Usually people who love music (like myself) tend to like to write about music they love (for me that would be groups like The Velvet Underground, Primal Scream, & Pink Floyd.) But sometimes it’s fun to talk about bad music. In fact in some ways it’s more fun. And it’s certainly much easier to find. Just check out MySpace “artists” to see what I mean. It’s most annoying for me that some of the most awful bands I’ve listened to on MySpace is also among the most popular.
Hollywood Undead has to be the greatest example of this. They are incredibly bad and even more incredibly popular. I mean I know it’s normal for “the kids” to be into awful music, but isn’t this just taking it a bit too far? Usually the really awful music in the past had some sort of musical quality to it. Sure Milli Vanilli was cheesy but their songs were catchy and had some good production values. But with Hollywood Undead there is not even a hint of quality to be found.
But they certainly are not all alone in the universe of awful music.
How about country pop singer Dierks Bentley? Have you heard this stuff? He’s amazingly awful. I had heard his name before but had never listened to his music before as I have no interest in country pop but one day I came across his latest single “Feel That Fire” and I was just floored because it was so much worse than I thought it would be. And that really is saying a lot because I thought it would be flat out horrendous. But no, it’s much worse than that.
It’s no big deal that people are releasing bad music. There’s nothing new about that. The big deal to me is that so many people actually think this is good music. Why is that? Why are people just so incredibly clueless about what constitutes quality?
American Idol is the easy to blame culprit. And I’m sure that does have a part to play. Now millions of people think that having a pretty voice is the only thing that matters.
But really it must go much deeper than that. Of course it’s not like people being into awful music is a new thing. The masses are always attracted to the easy to swallow garbage that usually fills the top forty every week. And it’s the real music that real music lovers listen to and that lasts for years.
Obviously there will be no one listening to anyone from American Idol or Hollywood Undead in 50 years (except out of pure nostalgia or as a joke) while people will still be getting into the music of true musical geniuses like The Doors & The Flaming Lips.





















