[jhoff80]

So I was reading a bunch of these threads, and am I the only one that hates all of these little genres and subgenres that music is classified by?

Personally, I like a lot of heavier stuff.... and then I read the forums here and people are classifying stuff as metalcore, emo, screamo, hardcore, metal, hard rock, progressive rock, progressive metal, melodic death metal, etc etc.

Is it just me, or does it seem a little ridiculous? Like, for example, I was reading the "actual old-school emo/screamo" thread, and there's confusion by some people who think some things are screamo and they're being told no its not. I don't know, I guess I've just never been all that much of a fan of classifying things by genre, I usually list off bands rather than describe the genres I like.

(And I apologize if this sounds like I'm bashing anyone who is really specific about genres. I don't mean to do that, I just don't really get the whole thing myself I guess.)

 

[Signal2Noise]

I 101% agree with you.

 

[Calexico]

Personally I don't bother using genres, because it's so hard to define and the classification is sort of useless for me if every single band has a different genre.

 

[Tridacnid]

I see your point, but I find some genre usage to be helpful. It does get a bit ridiculous in the metal scene, however.

 

[Rempert]

Serious fans of EDM and metal seem a bit peculiar in this regard. They come up with a thousand different subgenres for each little change in style. If I were an artist in such a genre, I would try to keep each album so broad in style that no such pigeonholing could occur. I suppose that would end up making it progressive metal or progressive house.

Is metal even a genre? Or just a particular piece of R&R that not so many people can tolerate?

 

[Calexico]

The thing is though, I can tell differences between various metal genres, so I see why they would want so many subcategories. Some people need death growls, some people want pro-Nazi lyrics and church burnings galore, some people need it to be obnoxiously fast, etc.

I use genre-classifications mainly for music-discovery I guess, although last.fm does it on a slightly deeper level.

 

[Tridacnid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rempert /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is metal even a genre? Or just a particular piece of R&R that not so many people can tolerate?

I implore you to look into subgenres of metal that stem away from the "stereotypical" screaming/thrashing/angry/"metally" sound. At least then you can legitimately say you don't like metal.

EDIT: oh, and let's not get any more off topic. Sorry OP.

 

[jhoff80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tridacnid /img/forum/go_quote.gif EDIT: oh, and let's not get any more off topic. Sorry OP.

Don't worry about it, I'm just glad to hear that there's at least a few others who agree.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I think the endless classification might be part of the culture at Head-Fi. Music aside, haven't you noticed the endless threads and debates ranking the gear? I kind of wish people would knock it off and look at things as a whole.

 

[Sabrage]

I'm probably one of the minority here, but using your example of emo/screamo: Emo and Screamo are both sub-genres (as in genres that evolved from) of hardcore punk, but neither sound quite like hardcore punk and can thus not be defined as such (and hardcore punk evolved from traditional punk). The confusion comes from the fact that "emo" was taken by bands like Fall Out Boy when the term was still respectable in order to give themselves a bit of street cred, and thus changed what the entire term means. And screamo is easily confused by those not in the know because they think it refers to any music with screaming in it.

I personally think that, in some cases, there is not enough genre definition. For example: indie. I've seen everything from Radiohead to MGMT to Iron & Wine pegged with this, all bands on are on major labels, all bands which sound absolutely nothing alike. But when people want to describe them, they say things like "oh yeah they're pretty indie". This exact same problem applied to alternative before it.

The entire purpose of a genre is to categorize and differentiate between types of music. Within metal, there are widely differing styles, contexts and themes, and thus a highly diverse number of sub-genres have evolved to differentiate between them. It's like saying that we should call ourselves animals rather than human beings: sure, it's true, but nobody does it because it doesn't do ourselves, as humans, justice.

 

[apatN]

Oh this makes me think of South Park SE12E14.

 

[Cousin Patty]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sabrage /img/forum/go_quote.gif The entire purpose of a genre is to categorize and differentiate between types of music. Within metal, there are widely differing styles, contexts and themes, and thus a highly diverse number of sub-genres have evolved to differentiate between them. It's like saying that we should call ourselves animals rather than human beings: sure, it's true, but nobody does it because it doesn't do ourselves, as humans, justice.

thats how i see it.

 

[acidbasement]

In metal especially, there are often such a wide variety of styles contained in the same piece of music that reciting a classification that everyone agreed on would take longer than listening to the song. But at the same time, lumping it all into one bucket labeled 'metal' wouldn't quite cut it either. There has to be a happy medium somewhere, but we are unlikely to see it without a ruling from the High Courts of Valhalla.

 

[jhoff80]

Yeah, but when people are listening to something that they believe is one genre and then it turns out to not be the case, aren't things getting a little nitpicky then? I mean, I don't know of anybody who confuses a person for an orangutan, to use your example.

And to use another example, with the very anal metal-archives site... they seem to shun what they decide are metalcore bands but especially with that it can be such an arbitrary distinction at times.

I don't know, just seems a little silly to me at times.

 

[mow_the_hawk]

I like sub genres to some extend but they get a little out of hand. Seeing how not rock varies so so much, it is helpful to know the actual music.