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What's it like to suck?

#42
mwm70 said:
...Based on your criteria listed above, how can GNR suck? I am not a fan of their music, but I have seen them live. They were in tune, were not hesitant or sloppy and seemed to be feeding of one another or connecting as they played. Even the intrepretation of songs that were not theirs filled this criteria. If you are making this judgement based on musicianship or ability, I must have missed something here also...
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Exactly. I'm not making that judgement based on my criteria of "true sucktitude", and that's what you missed.

That's why I contrasted 'true sucktitude' with 'the other side of the coin' - just a listener's taste in music. GNR is a band that is obviously very good - in fact I guess you 'd have to say 'masterful' at their style of music. Even individually they've been an inspiration to many guitarist, bassists, drummers ...uh, they have a keyboard too, right? Anyway - THAT would be that other, subjective thing. Like Rob Zombie: boy does he suck. Oh - and Burl Ives; egads!

See what I mean?

Joe

(edit) ..But how about some of MY favorites, like Robin Trower and Pink Floyyd and Tony Bennet?! Nobody could not like them, right?
 
#45
Oh - and Burl Ives; egads!
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Dude - "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" is true art.

Anyway. I was in a band that sucked, largely because of me. I was pretty green at the time, and while I understood the concept of playing in time, I couldn't always do it. Of course we were young guys playing "all originals" :rollno: so that helped with the suckage. Then I played with some guys who wanted to do stuff like Led Zeppelin covers (not necessarily a bad thing) with a singer that sounded like Pat Boone with less range. :eek: That lasted maybe three practices or so, and it only lasted that long because I was still drinking in those days. :hmm:

A local blues outfit was advertising for a bass player, and I talked to them. It's a husband/wife outfit, and the husband plays pretty good blues guit*r. But they made the mistake of referring me to their website to listen to their CD. The wife, who is supposed to be the star, couldn't stay on pitch if you held a gun to her head. It's hard to believe that they didn't fix it before they printed the CD's, but if nobody noticed how flat she is, I definitely don't want to play with them. And they think they're awesome.

So, I know what it's like to be lousy, both from inside and out. :( Fortunately, now I can usually tell if I'm playing something stupid and take steps to fix it.
 
#46
Da LadY In Red said:
I dunno, do they know that they suck?
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Keeping an honest perspective about your music is one of the hardest things in the world. I've been gigging for almost 25 years now and played a lot of pro gigs (though I still have a day job) but I still think I suck...obviously others do not. I guess that's the opposite of truly sucking but thinking you are incredible :D

The trouble I see with bad rock bands is:

1. Not everyone can write a good song...yet rock bands place such a huge importance on doing "originals" that playing a bad song they wrote is seen as better than playing a great song they didn't write.

2. The indie rock aesthetic places almost zero importance on musical competence. Being in tune and playing the right notes are simply not required. "Feeling" and "attitude" are everything.

That's really all there is to it.

Here in Boston there are zillions of bad rock bands. They get together six songs and are ready to gig on 4 band bills. If they are lucky one of their originals is pretty good and they choose one "hip" cover to end the set so they get a buzz going. They then play every club in town as often as they can get a gig. If they can't follow that up with some more good originals they are doomed to break up and be replaced by some other band with a buzz.
 
#47
Flatwound said:
Dude - "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" is true art...
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Yeeeeah - I gotta admit: Mr. Ives' voice was the best one for the job on that song.

Aw, Man - now I'm going to have that melody stuck in my head all day again - happens every time.

(I could only wish to be known for a melody that people walked around humming all day.)

Joe
 
#50
I think everybody knows these stories and people.

The musician who has a huge ego and sucks.

The one who buys gear to compensate for being awful.

The band that is all attitude but somehow gets tons of gigs. Most people don't know what good musicianship is. They do know what a good show is. If I play a show note for note people could care less. If put some intensity into and screw up a little people will enjoy it. I was all intensity in my old band and yes I probably did suck. Now I'm finding a balance.

If you suck, so did I and so did everyone here at one point. Or you can take the simpson approach and put your bass in the closet next to your hockey stick, glove, and karate uniform.
 
#51
Against Will said:
And still other times, they play a few shows, get enthused and develop an attitude because they think they're only a few steps away from being signed and becoming the next big thing. This is especially a problem with bands who resort to cover songs to 'liven' up their set, because their original stuff is not really all that original or catchy.
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It's funny that you bring that up in the context of this thread. My local music scene (Central PA area) has just recently started airing a half hour show dedicated to local music. It features original music (understandably so for copyright laws and such) and the whole show has an anti-cover elitist atittude. The thing is though: 95% of the bands featured are no-talent hacks. Not only is the musicianship terrible, but the songcraft isn't there. I'm not saying that every band on the show is bad; there are a few that have impressed me. But much of the stuff is just plain bad.

Don't take me the wrong way; I'm not slamming original music either. I've played original music in my lifetime, and I'll play it again. I just think the elitist attitude from original bands is funny when their originals aren't all that good to begin with.
 
#53
The best way to hear the level of suckage is to record yourself and listen to it. If it is not painful after a few listen then maybe it doesn't suck. Then play it for your freinds if you dare. I found the best way to hear what sucks is to listen to your recoding until you can't stand it any more. Listening to your playing is the only way you can really tell what you sound like.

This discussion reminds me of the singer/percusionist in my band. I've been trying to convince myself that he doesn't suck that bad. Last gig I finally told him to learn his lyrics and to take some pride in the music. But he has all the symptoms of true suckage. He thinks he's great but won't learn lyrics and has all kinds of issues on percussion. I just wish he'd learn the words and practice his drums.

Peace
Benton
 
#54
Da LadY In Red said:
I've recently heard some bands from the local scene that I'd consider to be less than average bands.

Now I'm in a band too, and I consider/hope/pray that we play good music.

I wonder a lot these days, what is it like to just, well, suck? Anyone know one of those particularily terrible "screeching" local punk/emo bands that play the same "punk" beat EVERY song, have dumb lyrics about wanting to kill themself, terrible guitar work. For clarification I'm not trying to offend punk or emo lovers, it's just in my experience that most of the local bands I hear play those styles of music.

I dunno, do they know that they suck? Are they living on fantasy island thinking their music is awesome, though it's quite the opposite. What's it like to make music that is just god awful?

Just on the noggin. I'd appreciate a couple cents in my pocket from this guy.
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Usually local bands that suck are comprised of 12 year olds in my experience. People that just start a band or just start playing suck, that's why people practice. Most males cannot sing on pitch, and they probably don't practice singing enough, so that's why they suck. Some bands don't do anything special, the writing is just bland, same beats over and over again like you said, that's why they suck.

But mainly people suck because they don't practice. Simple as that.
 
#55
I think another thing is a lot of people subconsciously think just because their technically in a band and playing original songs (esp. if they play them live) that that's accomplishment enough and that they must be decent. It's not easy writing originals, but it's really hard to write (and play) really good original songs, and most people don't realize how hard it really is and probably take it for granted. It's easy to get caught up in the cool feeling of playing your own music at gigs, but if you get too caught up in that you start to lose your objectivity in judging your band...

By the way, if you're wondering if you truly suck, a good place to be 'put to the test' is by posting on http://www.garageband.com, it's a great way to get completely unbiased opinions of your songs (if you have any recorded.) Completely random people all over the world listen to your song and comment on it, it's awesome. You get the good, bad, and the insane. But usually it's a lot more honest than your friends and family's opinion...which is another reason people don't realize they suck--their friends don't have the heart to be honest with them so all they hear is how great they are...
 

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