Do you have a band or solo artist that is highly revered or is influential or well known that you have tried to get into but just can’t?..my favorite artist of all time is Frank Zappa but I understand when people say they can’t get into his shit…there is so much of it and it isn’t always the most accessible stuff…he has always been polarizing…like Todd Rundgren he made albums for himself and nobody else and that is why they will always be cult artists…anyway, I have tried several times to get into Elvis Costello and I just don’t get it,man…can someone tell me I’m wrong haha…I don’t know it just doesn’t work for me…(I could list a bunch more like Nirvana and U2 but I’ll stick with Elvis Costello for now)…so I’m curious if you guys have any bands or artists you’ve tried to get into to no avail…
Oh, dozens. Dream Theater immediately comes to mind (and they work so well on paper, too; ach, such a shame). Joni Mitchell. Janis Joplin (she sounds like a bag lady; I think Big Brother & The Holding Co. found her out back of the studio, going through a dumpster, and put her on the mic as a gas – not a true story by any means, tho). Sonic Youth. Elvis Costello, too. Just don’t feel it.
Zappa is just too… Zappa for me. Part of the problem is that he has a great live catalogue, but his shows were so interactive and visual that a mere CD doesn’t capture all of the… “Zappa-ness” on display.
Then there are those influential, revered artists I once loved, but can no longer listen to due to sheer overload of exposure. Nirvana. Radiohead. “OK Computer” is a brilliant record but I just can’t listen to it anymore.
Neat thread, queer_bait. Thanks for putting it up.
Oh, and you can add 2Pac to that list. In fact, as I get older, I find hip-hop less and less interesting. And I’m not just talking about the new stuff (Lil Uzi Vert, wtf does that even mean), I’m talking about Biggie, Beastie Boys, Jay-Z, etc. I don’t disrespect it – it’s very good music – but I just don’t reach for it anymore.
Feel like I’ve commented on this in some other thread, but The Clash. I wouldn’t say I tried to get into them, but when I was getting into punk of course everybody recommended them. So I checked them out and I just don’t get it. I don’t understand all the praise.
Frankly, there are a lot of “sacred cow” bands/artists that everyone is supposed to like or respect that I just can’t stand.
I’m the guy that can’t get into Frank Zappa. That’s me.
Also, as much as I love psychedelic freak folk, the grandaddy of the genre, Incredible String Band, never did anything for me.
I like maybe 3 Front Line Assembly songs.
Steely Dan is banal m.o.r. dentist office smooth jazz, and I have no idea how it became music hip people enjoy.
I’m with lowelly…Dream Theater. I listened but I can’t. Just sounds gay to me. Since everyone knows I’m a huge Rush fan/drummer, they’re like you gotta listen to DT. I’ll pass on them!
I can’t deal with Dream Theater either,man…those guys are a bunch of virtuosos but it just doesn’t grab me…I like bands that play progressive infused rock/metal like Opeth and Porcupine Tree etc but DT just never did it for me…
I don’t dislike The Clash but I’m not gaga over them either and not sure I understand the hype…Janis Joplin leaves me cold also…
I find myself listening to hip hop less myself these days…not sure why…although I did go on a little MF Doom tear when he died…
That description of Steely Dan is accurate and yet I still like them haha…there is something nostalgic there for me…
Oh also if you want to put me in a coma just play the Grateful Dead…ughhhhhh
Just to spin this a little…my friend is a fan of death metal. He really wants me to go deep into this genre but the cookie monster shit I hear kills it. Some of the instrumental tunes kick ass and I do hear some very cool riffs…I just can’t relate to this non singing stuff. The funny thing is I don’t care about lyrics.
I love Zappa too, but I’ll happily admit that not all of his stuff is stellar. I also love Tom Waits, that’s a guy quite a few people don’t seem to “get”.
As for stuff I just can’t get into, well that list is long. There are very few bands I enjoy in the broad genre of “classic rock” and heavy metal - two prime examples of great bands I can’t enjoy of those genres would be Kiss and Judas Priest.
On a “prongs” related take on the subject, I have a real hard time with KMFDM, but I’m starting to warm up to Skinny Puppy 
Hmmm… For me that would be Led Zeppelin. Don’t like LZ and never really did. I tried mightily to get into them but just can’t stand them. I was out working in the garage yesterday listening to the radio, Stairway to Heaven came on, I wanted smash the speakers, and throw the flipping radio in the trash. I’d rather listen to a tornado siren going off in my house. I do like Down by the Seaside, Tangerine and No Quarter though. Beyond that, I don’t care to hear LZ again.
Zappa is a bit hit or miss for me but I did have Apostrophe on the other day. I do find most of his stuff a tad too goofy though.
Radiohead is another one I can’t get into. I’ve tried and tried because everybody says they are great. Um… Nope.
Steely Dan, I do like. They are bit of an acquired taste. Their first album is great stuff.
You can add pretty much anything that passes for new music these days.
Kiss is another one…Only Creatures of the Night for me.
I’m with you on Led Zeppelin. Do not understand the appeal or the acclaim.
Death metal is an acquired taste, but plowing through the chaff to get to the wheat reaps (ha ha) huge dividends. Oddly enough, the more recent stuff is more exciting than the early stuff (like Death), because it’s peppered with other genres in small amounts – just enough to make it more palatable. Try Deafheaven, or (especially) Blood Incantation.
Probably the biggest one for me is The Doors. I don’t know the appeal, my mom bought me the best of one year for xmas and I just don’t dig it.
Haven’t really heard any zappa so I don’t know anything about him. I’ve heard he’s a jokester though but I’ve never bothered.
WIth zeppelin I started with IV so that might be why I’m ok with them. If I started with any different album I may not dig them as much as I do.
I still enjoy the beastie boys, ice cube and run dmc. I’m not a pac fan. I like his themes and his topics but I don’t like his flow or his beats.
I’m sure there are more but Pac and The Doors are probably the big two since I thought of them first.
This is a cool topic queer bait.
There are plenty of sacred cows that I just can’t give a fuck about no matter how hard I try. I can appreciate their influence and/or historical importance in the music world but it just doesn’t connect with me at all.
Type O Negative
Bad Brains
Black Flag
Tool
Pantera
Mastodon
The Smiths
Lenny Bruce
Mayhem
The Clash
Tom Waits
The Descendents
I’m sure plenty more will come to mind later…
I’m shocked to see this. The descendents are fun! Not necessarily their recent shit but their 80s output up until Milo went to college. Silly fun little tunes.
Ms. Smrf says she’s not all surprised to find that you can’t get into the more difficult music like Tom Waits and you have to stick to your bland vanilla twisted sister music. lol 
I’m with ya, but you gotta remember Lenny Bruce is not for us. Lenny Bruce is definitely generational. Unless you are familiar with the minutiae of the times I don’t think anybody would get it. I see him as a Jon Stewart of his day. Anybody looking at Jon Stewart and the daily show 30 - 60 years from now will have no idea where the punchline is at, Just like Lenny bruce now. My grandpa liked him but thought he was a bit vulgar but was laughing when I played some of his old routines back in the 90s. I just remember asking him “Why is that funny?” and the long explanation basically wound up being “you had to be there.”
Big Zep fan here…especially Physical Graffiti and Presence…love Plant’s solo stuff too…love Priest and some Kiss…
The Doors are ok…bands without bass players are sketchy…
Wow Gunnar…Type O and Bad Brains are two of my favorite bands and I dig Tom Waits…surprised you have Black Flag on your list…I’m pretty much with you on the others you listed though…
I like Kieth Morris Black Flag (the first four years) over Rollins though, but Rollins isn’t bad.
Yeah same here…
Tool is another one…It’s sad but I can’t get into them.