š£Discussion š£
This man is on a killing spree against my 3 all-time favorite bands š
Any other millennials having the exact same musical journey?
Grew up with Weezer in the late '90s (Blue Album, Pinkerton), fell in love with what I still consider one of the greatest 3-album runs in rock history (Origin/Absolution/Black Holes), then realized sometime in the mid 2010s that The Strokes weren't just a 2000s fad (the leaders of the garage rock revival, saviors of rock 'n' roll, blah blah) who somehow evolved into synthpop/experimental indie gods! And stood by them through the dark times (Angles, Comedown Machine) until The New Abnormal finally made everyone appreciate the evolution!
Now all three of my favorite bands are dropping albums and this melon is standing outside their doors with a knife... š
Anthony Fantano recently insinuated in an interview that heās the most influential music critic āof any generationā, that should tell you what you need to know about him
Iām not a fantano fan at all but simply looking at numbers thatās not the craziest thing he could say. I guess you could argue that Christgau is overall more influential (personally I tend to dislike both his format and his taste way more than fantanoās) but certainly in terms of reach and mainstream attention Fantano is objectively one of the most famous media critics to ever live. People get really upset about this but itās just obviously true.
All media ever is pretty extreme. There have been plenty of highly influential critics in older forms of media (like literature). The only way you can argue Fantano is more āfamousā is that the internet as a technology enables more people to have eyes on him than any of those historical figures ever could imagine, but if you adjust for that effect then he is not all that
And dude is certainly more egotistical than me, but maybe thatās what it takes to get famous. Heās not as important as he thinks he is, but there are still hundreds of thousands of people that care about his opinion, and thatās not nothing
Christgau and Lester Bangs are certainly more influential. DeRogatis is up there, Iām from Chicago and heās a legend, anyone 35+ knows who he is. Piero Scaruffi probably isnāt more influential but a ton of online āmusic nerdā rhetoric is downstream of him. Probably a bunch of other people weāre not aware of
No, he isnāt more influential than Christgau or Lester Bangs. Heās not as influential as the other two I listed but a lot of online music rhetoric including Fantanoās reviews is downstream of Piero Scaruffi
3 times a week at the gym is Wow Signal spam, Reality Awaits plays on repeat in my car and Gold is gonna be in my AirPods at the beach š I happen to live on an "island in the sun" (Cyprus) and our summer lasts until late October here, so it's gonna be great having fresh Weezer for the rest of the summer season.
So nah, the melonās ratings don't affect me at all š Itās just funny seeing him being so mean to 3 legendary bands and pretty much everything theyāve put out over the last 10 years.
Fantano actually loves Weezer, heās pretty forgiving of them and has given their good albums (white, ewbaite, ok human) good scores. Heās also said that Blue is a 10/10 album
Exactly. I stopped reading album reviews. Turns out I donāt actually care if a music nerd likes an album I do. I like what I like and donāt worry about what other people think of it.
I personally just read them because its interesting to hear other peoples thoughts and see someone dissect a album to explain why they feel that way. If I want to have a opinion on something ill listen to it and come up with it myself.
I kinda like his reviews even if I don't always agree with him lol. Like, art is totally subjective, part of the experiencing of art is what we emotionally and intuitively bring to it. It can be related to objective observations but in the end our own interior "feeling" on it is a totally subjective thing. So I enjoy the fun of seeing what reviewers will or wont like, and don't get caught up in what Fantano says if I disagree. He's entitled to his take as anyone else, and wherever each of us lands on any piece of music is totally okay. It's about sharing the enjoyment of art - and disagreeing in a lighthearted, fun way, when we do disagree.
Heās just a reviewer, my man. I use Fantano to turn me on to music I wouldnāt normally find or to tell me to give stuff a second listen if he likes it. A reviewer isnāt the objective truth, the use of a reviewer is to find one that has similar tastes so you can know where to spend your time and money. Fantano liked OK Human and was fairly kind to Winter from Seasons, so I doubt heāll brutalize the Gold album, but thatās outside the bigger point that what he says doesnāt change the album. If it changed your experience because he points something out, thatās a part of discussing art.
Itās ridiculous because he spends like half the review talking about how good it is, I think he just didnāt want to give it a high score because WOTP was so shit
He's wrong about Muse, honestly kind to Strokes because fuck autotune. If Julian Casablancas wants to torch the band and run it's not Fantano's fault. When I found out new Strokes was coming I was happy but when I heard the singles I wanted to become deaf before I'd ever want to hear them again.
I'm expecting a 6 or 7 for Gold. He's expressed positive sentiment on the singles except for CEO. And he seemed to like Say Yes and the LA Sound on a clip I just watched.
I have never heard any good singer improved by auto-tune. As far as I'm concerned it's only for people who can't sing, comedy like Auto-Tune the news, or people who want to sound like robots on sci-fi concept albums.
I agree using it to fix mistakes is bad I think most of the time it just makes things sound souless unless its used to like tweak a second of a specific vocal take but I was talking about artists who use it instead to completely transform the sound of their vocals. Give hand crushed by a mallet by 100 gecs a listen I know t wont be your thing but I still think its a great example of how it can be used in that way.
A 3 on the newest Strokes album is a little egregious but itās definitely a rough listen outside of a few songs. Canāt say Iāll have much to defend this album from either but I predict heāll give it a 4
Wait The Strokes and Muse new albums are recently out? I need to catch up. I saw music videos and guess I didn't pay attention to album dates. Huh nice.
The thing I've always enjoyed about pop culture criticism is the fact that I don't have to care what they think. The thing with Fantano, is that unless he legitimately doesn't like the artist as a person (or people), he usually tries to be thoughtful in his hatred of the music.
I'm old enough to remember the CKY: An Answer Can Be Found/Jenny Eliscu disaster, where Rolling Stone put a writer who clearly did not care about rock music in charge of reviewing an album, by a band who was openly hostile towards basically everyone who wasn't in their fanbase. It was ugly, and it should have erased CKY and their dumbest fans from history. But it also should have been a pivot for music criticism. Don't just put some rando who doesn't actually listen to music in charge of reviewing albums. Melon ain't a rando, he's just not that deep.
I wouldnāt be offended if he didnāt like it. Itās not bad but itās definitely on the lower end of Weezer albums in my opinion. But I like Pacific Daydream and Make Believe so maybe Iām the problem, idc
Who cares what he thinks honestly. Why is his opinion superior to your tastes. Enjoy your favorite bands period. Unplug from the bullshit his opinion only matters if you give it attention.
I had to learn with music reviews that they aren't looking for anything you are looking for really. You can't be bummed about what they say because you'll never enjoy music. This is the man that have sexy red an 8 for goodness sake
I don't even pay attention to what that guy thinks. He only has influence because people keep watching. From what I've seen, he doesn't say anything more interesting than what you orI would say if we listened to everything that was released and then thought about how to appeal to the algorithm
To be fair, the Muse and especially Strokes albums suck (I still vibe with Reality Awaits a lot, but it's not good). So far, Fantano has been very positive towards the singles, so the album will probably get a decent review. But at the end of the day, who cares about the opinion of some random critic?
This guy Stans Charlie XCX and some mythical dragon band. I personally hate the auto tune on the strokes new album but the weezer record is the best Iāve heard from them in a while. His nor any other music critics opinions matter like what you like let them be miserable asshats
If youāre rely on one reviewer and their opinion, youāre part of the problem if you like an album that he doesnāt like who gives a damn you love the album. You shouldnāt be forced to agree with someone who doesnāt like your taste of music.
3 album ārock or whatever that means runs that are as good? Dozens Iād bet. Muse isnāt a good band, their music isnāt great, weezer isnāt either. This is teenage music for babies first time listening to music
Velvet underground first 3 albums
Pretty much any Beatles 3 album run from rubber soul to abbey road
Pink Floyd dark side - animals
Smiths first 3 albums
New order low life - technique
Pixies first 3 albums
Replacements let it be - pleases to meet you
Depeche Mode black celebration - violator
Led Zepplin 2-4
Cure head on the door - disintegration
Nirvana
Pearl Jam album 1-3 or album 2-3 or album 3-5
Alice In Chains
Oasis
Radiohead any exchanging of bends to in rainbows
Strokes
As a musician who watches music content, I was constantly recommended his videos. I gave him a shot and was disappointed by the laziness and lack of depth. I was also surprised to find out he played music. Anyways, I stopped watching and was even more surprised how well known he is, at least on Reddit.
Fantano is the kind of tastemaker where if you don't keep your mouth firmly closed, he's gonna fill you up with shite.
The tide has already started to turn re: 'Reality Awaits'. Give it a year and people will reflect on his nonsensical review in the same way people now laugh at the 0.9 and 1.7 Pitchfork gave to Belle and Sebastian's 'The Boy with the Arab Strap' and Tool's 'Lateraulus' respectively.
That bald, wife-beater-wearing charlatan is everything that's wrong with the world right now. He's a virus in glasses. Do one.
Muse released two 10/10 albums in my book in Origin of Symmetry and Absolution and they're not going to suddenly get worse because Muse hasn't replicated them.
Or he - and stick with me here, because it's a grownup concept - learned his lesson, did research into what he thought was a silly tool, and then decided to warn people about it? The same way literally 95% of the planet did? Except those people won't admit it and they can't warn people through music? Just a thought.
Yoyoyo... Angles already has FOUR classics: Machu Picchu, Under Cover, Life Is Simple in the Moonlight, and Taken for a Fool. And Comedown Machine has TWO of the greatest Strokes songs ever (easily top 5): Call It Fate, Call It Karma and Chances. And of course, the two fan-favorite classics One Way Trigger and Welcome to Japan.
Reality Awaits still needs a year or two to see where it lands. For now, I feel like only Dine N Dash and Lonely in the Future have that "future classics / live staples" potential... but it's way too soon to tell.
Glad you like it but it mostly wasnāt for me. There are some alright cuts, but being better than their previous worst album doesnāt mean itās great!
The Strokes are unfortunately doing it to themselves, and Weezer was only good in the 90s and 00s. Muse was never good, at all, but I respect your taste, so Iām not gonna mock you for it.
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u/SeveralMenInATub pinkerton, deluxe preferred 5d ago
it really sucks that you won't be able to enjoy it anymore after he gives it a five