bad music and scary machines

[deird1]

When people asked me my taste in music, I used to say "everything except heavy metal and country and western".

Then... I became a country fan. So it became "everything except heavy metal".

Now... I think it's become "everything except heavy metal and Frank Sinatra". Because seriously - listening to a few minutes of Sinatra from outside the MRI room was enough to make me snap and ask them to give me anything else to listen to during my MRI, because all the Sinatra would drive me crazy.



Oh yeah. And I had an MRI.

It was exciting and weird, and did sound just as much like a jackhammer as everyone had told me. It was on my knee - so I only had to be in the machine up to my shoulders, rather than full-on claustrophobic nightmare conditions. Which sounds like a good thing, but in practice, instead of being in a high-tech coffin getting cool sci-fi effects as I was transformed into a super-soldier, I kept opening my eyes to see this machine eating me! and it had almost reached my head! Very stressful.



So... Frank Sinatra. Does that music suck, or is it just me?

Comments

[nimthiriel]

Does Within Temptation count as heavy metal? I know it's some kind of goths metal, and I know you liked them!

[slaymesoftly]

Are you sure it was Frank, or just someone trying to sound like him for Musak purposes? I'm not a big fan of music from that era (which, in his case is actually a pretty long "era' lol), but I quite like many of his songs. I'm not a fan of singers who get so involved with showing off their pipes or how "creative" they can be that the melody/lyrics of the song get lost. But I don't think of Frank Sinatra - as much as he is a well-known stylist - as someone who does that to the detriment of the songs. Harry Connick Jr sounds a lot like Sinatra, as do quite a few others who hope to be that successful, but they aren't as good at it. On the other hand, I get quite antsy at hearing any kind of the same music in too large quantities. I like to jump around through artist and genres. My playlists are very eclectic and a mix of just the songs I really like - no matter who does them, or what genre they are.

Re: heavy metal - Not even "Sandman"? :)

[deird1]

Nope, real Sinatra. :)

"Sandman"? Don't think I know it.

[slaymesoftly]

My bad - It's Enter Sandman by Metallica. My favorite song of theirs.

[velvetwhip]

Not a big Sinatra fan myself (sorry he was the soundtrack to you being eaten by a machine). As for heavy metal though... give it a chance. There's some awesome stuff out there.


Gabrielle

[curiouswombat]

Does that music suck, or is it just me?

It sucks.

[rebcake]

So... Frank Sinatra. Does that music suck, or is it just me?

I'm thinking it's you. Or, well, you and everybody else who doesn't like his music. However, there are millions who did (and do) and most professional musicians would give him props for being technically proficient, even if it isn't their thing. I mean, it's not like he relied up autotuning or anything like that. So, no, I don't think "sucks" really covers it.

I am waiting for my daughter to finally get over her prejudice against country and bluegrass. It's like fingernails on chalkboard to her, and I can understand that, but there are some incredible gems within the genre that deserve love.

Me, I love and hate music from every genre. Usually when I hate it, it's because it's aggressively bland. If it's way out there, I'm more likely to get excited. I say this less than one week after sitting through Philip Glass' 4-1/2 hour long opera, Einstein on the Beach. Now, that's a challenge...

[velvetwhip]

Me, I love and hate music from every genre.

Me too. I have favorites in every genre (yes, even rap) and songs I would rather have my head chopped off than listen to again in every genre.

I've been listening to out there stuff myself of late - just started diggin' Bene Gesserit. I have never heard Einstein on the Beach, but I loved Glass's soundtrack to The Thin Blue Line.


Gabrielle

[lliira]

I got over my prejudice against country when my uncle got me a Cowboy Junkies CD. Black Eyed Man, way back from 1992. That was when Garth Brooks was at his hugest, and I associated country with over-sanitized, faux-populist pap. After that CD, I realized all country wasn't the same any more than all pop was the same.

[vass]

Unsurprisingly, my first response to this is to try to find a metal band you'll like.

You're a fantasy fan, so... have you encountered Rhapsody at all? They do symphonic power metal with a strong emphasis on dragons and unicorns, and amazingly cheesy lyrics, assisted by Christopher Lee. Yes, that Christopher Lee, the one who played Saruman.

The Last Winged Unicorn.

[stultiloquentia]

I like "Come Fly with Me", but mostly because I associate it with Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul.

[spuffyduds]

His voice is so fucking smug. I hate it.

[redsixwing]

Add me to the list of Sinatra-haters. Bluh.

His smug normalcy and NiceGuy lyrics send me right up the wall, and that's even discounting the fact that I associate that kind of schmaltz with the sort of toxic pseudo-50s nostalgia that I have been known to rant about for hours. That's my problem, not his.

I can see where he's technically proficient, but that doesn't mean I have to like him. Give me a good symphonic metal band any day.

[lliira]

I don't like Sinatra's voice. It hits the same brain cells in me as Barbra Streisand's. It's like he doesn't sing the songs, he sings the glory of himself. The only song I like of his is his rendition of "New York, New York". I actually think he's a better actor than singer.

I very much like the type of songs he sings when sung by other people. Tony Bennet, Ella Fitzgerald, Diana Krall, Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole... pretty much anyone who isn't Sinatra, Streisand, or Harry Connick Jr.

I hate heavy metal. People have tried to change this; they'll send me some lyrics, and I'll like the lyrics, then they'll send me the song, and I'll be like um... no thanks, if I want a headache it's easier to hit myself on the head with a hammer.