Greggulator Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 My wife asked this tonight: Who is the best musician/band that is no one's favorite musician/band?We came up with two answers:1) BECK 2) VAN MORRISONBoth have a ton of great material but I don't know anyone who would say either is their absolute favorite artist of all-time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimLivingston Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I dunno about Beck not being someone's all-time favorite considering he's the only artist I know who has basically been able to make completely different albums each release he has and have them all be pretty dang good. Midnight Vultures might be my favorite album of all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Maximo Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Not a huge Van Fan but he has a sizable bunch of very hardcore fans to this day and has produced consistently different original music for fifty years. Will try to think of my own suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Beck isn't my favorite, but I do think that he is one of the geniuses of the past 20 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMDRAGON Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I would go with Nas. People rank him amongst the best but rarely their favorite. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstout Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I think it's a safe bet that both Beck and Van Morrison are several people's favorites. I met two chicks once years ago who used to follow either Leif Garrett or Shaun Cassidy - I completely forget which - around the country like Deadheads. That's a little off the beaten path. Some people may like 'em, but does anyone like a "niche band" like tUnEyArDs enough to call them their favorite band? Probably. I'm sure every semi-successful act has a handful of diehard followers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greggulator Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 I would go with Nas. People rank him amongst the best but rarely their favorite. I was trying to think of a rap act. I'm not a huge rap fan anymore but this is the best choice for that genre. Every band obviously has their diehard fans so this is a bit of hyperbole. Beck's had an outstanding career but I don't know anyone who is like "OH MY GOD BECK IS TOURING AGAIN!" like I know for Pavement/Dinosaur Jr./Guided By Voices. Not that he's in that genre but that's just relief. There are probably a lot of bigtime Van fans. I love Van (and Them) but there are a lot of others from that era I like more. Not a LOT more but just a little more. Someone on Facebook threw out The Exploding Hearts for me. They're an obscure choice but an AWESOME one. They were a Portland-based punk band who released a terrific debut album and were really moving up the punk ladder. But then they got in a car accident and all the members but the drummer passed away, sadly. They then had an album afterwards of unreleased material from an album they were working on plus a lot of B-Sides. It was maybe even better than their first album. But since they didn't have a long enough career, they didn't really have a chance to get the notoriety they deserved when they were still alive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burgundy LaRue Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 During the boy band era, 98 Degrees would have been the correct answer. Granted, they're not great. I don't know if Christina Aguilera was anyone's favorite during her peak, despite being a superior singer to Britney Spears. Britney was so popular, no one else even came in second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 I get what you're saying on Beck. I actually have a close friend who is an obsessive Beck fan, but given his pedigree as long-time, critically acclaimed artist with at least 2 era-defining hit songs to his credit, you would expect him to be a bigger deal with a larger following than he actually has. As a point of comparison, he has more hit songs than his 90's contemporaries, Radiohead, but they sell out massive venues and shut down every festival they play, while Beck has never been more than the late afternoon guy - his touring profile is closer to a band like Wilco, who were never a 1/1,000th as successful as him. Considering how infrequently he tours, you would expect the big festivals to be treating his return to the circuit this summer like they did Nine Inch Nails last summer. But, thus far, it doesn't appear to be happening. And all of that is directly tied to the fact that he doesn't have a massive, impassioned following like either of those bands. Why is that? I would guess it's because the vast majority of his music is this impenetrable word salad of no discernible meaning. You inspire a massive cult following by writing songs that people connect with, that people feel speak to their soul or their experience. How can people feel "spoken to" if they have no idea what you're saying? I mean, have you ever been to a Beck show and seen somebody in the crowd who sang along to every word of every song? Probably not, because Beck songs have a zillion words, most of which aren't connected by any sense of logical storytelling or conventional thematic connectivity. Everybody knows "Loser" and "Where It's At," but for most people, that's enough (ain't nobody got time for the deep cuts on The Information). I think that's the inherent drawback to his style. It's fucking HARD to be a Beck superfan, and even once you've memorized the words, there's no guarantee it's going to make any more sense to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antacular Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Tiger Army. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Domino_Not_Deuce Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I think a soul act could be the right answer to this. The Tavares, maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstout Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I think a standard definition of "hardcore fan" for this purpose is necessary. What about: 1. Someone who travels more than 2 hours from home to see the act live. and? or? 2. Someone who collects studio outtakes, bootlegs or (badly recorded) live audience recordings of bands that don't allow taping of shows. Maybe there's a club act out there somewhere that people would never travel to see 'cause they come to town at least twice a year like clockwork. And they're not big enough for people to give a crap about bootlegs. I dunno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I think it would be easier to do this as "biggest/most popular band that is no one's favorite," simply because "best" is so subjective and kinda muddies the water. Like, Vampire Weekend is a fairly acclaimed act and even had one of the consensus "best" albums in 2013, but a lot of people fucking hate them. (That said, do you know anybody that's ride or die for them? I don't.) I want to say U2, but surely there are some Joshua Tree-era fans who will still swear by them. That's probably the cut-off point, though. I imagine everyone who came in around the Achtung Baby era probably hates the band they became in the 00's. And I can't imagine anyone falling head over heels for their more recent stuff, even though they had a run of big hits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamp, broken circa 1988 Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I want to say U2, but surely there are some Joshua Tree-era fans who will still swear by them. That's probably the cut-off point, though. I imagine everyone who came in around the Achtung Baby era probably hates the band they became in the 00's. And I can't imagine anyone falling head over heels for their more recent stuff, even though they had a run of big hits. Sorry, but I have to put this one down. I have met people that fawn over modern U2 in algebra classes, speaking of them in hushed tones. "Yeah I'm gonna miss these classes, and yeah it's going to cost hundreds of dollars, but IT'S U2. You've gotta go see U2!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Boston? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVA Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 I want to say U2, but surely there are some Joshua Tree-era fans who will still swear by them. That's probably the cut-off point, though. I imagine everyone who came in around the Achtung Baby era probably hates the band they became in the 00's. And I can't imagine anyone falling head over heels for their more recent stuff, even though they had a run of big hits. Sorry, but I have to put this one down. I have met people that fawn over modern U2 in algebra classes, speaking of them in hushed tones. "Yeah I'm gonna miss these classes, and yeah it's going to cost hundreds of dollars, but IT'S U2. You've gotta go see U2!" I very well could be wrong, but are we sure they really loved the music that much, or was it really a matter of the 00's being when U2 attained Rolling Stones status as being one of those bands that people just go see when they tour because...they are who they are and there's this Pavlovian response to them going on tour. Getting tangential: I feel like All That You Can't Leave Behind was U2's Tattoo You, that critical album that catapulted them into the latter phase of their career as a viable stadium act going forward. Like the Stones, there's just no telling how things would have gone if they hadn't had that last big hit. I guess that means they should be delivering their Voodoo Lounge (last gasp as an act relevant to anyone under 40) soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Hey, man, U2 are big enough that teen girls apparently will travel to Europe to follow them around on tour, and risk being kidnapped. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 Warren Zevon. But actually that is coming into "criminally underrated" territory. Same for Van Morrison. EDIT: Nevermind, this thread pretty much is a "criminally underrated" thread DOUBLE EDIT: I totally agree with the Nas and Tiger Army picks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 You guys are way off base with the Nas picks. Nas has some of the most unbearably passionate fans, who will do everything short of punching you for criticizing Nastradamas. I'd say Ghostface Killah is probably the best rapper who is no one's favorite. If you look at this body of work, he is probably a top 10 rapper of all time, but you never really hear his name brought up in best rapper conversations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I used to work with a woman who was a rabid K's Choice fan, and I have a roommate that followed Disturbed around the country for a while. So I'm pretty sure whatever band you can think of is some crazy person's favorite band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstout Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 You may not know anyone who's batshit insane for Vampire Weekend, but I guarantee you they're out there. Even the smallest bands have gigantic fans, as shown by people who plunk down relatively big money on Kickstarter. And I bet there's some old dude somewhere with every Boston studio outtake bootleg who still believes, man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Fowler Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Following Disturbed around the country? Wow. (Although, to be fair, I have seen Disturbed twice, both because of other bands, and they put on a much better show than you might expect.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Spanish Waiter Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Kid Rock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Have you never been to a trailer park? EDIT: My own suggestions...Matchbox Twenty? Everclear? Smash Mouth? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lamp, broken circa 1988 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Smash Mouth? also DQ on Matchbox20 and Everclear based on "best musician/band that is no one's favorite." They are barely the best bands with those names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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