OpEd
Bands You Never Gave a Chance That Probably Deserved One
Band Photo: Children of Bodom (?)
My personal confessions are less about what I enjoy that would shred my credibility through a wood chipper and more about which bands I used to despise that I'd never talk shit about today. Namely, I used to really hate System of a Down, Iron Maiden, Behemoth and Chimaira. After only hearing a handful of songs from each, I decided that all were overrated before actually giving their discography a real chance.
Holy shit did I regret that later on after listening to Chimaira's self-titled album, Iron Maiden's “Powerslave”, “Zos Kia Cultus,” and the entirety of “Toxicity” (although I still maintain that “Chop Suey” has always been overrated and overplayed and I'm not a fan of the title track on “Resurrection”).
It's hard to look at yourself after talking shit about music that you were completely ignorant about. Eventually, I moved on to "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son,” “Resurrection,” and “Steal This Album” and realized that I was talking out my ass and sounded like one of those guys who calls eurodance “techno” but has never listened to speedcore or confuses hip-hop with R&B.
And with that comes a seething hatred for mainstream radio, primarily since singles are designed to be watered down and frequently don’t represent the rest of the album. I still enjoy other forms of radio like Pandora and Second Life but only because I know I'll run into some deep cuts. Imagine what would happen if I only heard “Escape” from Metallica and wrote them off entirely based on one radio friendly song instead of taking the rest of their first five albums into account? I'd be a total laughing stock.
And this is why I've given up on making fun of bands that I dislike. Even though I hated any and all previous music by Emmure (and to be fair, I still do), I'll always maintain that “Slave to the Game” (reviewed here) is a sick album. To put it lightly, I'm not going to be the guy who'd judge the next Pantera by their Terry Glaze output as I believe that nobody is truly beyond redemption. Even if Children of Bodom did record “Are You Dead Yet?” and Motley Crue put out “Girls, Girls, Girls,” they did later record “Relentless Reckless Forever” and “Dr. Feelgood” respectively. Hell, if Limp Bizkit one day made album of the year material, I'd still be down for it. The odds of that happening are about even with E.L. James winning a Pulitzer but I'd still give credit where it's due.
Are there any other bands out there that our readers have unfairly judged based on one or two songs or even a whole back catalog? Sound off in the comments section.
Matt is a freelance writer living in Chicago, Illinois and a metalhead since 1999.
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18 Comments on "Bands That You Never Gave a Chance"
2. writes:
I try to not talk sh** about any bands that I don't like, but if I think something is bad I'm not likely to ever think differently because I hadn't heard some part of their discography. I might be liable to latch on to certain parts of a discography after ditching others, in the "they used to be better" or the "they got better later" kind of way, but no complete turnarounds. I'll routinely try to check out bands all over again if they generally have a good reputation and I just didn't 'get' it the last time I checked. 'Excluded' bands are usually so because of an element I just can't deal with, like a vocalist that I can't handle or something like that.
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4. writes:
I also wrote off System of a Down based on the fact that they were played on mainstream radio, so I figured they were just another watered down one hit wonder. I still don't actively listen to them, but they are much better than I thought. I saw them live with a friend, who's a huge fan. Good show. Should've been longer.
Pig Destroyer is another one. Even being a Napalm Death fan, I found this band hard to listen to. Now, I'm a little addicted. This band is a great band. Good live show, too.
That's about it. I still write off a bunch of bands based on a few tracks. Listening to more tracks later just reaffirms my original opinion.
I still deride bands that I think suck and I always will. It's valuable to share opinions and hear other opinions, otherwise we won't learn as much.
6. writes:
I guess it would be Porcupine Tree. Loved their 2002 album but then slowly listened to other albums and wasn't really impressed. I wrote them off as really ripping off other bands and not adding a whole lot as really revolutionary. And Steven Wilson is truly overrated and far from a genious as most of his peers and mindless fans say he is. Come to think of it, I never really gave Rush a chance initially in the 80s until a few years after Roll The Bones came out and Counterparts hit. The bunnies and the dumb rapping skeleton was a pure turn off. Come on, who would listen to those records with a a straight face?
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7. writes:
back in the 80's when i was like 10 or 11, I used to write off loads of glam bands all the time cuz i didn't like their crap pictures in Sh!t Parader and Jerkus
For the most part it was a good call, but a few of em burned me by kicking out some pretty good tunes, even if they were WAY overplayed
if the music is good, i really could give a fvck all what anyone looks like or calls themselves
NP---Desecration of Souls---Don't Break the Oath \m/
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10. writes:
I specifically remember thinking several doom bands (Shape of Despair, Swallow The Sun, Draconian, Anathema, Type O Negative) were boring, unoriginal, waffly atmospheric bands the first time I heard them. Which seems insane now, because they're literally now some of my favourite bands. Type O probably is my favourite band... jeez I must have been in one hell of a bad day when I first heard them.
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15. writes:
It's almost 3am and I'm bored so I may as well chime in....
Power Metal.....sorry....can't do it.
99% of it drips with more cheese than WI can produce in a full year.
Other groups written off ....System of a Down....hate em.
POD...hate em.
Hatebreed......hate em.
Any of the rap/wanna be tough guy crap....
no.
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16. writes:
I've always thought that much of Avenged Sevenfold's material was severely underrated. As a person who doesn't like the "core" genres, I found A7X to be particularly unique and even later when they switched to cleaner vocals.
Genres that I've never enjoyed: Power Metal, Black Metal, most "core" bands
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1. Svetoslav writes:
For me it is not only a band that I don't give a chance. It is a whole genre.
I think that black metal is overrated. I try to like it from time to time. But it never happens. I still can not make the effort to hear a full album.
May be I am missing a lot.
And may be some day I will change my mind as I am open to so many other genres.
But still I am not ready to give black metal a chance.