In your opinion whose songs all sound the same?

karaokeman

I hear arguments like this everyday so I thought I would create a thread for it.

What artists/bands in your opinion have songs that more or less all sound the same? I will list the main three that come to my head;

1. Adele - yes I know she has a fantastic voice but I really would like to hear her experiment more

2. Westlife - always seem to be rewording the same melody, especially with the new song they played on the Late Late Show last week

3. Mumford & Sons - the entire album, everything is literally just that

I can't think of anyone else just now:p

Conor Bourke

Ha- Mumford and Sons were the first ones that popped into my head when I read the thread title. Same inane pseudo-folk shoite with the one note banjo chorus. Gowls.

As much as I enjoy AC/DC, I have to admit that most of their stuff sounds exactly the same. Maybe therein lies the appeal though? You know exactly what you're getting with them, every time!

Thankfully you don't hear too much about them any more, but a few years ago you could hardly switch on the radio without hearing The Feeling and pretty much every one of their songs was interchangeable. Zero imagination, just four or five inoffensive radio friendly variations of the one song.

I'm sure I'll think of others but those are the first to spring to mind.

Odaise Gaelach

Scouting for Girls spring to mind immediately.

J_E

Metallica. They have a few standout songs but the rest is rather forgettable. Let's pretend Lulu doesn't exist either.

Malice

Cydoniac wrote: »

Metallica.

:eek: You seriously think all Metallica songs sound the same?

Sinfonia

I've always hated this sentiment.
Generally speaking, an artist/group will have a stylistic idiom that goes a long way toward defining 'their' sound. So on first glance, of course everything will sound the same. Moreover, if every song by an artist was stylistically completely different, they'd probably be criticised for their inconsistency.
Even with AC/DC, because the songs are stylistically similar in much of the albums, there's a tendency to say they all sound the same, but really they're not. I played in an AC/DC tribute thing for a while years back, and becoming familiar with each song backwards and forwards I could see how different the songs were from each other. Maybe the big big hit singles for them were more closely related to each other.. I also found that AC/DC's song structures were more complicated than I had appreciated. Their use of rhythm is very idiomatic, the downbeat never seems to be where you think it's going to be, or where it's "supposed" to be.

As for Mumford & Sons, same argument really. I'm not a fan of them, although I do think Timshel really stands out.

You're right though karaokeman, people throw this argument out there all the time, and it's usually from people who aren't really familiar with the artist/group, or at best, who are only familiar with the singles rather than albums.

GoldenTickets

Status Quo

Curly Judge

Morrissey !

Clanket

Red Hot Chilly Peppers

monkeypants

There was a recording studio in Sweden years ago where the guy who ran it liked a particular guitar sound. Therefore every band that recorded there ended up sounding very similar.

SilverScreen

AC/DC and Motorhead are pretty much the obvious ones. Was never really a big fan of both of them but I guess they both just stick to a formula that works and feel no need to experiment and try something different.

The songs on the last few Slayer albums pretty much all sounded the same as well, felt a bit too repetitive at times.

Someone already mentioned Scouting For Girls. Christ, whenever I heard a new song of theirs on the radio it had the EXACT SAME tune as their other singles.

rcaz

monkeypants wrote: »

There was a recording studio in Sweden years ago where the guy who ran it liked a particular guitar sound. Therefore every band that recorded there ended up sounding very similar.

That doesn't mean all their songs sounded the same though.

Malice

monkeypants wrote: »

There was a recording studio in Sweden years ago where the guy who ran it liked a particular guitar sound. Therefore every band that recorded there ended up sounding very similar.

Are you talking about the Gothenburg sound?

R P McMurphy

James blunt

fluff_daddy

Vengaboys

Kold

Tool.

SilverScreen

I forgot to mention Sleater-Kinney. Even though I'm a fan and have all their albums, I do admit that a lot of their songs do tend to sound the same. That's no means a bad thing as they had a sound that was theirs and it worked for the most part. You know what you are going to get with every album.

ItsAWindUp

Oasis.

harsea8

M people (god i hate her voice)

theparish

Coldplay

RC88

the smiths, pixies, rihanna, paramore, greenday, limp bizket and every modern rapper

irishh_bob

ac/dc
bon jovi
kiss
brian adams
def lepard
westlife

and of course

meat loaf

irishh_bob

RC88 wrote: »

the smiths, pixies, rihanna, paramore, greenday, limp bizket and every modern rapper

the pixies have a very distinctive sound

SilverScreen

RC88 wrote: »

the smiths, pixies, rihanna, paramore, greenday, limp bizket and every modern rapper

What Smiths and Pixies albums have you listened to? I find there is quite a bit of variety in both bands' discographies. Also have you heard every single modern rapper there is today? Wow that's some feat.

bigwormbundoran

Bob Dylan - All miserable shíte I cant distinguish any one of his songs from the rest, dont get his appeal at all

rcaz

bigwormbundoran wrote: »

Bob Dylan - All miserable shíte I cant distinguish any one of his songs from the rest, dont get his appeal at all

lolwut

Malice

RC88 wrote: »

pixies

Jesus wept, this thread gets better and better.

Pighead

Admittedly I haven't heard too many songs by the band but every Linkin Park single I can remember all followed pretty much the same pattern. Nice guitar chimey hook, shouty rap verses and a strained shouty singalong chorus.

adamshred

Scouting For Girls

karaokeman

Pighead wrote: »

Admittedly I haven't heard too many songs by the band but every Linkin Park single I can remember all followed pretty much the same pattern. Nice guitar chimey hook, shouty rap verses and a strained shouty singalong chorus.

You just stated the reason why you think all Linkin Park songs sound the same.

You "haven't heard too many songs by the band" and you mention every single you've heard. By "every" would you be referring to every single Linkin Park ever released or is it a select few?

Unless you listen to their full albums, track-by-track it won't be that difficult to think every song used for promotion sounds the same.

Da Shins Kelly

Gotta be Adele - boring sh*te.

D'Agger

The National - I do like some of their songs but listening to it while driving once I couldn't actually distinguish when some songs ended and new ones started.

Malice

Pighead wrote: »

Admittedly I haven't heard too many songs by the band but every Linkin Park single I can remember all followed pretty much the same pattern. Nice guitar chimey hook, shouty rap verses and a strained shouty singalong chorus.

This sums up their older stuff quite well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYNRhzX6gw8

Pighead

karaokeman wrote: »

You just stated the reason why you think all Linkin Park songs sound the same.

You "haven't heard too many songs by the band" and you mention every single you've heard. By "every" would you be referring to every single Linkin Park ever released or is it a select few?

Unless you listen to their full albums, track-by-track it won't be that difficult to think every song used for promotion sounds the same.

Not quite sure what your point is here. Are you saying that it is normal for bands to release singles that all sound the same?

I do take your point that I'm not very well qualified to judge Linkin Park on their entire output but with regards to their singles all I can say is samey samey same same.

Ahoy hoy

As much as I like Snow Patrol, all their music seems to rehashed.

karaokeman

Pighead wrote: »

Not quite sure what your point is here. Are you saying that it is normal for bands to release singles that all sound the same?

No but sometimes you might hear only two singles from a band and think they sound the same.

For Kings of Leon it could be Sex On Fire and The Bucket but until you've heard the rest of their single discography you will see there is some experimentation down the line, say when you compare those two songs to Pyro.

Other times all of a band's singles might sound the same but its their style so most of what is given to radio stations will be similar. I think this is what Scouting For Girls do.

Dark Artist

Surprised no-one has mentioned DragonForce. I listen to them a lot, and although I do have my favourite songs, they really don't make a huge effort to make each song distinct.

RC88

Zero1986 wrote: »

What Smiths and Pixies albums have you listened to? I find there is quite a bit of variety in both bands' discographies. Also have you heard every single modern rapper there is today? Wow that's some feat.

i'll admit a few pixes songs are quite good(Here Comes Your Man, where is my mind to name two) but most of em follow the same loudquietload format, either the verse is loud and the chorus is quiet or vice versa, just makes em sound a bit samey to me

and with morrisseys dreary lyrics makes every smiths songs one big snoozefest for me

Malice

RC88 wrote: »

i'll admit a few pixes songs are quite good(Here Comes Your Man, where is my mind to name two) but most of em follow the same loudquietload format, either the verse is loud and the chorus is quiet or vice versa, just makes em sound a bit samey to me

That's a weak argument. Their whole alt-rock sound is based around changing dynamics but just because songs follow a certain format doesn't mean they're all the same. You might as well say all their songs follow the same verse-chorus-verse etc. structure. Here's two Pixies songs that follow the load/quiet/load format to an extent. Do they sound the same?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mCoOlUjhlc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDt42Vs-teI

Technocentral

Enya, same new age over produced crap sound on each "song". They all actually sound like this old Bord Gais ad called 50-50 cashback!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6IDO6M4Occ

RC88

Malice wrote: »

That's a weak argument. Their whole alt-rock sound is based around changing dynamics but just because songs follow a certain format doesn't mean they're all the same. You might as well say all their songs follow the same verse-chorus-verse etc. structure. Here's two Pixies songs that follow the load/quiet/load format to an extent. Do they sound the same?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mCoOlUjhlc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDt42Vs-teI

i get what yer sayin(it may be a weak argument), but its as the saying goes "its just my two cents", what sounds like gold to one person may or may not sound good to another, thats been the way of music for years, i'm not asking anyone to agree or disagree with me

take me for example, im a massive pink floyd fan, have been for years and i remember some of my mates quoting the floyd as a band who just make 10 minute songs of noise and pointless solos, something i argued over with them for years , just shows that no two music fans are the same

Auvers

RC88 wrote: »

pixies

:eek:

the band that inspired a generation of musicians, couldn't be more incorrect if you tried

but my vote goes to Coldplay

Kold

PaulieC wrote: »

The National - I do like some of their songs but listening to it while driving once I couldn't actually distinguish when some songs ended and new ones started.

Insanely dull band.

challengemaster

This should be obvious:

Willow smith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymKLymvwD2U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K45zqVslPI

Malice

RC88 wrote: »

i get what yer sayin(it may be a weak argument), but its as the saying goes "its just my two cents", what sounds like gold to one person may or may not sound good to another, thats been the way of music for years, i'm not asking anyone to agree or disagree with me

That's fair enough but the topic at hand isn't "Bands that I don't like" or "Bands that don't sound good to me".

RC88 wrote:

take me for example, im a massive pink floyd fan, have been for years and i remember some of my mates quoting the floyd as a band who just make 10 minute songs of noise and pointless solos, something i argued over with them for years , just shows that no two music fans are the same

Anyone with even a smidgen of musical taste should be well aware of how good Pink Floyd are. If the lead lines from Comfortably Numb don't send shivers down your spine you've either got no soul, you're paralysed or you're not playing the music loud enough .

Android 666

Malice wrote: »

Anyone with even a smidgen of musical taste should be well aware of how good Pink Floyd are. If the lead lines from Comfortably Numb don't send shivers down your spine you've either got no soul, you're paralysed or you're not playing the music loud enough .

I like Syd Barrett, I vaguely tolerate Pink Floyd. I probably wouldn't give out if someone put them on but they'd be bottom of the pile for me. Don't get the fuss at all. Roger Waters is a most obnoxious young whippersnapper.

Has anyone mentioned the Ramones yet? There career was built around all their songs sounding the same.

And as for the argument that you can't form an opinion based on a couple of songs - maybe that's true but with a near infinite choice of music out there you need some sort of filtering system to decide what you are going to make the effort to listen to. If you hear 3 or 4 songs by a band that all sound the same and you don't like them, your going to make the assumption that the rest of their catalogue is the same and decide not to listen to anymore. The argument that you haven't listened to every single song in a band's catalogue so you can't have an opinion on them is pretty weak. If I don't like the 4 songs that I heard by a band why should I listen to their other 44 songs in order to gain a comprehensive perspective of why I don't like that band when I could spend the time listening to music I do like.

Sinfonia

Android 666 wrote: »

And as for the argument that you can't form an opinion based on a couple of songs - maybe that's true but with a near infinite choice of music out there you need some sort of filtering system to decide what you are going to make the effort to listen to. If you hear 3 or 4 songs by a band that all sound the same and you don't like them, your going to make the assumption that the rest of their catalogue is the same and decide not to listen to anymore. The argument that you haven't listened to every single song in a band's catalogue so you can't have an opinion on them is pretty weak. If I don't like the 4 songs that I heard by a band why should I listen to their other 44 songs in order to gain a comprehensive perspective of why I don't like that band when I could spend the time listening to music I do like.

Fair point, although I did miss out on years of enjoying Beastie Boys because I wasn't too mad on their singles (apart from Sabotage). When the albums were emphatically recommended to me by a friend, I listened and realised how talented and diverse they actually are.

Android 666

Sinfonia wrote: »

Fair point, although I did miss out on years of enjoying Beastie Boys because I wasn't too mad on their singles (apart from Sabotage). When the albums were emphatically recommended to me by a friend, I listened and realised how talented and diverse they actually are.

Tbf, the recommendation of a friend whose opinion you can trust will usually make you more willing to listen more carefully to something you might have dismissed. Randomers on the internet telling me I can't dismiss a band because I haven't listened to every last recording of said band aren't going to swing it for me.

fillmore jive

galaxie 500. i do like them but alot of their songs are just the same 2 chords over and over again

Malice

Android 666 wrote: »

And as for the argument that you can't form an opinion based on a couple of songs - maybe that's true but with a near infinite choice of music out there you need some sort of filtering system to decide what you are going to make the effort to listen to. If you hear 3 or 4 songs by a band that all sound the same and you don't like them, your going to make the assumption that the rest of their catalogue is the same and decide not to listen to anymore. The argument that you haven't listened to every single song in a band's catalogue so you can't have an opinion on them is pretty weak. If I don't like the 4 songs that I heard by a band why should I listen to their other 44 songs in order to gain a comprehensive perspective of why I don't like that band when I could spend the time listening to music I do like.

While I wouldn't say that you need to have listened to every song, you could be unlucky and pick a selection of weak ones leaving an unfavourable impression of the band. I can choose half a dozen weak songs from most of my favourite bands and if I could go back in time to when I'd never heard anything by those bands and listen to the songs in isolation I'd probably have a completely different opinion of them.

That's even more of a factor if the sound of a band changes over time.

Android 666

Malice wrote: »

While I wouldn't say that you need to have listened to every song, you could be unlucky and pick a selection of weak ones leaving an unfavourable impression of the band. I can choose half a dozen weak songs from most of my favourite bands and if I could go back in time to when I'd never heard anything by those bands and listen to the songs in isolation I'd probably have a completely different opinion of them.

That's even more of a factor if the sound of a band changes over time.

That's true but given the amount of music out there, whether you do it consciously or not, your going to have to filter the music that comes your way to try and sift through to find the music that's going to appeal to you most. Not everything is going to get your proper attention and sometimes it means you'll probably miss out on music you might have liked but c'est la vie, there's only so many hours in a lifetime. Usually liked Sinfonia says friend's recommendations sort you out on stuff you might have missed.