Timmy84 said:

Thanks for the shout out, Guns.

I got some unpopular opinions too (least from posting here):

1.) Elvis didn't steal anything. He covered a lot of his favorite music (which was a mixture of everything) and emulated both black and white artists.

2.) The Beatles' early success was manufactured by Brian Epstein. They were the original boy band of their time.

3.) Stop arguing about MTV, VH-1 and BET when you have VH-1 Classics, Centric and Fuse.

4.) Kanye is not suffering from mother withdrawal. He's suffering from egomania cancer.

5.) There was more than one king of rock and roll. Elvis, Chuck Berry and Little Richard just happened to be the first generation kings.

6.) Neither of them created rock and roll or invented it.

7.) Todd Rundgren is up there as one of the greatest musicians of all time. And doesn't get even half the credit he deserves for being that and even more.

8.) Nirvana was the truth. But so were Alice in Chains and Soundgarden.

9.) Lil B is not actually that bad of a rapper (yes I said it!)

10.) Ike Turner, despite of his personal baggage, was a musical mastermind.

11.) ZZ Top, Scarface and DJ Screw made Houston one of the musical capitals of the world (that's not often recognized) even before Beyonce and Destiny's Child.

12.) UGK is one of the greatest rap duos of all time.

13.) Some of Run-D.M.C.'s music was too basic.

14.) Aerosmith was the U.S. answer to Led Zeppelin.

15.) Marvin Gaye was the most diverse Motown artist. Yes, even more than the Supremes and Stevie Wonder.

16.) I don't consider the Jackson 5 part of the "classic era" Motown. That era ended with "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" in 1968.

17.) Captain Beefheart was a genius.

18.) I love Lupe Fiasco's politics as much as I do his music. (Yes I dig him so it's not sarcastic)

19.) Pete Burns is one hell of a singer.

20.) Billy Squier, not James Brown, made hip-hop what it is with "The Big Beat".

A lot of good stuff on this thread. 2 much 2 comment on so ill just give a major hell yeah(!)2 Timmy's Todd Rundgren, Captain Beefheart, Run DMC, Kanye, Marvin Gaye and Nirvana comments...

Run DMC was my group from day one BUT the music of their first and second albums was hella basic and now sound somewhat dated. Raising Hell was (is)a MASTERPIECE and quite possibly the greatest Hip Hop album of all time though...

Funny that you mentioned Todd Rundgren. I'm listening 2 him as i type.

Anyway, you are right like a mf'er in stating that Todd Rundgren is one of the greatest, most underrated musicians of all time. That dude's been making INTERESTING, CREATIVE, COMPLEX, CHALLENGING and SOULFUL music since the 60's. In a good majority of his songs, ill listen to them and think, damn, how did he come up with that?? His sense of melody is off the hook.



Its kinda a toss up between Todd, Prince, George Clinton, Paul McCartney, Frank Zappa and Stevie Wonder as my greatest, most creative of all time...

Ill narrow it down 2 Prince and Todd.... Damn.

Also somebody mentioned Ernie Isley(this or the other guns thread). He's hella underrated and deserves more credit for that Isley Brothers sound.

[Edited 12/17/13 20:40pm]

I'm on board guns.

Bruno Mars is overrated. Put Bruno Mars against Prince in the 80's. Let alone the other competition:

DerekH said:

Timmy84 said:

I always believed they were the answer to Led Zep though just based on Steven's voice. Mick's voice is not as strong so I compared him to Robert Plant. Popular notion is Aerosmith was our Stones though. This is why this is called "unpopular opinions" lol

People had based them as the answer to the Stones based on Steven's (and Joe's) looks! Haha! --along with their rock-with-blues-influences style.

Well, the toxic twins and the glimmer twins. So there you go.

kewlschool said:

I'm on board guns.

Bruno Mars is overrated. Put Bruno Mars against Prince in the 80's. Let alone the other competition:

01.(01) Prince: When Doves cry 02.(02) Bruce Springsteen: Dancing in the Dark 03.(08) Ray Parker Jr.: Ghostbusters 04.(04) Billy Idol: Eyes without a Face 05.(03) Pointer Sisters: Jump (for my Love) 06.(15) The Jacksons with Mick Jagger: State of Shock 07.(07) Mike Reno & Ann Wilson: Almost Paradise 08.(10) ZZ Top: Legs 09.(16) Elton John: Sad Songs 10.(11) Rod Stewart: Infatuation 11.(13) Thompson Twins: Doctor Doctor 12.(12) The Cars: Magic 13.(17) Ollie & Jerry: Breakin´…There´s no stoppin´ us 14.(05) Duran Duran: The Reflex 15.(06) Laura Branigan: Self Control 16.(23) Tina Turner: What´s Love got to do with it 17.(20) Dan Hartman: I can dream about you 18.(21) Lionel Richie: Stuck on you 19.(09) Huey Lewis & the News: The Heart of Rock ´n Roll 20.(18) Wang Chung: Dance Hall Days 21.(27) Van Halen: Panama

That's one hellova playlist dude!

- Jaco Pastorius ruined Weather Report.

- Todd Rundgren's voice was too nasal for pop radio.

- Kylie Minogue has made better electronic pop music than Depeche Mode.
- Prince's live vocals are getting so croaky that he should be tied to a chair and forced to listen through several live bootleg recordings of his shows as punishment.
- Most people speak about how great Parliament / Funkadelic are without being able to recognize too many songs by them.

- There's no real difference between "major" and "minor" keys despite formally trained musicians and music theorists pretending that there is.

- Blues is boring.

1.Madonna is only hated by misogynistic nasty wackos. I haven't yet find a woman/girl who actually HATES Madge...

2. And yes, Madonna is the Elvis of female pop, she changed things, forever, and yeah, for the better, more women getting contracts; and LISTEN TO ME, if you think that means that a lot of untalented women started singing shit and polluting the waves/Internet, take a look at modern music made by males and tell me if it's good to begin with NO, IT ISN'T; Madonna released some of the BEST music from 1986 to 2000, if her followers are not as a good that's not her fault

3.Michael Jackson (post-Thriller) definitely had some kind of mental illness, which makes me wonder why he didn't ask for serious/real/professional psychiatric help...

4.Elvis Presley holds a curious record: some of the best music ever recorded AND some of the worst music ever recorded; most inconsistent superstar EVER

5.Jimi Hendrix has plenty of filler

6.European/British acts should IGNORE the Billboard Top100, but oh well...

7.Hair/Glam-Metal was the Shit-Hop/Shit-Dance of the '80s, and NO, grunge didn't kill it: extreme/power metal did it, grunge was just the new rock for the teen generation of the early-'90s, the serious rock/metal aficionado had just been ignoring Hair-Glam since the mid-'80s

8.The roots of modern crappy R&B can be found in Whitney Houston's work...and the roots of shit-hop can be probably found in Dre/Notorious Big/Sean Puffy/2Pac...

9.Back in the day, R&B and Funk was ruled by awesome musicians, now it's just about synths and drum-machines, things are worse than ever, it's the end of R&B/Funk

10.Modern Blues is, at best, a relic, all the best songs have already been written many decades ago...

11.Jazz was originally a popular/fun genre of music; some white idiots turned it into something exclusive/posh/pseudo-important...White Jazz should be avoided, like a plague...

12.The Beatles' music before Rubber Soul is incredibly stupid

13.Lou Reed solo is better than Bob Dylan post-'60s , fact

14.Bruno Mars is, at best, a one-man version of Hanson

15.Kanye West needs more BALLS and focus

16.Run DMC loved rock as much as they loved rhymes

17.The downfall of Public Enemy is legendary, they just dried up quickly and horribly

18.Axl Rose has some kind of mental illness

19.Grunge/Brit-Pop/Alternative-Rock was just a (very good) copy of ideas and styles already explored in the '60s-'70s, it was a reaction against the '80s era, really, but nothing truly groundbreaking

20.Late '70s music still sounds fresher and more futuristic than late-'90s and '00s music

21.Rihanna has the biggest number of fun/catchy/exciting pop singles since, well, Madonna? well-deserved superstar status

22.Pantera turned metal into a dull, repetitive, often slow shrieking bullshit, they are the metal equivalent of Dr.Dre/Snopp Dogg, and Phil Anselmo is SCUM as a person and as a singer

[Edited 12/19/13 5:49am]

Only downer notorious without normal personal life may hate music artist, whom he had never met in real life ..
not understand the reasons for the popularity - yes, doubt the talent and quality of music - yes! hate - no!

SoulAlive said:

The Gold Experience was Prince's last brilliant album.

Many artists are trying to do the retro-disco/funk thing,but Jamiroquai does it best.

Madonna is still the smartest person in pop music.

The Black Eyed Peas need to reunite and make a new album.I miss them.

Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines CD is better than both of the albums that Justin Timberlake released this year.

Mayer Hawthorne needs to return to the 60's retro-R&B sound that he specializes in.When he attempts to sound like today's music,the results aren't as interesting.

D'Angelo should stop playing games with his fans.Either release a new CD,or announce that he's retired from making albums.

R&B artists need to stay awake from all that electropop crap and stick with real R&B sounds.

Definitely. Madonna's is a smart lady.

JoeTyler said:

1.Madonna is only hated by misogynistic nasty wackos. I haven't yet find a woman/girl who actually HATES Madge...

2. And yes, Madonna is the Elvis of female pop, she changed things, forever, and yeah, for the better, more women getting contracts; and LISTEN TO ME, if you think that means that a lot of untalented women started singing shit and polluting the waves/Internet, take a look at modern music made by males and tell me if it's good to begin with NO, IT ISN'T; Madonna released some of the BEST music from 1986 to 2000, if her followers are not as a good that's not her fault

3.Michael Jackson (post-Thriller) definitely had some kind of mental illness, which makes me wonder why he didn't ask for serious/real/professional psychiatric help...

4.Elvis Presley holds a curious record: some of the best music ever recorded AND some of the worst music ever recorded; most inconsistent superstar EVER

5.Jimi Hendrix has plenty of filler

6.European/British acts should IGNORE the Billboard Top100, but oh well...

7.Hair/Glam-Metal was the Shit-Hop/Shit-Dance of the '80s, and NO, grunge didn't kill it: extreme/power metal did it, grunge was just the new rock for the teen generation of the early-'90s, the serious rock/metal aficionado had just been ignoring Hair-Glam since the mid-'80s

8.The roots of modern crappy R&B can be found in Whitney Houston's work...and the roots of shit-hop can be probably found in Dre/Notorious Big/Sean Puffy/2Pac...

9.Back in the day, R&B and Funk was ruled by awesome musicians, now it's just about synths and drum-machines, things are worse than ever, it's the end of R&B/Funk

10.Modern Blues is, at best, a relic, all the best songs have already been written many decades ago...

11.Jazz was originally a popular/fun genre of music; some white idiots turned it into something exclusive/posh/pseudo-important...White Jazz should be avoided, like a plague...

12.The Beatles' music before Rubber Soul is incredibly stupid

13.Lou Reed solo is better than Bob Dylan post-'60s , fact

14.Bruno Mars is, at best, a one-man version of Hanson

15.Kanye West needs more BALLS and focus

16.Run DMC loved rock as much as they loved rhymes

17.The downfall of Public Enemy is legendary, they just dried up quickly and horribly

18.Axl Rose has some kind of mental illness

19.Grunge/Brit-Pop/Alternative-Rock was just a (very good) copy of ideas and styles already explored in the '60s-'70s, it was a reaction against the '80s era, really, but nothing truly groundbreaking

20.Late '70s music still sounds fresher and more futuristic than late-'90s and '00s music

21.Rihanna has the biggest number of fun/catchy/exciting pop singles since, well, Madonna? well-deserved superstar status

22.Pantera turned metal into a dull, repetitive, often slow shrieking bullshit, they are the metal equivalent of Dr.Dre/Snopp Dogg, and Phil Anselmo is SCUM as a person and as a singer

[Edited 12/19/13 5:49am]

I agree with you x100

rlittler81 said:

SoulAlive said:

The Gold Experience was Prince's last brilliant album.

Many artists are trying to do the retro-disco/funk thing,but Jamiroquai does it best.

Madonna is still the smartest person in pop music.

The Black Eyed Peas need to reunite and make a new album.I miss them.

Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines CD is better than both of the albums that Justin Timberlake released this year.

Mayer Hawthorne needs to return to the 60's retro-R&B sound that he specializes in.When he attempts to sound like today's music,the results aren't as interesting.

D'Angelo should stop playing games with his fans.Either release a new CD,or announce that he's retired from making albums.

R&B artists need to stay awake from all that electropop crap and stick with real R&B sounds.

Definitely. Madonna's is a smart lady.

Actually, 3121 was. IMHO

chellybeanz said:

1. Telling others which artist are "real" r&r, pop, r&b, soul etc. is pointless. Artist should be allowed to put their music in whatever category they choose. Especially, if enough people agree. 90s rock and 2000s rock is different. Doesn't mean that 2000s rock isn't rock.
2. Saying Beyonce isn't a feminist is like saying Prince is gay. If Prince says he is straight then he's straight. If Beyonce says she's a feminist, she's a feminist. [Edited 12/19/13 11:31am]

Huh, not really.

You don't become something simply by calling yourself that.

What you've written above aren't just "unpopular opinions", you're plain wrong with those statements.

novabrkr said:

- Jaco Pastorius ruined Weather Report.

- Todd Rundgren's voice was too nasal for pop radio.

- Kylie Minogue has made better electronic pop music than Depeche Mode.
- Prince's live vocals are getting so croaky that he should be tied to a chair and forced to listen through several live bootleg recordings of his shows as punishment.
- Most people speak about how great Parliament / Funkadelic are without being able to recognize too many songs by them.

- There's no real difference between "major" and "minor" keys despite formally trained musicians and music theorists pretending that there is.

- Blues is boring.

Totally agree with the last three points, especially the part about minor/major keys. The key of E minor is just G by another name. A minor is C by another name.

As for blues, there are a few exceptions (BB King, Robert Cray) but for the most part it's boring as fuck.

Oh, and to reply to this "opinion" as well...

datdude said:

lazycrockett said:

Madonna is a talentless whore.

I LOVE this guy!

But yeah, my contribution to "unpopular" opinions.

1) who IS Todd Rundgren. producer, artist, both? because if the latter is included, what's a signature hit? yeah, great artists actually have at least a FEW of those too.

Todd Rundgren is, both, an artist and a producer.

Todd Rundgren's signature hit is "Hello, It's Me" and he has produced one of the best selling albums of all time, Meatloaf's "Bat Out Of Hell". "Hello, It's Me" charted higher than, for example, any song by KISS. He made enough money out of the Meatloaf record so that he was able to do pretty much what he wanted for decades and wasn't in any need to make records with chart appeal himself.

Although she is a pop icon somhow, Britney Spears hasn't been relevant, for over a decade.

Beyonce's voice is highly overated. (Not too pretty without her wigs either).

With a few exceptions ... Hip Hop/Rap Music is dead.

Way before his rubber ducky looking days. Elvis wasn't shit.

novabrkr said:

Oh, and to reply to this "opinion" as well...

datdude said:

I LOVE this guy!

But yeah, my contribution to "unpopular" opinions.

1) who IS Todd Rundgren. producer, artist, both? because if the latter is included, what's a signature hit? yeah, great artists actually have at least a FEW of those too.

Todd Rundgren is, both, an artist and a producer.

Todd Rundgren's signature hit is "Hello, It's Me" and he has produced one of the best selling albums of all time, Meatloaf's "Bat Out Of Hell". "Hello, It's Me" charted higher than, for example, any song by KISS. He made enough money out of the Meatloaf record so that he was able to do pretty much what he wanted for decades and wasn't in any need to make records with chart appeal himself.

THANK you SO MUCH, Nova for taking the time to "school me". That's a great thing, to have creative freedom and I've heard that that Meatloaf album sold like new sliced bread! But Hello It's Me is him, hmmmm. Very foggy but pleasant memories of what I recall as one of the last gasps of the 70s "easy listening" era. Correct? Never knew if that was Steely Dan, Air Supply or whomever. But soothing song.

Oh, it's definitely "easy listening". The thing with Todd Rundgren is that he has an amazing talent for creating pop melodies, but he just grew tired of it and started doing all kinds of weird stuff. After his most accessible album, Something / Anything?, he didn't really make another record that you could have considered "chart material" (except maybe The Hermit Of Mink Hollow -album). There were plenty of great pop melodies sprinkled across the different releases, but the albums were very sprawling, artsy and, some would say, incoherent after his first radio hits.

In all fairness, the biggest obstacle to his commercial success as a solo artist was probably that he had signed to a fairly small label that just couldn't handle the promotion properly.

He once shook my hand with his left hand.

dseann said:

rlittler81 said:

Definitely. Madonna's is a smart lady.

Actually, 3121 was. IMHO

I agree. 3121 was the bizness.

midnightmover said:

novabrkr said:

- Jaco Pastorius ruined Weather Report.

- Todd Rundgren's voice was too nasal for pop radio.

- Kylie Minogue has made better electronic pop music than Depeche Mode.
- Prince's live vocals are getting so croaky that he should be tied to a chair and forced to listen through several live bootleg recordings of his shows as punishment.
- Most people speak about how great Parliament / Funkadelic are without being able to recognize too many songs by them.

- There's no real difference between "major" and "minor" keys despite formally trained musicians and music theorists pretending that there is.

- Blues is boring.

Totally agree with the last three points, especially the part about minor/major keys. The key of E minor is just G by another name. A minor is C by another name.

As for blues, there are a few exceptions (BB King, Robert Cray) but for the most part it's boring as fuck.

You guys need to check out Lucky Peterson.

SoulAlive said:

The Gold Experience was Prince's last brilliant album.

Many artists are trying to do the retro-disco/funk thing,but Jamiroquai does it best.

Madonna is still the smartest person in pop music.

The Black Eyed Peas need to reunite and make a new album.I miss them.

Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines CD is better than both of the albums that Justin Timberlake released this year.

Mayer Hawthorne needs to return to the 60's retro-R&B sound that he specializes in.When he attempts to sound like today's music,the results aren't as interesting.

D'Angelo should stop playing games with his fans.Either release a new CD,or announce that he's retired from making albums.

R&B artists need to stay awake from all that electropop crap and stick with real R&B sounds.

Yeah the initial Tribe Called Quest like version minus Fergie.

phunkdaddy said:

dseann said:

Actually, 3121 was. IMHO

I agree. 3121 was the bizness.

It is a sweet little ensemble which doesn't have to "grow on you" either.

novabrkr said:

novabrkr said:

Oh, it's definitely "easy listening". The thing with Todd Rundgren is that he has an amazing talent for creating pop melodies, but he just grew tired of it and started doing all kinds of weird stuff. After his most accessible album, Something / Anything?, he didn't really make another record that you could have considered "chart material" (except maybe The Hermit Of Mink Hollow -album). There were plenty of great pop melodies sprinkled across the different releases, but the albums were very sprawling, artsy and, some would say, incoherent after his first radio hits.

In all fairness, the biggest obstacle to his commercial success as a solo artist was probably that he had signed to a fairly small label that just couldn't handle the promotion properly.

Yes, yesssiree, affirmative. You perfectly articulated how i feel about Todd's lack of personal hits, his successes, his "art" and what not. Like i said in my earlier post. Some of Todd's music can be challenging, no doubt. If a person went thru his albums though, they would find dozens and dozens, and dozens, of some of the most heartfelt, unique, fun, weird, catchy, expressive and downright masterpieces, ever.

2 go even a step further. I would say that Todd is even more of a "artist" than even Prince. Prince, primarily in his later years, seems to have a certain formula, a familiarity and sort of a repetitiveness in some of his music and lyrics. With Todd, you may not like the song but you can pretty much guarantee that it won't be by the books music wise or todd wise.

Anyways this thread is pretty cool.

[Edited 12/20/13 18:20pm]

dseann said:

kewlschool said:

I'm on board guns.

Bruno Mars is overrated. Put Bruno Mars against Prince in the 80's. Let alone the other competition:

01.(01) Prince: When Doves cry 02.(02) Bruce Springsteen: Dancing in the Dark 03.(08) Ray Parker Jr.: Ghostbusters 04.(04) Billy Idol: Eyes without a Face 05.(03) Pointer Sisters: Jump (for my Love) 06.(15) The Jacksons with Mick Jagger: State of Shock 07.(07) Mike Reno & Ann Wilson: Almost Paradise 08.(10) ZZ Top: Legs 09.(16) Elton John: Sad Songs 10.(11) Rod Stewart: Infatuation 11.(13) Thompson Twins: Doctor Doctor 12.(12) The Cars: Magic 13.(17) Ollie & Jerry: Breakin´…There´s no stoppin´ us 14.(05) Duran Duran: The Reflex 15.(06) Laura Branigan: Self Control 16.(23) Tina Turner: What´s Love got to do with it 17.(20) Dan Hartman: I can dream about you 18.(21) Lionel Richie: Stuck on you 19.(09) Huey Lewis & the News: The Heart of Rock ´n Roll 20.(18) Wang Chung: Dance Hall Days 21.(27) Van Halen: Panama

That's one hellova playlist dude!

That's the top 21 on the billboard charts in 1984 (July) I believe.

dseann said:

kewlschool said:

I'm on board guns.

Bruno Mars is overrated. Put Bruno Mars against Prince in the 80's. Let alone the other competition:

01.(01) Prince: When Doves cry 02.(02) Bruce Springsteen: Dancing in the Dark 03.(08) Ray Parker Jr.: Ghostbusters 04.(04) Billy Idol: Eyes without a Face 05.(03) Pointer Sisters: Jump (for my Love) 06.(15) The Jacksons with Mick Jagger: State of Shock 07.(07) Mike Reno & Ann Wilson: Almost Paradise 08.(10) ZZ Top: Legs 09.(16) Elton John: Sad Songs 10.(11) Rod Stewart: Infatuation 11.(13) Thompson Twins: Doctor Doctor 12.(12) The Cars: Magic 13.(17) Ollie & Jerry: Breakin´…There´s no stoppin´ us 14.(05) Duran Duran: The Reflex 15.(06) Laura Branigan: Self Control 16.(23) Tina Turner: What´s Love got to do with it 17.(20) Dan Hartman: I can dream about you 18.(21) Lionel Richie: Stuck on you 19.(09) Huey Lewis & the News: The Heart of Rock ´n Roll 20.(18) Wang Chung: Dance Hall Days 21.(27) Van Halen: Panama

That's one hellova playlist dude!

Ive seen 4 of the artists on this playlist!

tinaz said:

dseann said:

That's one hellova playlist dude!

Ive seen 4 of the artists on this playlist!

Duran Duran

Prince

And I'll guess:

Elton John

ZZ top

kewlschool said:

tinaz said:

Ive seen 4 of the artists on this playlist!

Duran Duran

Prince

And I'll guess:

Elton John

ZZ top

ooooooooooooooooooooooo soo close!! Trade ZZ Top for Billy Idol and you got it!!

tinaz said:

kewlschool said:

Duran Duran

Prince

And I'll guess:

Elton John

ZZ top

ooooooooooooooooooooooo soo close!! Trade ZZ Top for Billy Idol and you got it!!

Close!