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jason from volo wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 10:26 am

A_Man_Who_Tries wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 8:50 am Crash Test Dummies

mmmmm mmmmmm mmmmmmm mmmmmmmm

That song is just so awful, it's entertaining, and therefore I can't consider it the "worst" of anything. Plus it was used in the movie Dumb and Dumber, which is extremely appropriate.

Yeah. I'm mildly charmed by a guy who probably got told 100 times "you shouldn't sing in a band" did, and scored a fairly big hit out of it. At worst the song is pretty easy to ignore.

For me there's stuff that's just leagues more awful than 80s/90s/early aughts derivative rock: German folkloristic Schlager. This stuff gets played on the radio/TV and is actually popular here, meaning that it cannot be avoided at times. This is the place where any musical ambition goes to be beaten senseless.

Phew, those were really bad. Reminds me of Dutch "carnival music" that someone introduced me to.

Oh yeah, that's the stuff. It seems that most European countries have their version of this and it's always awful and oddly full of cheesy trance cliches. Here, and I'm sure elsewhere, it's meant to be enjoyed with massive amounts of alcohol... The American equivalent might be top 40 country, which seems to hit on a similar note of party and patriotism.

Oh yeah.. Schlager is mentioned a lot in books about 'kraut rock': as in, it's the music and sentiment those bands were rebelling against.

American top 40 country is probably worse, but thank jebus I'm not exposed to it often.

jason from volo wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 1:36 pm Okay, I have a new nominee; not a band, but an "artist". Mr. Garth Brooks.

Problem is, when I look at him, I don't see an artist. Rather, someone who is so frickin' happy because he has made so much money playing a D major chord. This photo totally makes me gag.

In Garth's defense, "Friends in Low Places" is a solid karaoke choice in many parts of the country.

His alter ego, Chris Gaines, is more worthy of derision.

A_Man_Who_Tries wrote: Sat Jun 19, 2021 8:50 am How the fuck is this five pages deep with no mention of:

4 Non-Blondes
Crash Test Dummies

See, I don't love either of these, but I'd submit them as evidence in a thread about how popular music of the 90's was way more diverse.

There's zero chance a band as peculiar, with such unique character, could become as massive today as these two did back in the day. If nothing else the 90's rock explosion brought out a ton of unschooled, atypical lead singers singing unusual songs. I miss that. Everyone on the radio today sounds like generic autotuned perfection.

jason from volo wrote: Sun Jun 20, 2021 7:44 am I don't quite understand how there have never been greater possibilities for a wider variety of music to be heard by a larger portion of the population, yet *popular* music somehow seems to have gotten even more cookie-cutter.

Because major labels will only risk money on surefire winners, especially with illegal downloading, so the only things getting promoted are derivative of what went before.

This is a very tough call, but I am going to have to give the prize to Radiohead

Greta Van Fleet