Your most hated bands/groups

[Neutral Corner]

Some of my feelings on the previous posts relate to my age and experiences, and some to acts that just grated on me or who really struck a chord.

I was about eight when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. There was a good bit of music in my parent's house, and mom got my little brother and I our own records, but they were Disney records and some folk and well, mom music. Bless her heart though, because after the Sullivan show she bought me the first two Beatle albums on Capital. They were my gateway drug to Rock and Roll. Not just the Beatle songs, but the covers on "The Beatles Second Album" - Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Smokey Robinson and Motown in general ("Money", "Please Mr. Postman"). They broke up when I hit high school, so they were literally the sound track of my youth.

The first real honest to god rock show I ever saw (as in not the high school gym) was Fleetwood Mac and Deep Purple on the "Machine Head" tour. The Mac was post-Peter Green, the Kirwan/Welch version. I remember them playing playing "Black Magic Woman" and thinking that they were covering Santana instead of vice versa. I was 16, it was 1972, I was young and ignorant, lol. Good show. I was in Birmingham when the "Buckingham/Nicks" album came out. They were very popular here, in pretty heavy rotation on the local AOR station. I really liked the Mac up through "Tusk" or so, and then tapered off as the quality of their releases did.

I liked the Eagles up through "Hotel California". When "The Long Run" came out trying to follow it, it was obviously totally overproduced to try to reach "perfection". Up until then they had been a prototypical California country-rock band and I was very much onboard. After that point, again, I began to step way back. I saw them on the "Long Run" tour and they were ok, but not as good as previously.

That said, I saw Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles on a double bill at the Omni in Atlanta in 1976, the Mac touring "Rumors" and the Eagles "Hotel California", and that's still in my top ten, maybe top five live shows all time. That was a huge hit of excellent new music all at once, damn fine show.

Boston lost me early. I saw them at a "Toys for Tots" Christmas concert also in the Omni. Boston's first album was out and they were riding pretty high, so high in fact that Tom Scholz insisted on closing the show after Styx, who was touring behind "Equinox", which is one of their best, if not the best. Styx let Boston close but were obviously pissed off, as they came out and absolutely burned down the stage. It wasn't quite "Ok, Killer, follow that!", but it had that feeling. Boston had about three really strong songs, but the rest of the set was mediocre, and they were far more a studio than live band. People were leaving in droves. The only rock show I ever saw more people leave early was a Steven Stills and Manassas show when Stills was doing about an ounce of coke a day, and he really sucked hard. Screw Boston, too much the same song.

 

[mpcincal]

Never saw Boston live, but I definitely buy your claim that they were more of a studio band. Scholz was known to be a real perfectionist in the studio, and that doesn't really transfer that well to the live stage.

 

[Neutral Corner]

We're talking the mid Seventies as well - so the digital tracking and overdubs that are common today were not around. To be honest, it wasn't that the live show was all that bad. It's that they had one album out, and two or three good songs. The rest of the show was filler, bad filler. People would have waited it out if Styx were the headliner, but since Sholz had insisted on closing there was nothing to keep people from walking out.

 

[albert777]

Some of my feelings on the previous posts relate to my age and experiences, and some to acts that just grated on me or who really struck a chord.

I was about eight when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan. There was a good bit of music in my parent's house, and mom got my little brother and I our own records, but they were Disney records and some folk and well, mom music. Bless her heart though, because after the Sullivan show she bought me the first two Beatle albums on Capital. They were my gateway drug to Rock and Roll. Not just the Beatle songs, but the covers on "The Beatles Second Album" - Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Smokey Robinson and Motown in general ("Money", "Please Mr. Postman"). They broke up when I hit high school, so they were literally the sound track of my youth.

The first real honest to god rock show I ever saw (as in not the high school gym) was Fleetwood Mac and Deep Purple on the "Machine Head" tour. The Mac was post-Peter Green, the Kirwan/Welch version. I remember them playing playing "Black Magic Woman" and thinking that they were covering Santana instead of vice versa. I was 16, it was 1972, I was young and ignorant, lol. Good show. I was in Birmingham when the "Buckingham/Nicks" album came out. They were very popular here, in pretty heavy rotation on the local AOR station. I really liked the Mac up through "Tusk" or so, and then tapered off as the quality of their releases did.

I liked the Eagles up through "Hotel California". When "The Long Run" came out trying to follow it, it was obviously totally overproduced to try to reach "perfection". Up until then they had been a prototypical California country-rock band and I was very much onboard. After that point, again, I began to step way back. I saw them on the "Long Run" tour and they were ok, but not as good as previously.

That said, I saw Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles on a double bill at the Omni in Atlanta in 1976, the Mac touring "Rumors" and the Eagles "Hotel California", and that's still in my top ten, maybe top five live shows all time. That was a huge hit of excellent new music all at once, damn fine show.

Boston lost me early. I saw them at a "Toys for Tots" Christmas concert also in the Omni. Boston's first album was out and they were riding pretty high, so high in fact that Tom Scholz insisted on closing the show after Styx, who was touring behind "Equinox", which is one of their best, if not the best. Styx let Boston close but were obviously pissed off, as they came out and absolutely burned down the stage. It wasn't quite "Ok, Killer, follow that!", but it had that feeling. Boston had about three really strong songs, but the rest of the set was mediocre, and they were far more a studio than live band. People were leaving in droves. The only rock show I ever saw more people leave early was a Steven Stills and Manassas show when Stills was doing about an ounce of coke a day, and he really sucked hard. Screw Boston, too much the same song.

You have a lot of the same experiences I've had, being the same age, although my parents weren't cool enough to buy me Beatles records. It was mid-1965 before I started really listening to rock-and-roll, and when I did, I went all in. I also saw Deep Purple in early '72, right before they released Machine Head. They had Uriah Heep and Buddy Miles Band opening the show. Became a big prog rock fan after I saw Yes in 1973 on their tour in support of Close to the Edge, then a year or so later when I saw Emerson, Lake & Palmer on the legendary Brain Salad Surgery Tour. Those were two bands the subsequently quaffed a little too deeply of the prog part of their genre and forgot the rock part.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Truth is that Mom wasn't all that cool, it was that my brother and I at 6 and 8 doing the twist in front of Ed Sullivan cracked her up.

I didn't get serious about rock until I was 14 or 15 and discovered the local college radio station. In my case that was WRAS in Atlanta. I can even tell you what hooked me the first time I listened to the station, it was the Allman Brothers doing "Revival" off of Idlewild South.

Never saw Uriah Heep, although I like them. Third row for Yes on either Fragile or Close to the Edge, I forget which. Saw ELP several times. My proud moment in prog rock was Genesis with Peter Gabriel in the Fox Theater, which seats 3700. Fine show.

 

[terrier]

The pre -disco Bee Gees had some very good songs -- Words, Massachusetts and Lonely Days among them

This year's Providence Newspaper Guild Follies, I was in the "Massachusetts" parody about their legalizing pot. I did a pretty good Robin Gibb on the last chorus: "When we shout, 'Hi, Neighbor!' in Masssss-a-chusetts/we're not talkin' 'bout Narr-a-gansett Beer". I was a stoner with a prop fatty between a singing bong and a dancing joint - we also had a human cannabis bag in the number. Too bad Rhode Island is behind the times.

 

[terrier]

And that's one of the best songs of the '80s. Not to mention Girl in Trouble is a strong song. It was a good album.

If you can't get your swerve on to Romeo Void's "Never Say Never," can't do nothin' for you, man.

 

[forever_town]

Justin Bieber
Lady Gaga
Michael Bolton

 

[Buck]

There are plenty of performers I don't like, either as my personal reaction to the performers themselves or because I don't like their work.
I don't think there are any I 'hate,' though.

I like a lot of classic rock, but as far as stuff you hear a lot of, I don't like Boston or Journey.
I spent the 1980s from ages 10 to 20, but I don't like any of the metal/hair music of that time - Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, etc.
I'm from NJ, but I don't like Springsteen, with the exception of handful of songs. He's also one of those performers I don't like on two fronts. I find him annoying and I don't like most of his work.

 

[Songbird]

Journey has a nice collection of really strong songs.

 

[CD Boogie]

There are plenty of performers I don't like, either as my personal reaction to the performers themselves or because I don't like their work.
I don't think there are any I 'hate,' though.

I like a lot of classic rock, but as far as stuff you hear a lot of, I don't like Boston or Journey.
I spent the 1980s from ages 10 to 20, but I don't like any of the metal/hair music of that time - Motley Crue, Bon Jovi, etc.

Bon Jovi, like Poison, is a chick band. Fair or not, I judge guys harshly who profess a love of Bon Jovi. A little too pretty, a little too faux bad boys. Motley Crue and Guns N Roses had the edge those other bands could only hope for. Granted, I'd definitely take free tickets to see Bon Jovi and Poison because chicks like them and I've heard it's a fun scene. But I will not -- will not! -- sing along. (Unless it's Living on a Prayer...)

 

[justgladtobehere]

Bon Jovi, like Poison, is a chick band. Fair or not, I judge guys harshly who profess a love of Bon Jovi. A little too pretty, a little too faux bad boys. Motley Crue and Guns N Roses had the edge those other bands could only hope for. Granted, I'd definitely take free tickets to see Bon Jovi and Poison because chicks like them and I've heard it's a fun scene. But I will not -- will not! -- sing along. (Unless it's Living on a Prayer...)

John Bongiovi is pretty much a sellout. He wanted to be Springsteen and then found hair metal. Most of the band's hit were written by a guy who wrote a ton of the 1980's hair band hits.

 

[Huggy]

John Bongiovi is pretty much a sellout. He wanted to be Springsteen and then found hair metal. Most of the band's hit were written by a guy who wrote a ton of the 1980's hair band hits.

And as Rolling Stone noted in its review of his Young Guns II soundtrack that he was the only guy who could make the wild west sound like New Jersey.

 

[georgealfano]

I never liked Neil Young. I thought his voice sounded like a dog being tortured.

 

[QYFW]

Not sure even Neil Young fans particularly cared for his voice.

 

[Batman]

When it comes to Neil Young, all I know is a southern man don't need him around anyhow.

 

[Captain_Kirk]

You can put Bon Jovi on my list for this thread, with the exception of "Dead or Alive".

Motley Crue is a rare band that has grown on me over time and over the years. Didn't think much of them in their heyday in the 80s, but over time, I've come to enjoy their music much more.

 

[justgladtobehere]

You can put Bon Jovi on my list for this thread, with the exception of "Dead or Alive".

Motley Crue is a rare band that has grown on me over time and over the years. Didn't think much of them in their heyday in the 80s, but over time, I've come to enjoy their music much more.

'Kick Start My Heart', 'Shout at the Devil' were pretty good. The book about the band, 'The Dirt', is supposed to be really good.

I like a few Poison songs and their Behind the Music was interesting because Brett Michaels was a humorless prick and CC Deville basically admitted he sucked at playing guitar. He said something like "I listened to Jimmy Paige and Keith Richards and wanted to be like them. I had the right influences, they just didn't come out when I was playing guitar."

EDIT: Plus, the Poison drummer was hilarious. He was a former hairstylist and did the band's hair.

 

[Buck]

I've really got no use for Crue, but Poison is funny.
The look and packaging are unbelievably dumb, but I think a few of their songs would be cool with different arrangements and production.
Not 'Every Rose has Its Thorn,' which is irredeemable.
The hair metal power ballad is just a terrible music form in general.

 

[CD Boogie]

You can put Bon Jovi on my list for this thread, with the exception of "Dead or Alive".

Motley Crue is a rare band that has grown on me over time and over the years. Didn't think much of them in their heyday in the 80s, but over time, I've come to enjoy their music much more.

Their memoir, "The Dirt," was terrific.