I'm a white guy who listens to a lot of hip-hop and, well, let's just say when I'm rapping in my head I use a certain forbidden word a lot (it's not like I make my own lyrics, I just repeat stuff). I'd be fairly embarrassed telling anyone I know about this

I find myself listening to way back when music too when I'm really depressed, probably for nostalgia sake. Which is odd because my high school years were absolutely horribly depressing.

I’d keep that shit locked up inside next to your preference for children, my guy.

Just giving you a hard time, of course, usually people don’t bleep words out in their head, even bible-thumpers.

I envy you that your biggest shame is that you like "bad" music groups. I am ashamed for every one of the few NSBM groups that I like.

I'm not ashamed of my taste in music. That would be silly. I listen to music for fun. What jackass is ashamed of having fun?

I have no shame but when I was like 14, I had an MP3 player with at least half a dozen songs from brony musicians on it. There was also crap from the RHCP, Wheatus and AX7 loaded on there, along with half a dozen episodes of Tales From the Gun.

At least you seem to consistently give that fascist garbage Arghoslent low ratings in your reviews!

WAIT, YOU GAVE TERRA INCOGNITA A 7% REVIEW??? Tsk, tsk, tsk.

I once considered Skrewdriver - Shove the Dove something of a favourite song and had it on my work playlist for a couple of years. Not one of their overtly Nazi songs, but still uncomfortably right wing if you see it as criticising peace movements in general rather than just government propaganda. Older friends on IRC sent me a bit of dodgy stuff in the early 00s, and even back then we'd get told off or blocked from certain channels just for having any of it. I figured I listened to religious and Satanic artists and didn't believe in any of that stuff either. Anyway, it's a damn catchy song, but not as entertaining as the fact the band's frontman couldn't even win a war against a roadside ditch.

i listen to a lot of contemporary trap like Bladee and Sematary. not exactly ashamed of it but no joke one time i actually put up this instagram video of me dancing to bladee and some idiot death metal fan who followed me tried to shame me for "liking pop music" then made these facebook posts calling me a poser. this was a while ago like 7 years ago or something. later i posted screenshots of the whole thing in a hip hop group and virtually everyone laughed at him or sent him friend requests just to shit on him

Not ashamed but there are of course some bands I like that are questionable:

Clawfinger
Avatar (the Swedish one, although I am quite surprised to see high ratings for their albums here)
Eisbrecher
Die Antwoord

And I don't listen to Arghoslent anymore. However, that is because I grew tired of the music, not because of the lyrics.

Number one is I fucking love Arghoslent and have all their albums including demos and splits. Close second is I love Grand Belial's Key just as much.
Third, and much less bad, is I like most Billy Talent.

This^^

If there's anything I should feel ashamed of is that I don't enjoy classical music, I find it hard to follow and it mostly make me think about old cartoons

It took me a long time to appreciate classical music.

Speaking of old cartoon music Carl Stalling

Goregrind is awesome all around and the gargle vocals just give it an added layer of intrigue; it can also be done in many different ways, making it an area for tons of creativity. Goregrind also has some of the best drummers in extreme metal and the music can get seriously experimental, especially with certain gorenoise projects. Overall I find goregrind to be unfairly maligned by a lot of metalheads.

That said, it is the one area where I can say my taste borders on being... outlandish, to the point that I almost feel the need to explain myself when someone finds out I listen to it. Like yeah, it's a song about bathing in fetid corpse fluid—it's gross on purpose bro.

By a couple, is one of the others Simple Plan by any chance?

Simple Plan makes Good Charlotte sound like Dark Angel on the awesomeness scale, and they're so hated at by many pop-punk fans I've encountered, even those who love Good Charlotte.

.

Simple Plan was hardly ever punk. Like most of the very popular pop punk bands, really. Good Charlotte also fits that description. They followed trends, and all moved away to more commercially succesful genres of the time when the pop punk trend was dying out. When it comes to pop punk bands sticking to their guns and actually playing pop punk for their entire (or most of their) career, Blink-182 is the one that comes to my mind the fastest. And these guys made genuinely awesome music on more then one occasion. Sum-41 also mostly stuck to their punk roots throughout their career.

Newfound Glory have some quality material as well, but I don't like them nearly as much as Blink-182, and hardly ever revisit their stuff these days.

I know that we’re “supposed to” be “well rounded” people, or something, according to the society, and to the educated people, but I think that people don’t really mean that. It’s like how, in the old Chinese empires, you had to study classics of Confucius, and other authoritarian philosophers, to to pass the test, to work in the civil government jobs, and get paid well, to uphold a monarchy.

A lot of people like to talk about their tastes in music, and how they listen to so many different styles, as if that’s inherently a virtue, but they only display shallow understanding, of all of it. It’s shocking, how many people who idolize 50s rock and roll, aren’t even aware that Chuck Berry went to prison for being a pedo, and put pervert cameras, in the women’s toilet stalls, of a restaurant he owned(and ate feces), and then want to turn around, and say that they know all about real rock and roll, and that real rock and roll isn’t produced anymore, and that there are no good new bands, and that Chuck Berry was a nice guy, who went to church.

These are the people who talk about how they listen to all the classics, but they all have the same stuff on their lists. I have more respect for someone, who tells me that they dislike music I like, if they can articulate why they dislike it, and what they like, about what they do like. Those kind of people, you can have an interesting conversation with, and find what common ground you have. But if you just listen to one kind of thing, maybe you just listen to one kind of thing. People are too quick to assign moral judgements to that, when really, they’re not judging you for being truly closed-minded, they’re just angry that someone thinks that Jimi Hendrix wrote way sicker music than the Beatles, and doesn’t agree with judging the Beatles as the greatest music ever.

People who want to criticize you for just listening to metal aren’t really saying that you’re closed-minded, or whatever other judgements they want to make against you, they’re just mad that you don’t align with their form of closed-minded tastes.

I find the whole premise of this thread to be a little weird, honestly. Like there is any good reason to be ashamed of our music taste. But I get where you're coming from. And it's really something how we, metalheads, especially those dedicated to discovering more and more metal all the time, get extremely specialized in not just our music, but knowing how to look for more metal. And when we want to discover other music, it gets difficult, because we don't have the same ressources and tools to do it.

What I usually do to discover genres I'm less familiar with, is to go on websites like RYM, and look at the best rated albums of the subgenre I'm interested in, and listen to a few of those. It's usually a good starting point. And when you find artists you like from a genre, then it's usually easier to expand from there. You can look at similar artists on last.fm, or look at side-projects of musicians from the musicians in the project/band you liked. I also like to watch reviews made by reviewers I trust.

I find that talking about non-metal music on MA's forums, like in The Tavern section, is also a good way to discover good music. Metalheads, in general, tend to enjoy some artists or genres outside of metal, that has a similar kind of appeal. Like how you have a lot of metalheads listening to stuff like Carpenter Brut or Perturbator, dälek or Cypress Hill, Tangerine Dream or Eno, and so on and so forth.

It's not an imperative to branch out, but since you seem to have a will and interest to discover more, I feel that finding new tools and approachs to exploring music, are good ways to find a way for yourself to explore more music. Talking with like-minded people or people who have similar interests is also always a good idea

.

Thank you for so well articulating a position I really agree with. Among some people, there's this assumed virtue in being "well rounded" which seems to often be a cover for overall shallow attachment with stuff they supposedly love. If you're gonna be into something, go all the way!

Well nobody has to listen to anything they don't want to. That said, it's always good to expand one's horizons - it can be intimidating due to the sheer breadth of stuff out there, but just try stuff at your own pace.



This doesn't make much sense to me. Nothing wrong with listening to other things even if it is "shallow" - none of this shit matters. It's all music and it can't be a negative to be exposed to other things.

1-800-CRY-BABY

but really, that's one pretentious and malformed post. I'll have to think about it, but I'm not sure I've ever read anyone so twistedly articulate a twisted sense of what is close-minded. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks" probably applies here. You said a whole lot there, but really said nothing. You did project quite a bit there, though.

Yeah, I did say a whole lot. I said that people who look down on someone for not having varied enough tastes in music, are closed minded themselves, and that they’re just looking down on others, for not aligning with the exact same closed mindedness as themselves. All while patting themselves on the back, for being some ‘superior intellectual,’ for liking the same old, cookie cutter “classics.” People who act like they’re educated and sophisticated, for listening to a wide variety of music are, more often than not, just listening to a few hits, of what other people told them are good. They put mediocre music on a pedestal, and then act like they’re better than me, because I don’t worship Michael Jackson, or Bon Jovi, as a god, and would rather hear something else.

I said that people tricks themselves those who know very little think they know a lot. I can admit there’s music I don’t like or care about, without insulting its fans, or saying the whole style sucks. Something most people aren’t capable of. Are you going to respond with more immature insults, just because I happen to not like the Beatles?

I'm not interested in getting into a feud with you. We both have better things to do. Maybe I'm wrong, but aren't you applying the same swirling logic as those you accuse?

Seems like you're sort of making up a guy to get mad at. I don't even see anyone doing what you're describing here anyway.

The Beatles are fantastic though. I never get it when people have beef against them. There's a kind of horseshoe thing where, sure, some people will act pompous about liking stuff I guess, but then you also have people who are extremely loud about being special for *not* liking the old classics too.

I’m don’t hate the Beatles music, but I dislike (some of)the fans. When I was in school, there was a class discussion, about them being the best band ever. I said there were better bands, and people accused me of being a rapist, serial killer, and animal torturer. They said that the band exemplified love and purity, and I responded, that John Lennon beat his wife, and people said it couldn’t be true, and that I was a jealous hater, who had “no talent.”

sounds like something to let go of. maybe?

Metal shame is a complex thing. I strongly prefer to keep my listening private - I'll say it's out of courtesy to those around me, but surely there's more to it than that.

Also, this isn't so much a taste thing, but I have had to wonder how much a steady diet of extreme metal has warped my relationship with vocals and lyrics. "The voice is more of a percussive instrument, and the lyrics I just tune out (because they're silly), which is easy enough because the vocals are unintelligible anyway" - I would guess this sort of mindset is pretty peculiar to metal...or maybe if one generally listens to music in a foreign tongue?

Anyway, I find myself mostly at a loss (or at minimum unconcerned) to make out song lyrics, metal or otherwise, and I can only give people a stumped look when they ask me to describe a piece of music I like - "How does that song go?" - as if they expect me to sing it... (I picture Beavis and Butt-Head doing "Breaking the Law" or something.)

Depending on where you live, where you are from, and the field you work in, I can understand keeping a level of privacy regarding your musical tastes. I have a good friend from France, and when he moved here, he said he noticed more acceptation for metal culture altogether, and felt more comfortable showing he is a metalhead. He also works in a very serious "suits and tie" human ressources department for some big shot business. So yeah, I get it.

Me personnally, I really don't care what people think, and I'm pretty much out and open about it. I have long hair, band shirts, and kuttes full of death, black and thrash metal patches. But I work in environmental education, in a very progressive organization that makes people feel comfortable just being who they are. And I mean, of course I don't wear Cryptopsy and Cannibal Corpse shirts at work, but I also do not hide the fact that I'm a metalhead.

But I know some people from the US, for instance, have very conservative and/or religious families, and it can be harder to just "be yourself" and show assume your metalhead idendity at all times.

And if people try to shame me on being a metalhead, I usually gently remind them I probably know more music then they do, metal and non-metal. And that usually does the trick because the people who shame you on musical tastes often times are shallow people who have very little actual knowledge of their own.

I mean, I am not giving them those ratings because they are fascists, I give them bad ratings because their music is bland and weak as fuck and I have fun when I get rage messages from their racist fans calling me things.

And about that Gojira album... Yeah, it's one of the worst things I've ever heard in my life, it gives me a headache to remember that unimaginative and pointless hour-long album that does nothing good.

I mean it's good to give low ratings and disrespect to fascists.



Yeah I mean this has nothing to do with the music, as you yourself even admit...

Just curious - How would you account for that? Could you flesh out the "of course" here?

I wouldn't wear those shirts to work, either, because, well...I'm not completely sure why, but I think it basically comes down to the sense that I'd be drawing unwanted negative attention to myself, or inviting people to make off-base judgments of me (say, as someone who perhaps has a juvenile desire to be "shocking" or an "in-your-face nonconformist," etc.). And certainly, having a healthy self-confidence and being comfortable in one's skin means (to a significant extent) not caring about the ill-informed, superficial judgments of strangers and loose acquaintances - BUT, doesn't it seem that many/most metalheads "draw the line" somewhere? I'm interested in what others make of that fact - what's going on when the metalhead decides, "No, today I'll just wear my Metallica shirt, and save the Goatwhore for another occasion - it is my grandma's birthday party, after all."

I mean, the answer to this one specifically seems quite obvious, but my sense is that it belongs to a whole family of similar "metal shame" sentiments, which might be experienced in varying ways to varying degrees by more-or-less any metalhead.

Jeez... Well, to each their own, after all. I had to go in and write my own review for it after seeing all the negativity caused by a couple reviews. I thought it was a really interesting release, not tethered to the stereotypes of most mindless death metal, not to mention the fact that it was an interesting precursor to some of their later releases.



Absolutely, and always.

I listened to Gunpowder & Lead by Miranda Lambert twenty-six times today because it makes me feel like a strong independent woman.

To the OP i enjoy some goregrind and honestly the main reason is the pitched vocals, I do however HATE the over the top use of samples particularly when you start going into the porngrind area. I wouldnt say I'm ashamed of any music tastes because at the end of the day i view it as just music, but considering I'm a white guy with a black girlfriend with black kids, it is a bit of a struggle that I do enjoy one band that is outwardly racist, but it has nothing to do with the guys or their ideologies, as far as i'm concerned the band members are douchebags, but they can right a decent tune.

Also not that I care at this point in my life but when I was a teenage and deathcore was becoming a thing I was one of those die hard death metal guys that would bang on the core kids sayings its not real metal, its trash, they are just whiny wimps trying to bastardize death metal, and at this point in my life I would say the deathcore scene is every bit as good as the death metal scene and that Signs of the Swarm is neck and neck with Suffocation as my favorite band, if my high school self could hear me say that he'd probably cringe and call me names lol.

I'm not ashamed to admit that Linkin Park is still my favourite band, or that there are pop artists that I find enjoyable, because I don't see what's wrong with that. I'll keep listening to Limp Bizkit and Creed. For me it'd have to be something like listening to bands with problematic lyrics or members.

For me it's easier with metal because I know the names of genres much better, with a lot of non-rock I don't even know what the subgenres are so it's hard to find what I want. I love electronic music but it took forever for me to figure out it was drum 'n bass in particular that I was looking for.

Well, I'm not ashamed of it.... I probably should be, but I'm not.

I love t.A.T.u., they're definitely a guilty pleasure I don't feel ashamed of.

I also love this French Pop singer named Najoua Belyzel:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw7tcjoGtQk