Judging a book by its cover...

[ICEDEARTHFAN]

Would you listen to a song by a band that looks like this?

....or a band that looks like this?

Both pics are of Mudvayne,right?
I like some of their stuff.When Dig first came out,I hated it.But it started to grow on me as I heard more from them.If I'm wrong about the pics,then this message will self-destruct

 

[Saladbar]

Both pics are of Mudvayne,right?
I like some of their stuff.When Dig first came out,I hated it.But it started to grow on me as I heard more from them.If I'm wrong about the pics,then this message will self-destruct

Yeah it's Mudvayne.
When "Dig" first came out I thought it was terrible.




But 2 yrs later they released this and I was like hmmm....



In 2005 I went to Ozzfest for the sole purpose of seeing Iron Maiden, Mudvayne was one of the bands that was playing before them so I figured I'd check out a song or two and I ended up watching their whole set. They just completely blew me away.

 

[jaimek]

I'm prejudiced against bands that pose against brick walls.

 

[compurocker]

Love Mudvayne but I was embarrassed to when they dressed like that. I thought their music was way above needing such a gimmick, and I do believe a lot of people avoided them because they thought they were just a gimmick. Very apropos for this thread.

Mudvayne notwithstanding, I'm definitely guilty of this. As open of a mind I try to keep, there's always inherent biases. Even with bands I like I sometimes start to question my own tastes and sanity when I see them railed against time and again on message boards. lol.

Love the idea of asking someone if they like it before telling them who it is. I bet it works both ways too. If they hated it they wouldn't want to chance offending the metal gods if it were a well respected band and they just weren't familiar with it for whatever reason.

 

[JenniferLynn]

I think we all do to some degree.. I admit if a band is fronted by a chic, its an uphill battle for them to win me over...

Whether its image, or sound, or vocals or whatever, I think we all have our little 'quirks' about that...

... just my two fer ...

Oh and short story... I breifly dated a guy around '04 and he gave me a couple of CDs but one in particular he told me 'I really think you're going to like this'.. Seeing that things went not so great, I didn't buy in AT ALL to what he thought I'd like and the CD never got listened to - but I held on to it...

It would be 3 more years until I was introduced to Kamelot.... And I am a total geek for them now (at least he got something right!!)

 

[TribunalRecords]

Ironically, I didn't think I was guilty of judging a book by its cover until you posted this picture. I don't know who this band is, but I hate them. Not only do I hate them, I want to kick their asses. No one with these haircuts deserves not to be punched in the face on sight.

but you have to remember these bands aren't being marketed to your demographic AT ALL. these are bands that are pushed to Warped Tour and such. when was the last time you went to Warped Tour or if at all?

 

[skyrefuge]

It's funny, everytime I am with someone and a song that they don't recognize comes on and they ask me who it is I never tell them. I always ask them "Do you like this?". You'd be surprised how many people don't want to answer because they don't know who the band is and god forbid they say that they actually like a band that is considered 'False Metal' just based on the music.

That's awesome.

That's why I say that the Internet has done great things for open-mindedness. When discovering music on your own, in isolation, you miss all those social cues that tell you whether you're supposed to think it "sucks" or "rules", so you have to make up your opinion on your own. That makes it much less likely that you'll hate something for no good reason.

Of course, once *everyone* got on the Internet, the social cues made a comeback in a new environment, but I still think it's a whole lot easier to be independent-minded.

Neil

 

[TribunalRecords]

i have one MUDVAYNE record and it's because i got it as a promo, but i will tell you this i actually gained more respect for them after SEEING A PICTURE of them (which i cannot locate online) when they were dressed up as the THE FURIES from The Warriors. i said to myself...i may not dig them but they definitely got my respect just for referencing that movie.

 

[Rezz]

I admit if a band is fronted by a chic, its an uphill battle for them to win me over...

I'm just the opposite... I've bought many female-fronted bands unheard but with high hopes. I bought Within Temptation's Mother Earth simply because I liked Sharon's voice on the first Avantasia disc.

If a band's name uses a font that looks like a bug splattered on my windshield, I won't even give it a listen. On the other hand, I have bought many CDs (mostly used) simply because the band pic looked like they *might* play music I wanted to hear.

 

[Diabolik]

This is a very interesting topic. I think that most who post here all come from different back grounds and taste but all some how found this genre in one way or another.

Myself when it comes to judging a book by its cover I am very snobbish. I dont support music that is created by labels, bands forced down your throat or pushed on every tour. To me it loses what the music is about. We are fans of underground music. Plain and simple. The music we love isnt popular the most of the people we know. There has always ben someone or some company trying to exploit the underground. Being heavily involved in the DIY punk / hardcore scene in the early 90's it has tought me to help sniff out fake bands. Ones who would jump at the chance to sell out and change thier sound to make a quick buck. The best part is that these are the same bands whose fanbase changes with the wind. Where one day they are doing great...the next year they are in the "Where are they now?" file. True fans are smart and can clock these types of bands. They are always going to exist in one way or another. What ever becomes slightly popular in the underground is soon exploited one way or another. In the past I have gone to extremes to fight it.

Many moons ago when I was heavily into the punk scene a few of us who were very true to the ethics of DIY convinced a band who was very popular and very much into the DIY movement to cancel thier headlining show at the Metro to play a basement show for real fans of the music. They did. We were pretty much outcasted my lots of people in the scene who were your typical fly by night fans and looking to sell out with thier local bands they were in. So when I preach about fighting against people who want to make a quick buck from the underground....I really mean it.

Fact is....there will always be those bands that are trying to be commercial and have the radio freindly sound or be more about fashion than substance. I wont support them in the least but I know others are more open minded about it. I like certain sounds in music and I wont just like something because it is metal.

When looking into new bands I usually look at what label they are on, listen to samples, and reading reviews from people who's opinions match my own.
To each there own I guess.

 

[Angrafan]

That's awesome.

That's why I say that the Internet has done great things for open-mindedness. When discovering music on your own, in isolation, you miss all those social cues that tell you whether you're supposed to think it "sucks" or "rules", so you have to make up your opinion on your own. That makes it much less likely that you'll hate something for no good reason.

Of course, once *everyone* got on the Internet, the social cues made a comeback in a new environment, but I still think it's a whole lot easier to be independent-minded.

Neil

I disagree... When I started listening to prog/power metal I was 14. I thought it was the coolest thing in the World. I didn't know that it could be perceived as uncool... I wore the t-shirts, I was proud to show this new music to everybody I knew... I loved to brag that they were great musicians who blend metal and classical music, etc..

12 years later and I've become a snob. And assholes like me keep writing on the internet how cheesy power metal is, how lame it is to write about dragons and how much better the serious music I listen to is... I really do think that it has affected Power Metal. The Genre peaked a few years ago and has declined recently.

 

[AngraRULES]

I disagree... When I started listening to prog/power metal I was 14. I thought it was the coolest thing in the World. I didn't know that it could be perceived as uncool... I wore the t-shirts, I was proud to show this new music to everybody I knew... I loved to brag that they were great musicians who blend metal and classical music, etc..

12 years later and I've become a snob. And assholes like me keep writing on the internet how cheesy power metal is, how lame it is to write about dragons and how much better the serious music I listen to is... I really do think that it has affected Power Metal. The Genre peaked a few years ago and has declined recently.

When you put it this way, yes, you are an asshole. A snobby asshole.

 

[General Zod]

but you have to remember these bands aren't being marketed to your demographic AT ALL. these are bands that are pushed to Warped Tour and such. when was the last time you went to Warped Tour or if at all?

True. But the fact that their not being marketed to me, speaks to the topic at hand... I'm judging them based on how they're being marketed, rather than by their music.

 

[Pellaz]

i have one MUDVAYNE record and it's because i got it as a promo, but i will tell you this i actually gained more respect for them after SEEING A PICTURE of them (which i cannot locate online) when they were dressed up as the THE FURIES from The Warriors. i said to myself...i may not dig them but they definitely got my respect just for referencing that movie.

"Alright, you boppers.....the Furies dropped the ball. They made an error...."

It's funny, everytime I am with someone and a song that they don't recognize comes on and they ask me who it is I never tell them. I always ask them "Do you like this?". You'd be surprised how many people don't want to answer because they don't know who the band is and god forbid they say that they actually like a band that is considered 'False Metal' just based on the music.

Yep, I've had the SAME thing happen.

Actually I've told them the wrong bandname, watched them relax, and then said "Nope! It's _________!"
* psych! *

and if I see the "-core" suffix added to anything my skepticism level skyrockets. People say that Viking metal is the flavor-of-the-month, but they're not payying attention to the myriad metalcore, deathcore, crunkcore (etc.) Johnny-come-lately bands coming out of the woodwork with their godawful identical haircuts.

What about Quadcore? I've heard it's reallllly fast, speedy stuff.

Would you listen to a song by a band that looks like this?

That's not a band, that's a hallway photo from Dragon*Con!

 

[Yippee38]

I do it all the time, and that's good. I don't have time to listen to everything. But to some extent I'm snobby in my tastes. I won't listen to anything popular, even if it is really good.

 

[Jasonic]

Everyone does it. Anyone who says they don't judge a book by its cover with bands is lying.

Image is a HUGE part of any genre.

You can make a semi-decent guess as to what a band sounds like by their promo shots, though as we all know, looks CAN be deceiving.

For me personally, I dismissed Novembers Doom (who are one of my favorite bands as some of you know) for years when they first came around, partially from their promo photos. From their images, hair length, and Larry's cowboy hat, I thought they were gothic metal and never gave them a listen. One day I got a CD of theirs in a trade and gave them a fair listen and was completely blown away.

It's going to happen.

As others have pointed out, with thousands of bands in existence, you have to use some filters.

 

[BenMech]

It's funny, everytime I am with someone and a song that they don't recognize comes on and they ask me who it is I never tell them. I always ask them "Do you like this?". You'd be surprised how many people don't want to answer because they don't know who the band is and god forbid they say that they actually like a band

[/QUOTE]

That's been my experience too. People of all shapes and sizes STILL presume that if something isn't on the top 40 radio or classic rock radio, it either doesn't exist or it will just be bad and/or too weird.

People want POPULAR approval, they're not going to look for what fits them. Not enough people actually care about music or whatever. They just want to get through their workday.

 

[Creeps]

Back in the day of high school and I was constantly browsing brick & mortar stores I based most of my "blind buy" purchases solely on any of the following; image, album cover, song titles and record label.

We actually had an all hard rock / heavy metal record store in the next county called Ace's Records that got 90% of my earned money from the 80s until the closed after the new millennium. Shopping at Ace's helped a lot because they usually had an open copy of every band they sold to play for you if asked. They also had great people working for them that would point out bands to try.

Blind buys from back in the day that come to mind:

• Sanctuary
• Fifth Angel
• Hallows Eve
• Tigertailz (laugh all you want, I dig me some glam now & then)
• WWIII
• Tora Tora
• Bang Tango
• Laaz Rockit
• I.N.C. (Indestructible Noise Command)
• Fiona (not apple)

More recent blind buys:

• Black Stone Cherry
• Airborne
• Poets & Pornstars
• Beautiful Creatures
• Buckcherry
• Epica (1st album at a PP vendor)
• Silent Force (at a Virgin Megastore before PP III)

Not all of them have been good blind buys and I couldn't tell you which ones haven't panned out because I would have gotten rid of them shortly after.

 

[Cheiron]

Essentially, I'm asking you to pass judgment on your fellow forum members with this question, as I suspect it's difficult for people to recognize when they themselves are guilty of judging a book by a cover.

What percentage of people dismiss bands based on image, popularity, genre association and/or the band's non-traditional Metal fan base, rather than the music?

100%

We all use filters to avoid checking out the music of every metal band we come across.

 

[TwizstedJesus]

Blind buys from back in the day that come to mind:

• Sanctuary
• Fifth Angel
• Hallows Eve
• Tigertailz (laugh all you want, I dig me some glam now & then)
• WWIII
• Tora Tora
• Bang Tango
• Laaz Rockit
• I.N.C. (Indestructible Noise Command)
• Fiona (not apple)

Did the cover of Refuge Denied sell you on the Sanctuary disc?
TigerTailz...Young and Crazy with Steevi James or Bezerk/Bonzai era with Kim Hooker? I thought the band had potential until Kim Hooker. Cant stand that dudes voice!
ToraTora...once again, was it the cover?
Laaz Rockit was the cover. It sold me


More recent blind buys:

• Black Stone Cherry
• Airborne
• Poets & Pornstars
• Beautiful Creatures
• Buckcherry
• Epica (1st album at a PP vendor)
• Silent Force (at a Virgin Megastore before PP III)

Not all of them have been good blind buys and I couldn't tell you which ones haven't panned out because I would have gotten rid of them shortly after.

Poets and Pornstars was a blind buy for me at ProgPower
Epica wasn't a blind buy. The music between bands (ProgPower # 5 or 6 I think) kept on playing Epica and I ran out and bought one immediately...good thing too 'cuz Ken from LaserCD ran out later Friday night.

My blind buy list is huge, based on Ken Goldens description of the bands on his website in large part lol. Some of his descriptions are dead on while some are misleading and led to poor purchases, but without Ken I would have missed out on a large chunk of my favorite bands!