I'm sorry, I just don't like it...

Lost Kosmonaut · 6 Dec 2005

I seem to be the only one of my Japan-liking friends that doesn't like the music. I tend to think some songs are catchy and I like a few, but they are so overplayed it eventually gets annoying to listen to them (BTW I'm in Japan, I hear it ALOT). It seems like most of the hit songs are just... unimaginative and plain. And could someone please tell me why these "phenomenal pop idols" that make TV appearances are just plain unimpressive singers? I hear these same people from their studio recordings and then they sing live and the change is literally from 'astounding vocals' to 'second-rate karaoke'.

I don't want to offend anybody :sorry: , its just that I have such a strong opinion about this I feel the need to discuss. I even thought a little while ago that maybe I was being too harsh on the singers, and that they were good but I had just brushing them off. This idea was blown out of the water when I heard Destiny's Child live performance followed by the current most popular J-pop singer. I think you know how they stacked up...

Plus these boy bands that are sweeping Japan CANNOT SING FOR ＢＥＡＮS!!! I'm sorry again sorry but it annoys me that they can get by with doing nothing but doing those silly boy band dances (even sillier here), while singing like... yurk; and people love them for it!

open for discussion

PS my host sister is listening to mandarin music right now, and it seems to suffer the same way. It is actually using the LITTLE MERMAID SONG and just singing over it... and then shamelessly using the same lyrics for the chorus (and I quote "under the sea, under the sea")

lastmagi · 6 Dec 2005

Hi Lost.

Could you provide some specific examples of artists or songs you didn't find appealing, and what specifically turned you off about them (guitar technique, specifics about vocals, etc.)?

Kinsao · 6 Dec 2005

Perhaps if you let us know what bands you have listened to and really dislike, that would be helpful.......

I mean, its been said before and it'll be said many times again, that every country under the sun has its share of crap music. And, sad to say, it's often the stuff that gets most promoted and heard everywhere that is some of the crappiest of all.

Some good singers that I can think of off the top of my head are Tatsurou from MUCC, Asagi from D, Mao from SID, and Lucifer Luscious Violenoue (solo female artist). But if you aren't into that type of music, maybe you haven't listened to these people. (And because I'm into a certain type of music, it's difficult for me to recommend singers outside of that genre because my knowledge isn't good :sorry: - at least, for Japanese music.)

A lot of the music that gets discussed in this j-pop forum is actually not very mainstream in Japan, so it is unlikely that many posters here are into that irritating music that you hear played everywhere. In fact, there has been a conversation about one band (Dir en grey) that is one of the most popular Japanese bands among non-Japanese fans, but - while still having high record sales and sellout concerts - does not appear to be as well known/liked in Japan as it would first seem from a Western perspective.

I guess what I'm trying to say, in a roundabout way, is that the Japanese music that us Westerners like tends to be a bit different from the music that is most popular in Japan.

Take the UK pop scene, for example (thinking of the charts). Personally, I find most of chart music to be crap. Obviously lots of people buy it, though. I have no idea why. But I honestly find the music of less well-known bands to be more interesting to me. And, I particularly like a certain genre, which happens to be rock and rock-metalish music, so that's what I listen to. And of course, when I discovered Japanese music, I listened to the same genre. But rock music - at least, heavy rock - very rarely finds its way into the UK pop charts, and I would guess the same thing is true in Japan.

Not into rock music? Try the songs of Yae. Mycernius send me one of her songs once, and her voice seems very good to me.

What type of music are you into, usually? If you let us know I am sure people will be more than happy to make you recommendations of good Japanese musicians in those genres.

advigilo · 6 Dec 2005

i think everybody has some music in there own tongue that the dont like.
Or even some songs that the just start to find anoying...

furan · 6 Dec 2005

i can't satnd the stuff that's populare over here.... it does, all sound the same, and annoy the hell out of me... i never listen to the radio and i can rearly talk to people about the bands i like that aren't Japanese because still no-one's heard of them or care...

if you gave us examples of bands you DO like... english or whatever... we can work to gether to find some Japanese music that you might like...

there's a huge range, and you're not expected to like it all, hell, i don't like it all

Mycernius · 6 Dec 2005

A lot of boy bands all over the world can't sing. They are manufactured to appeal to young teens and make a quick buck for the music companies. Who cares if the can't sing if they make money. They don't last for long and are usually replaced a year later by yet another crap one. The ones that last do manage to have a little talent amoung them and change their image to suit a more mature audience.

Jack · 6 Dec 2005

lastmagi said:
Hi Lost.

Could you provide some specific examples of artists or songs you didn't find appealing, and what specifically turned you off about them (guitar technique, specifics about vocals, etc.)?

you know i think he just didn't like the music in general.

i think its great that he doesn't like the music, and i think its even better that he's posted the same fact. "not everyone drinks from the same watering hole"-unknown.

Kinsao · 6 Dec 2005

I don't mind that he doesn't like the music (well duuuh! not everyone likes the same music!), but it's just the fact that we don't actually know what 'the music' is. Because no one can just say that they don't like Japanese music, period. There are all sorts of Japanese music - pop, rock, punk, jazz, traditional, rap, dance... etc. etc. IMO if you dislike from every single genre, all artists, then that would be very strange indeed (unless you just dislike it because it's Japanese which would be racist and stupid - and I'm sure that's not what was meant, it was just a comment about the music. But it seems he has heard mainly the crappy pop stuff.)

Jack · 6 Dec 2005

not true,
most people i speak to dont really like non-english music, because they dont know what they're singing(fair play).

LOok at me, i disike RAP, totally. Im pure bred ROCKER!! but i like japan rap and german rap, thats weird.

kirei_na_me · 6 Dec 2005

Don't worry. I feel the same way, Lost Kosmonaut.

Kinsao · 6 Dec 2005

Well, I can enjoy music from any country. It just depends on the type, whether it hits the spot for me or not. I'm not bothered about not understanding the lyrics at first, as long as the singing is good. I can always look up a translation! I think everyone who likes music knows that it's about so much more than the words.

I'm not very well up on Japan pop, though. Can it possibly be that it's even worse than ours here? ☝

POISONxIVY · 7 Dec 2005

jack2 said:
not true,
most people i speak to dont really like non-english music, because they dont know what they're singing(fair play).

What about all the people who listen to hardcore music? You never can understand the screaming haha. I think if you are listening to it for the music it doesn't matter what language they are speaking. If someone likes a band just because of the lyrics, then that's another story.

Nana007 · 7 Dec 2005

I'm actually a weirdo, cause as far as my music tastes goes, I like rap, hip-hop and r&b. I listen to SOME western rock. But I don't like HEAVY western rock. But most of the J-Rock Music is rock and some of it is Heavy. And I love J-Soul. But for the most part J-Rap is such a joke to me. I know that imatation is a good thing. But it is sometimes ridiculous to me. I just laugh hysterically when I see a J-Rap music video.

lastmagi · 7 Dec 2005

Kinsao said:
Well, I can enjoy music from any country. It just depends on the type, whether it hits the spot for me or not. I'm not bothered about not understanding the lyrics at first, as long as the singing is good. I can always look up a translation! I think everyone who likes music knows that it's about so much more than the words.

I'm not very well up on Japan pop, though. Can it possibly be that it's even worse than ours here? ☝

I've heard some pretty bad Japanese pop that have made me embarrassed to listen to them. Some Japanese female vocalists, whose names/band names I forget, can have really high-pitched voices that make my ears cringe.

And yeah, I've been trying to find out more kinds of music from other countries. I try to look beyond understanding lyrics (some people listen to opera), although I'm sure that's not a factor for the OP considering he is in Japan currently, and I'm assuming he knows at least some Japanese anyway.

Well, just like in America, there's something for (most) everyone, so don't give up! There's more than what the charts say, or even what other people recommend, so keep looking.

Not into rock music? Try the songs of Yae. Mycernius send me one of her songs once, and her voice seems very good to me.

Mycernius is cool, but he's not so cool as to send you mp3s of Yae ;-) No offence, Mycernius!

I found Yae because I heard she did the song for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Although I never played FFCC, the FF series' songs have usually been on the soothing side. I actually tried to order Emiro Shiratori's album (FF9) but alas, it was out of stock. Whatever, they're both wonderful, and you'll never know where you'll find the right ones for you.

Dollporn · 7 Dec 2005

FFCC is soooo stupid. Totally pointless ,opposed to the other games a huge black hole on Square Enix's slate(but this isn't the games forum).
Anyway, I think I know why people wouldn't like j-rock.
You have to turn to a sort of mode where something that you'd usually consider as off tune, pompous and generally a strange arrangement(speaking musically) as beutiful, full of feeling and varied.
You have to be willing to get into this mode and only then will you love it.
I know it's said that it's a rumor that j-rock origins from old japanese music, but I don't think it's entirely wrong.
Listen to old songs(like geishas singing and stuff) and there's a sort of similiarity in the way of singing.

If it's pop you don't like, that's not strange either. I hate the pop music we play here and I know j-pop can be worse. So I won't try to defend it.

POISONxIVY · 7 Dec 2005

I really think this forum should be titled "J-Rock" and not "J-Pop" It seems like mostly everyone here is into Jrock and not the pop stuff! Perhaps they should have one for each...

Placebo · 7 Dec 2005

I like music from all over. In fact some of my all time fav bands have been British. I do listen to music for the lyrics so I just translate it but sometimes I just like the way it sounds.

lost · 7 Dec 2005

POISONxIVY said:
I really think this forum should be titled "J-Rock" and not "J-Pop" It seems like mostly everyone here is into Jrock and not the pop stuff! Perhaps they should have one for each...

yes! i totally agree! i was saying that to my friend the other day....

for me...music and lyrics are different....i usually listens to the kind of music that sounds nice and my likes...the lyrics doesn't really matters at time cause i listen to krorean, chinese and japanese music where i dun even know the language.

Lost Kosmonaut, maybe the music that your friends are listening aren't your taste...try other kinds of music that your friends doesn't listen to...
i dun like the kinds of american music my friends listen to....i actually hates it! so i ignore it and listen to those they hate...which i like...

Kinsao · 7 Dec 2005

Dollporn said:
You have to turn to a sort of mode where something that you'd usually consider as off tune, pompous and generally a strange arrangement(speaking musically) as beutiful, full of feeling and varied.

Haha!! Sorry... I'm not laughing at you Dollporn... it's... an interesting way of putting it... and I can see what you're getting at... but it sounds just a leeeetle offputting for someone who isn't familiar with j-rock. (Taking your points back-to-front -->) personally, one of the reasons that I like j-rock is the variedness of the arrangements (I used that word to indicate 'variedness' within one song, rather than 'variety' between different songs). A prime example is MUCC, where from beginning to end of the song you never know what you're going to get next.

Uhmmm... I don't really hear the off-tuneness, either. I don't like things that sound off. Especially vocals - if they don't quite hit it, it bugs me and I don't listen anymore.

I can sort of see where you're coming from with 'pompous' not in the music itself, but whenever I say to anyone that I like Japanese music they tend to assume I am either amazingly intelligent (if they don't know me well! lol) or horribly pretentious.

I know it's said that it's a rumor that j-rock origins from old japanese music, but I don't think it's entirely wrong.

Well, my mom has said that she can hear the 'Japaneseness' in j-rock that I've been playing - even when I can't. I think there must be some subtleties in the intervals they use and stuff.

Placebo said:
I do listen to music for the lyrics so I just translate it but sometimes I just like the way it sounds.

Agreed. There's both. (Interest in the lyrics actually inspired me to learn Japanese, as I have said many times!) You do miss out on a dimension of the meaning if you don't understand the lyrics... but on the other hand, understood lyrics can be distracting from the instrumental element, too.

POISONXIVY said:
I really think this forum should be titled "J-Rock" and not "J-Pop" It seems like mostly everyone here is into Jrock and not the pop stuff! Perhaps they should have one for each...

My vote goes to that, too.

lastmagi said:
Mycernius is cool, but he's not so cool as to send you mp3s of Yae

Sorry lastmagi!

toujin · 7 Dec 2005

hiya! *pushes in into the fray*
i don't think you can ever really judge the quality of music of a country with boy bands *shudders* but japan has produced some great bands over the years. the long lived ones are usually the answer
have you tired X japan? *can't resist* or luna sea? and if you are going for quality of voice you can not go past gackt! XD
*has finale by larc en ciel playing right now*

Nana007 · 7 Dec 2005

Every country has crap music. And even though the west invented bubblegum pop, Japan has it down to an art. And while I can't stand most of Japans pop music you do have some good artists. But it really does depend on what you listen to. Japan has a great, rock scene also, but mixed with the good there will be crap.

I agree, I can't stand nasally high voices. I used to not like Japanese music cause the voices irritated me to no end, now I love it, you just have to figure out what you like. I can say one thing. No matter what type of music you like to listen to, Japan will have an artist that fits the mode, and then you have artists that fits no mode, anywhere (miyavi).

toujin · 7 Dec 2005

Nana007 said:
No matter what type of music you like to listen to, Japan will have an artist that fits the mode, and then you have artists that fits no mode, anywhere (miyavi).

*laughs* i agree! but hey, you forget mana

Nana007 · 7 Dec 2005

ah sou desu ne. Yes Mana is truly a one of a kind person.

Lost Kosmonaut · 7 Dec 2005

Uh my favorites are, in no order (except for zep)

-Led Zeppelin
-Pink Floyd
-Black Sabbath
-Jimi Hendrix
-Tom Waits
-Eric Clapton
-Nirvana (recently not so much)
-Gorillaz
-Metallica
-Red Hot Chilli Peppers
-Moby
-Audioslave
-Rush
-The Beatles
-Lennon
-REM
-Bob Marley
-Tenacious D
-Yoko Kanno (not Oono)
-Muddy Waters
-The killers
-Sublime
-edit:yurk, forgot Queen

are all on my usual listen cycle.

Not much compared to most people, I know. But that's pretty much cause I'm usually too busy listening to Zep to look for anything else.

dniwer · 7 Dec 2005

With those as your favorites, I'd definitely say you can't go wrong with X-Japan.

Also, give D'espairsRay and MUCC a shot as well.

I'm sorry, I just don't like it...

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