hey capnreverb! knowing alot and being a dick about it is cool. go spread your elitest crap somewhere else.

I've been thinking about it a lot, though, because this topic bothered me when I first read it (probably because I realize that I would still be in high school-which is where I actually am, anyway, so it's not THAT big of a deal).

I don't know how much time you devote to listening to music and finding new music and exploring different styles, but if you would say that you know all about every type of rock music that exists, and also about all of the types of world music, and every type of jazz, and soul, and experimental music that exists, I'd say that you're completely full of shit. A lifetime could be spent listening to rock music alone. Many people that make great, great music have no experience with classical and minimal experience with other types. Of course many musicians have backgrounds in other styles as well, but there are a lot of musicians that I would consider great, talented songwriters that probably don't listen to classical music at all; would they "not know shit about music?' I think not, sir, I think not.

It's probably just an "elitest" thing, as someone else so wisely put it; I don't consider you any better for "knowing" your experimental music, because it doesn't mean anything. I know who the Residents are and I've listened to a few of their CDs- does this make me any better of a person? How much can you possibly RETAIN about all of the different types of music you listed? Is there honestly anybody on Earth who had a comprehensive knowledge of all of the music you listed? If I listen to all country music and I attempt to write a jazz song, will I do well at it? Probably not at all. I bet I could write a pretty kick-ass country song, though.

But I mean, I've been playing tuba in band for years now, and I've gotten pretty good at it. Being in that "band" setting is something that I would not have obtained experience with in any other way, and I doubt that there are many people who have gotten the same type of experience I have. It's certainly changed my perception of music and assisted in my development as a musician, but whether it's a good thing or bad thing still has yet to be seen in my music itself. It works the same way with listening to music: what goes in doesn't really matter if what comes out is good. I mean, the Minutemen grew up listening to mostly just Creedence Clearwater Revival, and look how they turned out.

But then I was thinking about it some more and I realized you weren't talking about "creative" people or anything, just music geeks/snobs/obsessives and I was kind of missing the point, although in your other posts you did kind of lean towards what I'm arguing against.

what it really comes down to is taste in music.
after having worked in music stores for years and observing and listening to all kinds of opinions about music, one thing dawned on me.
no ones taste is better than anybody's elses. what DOES matter is how open one is to something different.
as long as somebody likes all different kinds of music, then they have good taste in music.
someone might like the same rap or metal or whatever i like, but if all they listen to is exclusively metal or rap or rock, then their taste in music sucks.

i used to define myself by what music i thought was cool, as a lot of folks do. as my curiosity expanded, so did my tastes. it really bothers me when people say country sucks, or rap sucks, or classical sucks. to me it just shows laziness.

true, i am an eletist know it all snob, but at least my ears are open.

There's nothing wrong with believing that you have better musical taste than some people, because it is fact- I know for a fact that the music I listen to is just plain better than the music my peers listen toL the modern emo/pop-punk/nu-metal garbage.

And it's hard to not say something like "country sucks" or "rap sucks" when the state of both of those genres in today's musical world is in such bad shape- I mean, one of the big country stars right now is Toby Keith, and country musicians get smash hits by covering 98 Degrees songs, and most modern rap (at least, the rap that people actually listen to) is just untelligent rambling, bragging, or threats. When most rap fans listen to Eminem, I think it's a safe thing to say that rap sucks. Sure, there might be some rap that's good, but it's so rare that it's insignificant, and if you were to say "rap is good" because of a few artists, you wouldn't necessarily be right. That's like saying that cancer is a good thing overall because you don't like George W. Bush and as long as cancer exists, there's a chance he'll get it. This is flawed logic- cancer is still a bad thing. I'll give rap a shot, but there's no way in hell I'll EVER give rap as much attention as I give to rock music. It's just not worth the effort.

I feel like I'm wasting my time writing these essays and I'm getting really tired. I'm glad I was able to compare rap music with cancer, though.

toby keith- case in point.
most of his music i find terribly ignorible.
however, i hear that song "i love this bar", and i wanted to hate it because its toby keith, but after hearing it a few times, i realised that its actually a pretty well made song, and i liked it.
its comparable to when i was in junior high and duran duran was huge and it was cool to think they suck. now i hear "rio" and all i can think is how fucking amazing the bass playing is on that song.

whoa.. toby keith, duran duran where the fuck am i. i better move on.

gcbv wrote phillip glass and l. young god, both of those guys are total posers, cage and feldman, cage and feldman... feldman more than cage.man i totally agree with the rio bass playin.

its comparable to when i was in junior high and duran duran was huge and it was cool to think they suck. now i hear "rio" and all i can think is how fucking amazing the bass playing is on that song.

You only say that because you were in the band. I agree it's a great song, but man, get over yourself. That was a long time ago.[/quote]

i would like to provide a thumbs down vote for all duran duran bass playing

a bad bernard edwards imitation

'ordinary world' is pretty good as duran duran songs go--it's about half as good as 'more than this' by roxy music, which i've become re-obsessed with since seeing _lost in translation_. but it's still pretty good. for a duran duran song.

Back on the subject of "taste in music" - First, I agree with whoever said "good taste is being open to other things" and strongly disagree that:

(a)if you don't know classical you don't know shit (i, for one, know it , but God, how can you sit around and listen to it? maybe once?)

(b)duran duran is in no way, shape, or form - good.