The concentration of opinions

[Lies and Perfidy]

That's just cause some people are nitpicking assholes.

 

[Stormwatch]

Another bullshit argument in my Slayer thread was whether or not we should list Haunting the Chappel. Why not? It's one of their releases, and it's my opinion that it should be listed. But, somebody had to say "It's not an album, it's only got 3 songs!"

It's got FOUR songs, how did you get to be such an expert?

Oh, "chapel" has one P.

Oh, if you want to include all "releases" as albums, you're as mad as a hatter. An album is a long player.

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

It's got FOUR songs, how did you get to be such an expert?

Oh, "chapel" has one P.

Oh, if you want to include all "releases" as albums, you're as mad as a hatter. An album is a long player.

The original verson had 3 songs.

I'm not saying I'm an expert. I just pointed out that you had your period just because some people mentioned the EP.

 

[AjDeath]

At GoD-Douche that thang!

At Misfit, I agree 100%, I do not know if you do not like BM, but I do not, atmosphere will only get you so far, at some point some coherency and riffs have to be there to keep thy shit interesting. IMO.

 

[AjDeath]

I agree that there needs to be more original topics rather than the over-done and repetitive threads like the ones already mentioned but this is the General Music Discussion Forum, so it probably wouldn’t be appropriate to incite topics on about philosophy, life and the like.

Heh, there was some shit on philosophy here about a year ago, but most people get their philosophy from television, good posts and replies eventhough.

 

[polarity]

Did I mention that I listen to Steeleye Span?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Pentangle are better

 

[no country for old wainds]

King Henry! Little Sir Hugh! CAM YE O'ER FRAE FRANCE!!!

 

[[X]]

I agree with the both of you as well. However, I actually did like the Sacramentum and Necrophobic albums you had mentioned(although the Fullmoon sucks dick and I just can't get into it, sorry :'( ), and I really don't think that an elite library of albums has been developed.

Although GoD's post confirms much of what Misfit was alluding to, I would like to take a rare "standing on a soapbox in the spotlight" moment to say that I have not fallen victim to this. It has been hard, and although it's easy for one to call UM just another message board...and due to the impersonal nature of message boards a foolish place to get caught up--I have done just that. My feelings are in this place. Granted, I have a life outside the board, but when I want to talk extreme metal, I come here. Having my feelings hurt when a band I really like is called shit or worthless by someone who thinks they know everything is not a good way to go. It breeds animosity. It causes discomfort. If anyone is laughing right now, I'm sorry, but I take this board seriously. I come here to enjoy myself. Petty arguments only do the opposite. There are no winners. You may 'win,' but all you've done is win an argument over the Internet. When you lose, your feelings are hurt. Arguments on here suck. Nobody wins.

I've had to swallow my feelings and reveal my tastes. I've had to defend my opinions. I will continue to do so, and I encourage anyone else who is feeling oppressed to do the same. A word of caution is that you be intelligent in your rebuttal.

It all boils down to taste. Taste is subjective. Some wholly disagree, but in order for this board to work(and not become anus.com pt.2) is for people to be tolerant of others' tastes. Open your minds. This DOES NOT mean lowering your standards. Your standards mean nothing to the next person. Flaming is pointless and bickering will only result in someone winning GoD's silver padlock award.

You know what, I still like Emperor and Cryptopsy. And I still like In Flames. And I listen to Disturbed and Third Eye Blind. When I turn on the radio, and a Vanessa Carlton song comes on, I'll listen to it. Why? Because that's stuff I like. I couldn't care less about the mainstream-ness of it, or the lack of artistic merit(which is open to interpretation anyway). But, what I have also managed to do was open my mind enough to listen to some more extreme bands as well. Some are good, and some are still bad. To me. Boo-hoo. Oh well.

For instance, The Chasm. They are an excellent example of a good band which I happen to like that I feel is overrated all to hell on this board as of late. That's my opinion. Only because I don't get the same magic out of listening to them that GoD does for instance, does not mean that I think they suck. I just dont find anything special about them. Someone could elaborate and explain, but it won't make much difference. Until I hear it, The Chasm will always be above average to me, as ludicrous as this may seem to some. In retrospect, all the hype for Arsis hit square center with me. They're one of the top 10 death metal bands now. The Arsis Appreciation thread is a testament to how popular they've become as of late. I can totally relate. I think they're amazing.

I suppose the bottom line is that with a little more open-mindedness and biting of tongues at the right time, people will be more willing to reveal their tastes, regardless of what they might be. Many can vouch for me when I say that I have never wavered in the face of Gothenburg-bashing, and I will defend a band I like if it is being unfairly denounced. Hell, I'll vouch for any band that's being unfairly denounced. That's based on my judgement. Everyone should do the same. V.V.V.V.V. made a great step forward where he made a thread about bands that people like, and the thread is a success. Positivity always wins.

If anyone followed that whole shpiel, good for you. Reply if I said anything contradictory or hard to follow. I just woke up an hour ago.

Edit: Just cleaned up the post a bit. Cheers.

Great post, I totally agree with you. people need to open their mind.

 

[MasterOLightning]

I agree with just about all of this. I wish there were a good forum for discussing other deeper issues, but the Chat forum has the depth of a kiddie pool. The same eight or so threads with 7,000 posts in them. Such a closed group. They're not assholes like the SOT people, but it doesn't seem like a great place for in depth conversation. Then again, I've never started any threads there.
One thing that I just find annoying is the terribly uncreative means people use to rag on bands they don't like. i.e. ...Gaythenberg, In Gaymes, Gaypeth, Gayer, Iron Gayden...and so on. It's just not funny or clever. Except for Iron Gayden, that kind of makes me laugh.

 

[Funeral Portrait]

I would like to enter this board now, saying, I do in fact like Justin Timberlake.

I love you Koich

 

[Funeral Portrait]

also, nick your post was amazing. you and i have alot of the same views about this board.

 

[KoichCPA]

atmosphere will only get you so far, at some point some coherency and riffs have to be there to keep thy shit interesting. IMO.

You sir, know how to rock.

 

[DE]

Who the fuck cares? If some pseudo-elitist ANUS-ite (Not actually aimed at you Nix ) flames you on the internet for your taste in music... why do you even care? I value the opinions of people I respect, and if some retard judges me solely on the music I listen to then I'd rather not have anything to do with them.

 

[ShadowOfDeath]

I've come to the conclusion that the reason opinions are so similar, especially with Reign in blood being the best slayer album is merely because most people don't know any 80's slayer other than that album. Slayer's reign in blood was popular because in the time era it was written thrash was a huge thing and the fastest bands in the genre were pretty popular. Slayer's reign in blood was one of the fastest albums at the time. Personally i don't get it though. I'll admit the first moment i had ever listened to reign in blood it was pretty good, though in all honesty i never saw why it was so hyped. After that first listen i realized it's full of filler. Argue it if you want but other than Angel of Death, Possibly Criminally insane, Piece by Piece, Possibly port mortem, and Raining blood the entire Reign in blood album is just filler. If it isn't than slayer learned to make a boring album. It may be fast and 30 minutes but it's poor compared to other slayer albums. Also Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits are both great albums!

Anyways back to the point. As GoD said: People here recommend stuff to eachother. When a group keeps recommending to eachother they start to develop a pretty similar taste. For example, me and about 5-6 other people regularly chat together in our own black metal chat room. We've talked about bands such as Sargeist, Vultyr, Grand Belial's Key, Dark Funeral, Tsatthoggua(Spelling?), and a lot more bands. We all like these bands because they're good, but sometimes one of us knew these bands and we just shared mp3's or found the album whatever and all got into it. It happens. No ones going to have a unique taste when you hang out with similar people. You all begin to have a similar taste. Hell sometimes that's not the case. I've chatted with other metalheads and sometimes it shocks me to see how similar we are in taste sometimes. It just happens. No point is bitching about it.

 

[R.I.P.2]

. They're not assholes like the SOT people

(Not actually aimed at you Nix

)

I agree with you to some extent misfit, but I also agree with the people that have said it's to do with sharing opinions. In many cases it's simply that the band in question is actually good. The Gothernburg sound used to be popular here and everyone recommended melodic death. It's just shifted to black metal now, it seems.

Also anonymousnick, you need to learn to not be offended by flames and insults here. Everyone has the potential to be an arsehole on the internet since there are no consequences for being so, unlike 'irl'. Flame back and don't care.
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[byrne]

For whoever asked; I wouldn't say I'm all that into black metal. I'm more intrigued and enjoy bits and pieces, but generally I get bored with it. I do however really enjoy Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.

Anyhow, not turning this into an argument about the merits of black metal, I'm glad people agree with what has been discussed, but to clarify a few things:

GoD: If you look at that top 100 albums poll, RIB was miles ahead of anything esle even second place let alone Hell Awaits, which I'm not even sure made the top 100. That was only months ago, look at the slayer thread now. Its a contest between RIB and Hell Awaits. You can't tell me people are only just now (last 3 mths or so) just realising the merits of Hell Awaits, its almost 20 years old. If you honestly believe people are genuinely forming their own opinions on this issue (and a range of others) you are merely looking at face value.


Similarly, I never made any connection between popularity being cloning. I am willing to accept issues discussed more frequently will have more influence on opinions. However, the massive shift in opinion isnt limited to an appreciation of a wider variety of music, the shift has more significantly impacted a greater dislike of certain music. This to me is bullshit. Musical taste will (mainly) expand, but shouldn't contract as much as it has. It is this narrowing of forum opinion which is why it seems like cloning. Not the fact that people are enjoying this broader base of music.


What I am saying is that board discussion is unhealthy because of this trend of uniform opinion. Just like when music is written to please a variety of people rather than become a work the artist is proud of, posting views on topics, tip-toe'ing around what people have already said, is unproductive and essentially damned boring.


Lastly with respect to the 'gothenburg' sound. I don't see how this is any less stale than say poor production on albums to create a raw/archaic effect. Its been done a million times, but you don't have to listen to all of it. The gothenburg sound may be done to death, but that doesnt make it all bad.

 

[anonymousnick2001]

Similarly, I never made any connection between popularity being cloning. I am willing to accept issues discussed more frequently will have more influence on opinions. However, the massive shift in opinion isnt limited to an appreciation of a wider variety of music, the shift has more significantly impacted a greater dislike of certain music. This to me is bullshit. Musical taste will (mainly) expand, but shouldn't contract as much as it has. It is this narrowing of forum opinion which is why it seems like cloning. Not the fact that people are enjoying this broader base of music.


What I am saying is that board discussion is unhealthy because of this trend of uniform opinion. Just like when music is written to please a variety of people rather than become a work the artist is proud of, posting views on topics, tip-toe'ing around what people have already said, is unproductive and essentially damned boring.


Lastly with respect to the 'gothenburg' sound. I don't see how this is any less stale than say poor production on albums to create a raw/archaic effect. Its been done a million times, but you don't have to listen to all of it. The gothenburg sound may be done to death, but that doesnt make it all bad.

I can see what you're saying, but with all due respect, I disagree. Your point about people having to 'tiptoe' opinions is 100% on the money, but I haven't really seen too much of a uniform opinion show up. There are some people who generally have similar tastes, and respect each others' recommendations and the like, so it may seem that way. For instance, I have a lot of the same tastes as the late Sunlapse, V.V.V.V.V., and Funeral Portrait, so when one of them ever recommended anything, I'd jump on it in an instant because there was a high likelihood that I'd also like it. Therefore, at tiems it might seem like we play the same character in many board discussions. We most certainly are not (I still love ya FP ).

Likewise, the opinions of people like Under a Stone, Prozak, GoD, and to an extreme extent Planetary Eulogy and Demiurge may also seem uniform. But they just aren't. Everybody else seems to fall somewhere in the middle.

It would be nice to see some diversity. Be prepared. GoD's due for another personality 180 in a few months.

Also anonymousnick, you need to learn to not be offended by flames and insults here. Everyone has the potential to be an arsehole on the internet since there are no consequences for being so, unlike 'irl'. Flame back and don't care.

Hey man, I can flame as good as anybody. I just choose not to. Just imagine what a nice, sensitive guy I must be 'irl.'

 

[Focusphere]

The basic point of my post was to say that it's probably time to focus your time on other messageboards that deal with other issues, aside from the same old topics. Not to completely abandon this board, but to explore other options. I've been surfing this board for a few months only, and it's already extremely repetitive and I really can't see how the regulars here can continue to post on the same old threads over and over. While I don't post that much, I still check this place out to see if an interesting conversation is going on. Anyway, my two cents on the issue.

 

[ThePhilosopher]

It would be nice to see some diversity. Be prepared. GoD's due for another personality 180 in a few months.

I got 10 bucks on this one.

 

[no country for old wainds]

There's another way of viewing this: Most metal outside BM/DM has limited value, and while people still listen to quite a variety of stuff, most of it's outside of metal and therefore isn't discussed on this board. Within those genres though, there's quite a variety of tastes here.

I'll also add that there are certain bands whom a lot of people here listen to while I personally don't, yet I'll often acknowledge that the band does appear to have some worth but it just hasn't clicked with me yet, or isn't my style.

I'd also like to see more intelligent discussions that involve metal to some extent but don't revolve around people's opinions on a certain band or album.