bboy87 said:

Denial of what?

chocolate1 said:

How can I forget 50-Cent ?!
and those American Idols (except Carrie Underwood & Jennifer Hudson- I kinda dig them )

It's almost too easy to pick radio-ready rock (Nickelback), pop princesses (Brittney Spears, Fergie), and all the thug rappers.

I'd really be interested to know what artists that a lot of other people respect and are generally critcally acclaimed, that people find "annoying."

For me:

1. The Arcade Fire - IMO, there has never been as much critical hype surrounding such an average sounding band. I'm not alone in this assessment, but I've heard from others who don't like their recorded music that they are very good live.

2. Alycia Keyes. I like her music and think she is very talented. But the question was "annoy." She's kinda been forced down our throats as "this is a return to 'real' singing and 'real' musicianship missing from today's R&B music", which may be true in some respects. But, she's held in this high regard where it's almost politically incorrect to speak ill of her, because to do so is to diss "real music." Again, she's very good, but she's not quite the revelation she's marketed as. Many singers are equally talented. She's used to be fairly engaging personally, but her handlers have turned her into somewhat of a robot.

3. Prince. And, I absolutely love Prince. But, for reasons that have been discussed on these forums ad naseum, he's annoying. You can call it being an eccentric genius or you can call it being an asshole. Same thing, different views.

4. Radiohead. I have nothing against them personally, and understand their stature in music. But, I'm one of the ones for whom Radiohead never really registered. I don't hate their music by any means, but the disconnect between hype and reality for me is huge. Radiohead fans will tell me that "I don't get it," which is beyond annoying. So , I guess it's not the band, but the "cult of Radiohead" which it spawned.

5. Branford Marsalis. I can't stand his "purist"take on everything when he may be the most boring jazz musician ever. He's jazz "royalty" and is always extolling his opinions as if they are the word of god. I'll give him credit for being knowledgeable and for educating people about the genre, but he comes across as thinking the jazz world really does revolve around him. He knows he is an entry point for the casual jazz fan, a recognizeable name, and with that comes a certain amount of arrogance. Yes, he's done some good material IMO, but the jazz world would not be at a loss if Branford never picked up an instrument.
[Edited 2/22/08 12:31pm]

coltrane3 said:

You basically said that you don't get Radiohead, but you get annoyed when their fans tell you the same thing?

AlexdeParis said:

"not registering" wasn't meant to mean "don't get". I meant it as "not exciting me," "not holding my interest".
[Edited 2/22/08 13:04pm]

I have so many it's hard to count.

Fergie
Kayne
Timbaland
Justin Timberlake
Britney Spears
Lindsey Lohan
Almost every rapper out there
Akon
Michael Jackson
Madonna
Black Eyed Peas
will.i.am
Diddy
Usher
R. Kelly
Chris Brown
T-Pain
50 Cent

If there is more, I'll post it.

coltrane3 said:

I'm still not quite following. You don't hate them, but you don't get what people think is so special about them. I'm certainly not dogging your opinion, but I'm just not seeing the difference here. Oh well, it's OK if I don't get it (so to speak).