably very close-minded himself. From experience fans of popular music claim to like "everything" but really only like "everything they know" which is the mainstream or "classic" pop/rock bands. Rarely will they listen to Classical, Blues or obscure music and they will be unaware of the countless sub-genres metal has.

It's good for the OP to be a close-minded metal fan and musician, as there are still plenty of fresh ideas to be tried within metal, just based around the standard formula. Not every musician has the musical depth, talent and theory to be the next open minded Frank Zappa, Buckethead or even Wintersun.


Last edited by Fearphobia on Fri Oct 24, 2008 7:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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RB2610
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2008 5:31 pm
Posts: 120
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 5:40 pm 
 

I'm guessing the guy who told you that your taste is narrow minded refuses to listen to any metal himself, a lot of people who say metalheads are narrowminded seem to hypocritically refuse to listen to any metal.

I am one of those people who loathe going to parties partly on account of my strong dislike for the music played at them, but I'm not really a party person anyway so that isn't entirely because of metal, besides, I also listen to some classical type stuff, my No.1 artist on Last.fm is a pianist. (Although my Last.fm profile is pretty outdated, unfortunately the crap that I used to listen to like billy talent and stuff is still high up, and I haven't scrobbled any music recently to get rid of it :S )

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lornem16
Metal newbie

Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 9:26 pm
Posts: 52
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 6:49 pm 
 

I can't believe nobody has concluded the obvious here.... this douchebag the op is referring to is not a musician! I find another argument that comes up along with the whole "elitist" shit is the musician -vs- listener argument, which unfortunately usually ends up in the "if you think band X sucks, why don't you make your own band?"

agentsteel666 wrote:
Me: I don't have anything against other forms of music, it's just that metal is the music that I feel passionate about. I'm looking to create a certain sound, and I would be against forming a band with a bassist who was into funk, or reggae, or something that would stand in the way of our goal.


this may be the only part where I slightly disagree with the OP, because believe it or not, there are ways of incorporating other styles of music into metal! I mean, if the funk bassist was actually willing to play metal, I wouldn't see it as him standing in the way of the band's common goal... Look at Alex Webster from Cannibal Corpse... he's said he learned all these different styles of music so he could incorporate them into metal... and I know it's not always the case, but as a musician, for your music to survive, you have to be open minded... otherwise your music will end up sounding the same... and I mean, to a certain extent your music is supposed to sound the same (in the sense that you have a determinable style), but if you don't open yourself up to new techniques and playing styles, you may find yourself in a rut.

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Cryptwatcher
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Mar 14, 2008 1:18 pm
Posts: 118
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:31 pm 
 

Something somewhat samilar happened to me today. I listen to a lot of genres, including metal, classical, jazz, rock, punk, blues, folk, techno, trance, rap, grindcore, crust, etc., and a friend of mine says I have a shallow taste in music because I really do not like particular styles (emo, metalcore, and pop) and they say I do not have a wide taste in music. I however think I do. People like that just really do not understand music very well at all in my views.
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Kruel
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:56 pm
Posts: 2142
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:35 pm 
 

Fearphobia wrote:
Some Black metal fans are even close-minded enough to insult their own music, absolutely anything that does not fall within a random and arbitrary test of tr00ness will be branded 'faggoth' or 'norsecore.'

Uh, it isn't actually that arbitrary.

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FenrirsWrath
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2003 6:37 pm
Posts: 79
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:04 pm 
 

I guess I'm one of those people who give you all the bad impression and cliched "ego driven narrow minded metal heads" a bad name. Since I only listen to metal and wont listen to anything else. I've been listening to metal for at least 16 years exclusively (since I was 10) and obviously wont be changing. I still don't understand how that is a bad thing. And won't try to apologize for my taste or try something new to please others. Maybe I'm taking it out of proportion but it seems like many of you have negative feelings for metal fans like me.

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Axel_Sikth
Metalhead

Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:30 am
Posts: 872
Location: Hong Kong
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:17 pm 
 

Well surely there is at least one non-metal band/artist you enjoy?

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Kruel
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:56 pm
Posts: 2142
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:28 pm 
 

Axel_Sikth wrote:
Well surely there is at least one non-metal band/artist you enjoy?

Why surely?

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Sionis
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:54 pm
Posts: 131
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 10:57 pm 
 

That guy is a huge hypocrite. What kind of music does he listen to? But sadly most metalheads out there shun other genre's (rap, jazz, country (although I can't stand it)). But he doesn't have a right to say you are close minded.

I really hate people like that.

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Axel_Sikth
Metalhead

Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:30 am
Posts: 872
Location: Hong Kong
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:13 pm 
 

Kruel wrote:
Axel_Sikth wrote:
Well surely there is at least one non-metal band/artist you enjoy?

Why surely?


It's just hard for me to imagine anyone who listened to one genre exclusively, considering all the vast wealths of music out there.

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Kruel
Metalhead

Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 9:56 pm
Posts: 2142
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:21 pm 
 

Well, not for me, considering the vast wealth of metal. Not sure if he literally meant that he doesn't listen to even a single artist outside of metal, but I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

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FenrirsWrath
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2003 6:37 pm
Posts: 79
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:23 pm 
 

Axel_Sikth wrote:
Kruel wrote:
Axel_Sikth wrote:
Well surely there is at least one non-metal band/artist you enjoy?

Why surely?


It's just hard for me to imagine anyone who listened to one genre exclusively, considering all the vast wealths of music out there.


Well you don't have to imagine it anymore. I exist.

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Oflick
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 3:12 am
Posts: 206
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Fri Oct 24, 2008 11:38 pm 
 

What music does this guy listen to? I'd put money on him listening to plenty of bands that play primarily one genre.

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MuffinMan
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 1:52 pm
Posts: 309
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:12 am 
 

The "You don't like X band? Then why don't you form your band?" argument can easily be argumented with "You don't need to be a chef to know if the food you are eating tastes like shit or it is good." argument.

I find amusing how someone calls you close-minded just because you want a bass player for your band. Why doesn't Britney Spears plays metal? I bet she is close minded... Or maybe, just maybe, she is entitled to sing whatever she likes? You are entitled to play whatever you like, whenever you feel like to.

This guy is close minded in the minute he doesn't accept people may like what he thinks is bad music. People constantly says: I like all kind of music, but dislikes metal. Quite ironic.

I can listen to all kinds of music, but I will still have a hunger for metal that no other genre can satisfy. I don't get the same curiosity out of country or punk.

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OMGItsEvy
Mallcore Kid

Joined: Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:50 am
Posts: 29
Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:30 am 
 

MuffinMan wrote:
People constantly says: I like all kind of music, but dislikes metal. Quite ironic.


I cringe when I hear the phrase "I like everything" for that reason...
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LindisfarneAnno793
Metalhead

Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 1:09 am
Posts: 431
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 2:14 am 
 

OMGItsEvy wrote:
MuffinMan wrote:
People constantly says: I like all kind of music, but dislikes metal. Quite ironic.


I cringe when I hear the phrase "I like everything" for that reason...


Yes. That phrase frustrates me to no end, when used as a response to a question about someone's music preferences. While I understand that by "everything", they do not literally mean every single genre of music, the response is vague and uninformative at best.

Also, in my experience, the average person is not capable of elaborating on their music tastes to a greater extent than naming a few artists, then saying that they can't remember the others at the moment, which I usually find both frustrating and amusing. Here's a typical conversation:

Me: So, what kind of music are you into?
Them: I'm into everything, mate.
(I decide to probe for further information)
Me: That's cool. Like what?
Them: Oh, you know. The stuff on the radio. Metallica and stuff like that.
Me: Metallica are alright. What other thrash are you into?
Them: Um, Slayer. Other stuff that I can't think of right now.

That's when I'm talking to someone who is roughly my age. When I speak about music with someone in mid to late adulthood, the response I usually get is: "Oh, stuff you've probably never heard of. Old music." Again, I understand why they might say this, but an uninformative answer is a useless answer. :nono: This is why I rarely ask people about their musical tastes - experience has shown me time and time again that people are quite useless at answering questions, to my satisfaction anyway. Perhaps I'm just being unreasonable.
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lord_kexasthur
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:14 pm
Posts: 191
Location: Lebanon
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 3:28 am 
 

When it comes to music, being close-minded is about not trying to listen to certain styles of music because you were raised up listening to some radio shit and you feel much "more conforming" and "safer"doing that ; It is not about deciding to stick with a certain style because you love it.

Kick the guy in the balls, and tell him how pathetic he is.

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Shallow
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:33 am
Posts: 143
Location: Sweden
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 4:41 am 
 

"I like everything" generally means "I listen to music, but don't really pay attention to what I'm listening too".

To be fair, I know way too many people who'll turn on the radio and listen to whatever's on, if you ask them what bands they like you get a bunch of "Uh, uhm, *first band name that pops into their head* and that kind of stuff".

There is nothing wrong with having a favourite genre, and only listening to that genre. As long as you don't badmouth other genres before giving them a listen.

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agentsteel666
Yet Another Village Idiot

Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:45 pm
Posts: 389
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 5:54 am 
 

Shallow wrote:
"I like everything" generally means "I listen to music, but don't really pay attention to what I'm listening too".

To be fair, I know way too many people who'll turn on the radio and listen to whatever's on, if you ask them what bands they like you get a bunch of "Uh, uhm, *first band name that pops into their head* and that kind of stuff".

There is nothing wrong with having a favourite genre, and only listening to that genre. As long as you don't badmouth other genres before giving them a listen.


I've asked many folks what their preferred genre of music is, and they never come out and name a specific genre. They always say, "Oh, I'm into everything". Then, when I hear what they listen to it all falls into a certain category, like industrial or techno. They are total fucking hypocrites. And for some reason, they have something against metal. They say they are into everything, yet I name to them a dozen bands and they've never heard of any of them. I"d be like, yo if you're into everything, are you into Helloween? Stratovarious? Armored Saint? Exodus? Nightwish, Overkill, Exciter, Anvil, Electric Light Orchestra, or Alice Cooper? Are you into Rage, Steeler, Keel, Alcatrazz, Ratt, Skid Row, or Nitro? What about Death Angel, Hammerfall, Metal Church, Manowar, Agent Steel, King Diamond, Raven, or Grim Reaper? What about Behemoth, Mastodon, Dream Theater, Meshuggah, Mercyful Fate, Diamondhead, or Chimaira? I name dozens of great bands, yet these false hyprocritical assholes cannot ever say that they have heard of them. They are complete hypocrites in every sense of the word.

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lord_ghengis
Still Standing After 38 Beers... hic

Joined: Mon Dec 04, 2006 8:31 pm
Posts: 5953
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:05 am 
 

Honestly, even if you do listen to nothing but metal, it's a pretty damn wide ranging genre. I enjoy very few genres outside of metal (I enjoy certain bands, but no style in particular has any higher chance of having stuff I like, so no main favourite non-metal genre), but I find that I have some fairly wide reaching tastes, even though it's all in the metal/grind realms.

Closed-mindedness shouldn't have anything to do with whether you like something or not, for me at least being close minded would be assuming something will be bad before you hear it without even entertaining the idea of looking at it unbiasedly. I mean, I've tried to like punk, but I don't like it, but when I have a punk band recommended to me, I'll listen to it without any preconceived idea that I'll hate it, so I think I'm being fairly open minded to the genre, even though I don't like it, same thing goes with prog rock where I'll occasionally find a band I like, but hate a lot more, but I'll examine without assuming the bands will suck.

On the other hand, I'll happily admit that I am horribly closed minded when it comes to say, Ska, soon as I hear the tag I'll switch to prepare for horrible music mode.
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Axel_Sikth
Metalhead

Joined: Wed May 07, 2008 9:30 am
Posts: 872
Location: Hong Kong
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:08 am 
 

FenrirsWrath wrote:
Well you don't have to imagine it anymore. I exist.


One new discovery for me then.

+-+-+-+
I agree that the people who say "I like everything" probably have a shallow understanding of any particular genre. There isn't anyone who has yet to prove my opinion wrong. While I believe that one can learn to appreciate all any genre of music out there, I sincerely doubt anyone could develop a genuine liking for every single genre of music.

These so-called "open-minded" people don't seem to understand that these things called preferences exist, and that most people have them. Anyone who claims to be open-minded yet force their ideals onto other people are complete hypocrites.

One of my classmates is a perfect example of an "enlightened" dickhead. He was a pretentious and stubborn fool. He used to be the drummer for my band but then the rest of us decided to give him the boot. He has his head shoved so far up into his ass. Anyways, that'll be it. I don't want to get too worked up. xD.

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MadassAlex
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun May 13, 2007 6:20 am
Posts: 38
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:20 am 
 

Funnily enough, I rarely get called "close-minded" for being a metalhead. My family are the ones giving me the hardest time for it. My mother thinks it's crap, my father thinks it only requires three chords (although his understanding of metal is minimal), my older brother can't get past the sins of hair metal and my younger brother thinks that extreme metal is "screaming shit that anyone can do". Rage.

Howeer, my sometimes-guitar-teacher, a proficient jazz guitarist, thinks the fact that I play metal guitar is fantastic. So there you go.

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VampireKiller
Metal newbie

Joined: Sat Apr 21, 2007 9:21 pm
Posts: 204
Location: Sweden
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 6:56 am 
 

The_Beast_in_Black wrote:
Screw the term "close-minded". I like what I like and I don't feel the need to listen to other stuff just for the sake of being open-minded.

Also, Wager? Seriously? This is the Metal Archives, not the Metal (And Everything Slightly Related) Archives.


Hell yeah! That's the spirit :headbang:

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DrSeuss
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2007 2:23 pm
Posts: 202
Location: United States of America
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:38 am 
 

I say if you can be content and happy listening to solely metal, go for it. I'm not saying shun other music styles though. It's such a privilege to be able to find such transcendence in one particular music style. I dove right in and never looked back, I used to listen to metal and metal only. It's still the primary genre I listen to and the one I feel most kinship with. I could go on forever flexing my eclectic cock muscle and list off genres I listen to, but a few of my favorite genres are folk, prog rock, post-rock, punk, hardcore, jazz, and surprisingly a lot of hip hop.

Back to original topic;

I don't understand how you're close minded if you want your band to play a particular style. Don't even pay attention to people like this, they suffer from diarrhea of the mouth.

Masked_Jackal wrote:
A lot of Jazz musicians are elitist pricks because a lot of classical musicians do the same thing to them.

That said, jazz isn't always a shining example of technicality and speed or complex arrangements, it's about knowing your music theory inside and out without even bothering to think about it.


As a jazz fan, I felt compelled to respond to this. Jazz was started by poor black musicians who most likely did a lot of heroin. Therefore, the people knew absolutely nothing about music and created a style out of basically no knowledge. Only later did musical theory nerds dissect the genre and create rules for it apparently (even though jazz is supposed to be musical freedom). Modal and chord changes every measure, sometimes strange time signatures, odd chord structures and no song structure.


Last edited by DrSeuss on Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
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AltoVariago
Metal newbie

Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2008 8:57 am
Posts: 148
Location: Italy
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 10:38 am 
 

Metal ranges from Dream Theater to Sunn to Slayer to Faith No More... it encompasses a pretty wide variety of styles, ideas and aesthetics...
at the same time:

1) lots of die-hard metal fans bother me for listening "false" metal (you know) or stuff too close to alternative rock for their tastes (Neurosis, Khanate etc)

2) lots of die-hard metal fans bother me for listening hip-hop (for them cLOUDDEAD or public enemy or Lil wayne is the same thing), industrial, ambient, noise etc ("too abstract", "too much weird", "it's not even music")

BUT I GET EVEN MORE ENRAGED when say all this display of ignorance and racism and supponence towards metal music (or heavy music in general)... i'd say mostly it is due to the way metalheads are looked by the people, but it seems like most of the "non-listening-to-metal-people" loses their ability or reason if they have to surpass a certain level of "brutality" or decibel


so well, i tend to argue with everyone, because for me almost everyone is "close-minded", metalheads or not, because people is fuckin ignorant :D
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PlagueRages
Metal newbie

Joined: Fri Jan 12, 2007 4:31 pm
Posts: 142
Location: United Kingdom
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 11:16 am 
 

Meh, Can't say I've had many encounters with those "more open minded than thou" types. Most people I know know I like metal and that I have huge passion for it and generally it's cool with people. I don't discuss music with that many people really, it's pretty obvious I like metal by the band t-shirts but I only discuss it if someone asks. I listen to other forms of music a bit, but not that much, I enjoy a bit of classical music, rock and punk as well as a bit of drum n bass but I just don't have the connection with it that i have with metal.

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The_Beast_in_Black
Metal freak

Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 11:34 am
Posts: 7455
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 11:20 am 
 

People who say "I like everything" are indeed pretty annoying. Most of the time that translates to "I have no opinion, so I let the radio tell me what to like."

When someone says that to me, I'll generally reply with something like "Oh, so powerviolence, goregrind, drone metal, speedcore, free jazz, traditional Mongolian vocal music?"
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Thudburg
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2008 12:10 am
Posts: 47
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 12:14 pm 
 

Yeah When I first started listening to metal (2 years ago) i was kind listening to metal exclusively save for classic rock, but now i'm open to alot of more genres. So recently a classmate asks me what i was listening to, and it was some vio-lence, so i just told him heavy metal, and he responded with a disgusted face and said hip hop was where it was at. The funny thing was he didn't even know the origins of hip hop and I did, and the guy listens to hip hop 24/7 (can hardly be called hip hop now, more like rap.)

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ScratchMyBack
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Aug 17, 2008 11:04 am
Posts: 1058
Location: Malaysia
PostPosted: Sat Oct 25, 2008 1:21 pm 
 

This is off topic but somehow slightly related:

Whenever a person ask me what I listen to I normally tell them the softer side of my taste. I would normally tell them that I listen to Shoegaze,Post Punk, Goth Rock, Post-Rock and some piano stuff. However, it sucks when a few months later I find the person that talked to earlier listen to shitloads of metal.

I rarely put on my metal look when I'm in campus or going to class. I don't even have long hair (I'm some sort of a military cadet).
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