sub sub sub sub sub genres

I don't get people classifying basic genres and dividing them up into categories that really have no clear or differentiating definition to them. This is especially true in metal where people will argue for hours on end whether a band is stoner/doom/desert metal or simply acid/stoner/doom metal. It's ridiculous. And the whole post- or -core thing is insufferable.

So anyways, do any of you get picky with what to classify your music as? If so, what are the criteria, or are you like me and don't give a crap and just let it fall under a basic category such as "rock", "rap" etc etc?

Yeah I know there's a thread similar to this but it's pretty old.

Genres and sub-genres are useful, but do get too crazy and aren't all that important. Too many people think they can make a genre by adding -core to the end.

i like to write songs about apples but i don't know if there's a specific sub genre mine can be specified into specifically

anyone have any ideas?

i don't see a problem with classifications. for example i don't care about specific types of fungi, but can differentiate between mammalia and protozoa.

I don't give a crap. Sometimes I may discuss the subgenre of something if I'm trying to explain the type of music a band is to someone who understands those genres, but that's about the only use I can think for them. And since I don't understand them at all, even that isn't usually of much use to me.

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Originally Posted by Not At All Reno

i like to write songs about apples but i don't know if there's a specific sub genre mine can be specified into specifically

anyone have any ideas?

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Call it applecore

BA-DUM-PSSH

(SPOILER)ugh I can't believe I said that.

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Originally Posted by Raistlin

I don't give a crap. Sometimes I may discuss the subgenre of something if I'm trying to explain the type of music a band is to someone who understands those genres, but that's about the only use I can think for them. And since I don't understand them at all, even that isn't usually of much use to me.

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Yeah, for example I don't really see the difference between "alternative" "post rock" and "prog rock".

I'm a total musicfag yet the whole subgenre thing always eluded me.

alt is like matthew good

post rock has very little important lyrics, its mostly the instruments

prog rock is like the above but the feeling is more spacey and ambient

IM TOTALLY CORRECT
im making it up

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im making it up

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Join the club

Apparently everyone who listens to music is an authority on it. Although one could argue that it's all relative and on the other side of the coin it can be seen as altogether pointless. I think labels can act as a stigma of sorts too, some people might stay away from a certain genre if a band they don't like is in it, yet they're might be a dozen bands that they'd like but don't bother with because they didn't bother looking past the label.


Also some people tend to generalize a bit too quickly, especially with the whole emo and hipster labels

I used to care about labels and stuff, but then I just decided that I like what sounds appealing to me.

I try to be very vague when describing what I listen to, because I'm afraid of using the wrong name and sounding dumb I:

I have my own genres.

Great
Good
Okay
No thanks

And of course the occasional Beautiful, but a song classified into this genre is most likely classified into the Great genre as well. That's where it gets a little complicated.

:tongue:

Metal is horrid about that kind of thing, as you said. Very few classes of Metal actually deserve to have a subgenre of any kind.

The only one that comes to mind is Power Metal, which makes heavy use of orchastra Type equipment, a good example being Kamelot's Ghost Opera using organs and violins, and the over all feeling of the music differs a lot from normal Metal.

THere are other examples of legitamate sub-genres, though overall I think it's just people being elitist. :p

Yeah, I feel it boils down to elitism as well. Though I would consider Viking Metal to be its own genre even though it's basically power and/or black metal, but with an obvious Norse mythology theme. But that's arguable since the main difference is within the lyrics and not the musical style itself, though again it all boils down to what you personally define a genre as.

And Kamelot's a pretty descent band btw

The funniest thing about Metal subgenres is that Metal is a subgenre in tiself. =/

Kamelot is actually one of my favorite bands. :p

Power metal..

and Death Metal..

are completely different..

and Death Metal AND power metal...

are completely different from Industrial metal.



That is a great example of why we have sub genres.

We have subgenre's to better pinpoint the TYPE of music within a certain genre. It's like when someone says "do you like metal" and they say yes, they prolly aren't saying yes to liking all metal, so then the person says "What kind of metal"?

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Originally Posted by Laddy

The funniest thing about Metal subgenres is that Metal is a subgenre in tiself. =/

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True.

Take Black Sabbath for example, if they were around today instead of thirty years ago they wouldn't be called metal, they'd be called doom metal.


@NeoCracker: Yeah I haven't listened to all their stuff but I do have all their albums...I just got alot of music to go through since I have tens of thousands of songs and I plan on listening to all of them. But I've really been on an Electric Wizard kick lately.

@Avarice-ness: Yeah of course but I'm talking about the post this and core that, or basing genres off of an area that the band is from rather than the style (desert rock or Cali punk or southern doom for examples)

I don't know the difference between all these sub-genres. All I know is that I typically listen to alternative and rock. Or alternative rock. o_o

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Originally Posted by Avarice-ness

Power metal..

and Death Metal..

are completely different..

and Death Metal AND power metal...

are completely different from Industrial metal.



That is a great example of why we have sub genres.

We have subgenre's to better pinpoint the TYPE of music within a certain genre. It's like when someone says "do you like metal" and they say yes, they prolly aren't saying yes to liking all metal, so then the person says "What kind of metal"?

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Yes, but the point is a lot of times the sub genres don't even make sense to be there.

FOr example.

You have Doom Metal, Doom Sludge, Death Doom, Doom Core, and at least 2 0r three more variations of Doom Metal alone.

There comes a point the madness must end.

Space Pope is awesome now xD!

I wont lie, I am very biased towards my music.

What I love: Rock/Metal/Gothic/J-music

What I hate: Rap/Grime/RnB/Most forms of Pop (there are VERY few exceptions)


And while the sub genres can get out of hand (espcially in Metal) it is an interesting way to divide it.


For me though, i'll listen to anything that classifies as Metal, whether it's Doom Metal, Thrash Metal, Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, even Black Metal (which is loosely tied to Doom Metal).

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Originally Posted by NeoCracker

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Originally Posted by Avarice-ness

Power metal..

and Death Metal..

are completely different..

and Death Metal AND power metal...

are completely different from Industrial metal.



That is a great example of why we have sub genres.

We have subgenre's to better pinpoint the TYPE of music within a certain genre. It's like when someone says "do you like metal" and they say yes, they prolly aren't saying yes to liking all metal, so then the person says "What kind of metal"?

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Yes, but the point is a lot of times the sub genres don't even make sense to be there.

FOr example.

You have Doom Metal, Doom Sludge, Death Doom, Doom Core, and at least 2 0r three more variations of Doom Metal alone.

There comes a point the madness must end.

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Yeah that makes sense. Usually those are because the bands want to be more different. They fit into a normal sub genre but they're like "OH HAY WE DO THINGS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT, SO WE'RE NOT LIKE THEM, EVEN THOUGH IF YOU PLAYED OUR MUSIC SIDE BY SIDE YOU COULDN'T TELL A DIFFERENCE."

Labels can really get in the way and stop people from getting creative. Also, for some reason it almost always creates so called Genre Whores who will go absolute ape :bou::bou::bou::bou: on you if you state that a band is a certain genre.

I agree that they are needed to a certain degree because obviously as humans we have to label things, but it gets ridiculous when start dividing one genre like say Drum & Bass, into 20 different genres.

Neel once told me that he thought genres were pretty useless as far as classifying music went and he preferred to organize his library by mood. I think it's a pretty good idea. Music seems to fit in with mood really well (dancing, parties, emoing out).

I mean, junglecore, hardcore, happy hardcore, they're all this fast-beat synthesized mix stuff, but they make you feel different. I think the difference between them is mostly BPM, but I think happy hardcore is a step in the right direction, being named after a feeling than a technique.

Basically, sub-genres exist only for the purpose of making it easier for music geeks to talk to each other. Trying to explain them to anyone outside the loop is pointless (which is obvious to anyone who has ever tried >.>).

However, between music nerds, sub-genres are an incredible help to anyone trying to properly describe a new band he/she has found. They provide implicit comparisons to other bands, and they do this quickly and efficiently... Of course, only to people in the loop. Again, people trying to explain sub-genres to the average passerby are pompous fools.

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Originally Posted by The Unknown Guru

Basically, sub-genres exist only for the purpose of making it easier for music geeks to talk to each other. Trying to explain them to anyone outside the loop is pointless (which is obvious to anyone who has ever tried >.>).

However, between music nerds, sub-genres are an incredible help to anyone trying to properly describe a new band he/she has found. They provide implicit comparisons to other bands, and they do this quickly and efficiently... Of course, only to people in the loop. Again, people trying to explain sub-genres to the average passerby are pompous fools.

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Yes, your right, it helps people. But those same people, or mabye the group next door will argue with each other whether a specific group is 'Intelligent Drum & Bass' or 'Liquid Funk' for hours on end. It gets pointless sometimes.

On another note, I challenge someone to categorise The Prodigy into one sub genre. :)

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Originally Posted by Croyles

Yes, your right, it helps people. But those same people, or mabye the group next door will argue with each other whether a specific group is 'Intelligent Drum & Bass' or 'Liquid Funk' for hours on end. It gets pointless sometimes.

On another note, I challenge someone to categorise The Prodigy into one sub genre. :)

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Very true. Of course, some actually enjoy it >.>

Never heard of the Prodigy. I will immediately look him/her/them up!

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Originally Posted by The Unknown Guru

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Originally Posted by Croyles

Yes, your right, it helps people. But those same people, or mabye the group next door will argue with each other whether a specific group is 'Intelligent Drum & Bass' or 'Liquid Funk' for hours on end. It gets pointless sometimes.

On another note, I challenge someone to categorise The Prodigy into one sub genre. :)

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Very true. Of course, some actually enjoy it >.>

Never heard of the Prodigy. I will immediately look him/her/them up!

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:confused::confused::eek::eek::Eek::Eek::Eek:
For real? DAMN your missing something (if your into that sort of music anyway).

Here are some songs, some that I really like and some others just to demonstrate how varied they get.
YouTube - The Prodigy 'Warrior's Dance'
YouTube - The Prodigy - Invaders Must Die [HQ] High Quality Sound
YouTube - Breathe
YouTube - Prodigy - Hot Ride
YouTube - The Prodigy - Diesel Power
YouTube - The Prodigy Spitfire (High Quality)

Hm. Looked them up, I like. However, I can't complete your challenge; although I like techno/electronica, I've never been into it as much as 80's alternative or 90's indie.

Thats the thing, you cant even label them as techno. You could probably label individual songs as techno or hardcore or whatever, but the group as a whole is pretty much impossible to categorise.

idm is the stupidest name for a genre ever
but i still love it

Basic categories suffice for me. I do have a couple of sub-genres in my music library, but I don't go out of my way to categorize them that way.

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Originally Posted by The Space Pope

Yeah, for example I don't really see the difference between "alternative" "post rock" and "prog rock".

I'm a total musicfag yet the whole subgenre thing always eluded me.

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Alternative is more modern and liked by the mainstream. If you were to listen to an alternative radio or channel, you'd hear music that you could most likely find on mainstream music channels like fuse.

Prog rock, like the title suggests, is music that progresses within the song. The structure of the song is very different from mainstream music. It is likely for the music to not keep the same pace through out its entirety. They like to keep their music dramatic and show-offish.

As for post rock, I couldn't help you. I never understood the "post" prefix in music genres.

post-x means something that is beyond X.

post-rock then is beyond rock. It may have roots in it, but as a descendant, you wouldn't recognize it. Or that's how it was explained to me.

post-rock = beautiful wandering melodies, maybe words, probably not, idk. I like it!