Is it wrong to judge bands on actual music content and the 'intelligence' of their songs?

it's all subjective, one can judge bands however they want. i like wes montgomery, charles mingus, the grateful dead, and jeff beck...i think rush, primus, van halen, and steve vai sucks balls...some would say all those are musically intelligent. i also like a lot of stuff that many would say are cheesy and unintelligent, i don't think that makes me musically ignorant or basically stupid.

i've seen some guys take some pretty simplistic cheesy songs to places i never thought imaginable, they took songs with crappy riffs and cheesy lyrics and made good music.

i first picked up a bass and guitar in 1972...i suppose my problem is that i always went by feeling rather than the theory behind the music.

all said, it's a matter of personal opinion, and there is no right or wrong in that. i can't believe that my point of view is the only correct one.

I think part of what you are saying is right just because you work in that field and may have a better perspective than I or someone else. And in that case the other band or artist who you feel is not up to par with what you think also as the right to be out spoken against your style of playing. Just because someones music is simple does not mean it's not great or enjoyable in others. Your point is well taken, but if I like the Monkees and not Pink Floyd [I do like both] it's not one is better or less talented to the listener and I feels thats whats most important, the fan the one who listens to the artist, for you writing style may be great and beyond other writers does not mean the fan will see it that way. I take a person on their word, of how good or bad they think they are, and it sounds like you know your music, and I like that. So just try and see it through other's eyes either through the fan or an other artist.

take care

good question

dave

no, not wrong I like well written, well structured music also, but we know how i do enjoy my cheesy stuff, too (cough cough abba cough, amongst other coughs). Anyway, Ive been in the company of people that dissected every line and riff, its the most annoying experience ever, completely dissolving any pleasure i may have been able to have from the music. more annoying than the annoying music. but whatever, thats cool, dissect all you need to, just maybe try not to ruin the moment someone else may be having. that is if theyre not listening to sh!t music like godsmack, something really needs to be said if thats the case.

and hey, how was that benefit you played?

just something to consider, john lee hooker was illiterate, yet his music doesnt sound unintelligent. at least I dont think so.

its not wrong if you do that as long as you realize that some bands or artists dont exactly write their music from that perspective. some bands just want their music to be fun and light so that people can party to it. bands like limp bizkit arent writing their songs to win any literary awards. they just do it for fun and to get people hyped. wheras there are other bands that write from a more serious perspective and take their lyrical content very seriously. i can see a valid argument for both kinds of music existing. sometimes you dont want the music to be socially relevant, you just wanna rock to it. other times you want music to be more thought provoking.

ALL bands are in it for the money. just ike any other job. again, it was an EXAMPLE of bands that dont write to be socially relevant or 'deep'. they write for fun. put aside your prejudices for a second and try to see the actual point i was making.

your method is how everyone should judge music, the current way most people do it is how hip the band is, which is stupid, so no, that's totally fine. In fact, you basically asked "is it wrong to judge a band based on the skill and creativity of the musicians?" which sounds silly, but most people don't judge that way.

No. It's good that you think about things like that . I don't as much as you do, but I do to a lesser extent.

It's wrong to judge a band by image or popularity. Many people love bands just because others do, and hate bands just because others do.

Well hell no, it's not wrong. I hold music to similar standards and criteria, but I acknowledge that most people don't. They enjoy something "catchy" that they can tap their fingers or dance to, or provocative cheesy lyrics. These people are the ones that keep the Top 40 charts alive. I can't stand popular music but it's because I enjoy musical intricacy and uniqueness.

yeah, cause the songs and music that defined rock n roll were not written by iq geniuses but i mean if you totally depend on songs to rule your entire universe then i think you get kind of demanding...i sometimes love to hear some silly songs to make my moment easy and to remind me that life sometimes is not that serious, i however depend more on books, thats were i get demanding cause they are more influential to my life than songs, and i understand artists have to eat too so....but don´t get me wrong i do hate new bands cause they are just awful copies of true musicians...and i do judge by looks cause i see this guys dressed amazingly punk or very rocker appearance and then i hear their songs and i laugh...i even sound more tough that them

I understand man. It's not wrong. It's okay because you see it from a musician's perspective. But just don't judge songs that were obviously not written with much emotion.

You are basically saying, "Is it wrong to judge bands that I think have poor songwriting ability?"

Which is a definite no. There is nothing wrong with disliking music because you think it is empty and lacks emotion.