Broadness of Genre

[BroKen_H]

It just occurred to me that some genres of music are very broad, and others are very narrow and sometimes overlapping.
I like prog rock, but it amazes me that everything from Yes, Genesis, Emerson Lake & Palmer, New England to Todd Rundgren to Rising Force to Mastodon to Dixie Dreggs and even extends to Blue Oyster Cult, King Crimson, Asia and the like...
The term Country encompasses a lot of different styles of music as well and actually overlaps considerably with rock.
Other genres seem intentionally focused i.e. Reggae or Bluegrass, or over compartmentalized i.e. Jazz (Cool jazz, avante garde, California jazz, Dixieland, etc.)
And even though Rock is over compartmentalized as well, some of the sub-genres are still quite broad.
Not sure there is a question here, but it seemed like an interesting topic.

 

[Greg_L]

I only like black jewish nazi rap zydeco.

 

[Armistice]

It just occurred to me that some genres of music are very broad, and others are very narrow and sometimes overlapping.
I like prog rock, but it amazes me that everything from Yes, Genesis, Emerson Lake & Palmer, New England to Todd Rundgren to Rising Force to Mastodon to Dixie Dreggs and even extends to Blue Oyster Cult, King Crimson, Asia and the like...

Steven Wilson... just sayin'...

I never heard anyone accuse BOC of prog - to me they were always hard rock / pop / metal-lite... basing their "thang" on a particular mystique in a similar manner to what Alice Cooper did with his dramatic persona & makeup and snakes and and and... but they weren't actually servants of satan, all just hype for the punters... and I like BOC, mostly.

 

[BroKen_H]

Not saying BOC were Satanists or anything of the sort. But they are listed on the prog bands website...but of course, that is on the infallible Wikipedia website

 

[Armistice]

Not saying BOC were Satanists or anything of the sort. But they are listed on the prog bands website...but of course, that is on the infallible Wikipedia website

No, and neither was I... they just build a mystique around various things... as many bands had before them... and that was one of the hooks that got people in...

 

[Chili]

I hate the fact that songs have to be categorized into genres. Whenever I upload a song to one of those music sharing sites and they ask the genre, it takes me a few minutes to decide which hole to drop it in. Even when converting to an MP3, software asks you to pigeon hole your song. Hell, any one of my songs can cover about 3 or 4 genres.

Stupid system. Mmmm doughnut....

 

[Seafroggys]

We have become way too compartmentalized when it comes to genres. You think jazz is bad? Metal is the worst. Its the ultimate culprit. Hearing metalheads go "that's not death, that's thrash" just scratches my head.

People get so weird when they ask me what style of music I play. I tell them rock. Because that is what I play. Fuck you.

 

[mjbphotos]

I hate the fact that songs have to be categorized into genres. Whenever I upload a song to one of those music sharing sites and they ask the genre, it takes me a few minutes to decide which hole to drop it in. Even when converting to an MP3, software asks you to pigeon hole your song. Hell, any one of my songs can cover about 3 or 4 genres.

Stupid system. Mmmm doughnut....

100% agreement. Drives me nuts, too. I usually have to 'settle' for something because none of the generic tags applies.

 

[BroKen_H]

I only like black jewish nazi rap zydeco.

I didn't know that was a sub-genre of punk. I thought that fell under bluegrass.

 

[BroKen_H]

100% agreement. Drives me nuts, too. I usually have to 'settle' for something because none of the generic tags applies.

One of the best things about putting my music on MySpace is I can add as many tags as I feel necessary. But I usually agree with SeaFroggy and just put them under "Rock."

 

[BroKen_H]

Armistice, if you followed them at all, you probably heard the rumor...any truth to the lyrics on their first two albums being written by an uncle in an asylum?
Sometimes I miss my padded rompuss room. The nice jacket with the tie in the back. Servants coming to feed you your meals.....

 

[grimtraveller]

Roberta Flack & ACDC have in common that they play music at times with guitar in it

I hate the fact that songs have to be categorized into genres

100% agreement. Drives me nuts, too.

I agree that sometimes, it can go too far and get really unwieldy.
But categories are useful sometimes. They aren't 100% foolproof or accurate but they are a useful start point to give the enquirer some idea of the kind of music something may be.
To put it another way, think of the years of wasted time you'll save when looking for music because you know Mozart ain't no dizbuster heavy metal shredding or black jewish nazi rap zydeco band.

We have become way too compartmentalized when it comes to genres.

Possibly. But that's because there are different fusions springing up all the while. 'Jazz' ceased to have any realistic meaning by 1971. The purist wouldn't accept jazz rock or free jazz so you had to subdivide. If nothing else, it tells you that any genre or compartment continues to expand, even if for the worst !!

I tell them rock. Because that is what I play. Fuck you.

Mind you, 'rock' really doesn't mean much. It means the world to those that don't like it and therein lies a tale.
In the New musical express encyclopedia of rock that came out in 1977, there were over 600 entries and the breadth of rock artists even then was staggering. This was before hip hop, grunge {although Kiss were described as 'recycled heavy metal grunge'}, punk {well, it was in it's infancy, only a couple of entries made it in}, disco {before it got big}, new wave, the New romantics, electronica, world music etc, etc, etc.
But you could've made at least 20 subdivisions right there.

People get so weird when they ask me what style of music I play.

When people ask me that, I just tell them "all different kinds" and give a broad description of the different elements.

 

[grimtraveller]

It just occurred to me that some genres of music are very broad

I think that's because human beings are very broad. I generally object to phrases like "Black culture" because there is no one thing you can point to that unites all Black people......other than skin colour. And even that's debatable. When I hear people say "Whites do this or that...." I often because the broadness of "White people" kind of renders the whiteness irrelevant.
And so it is with music. Most of us know what we mean when we use a phrase like "classical music" but I've got a friend who gets very uppity when that phrase is used because having looked into it for half his life, he says that what we generally refer to isn't classical, that classical is one sub genre. So yeah, there is a lot of broadness within any genre and a good thing too. Many people that reside within a particular genre branch out and absorb from other directions and this then widens that particular genre.

 

[Greg_L]

I think that's because human beings are very broad. I generally object to phrases like "Black culture" because there is no one thing you can point to that unites all Black people......other than skin colour. And even that's debatable. When I hear people say "Whites do this or that...." I often because the broadness of "White people" kind of renders the whiteness irrelevant.
And so it is with music. Most of us know what we mean when we use a phrase like "classical music" but I've got a friend who gets very uppity when that phrase is used because having looked into it for half his life, he says that what we generally refer to isn't classical, that classical is one sub genre. So yeah, there is a lot of broadness within any genre and a good thing too. Many people that reside within a particular genre branch out and absorb from other directions and this then widens that particular genre.

Racist

 

[grimtraveller]

Racist

My racing days are over. Middle age, you know ?

 

[Greg_L]

My racing days are over. Middle age, you know ?

"Black culture" in the US is completely 100% created, promoted, and perpetuated by black people. And let's be real - the USA leads the universe in black culture. It's okay for blacks to do and say whatever they want because slavery happened in the US. They can have their own tv shows, movies, magazines, awards ceremonies, etc. This is their revenge. We're neck deep in it right now. The rest of society goes along with it because no one dares speak up and be labeled as a racist. Or they go along with it because American black is the coolest thing ever now. You're a black man, if you dislike black culture, stop it from within. I don't think many outside of black culture will fight you on that.

 

[RAMI]

Jethro Tull won the first Grammy for "Heavy Metal".

Strange but true.

 

[Greg_L]

Jethro Tull won the first Grammy for "Heavy Metal".

Strange but true.

That was the exact moment that I realized Grammys, Emmys, Oscars, etc are all a meaningless crock of shit.

 

[Seafroggys]

Yeah, the bands in that category were pretty wide. AC/DC, Metallica, Tull, maybe a few others.

I'm not that familiar with the Crest of A Knave album, but Tull honestly is pretty heavy a lot of the time. People just think "flute and folk rock" with them.

 

[RAMI]

Yeah, the bands in that category were pretty wide. AC/DC, Metallica, Tull, maybe a few others.

I'm not that familiar with the Crest of A Knave album, but Tull honestly is pretty heavy a lot of the time. People just think "flute and folk rock" with them.

I like some Tull, but I never considered anything they did Metal. Hard rock, yes, metal? That's a stretch.

Even though I do realize that a lot of genres are also "look-dependent", not only "sound-dependent".

For example, Van Halen was never considered metal during their heyday, even though their music was as heavy as many of the accepted metal bands. The only difference to me was that they didn't wear spiked wrist bands and leather pants. But "Mean Streets" is easily heavier and more "metal" than "You Got Another Thing Coming", which was considered metal for some reason, just because it was done by a band that wore the right clothes.