What do you listen for in music?

[Bob (SRB)]

Ive been wondering why some people like all these horrible bands like linkin park and good charlotte and such. What exactly attracts you to a band?

I love melodic music. Combining two guitar parts with a high pitched melodic lead and a powerful backing guitar is great. A good example of this is a band like hopesfall.

I love those deep lyric that make you think but you really have no idea what you're thinking about because you dont really understand a single sentence of the lyrics. Bands like at the drive in and thursday do this.

Bands that can catch your attention by doing something very cool in their songs. Such as the weird high pitched singing of the band armsbendback. Or the mix of screams and high pitched emo singing of a band like alexisonfire. Or the perfect combination of catchy pop punk and powerful hardcore with a band like boys night out.

[Rion.]

I think that's kinda hard to say... All I look for in music I guess is that I enjoy it... I appreciate guitars and vocals a lot, and I listen to a lot of (all sorts of) metal, but I listen to a lot of industrial, EBM, etc. Not to say that that's all I listen to, though. It's just my favourite.

Several examples of songs in an attempt to go from one end of the scale to the other...

Funker Vogt - Subspace (Why doesn't everyone have this? )
Juno Reactor - Mona Lisa
Hocico - Boiling Blood
Helloween - I Want Out
Ministry - N.W.O.
Razed In Black - Visions
Strapping Young Lad - Oh My Fucking God (Best song title ever)
Feindflug - Stukas Im Visier
Bella Morte - Fall No More
Mayhem - Crystallized Pain In Deconstruction

Also, Linkin Park and Good Charlotte are appalling.

I like slit-throat and clean vocals, both usually works well.

P.S. Covenant - Call The Ships To Port is one of the best songs evar.

[Stabwound]

I'm really into music; I listen to HEAVY METAL mostly. No, not that lame Korn or Slipknot shit; real metal. There are so many subgenres of metal that I listen to and I'm not even going to name them all. I listen to shit from the early 80's to now. I guess I listen to mostly death metal and black metal the most. There is a death metal band named Stabwound. At this point in time I don't remember if I took my name from them, or an album from a different band. Doesn't matter; they're both good. I guess metal isn't for everyone, but I know a few people on SS that listen to it, seems like mostly Euros though, especially that crazy fucker Zyclon <ZH>.

Let me name off 5 or so bands from my WinAmp at the moment: Kataklysm, Edguy, Megadeth, In Flames, and Exhumed.

Other than that, I like some rap (Nas, Notorious B.I.G., etc) but really I hate 99% of the shit rap they play on TV these days. I listen to some other lame pop shit like Avril Lavigne sometimes, but only every once and a while. Metal is my favorite music to listen to.

Why do I like the music I listen to? I have no fucking idea. I guess I love the sick (and I don't mean sick as in 'cool') lyrics of death metal bands. Pop shit like Avril is just fun to listen to. There is a pretty huge variety of music in metal, and bands from one end of the spectrum sound nothing like bands on the other end. The rap... well; good rap is pretty amazing to listen to. I don't mean shit like Nelly. Try listening to some Nas sometime and really listen to the lyrics and the way he delivers them. I think you'll be impressed.



\m/

[Miku19]

I usually listen to the things "on the bottom" in the music, the rhythm and the bass guitar. Throw some lame pop/rock on it and it's fine with me.

[ZeUs!!]

ANYTHING but screaming

[Spybreak!]

I love melodic music.

Hellooo? Melodic Trance anyone? Hello!
You can't get any more melodic than trance; from synths to bells to pianos... and since normally the melodies are pretty obvious it's easy listening and catchy.

And a lot of what you described is pretty similar to trance/vocal trance; they have words that could fill an ocean it's so deep, although a lot of it is about love and analogies, meh. About things that catch your attention, a lot of psytrance and chillout artists manipulate sounds in their work for a tremendous and unique sound.

But seriously, you don't seem that comfortable listening to your current bands, perhaps you have yet to discover your true [musical] niche... I suggest looking into the electronica department, although because it's such a vast genre it might seem intimidating. It's the largest genre ever, yes even bigger than metal, where it has just as much quality as it does quantity. And hey, electronica is something you wont find on mtv and shit so you don't need to worry about it turning into trash.

Your taste should come natural though, like uhhh, say you're in a store and you see a sweater or something you like... you know it's there, but in order to really find out if it suits you is to try it on, and that's basically what I'm saying about giving trance a whirl. But whatever



Oh yeah forgot to answer the topic, most probably know this... I like almost anything with a real beat (i.e. 4x4 kick)... And since we live in a digital age, I like my music digital; no boundaries and full of prosperity... oh yeah babe

Biggest music turnoffs: Hard electric guitars, screaming, angst, mtv.... you get the idea.

[Dant-Zu]

Good, shredding guitar riffs are the ones that do the trick for me. Death's Scavenger of human sorrow is one of the songs that contain amusing riffs. I also listen to the distortions of the guitars.
Of course I listen to drumms too. Great fills and superfast double bassdrum are the things that get the show on. :P
And then the singer. It HAS to be good. I can't listen to a band where I don't like the singer. I like both growl and clean singers if theyre good. Katatonia and Opeth have good cleans singers(tho both have good growlers too). And for artists I like Gackt and Tori Amos. Great clean singers. As for growling, I think Zyclon <ZH>'s growling is amazing! Tho Dimmu Borgir's Shagrath is my fav growler. :up:

[ZeUs!!]

Anything but screaming and trance

[Anduril.]

I really love the music my mother was always singing for me. (and still does when I'm going to bed..)

[wadi]

People who can sing decently, and hot guitar licks. I'll listen to complete trash if they have a singer I can tolerate and a lead guitar who can lay down something sweet for the bridge. Fuck, I'll listen to speed metal if I'm totally desperate.

Oh, and I really hate whiney music. Linkin Park, SoaD, etc.

[Pressure Drop]

When i first got into music i was influenced by waht was new at the time which was "grundge" so i liked good bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam and also bands like Radiohead a bit later.

I then started listening to older stuff which is classic like Jimi Hendix , Neil Young and Bob Marley (my parents have alot of there records.)

As i got older i mellowed out more and gave a lot more types of music chances and i even like some "evil" dance stuff now like Bassment Jaxx and some classical music to though i know little about it.

I have no time for most bands today and think most are crap, spiecially these New Metal or whatever they ae called bands. But if a band is good i'd give it a chance.

[gerry]

I listen to anything that doesn't sound like a recycled version of something I have already heard. I think bands like Korn, Linkin Park, anything on the radio is kind of lame.

I tried to give them a chance but, no...

Since I am very picky when it comes to music, I try to go back to roots, and you will most likely see me listening to Jazz from the 1930's.

[phYst]

Tool
Nine Inch Nails
Pearl Jam
Nirvana
Lynyrd Skynrd
Pink Floyd
APC
Mudvayne

i listent o tihngs that sound good...and doesnt get old fast..this new pop rock shit isnt innovating anything..so it all sounds the same..

[Rion.]

Ihsahn of Emperor is a very good vocalist in my opinion. Shaggers and Vortex from Dimmu are both excellent vocalists. Maybe not the best, but I like Devin Townsend of Strapping Young Lad's vocals.

For clean vocals, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden (of course) is amazing, as is Michael Kiske of Helloween. Joacim Cans of Hammerfall deserves a mention.

Christina Scabbia of Lacuna Coil is a great female vocalist, as is Kimberly Goss of Sinergy. Lucia thingymajig of KMFDM is good too.

I listen to all sorts of metal, some more than others. I'm much much more into Black than Death metal. Bands like Marduk, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Emperor, Immortal and so on (to me) are infinitely superior to most death metal. However, the Death I do like, I love. Hypocrisy, Vader and a few others. "Melodic Death" like Children of Bodom and (newer) Arch Enemy is great too.

I love the evil nature of black metal. While death metal is (generally) just nasty and gore-ish, black metal is just fucking evil. Emperor's "I Am The Black Wizards" will forever be one of the best songs to me. The way that black metal is... Well, it's beautiful, in such an evil way. I love it.

Stabwound was mentioning Slipknot and Korn and all of that shit. If you listen to "The Berzerker", it's basically what Slipknot should would be if it wasn't shite.

I realise I'm rambling, but I love music and nobody has to read this.

A lot of people I've talked to about metal say that generally, they actually quite like the music, the guitar is good and suchlike, they just can't stand the screaming (like Zeus said). But to me, that's another factor in the beauty of it. Listen to Bathory's "Equimanthorn" and try to imagine it with clean vocals... It just wouldn't work. In essence, it's the same as putting a slit-throat vocalist in with some Britney. (Although Anal Cunt have covered "Stayin' Alive" )

Great band for dual vocals is Lacuna Coil. It's sissy metal but it's great. Evanescence want to be Lacuna Coil, but they're not enough.

This was an incredibly incoherent post but music is <3.

Beep.

[Mr. Peanuts]

ANYTHING but screaming

bumpeth what you said zeus.