Matt Knight
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I anything can't do right since because pickles
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7 Good Songs from Awful Bands Pt. II
If you've read any of my work thus far, you know that I love to hate things. It's a passion of mine, honestly. However, every now and then, I like to sprinkle in some positivity on top of all the detestation. Woot. Now, as the title suggests, this is of course a part II, and part I of this series will be linked at the end. I think this least needs no further explanation, so let us begin with:
By Matt Knight5 years ago in Beat
7 Worst Albums of 2017
There's no better time to reflect upon the worst music that 2017 had to offer than late into January, right? Right? Alright, I know I'm a little late to the party, but this is only because it took a little longer than usual to compile the ultimate list of worsts this time around. 2017 undoubtedly produced a lot of quality music, from Father John Misty's riveting masterpiece Pure Comedy, to Alvvays's glistening Antisocialites, to Paramore's refreshingly sharp After Laughter, it was a fantastic year for music.
By Matt Knight5 years ago in Beat
7 Worst Songs of 2017
As 2017 quickly draws to a close, its time to toughen up and dissect the best and the worst of what the musical world had to offer these past 12 months. While the majority of people seemed to detest 2016 as a whole, the music we were gifted wasn't actually as bad as one would think. However some of the worst trends to saturate popular music in 2016 have only seemed to worsen, growing larger and more inescapable every year. It just seems that recently pop music has lost its "pop," leading to more and more mediocre instrumentals and lyrical themes to spread like generic wildfire. It is with this in mind where we shall begin to take a look at some of the worst songs to come out in 2017, however we shall first set some ground rules. First off, as with any musical or cultural commentary, this list is entirely subjective. I have my own theories and ideas as to what makes music "objectively" bad (as if there were such a thing), and these biases can be greater understood by reading some of the other works I've done on popular music. Second, this list won't be exploring the worst deep cut off of the album that your cousin's German neighbor put together using a 4-year old version of FL Studio in his basement, rather this list will be focusing on songs that are either by well known and successful bands or artists, or songs that were simply successful themselves. With this in mind, let us begin this list with:
By Matt Knight5 years ago in Beat
Weezer: Worst to Best
When Weezer emerged amongst the rubble of grunge music in the mid 1990's with their debut self-titled Blue Album in 1994, it was obvious that their influence on the rock scene would be felt for years to come. However as rock moved into the new millennium, Weezer's discography seemed to falter, leading many fans to leap from the band wagon in large numbers. By 2010, it seemed most fans were content with the notion that each Weezer album (for the most part) got worse as time wore on, however Weezer's sudden resurgence in the mid 2010's has seemingly stoked a passionate fire amongst Weezer faithful, one that has sparked numerous conversations surrounding which Weezer albums are better than others. So in this list, I will try to dissect the importance of each album in Weezer's discography and hopefully produce my own personal objective ranking of each studio release. While the phrase "personal objective" might seem like an oxymoron, it is important to understand that I am attempting to rank these albums in a way that I feel is the objectively correct manner, as opposed to doing so based solely on personal taste. So without further ado here is my Weezer - Worst to Best:
By Matt Knight5 years ago in Beat
7 Best Rock Bands of the 2000s
As of July 2017, it was revealed that rock is no longer the most popular musical genre in the United States. While many different factors played into rock's seemingly sudden fall from grace, one particular catalyst can be identified as the deluge of bland and uninspiring rock music that came out of the 2000s. From the formulaic post-grunge stylings of Puddle of Mudd, Nickelback, and Creed that dominated rock radio in the late 90s to mid 2000s to the offensively brain-dead dribble that nu metal bands like Limp Bizkit and Papa Roach, and pop punk bands such as Simple Plan and Good Charlotte, pumped out, the public was being pushed into listening to the worst that the rock scene had to offer. While the 2000s bred about as many awful musical acts as any other decade, the 2000s were an interesting time period in which it seemed that the most mediocre and drab talents were planted upon the pedestal of the mainstream, leaving some of the truly great bands to gain audiences within the underground. In this list we will be taking a look at some of the best bands to produce rock music during the 2000s, as opposed to that... well, other list I made about 2000s rock bands (will be linked below). Like in previous decade-centered lists, not all of these bands made music only throughout the given decade. Each of these bands not only produced amazing work during the 2000s, but were also major players in the rock scene by innovating and influencing other bands and subgenres. Let us kick things off with:
By Matt Knight5 years ago in Beat
7 Worst Rock Bands of the 1990s
In the immortal words of the great hip-hop luminary Unkle Adams, "Oy I’m from the 90s, boy I’m from the 90s, boy I’m from the 90s, didn’t cha knooooow?! Girls with the scrunchies, ribbons, and boooows, the Velcro shoes and the neon cloooothes." Real words to live by right there. However, with the sickening deluge of 90s nostalgia that seems to spew from every corner of the internet in 2017, it's easy to forget all of the aspects and components of 90s culture that were simply atrocious. While much of the music that came out of the 90s has since proven itself to have the ability to withstand the test of time nearly 20 years later, like with any decade, the 90s gifted us plenty of garbage, as well. But while Shirley Manson and the gang surely produced some of the most interesting rock music of the decade, it was not enough to distract from all the trash (cause ya see?). In this list, I will be taking a look at seven of the worst rock bands to gift this decade with its sonic displeasures, because boy do I love to hate things. Let us kick off this super objective and not at all meme-centric list with:
By Matt Knight5 years ago in Beat
7 Worst Rock Bands of the 2000's
I just like to hate things apparently. I must admit, sometimes its way more fun to tear something down than build another up. Hell, sometimes its even easier. However, this is precisely what I will be doing in a new string of works that will focus on 7 of the worst rock bands from a given decade. To begin, I will be taking a look at a decade that in hindsight, is immensely responsible for the enormous decline in relevancy that rock music has seen in pop culture over the last decade. The 2000's gave us many fascinating phenomena: George Bush, International war, Facebook, Zoey 101, good New Jersey Devils teams, but most importantly (in regards to rock music that is) it gave us a few very inescapable genres of music: Post-Grunge, Nu Metal and Pop Punk. While these genres didn't begin during the 2000's, they each reached mainstream relevancy during this decade. Like with any genre, some of the bands to come out of these scenes were descent, however most of them... well, sucked. And I mean REEEALLY sucked. Like, enough to almost kill an entire genre of music sucked. So without any further delay, let's begin looking at some of the absolute worst rock bands to emerge from this decade with:
By Matt Knight5 years ago in Beat
7 Good Songs From Awful Bands
So, maybe I was a little too harsh on Alice Cooper. Maybe I was a little too harsh on Green Day. Oh, well. Now, I would like to focus on the opposite side of the spectrum, so on this list I will be taking a look at 7 songs that I personally feel are pretty good, if not great, from bands that, well... aren't. Like the last list I will attempt to avoid deep cuts and primarily focus on songs that were fairly popular. Also, like the last list this is again just my own personal opinion, so don't get your knickers in a twist... or something. A couple of these songs are even some of my favorites ever. Yes, really. So with that in mind, let's begin:
By Matt Knight6 years ago in Beat
7 Terrible Songs by Great Bands
"Nobody's perfect." These immortal words, originally spoken by the legendary Hannah Montana, reign true, even in the cases of the greatest bands to walk the face of the Earth. On this list, I will be taking a look at 7 of what I believe are terrible songs that exist within the catalogs of bands that most, including myself, consider to be great. However, I am going to try to veer away from deep cuts, primarily focusing on songs that did relatively well. Without further ado, let's kick things off with:
By Matt Knight6 years ago in Beat
7 Haunting Songs About Death
Happiness be damned. While the occasional pop banger does a lot towards keeping one's psyche blissfully aloft, one simply can't escape the existence of a universe saturated by music that explores the dark and inevitable subject of death. While some try to avoid the topic, many are consistently drawn to it. Whether it be a realization of one's own inevitable fate, or his/her own experiences with the demise of others, the concept of death is one that has continued to fascinate the artist as well as the listener since, well, as long as music has existed. This list is by no means a list of the greatest songs to take on the topic, but are certainly ones that stand out to me.
By Matt Knight6 years ago in Beat
Somehow It's Already Been a Year: A Look at Touché Amoré's Post-Hardcore Masterpiece: 'Stage Four' - 1 Year Later
"Somehow it's already been a year," lead vocalist Jeremy Bolm of Touché Amoré bellows out at the beginning of "New Halloween," the second track off of the band’s 4th studio album Stage Four. However in this context, Bolm is referring to the time passed since his mother Sandra Bolm passed away of Stage 4 cancer, just a year earlier. When such a tragedy occurs it is nearly impossible to predict the implications that might follow, from an instant deluge of grief and emotions poured out in the most open of ways, to an almost complete shutdown of social communications and interactions, everyone handles death in his/her own way. While seemingly delicate and complex, the subject certainly hasn’t gone unexplored in music. Billie Joe Armstrong gave us “Wake Me Up When September Ends,” Eric Clapton penned the legendary “Tears in Heaven,” Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth gave us- well, yeah let’s not remember that one…
By Matt Knight6 years ago in Beat
