😤 LET’S ARGUE! 😤 (January 2020 Thread)

Woo

Not really a hot take but I think Rock is starting to follow in the DIY footsteps of the new generation of rappers. Jonny Franck of Bilmuri has created a unique style of rock where he encapsulates the new fundamentals of hip hop. Creating songs on his own more or less on his computer/home studio, songs under the 3 minute mark, embracing the meme culture and multiple album releases across the year. Do you think what he is doing should be copied by other bands of the same genre in order to stay relevant and compete with hip hop?

Fall Out Boy were just as influential as MCR

Video game soundtracks do not get the love it and respect it deserves from the mainstream audience. Soundtracks like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, NieR: Automata, Persona 5, and Super Mario Galaxy, just to name a few, are some of the best soundtracks out there, and a great video game soundtrack can be listened to on its own without the context of the game.

Chris Hickson

This is the decade where we see TV on the Radio make a gigantic comeback

John camp

Although Weezers blue album will/has aged the best from Weezers discography, rivers Cuomo’s songwriting was the best on Pinkerton

The Best Pizza Connoissuer

Even after we’ve seen logic and kid cudi miserably fail at tryin to infuse rock elements into rap albums, I feel like kendrick is the one mainstream rapper who could actually pull it off

Devin

Anthony Fantano is a total virgin living in the shadow of the chad Cal Chuchesta

Most features nowadays are purely to get as many recognised names on an album as possible to boost streams/sales regardless of quality, Blonde and IGOR show exactly how quality features can be integrated to enhance the experience of an album

MintyMuncho

“King of the Underground” by R.A. the Rugged Man, “Underground Kings” by Prhyme, “Under Ground Kings” by Drake, or “Underground Kingz” by (UGK) Underground Kingz?

Tyler Craig

Master of Puppets is Metallica’s 4th best album

Please Excuse Me For Being Antisocial is overrated

Tristan Noel

Endless is better than Blonde

Joba will have the most successful solo career after Brockhampton disbands. His singing has developed over the years and has made him one of the more versatile talents in the band. I also think Kevin Abstract's solo stuff is very hit and miss

Benedict Wright

Music that you can’t dance to is less powerful and effective than music that you can. To me, one the things that sets music apart from other forms of art is the way it can make our bodies move and bring us joy. Without that element, a song might still be good or impressive or thought provoking, but it won’t be exploring music to its fullest potential. (This is not to say there isn’t shitty dance music, because of course there is)

GGs

You just hate AFI because they're vegan.

Mateus Nóbrega

Madlib is a top 3 hip hop producer

why did 7 8 9?

System Of A Down’s self titled is their best album. The storytelling and heaviness of the music and lyrics are entrancing and I keep coming back to it again and again.

Daniel Parton

Girl With Basket Of Fruit is Xiu Xiu's best album. Point blank

Gotye is one of the most underrated artists in recent memory. He put out some really solid records, and has a pretty unique/ diverse sound. Just look at tracks like: State Of The Art, Thanks For Your Time & A Distinctive Sound. It always makes me sad that he’s one of those artists that just never properly broke out of Australia, and is seen as a one hit wonder :( :( .

danilo gondim

Just because something is vegan it does not mean is enviroment friendly

Everyone should learn French and listen to french rappers like: Nekfeu, Vald or Kikesa

beammeupjosi

Wearing glasses when you don't need them is cultural appropriation. Our poor vision is not a fashion statement

Daniel Parton

Did you just say Pi'erre made "Playboi Carti type beats"? Even though he's Carti's producer?

Daniel Parton

Pretty sure he always mentions where artists originate from in the beginning of his reviews, regardless of nationality or anything like that

Jacob B

More of a TOUGH QUESTION really. I've seen you criticize the "slowed and reverbed" remixes of certain songs, but what are your opinions on DJ Screw and his chopped and screwed remixes of songs? What makes them different in your opinion?

Kirk Hammett gets way too much unnecessary hate. I know his solos on recent Metallica albums have been pretty meh. But His solos in the 80s and on the Black Album are incredible and he is the biggest reason a lot of kids have picked up a guitar in the first place. Also what rating do you give MCRs the Black Parade?

most of the time the spiritual miracle fast rap, is harder to understand than “mumble rap”

slowthai is just a solo idles

The recent videos of Fleetwood Mac without Lindsey Buckingham sound like a mediocre cover band. Lindsey is one of the greatest guitarists ever.

Kevin Marcellus Horan

Watching a festival performance on YouTube is better than actually being at the festival.

Andrew Shaktah

Lingua Ignota is one of the most important voices for female empowerment in punk music today

00-s were the best time for independent internet music that we lost to major labels in 10-s and things will never get better unless we invent totally new thing like internet was at the beggining

Logic has the best voice in the rap game.

If you had to pick any niche genre to boom into popularity during the new-20s, what would it be and why?

Connor Craven

Yo dawg u makin an end of da decade list or wut??

Señor C

Café Tacvba is the best band of the last 25 years. Re belongs in the conversation for best double albums alongside much more acclaimed records like London Calling & Sign of the Times. Cuatro Caminos similarly deserves a lot more praise, as it may well be the best rock record of the 21st century

Tristan Noel

Igor Krutogolov's version of "A Little God In My Hands" is better than the original

The Tony Hawk's American Wasteland OST disc, with all the punk covers is pretty good, and better than the actual game

Nathaniel Zaccagnini

Meatloaf is an under appreciated artist

Nathaniel Zaccagnini

Charli XCX’s album Charli is not a very innovative album

logan rowan

Bullshit. It’s necessary for many reasons. 1. It tells us Anthony is still alive. 2. It’s encouraging to hear for those who may not hear it from anyone and can make one feel less lonely. 3. It’s a good reminder of Kanye’s fantastic opening track from Graduation.

ElephantofDoom

The death of Rock music is in part due to the declining popularity of bands in favor of individual artists.

Let's not forget Barack Obama is still not a good person. He also ordered many a drone strike. Somehow he gets a human rights award though. His record is not as clean as Sanders bro. (I'm watching your Obama music list video rn and it reminded me to mention this).

Tinashe could've been the best thing in R&B

Don Toliver is gonna be the R&B Travis Scott.

Do you have any songs or albums that really remind you of a certain family member every time you listen to it?

Ridge wallets are overrated

Adrian Vargas

Please Tony Fantano, listen to Black Tongue's "Nadir", Kublai Khan TX's "Absolute", & Spite's "Root of All Evil". They have some hard hitting riffs & great lyricism, minus ROAE, that album is mostly just angry commentary on things from the vocalists perspective. I can ensure they'll make great new gym music. You don't even have to review them, just please listen to them.

Adam mezzarone

The only reason you did the worst and best albums of the decade let's argue videos was to get us to do the leg work for your own decade lists

I respect your opinion on it

Thoughts on Tom MacDonald and his impact on meme music?

Vabastegi - Mohsen Yeganeh slaps harder than my dad. On a real note though we should appreciate music in Farsi and other middle eastern languages here in the west more. They have some incredible vocal chops.

It's hard to discuss music seriously with someone who only listens to Three Days Grace, Seether, Disturbed, ICP and Hollywood Undead. I know too many people like this unfortunately.

Celtic Thunder has a couple lowkey bangers.

danilo gondim

I'm a little bit annoyed that a lot of your youtube fan-base don't wanna discuss music, but wanna meme you to death. Also a few weeks ago i met a fan of yours in an indie art museum. How do you feel about the way your audience is growing, and that people are connecting to others trough you

Panthony Treontano

Kpop is a rip off of hip hop and edm

Geneth

Vaporwave might break out of the underground this decade with George Clanton (and his label 100% electronica). They've been hosting multiple popular 1 day music festivals and getting more and more press coverage.

Em shouldn't even be in the GOAT conversation. TMMLP, TSSLP, and TES are his best. Of those, none have aged particularly well, since the humor and skits feel outdated and not funny (something you've mentioned before). The rest of his discography is mediocre or outright bad, with the shitshow that was Revival, and his only good record since 2002 being TMMLP2. His discography just doesn't hold up to having GOAT status when he has 3 albums that have aged badly, and when compared to other 90s artists with similar levels of fame (Jay-Z, Biggie, etc), his discography is just lackluster.

Jack Bayley

If people weren’t so gosh dang mean about emo (kinda deservedly so) MCR’s the black parade could have enjoyed a bohemian rhapsody type status but for sad millennials with Nokia phones!

As ridiculous as Viper's music can be at times, his influence is greatly underappreciated. He literally invented cloud rap with his 2006 mixtape "Ready and Willing", predating Lil B and Clams Casino. It's a shame that almost no one gives him credit for that.

Olives are gross.

Although many people say all human beings are equal, few actually believe it. A genuinely egalitarian attitude requires accepting that all the worst behaviors of other groups are a potential within each of us, and it's hard to feel good about popping off a sick fit on Instagram when you know that, statistically speaking, you probably would have been a Nazi.

John Pindzia

Just because a rock band has energetic songs and a horn section doesn’t mean they are a ska band!

Completely unrelated to music, I just wanted to put this out into the ether. Teams are bullshit that by design must have an enemy, any reasonable person is a a friend or colleague.

10:12 PM

MMLP 2 is not a worthy sequel, it should've been called something else

Harvey Greene

ram ranch is a more appropriate song to be featured on the billboard top 10 rock songs of the decade than any imagine dragons track. At least ram ranch sounds like rock music.

Riley Schmedeman

you really gonna shit on Root Down like that? the OG version is siiiiiiiiiiiick

Riley Schmedeman

also even though it was in 2000, brave new world is, amaaaaziiiiing

Riley Schmedeman

it’s actually the wall s o r r y

Tupac and Biggie aren’t the hip hop GOATS. Artists like Andre 3000, El-P, Kendrick Lamar and Kanye West are much more creative and interesting throughout their discographies. Sure Pac and Biggie tragically passed, arguably before they could reach their artistic peaks, but imo it’s unfair to call an artist in their situation the GOAT when you’re judging them off of music that either doesn’t exist or won’t be released in the way they would want.

lowkeymatt

Blueface is an entertaining rapper. Ironically of course, but his unique flow sets him apart from all the other boring, dulled out trap rappers and provides a good laugh. I can find enjoyment in his music

Harsh noise music actually becomes some odd form of relaxation after a while.

tryhard

“Mr. Jones” by Counting Crows is legitimately an amazing song, and it is among the best singles from 90’s that still get radio play

Marshall Hanson

Easycore is the most aesthetically pleasing rock subgenre because of major key breakdowns

Songs like “don’t call me white” by nofx and “guilty of being white” by minor threat as understandable and correct in there original in carnation, they did not age well. All you have to do is go on the comment sections of a song like that and you will find a slew of closeted racists camouflaged as hardcore fans claiming the songs are more true now then ever.

Peppa Pig had the best album of the year but you were to scared to give her the #1 slot coward

Cooper

What do you think of Jack Stauber, he’s become one of my favorite artists and one of the most creative guys out there rn.

M83’s Dead Cities, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts is their best album to date by a long shot. It creates a beautiful soundscape from start to finish and nothing quite like it has come out since.

Benjamin Lisboa

Lyrical Miracle rap is a necessary evil because it challenges the lyrical content of hip hop to be more meaningful

Lochlan Bailey

Gta 5 has the best soundtrack of any video game since it has both unique artists that you don’t hear on regular radio stations and the radio caters to a large amount of musical tastes.

Thom yorke walked so lorde could run

Panthony Treontano

Anthony saying good morning on Twitter every day is unnecessary

haughty garbage

Final Fantasy XIII is fun and a good video game

Brendan

The legacy of any artist shouldn’t be unquestionably praised. Many times an artist or band will be so built up to the point where any criticism against said artist or band is considered arrogant and swept under the rug. This kind of mentality stops other bands from the same time period form being considered just as great, and greatly diminishes the achievements of other artists. No ones perfect anyways.

Dance monkey is a trash song

Seinfeld

Muscians and artists that think they should have control over what "type" of person listens to their music are in the wrong. Art is for everyone to enjoy and you should be appreciative of those who enjoy your work.

YouTube's terms of service are %$@#&a*s(c;e&a;a*" and it's *@(';÷>@*!< to treat creators like this. North Korea offers more creative freedom than this.

Is it more important to stress over "corny song writing" when making music or ensuring that a song sounds good ultimately if it comes down to making a priority decision? What is corny to someone is not to another so it's hard to quantify.

George Straight sucks at writing.

It is a great song. Super catchy.

The Free Zone Mix of Root Down by The Beastie Boys is farrrrrr superior to the album version. And yeah a Beastie Boys rating thing would be much appreciated.

This is a good take.

Lmfao.

Being rich and famous is terrifying. If you put all your eggs in one basket and trust in your career in the spotlight. You have to constantly worry about maintaining that status. If you acquire allot of wealth and then invest in all of these expensive things. Then you lost that wealth, that debt would be incredible. For that reason wealth and fame is absolutely terrifying.

I love the man, but Danny Brown sounds like if a Minecraft villager started rapping

IMO. Music is either bad if... 1) It has some objectively bad sonic characteristic 2) It is subjectively annoying, grating or taxing to listen to. 3) possibly the worst offense... It sounds like something you've already heard and you forget about it in seconds effectively wasting your time. These are my main rules to decide if a piece of music is bad. Is yours similar.

I have met too many people from Florida who say "I don't F with Denzel Curry." Or they don't know who he is and say they are Kodak Black fans instead. The people I've met also discredit or ignore people like Ski Mask. Would you agree that someone who does not listen to Denzel is missing out to some extent?

"Deathgrips" is not the best band. The Idles are a good band.

mandy

Australian music will always be seen on some level as a gimmick by anyone from overseas, even if the music is genuinely good. Music critics can never even mention an Australian artist without mentioning where they're from. You can see this in your own year end lists (Tkay Maidza, King Gizzard, Kirin J Callinan, Tropcial Fuck Storm etc)

ITSOKTOCRY's Deadset Future song slaps. His new album sucks but that song and that song alone is the one ray of hope.

Frank Zappa did not like the idea of a music critic from what I have heard. I guess it's a good thing that you like him? Or is it?

Tim Arendt

90s Iron Maiden isn’t as bad as their fanbase would have you believe. No Prayer for the Dying and Fear of the Dark are serviceable albums and even though The X Factor and Virtual XI were terrible, they still had their moments. Nowhere near as good as their 80s run but there’s moments of enjoyment to be had in all of those albums.

Eminem is the G.O.A.T. (rap ability wise) supremely talented and the guy can make sh*t albums one after another and still maintain his godlike public image. Look, even though he is clearly capable of "absolute suck". He is also pretty much at peak rap ability. He is also hilarious and has a good sense of humor about things which separates him from allot of other similarly successful artists at his level. (He has a good, playful attitude generally about getting roasted). He isn't the only contender for this spot though in my eyes.

What do artists/creators of any kind owe their fans, if anything?

No piece of art is more intrinsically valuable than any other. Good, bad or otherwise.

Jon Hoskins

While it's super easy to get carried away with the realistic threat of another world war, it's important to remind ourselves that the Middle East has been a battle zone for so long, and the little peace we may have right now, we shouldn't take for granted

YRCChris

strawberry pop tarts > cinnamon poprarts

Riley Schmedeman

also Julians vocals sound like shit on the album for the most part

Riley Schmedeman

while the strokes’ third studio album First Impressions of Earth may not be very good, it’s quite ambitious for the group and some of the groups greatest songs are on it. just unfortunate the album was loaded with too much filler

pretzels

austen face reveal when?

Anthony. You say you don't really believe in "guilty pleasures" because If you like something... you like it. Fair enough I guess. But why do I feel guilty about enjoying tracks like Papa Roach's - Getting Away with Murder or Merril Bainbridge's - Mouth.

ari

twin fantasy > teens of denial.

Sometimes the art consumer over analyzes an artists work and really it may not be as complex as you thought.

Omar AlHashmi

Billy Woods should be considered more during GOAT conversations

pretzels

how come you never talk about any of the actually good third wave ska groups, like catch 22/streetlight manifesto? they blend genres incredibly well(not just ska and punk, but also latin and middle eastern music), have actual meaningful, deep lyrics, every band member is incredible on their respective instruments, and they are tight as hell

Office Policy

It's hard to be argumentative about music because it's in such a good place right now.

Owen W

Music journalists, critics, and sometimes fans put too much emphasis on the artists who pioneered a sound, and not enough on those who improved the sound afterward. Sometimes it's not about who did it first, but who did it better.

Patriotic music like "I'm already there" by Lonestar and "God Bless the USA" have some gross undertones and implications behind the nice melodies. These songs make me feel I need a shower knowing the actual context and how the U.S loves interventionism and fueling the war machine.

Minyoung Kim

King Crimson deserves every credit Pink Floyd has

FELCommentary

If a band you don't like had a huge genre change and did something crazy (let's say Avenged Sevenfold drops an industrial noise rock album this year) would you go out of your way and listen to it?

Runaway is the best produced song of the 2010s, the song shows how much of a genius Kanye actually is.

Calvin Lebowski

This might prove unpopular, but Cal Chuchesta has jumped the shark.

If you listen to a cover of a song for the first time before an original, you're going to like the cover more.

carsausage

Grunge revival didn't happen enough and that disappoints me.

The Life of Pi'erre 4 is severely underrated. It's a true minimalistic trap lifestyle opera flowing perfectly from front to back. Pi'erre takes you on a druggy journey through his life on beautiful Playboi Carti-type Beats with some seriously gorgeous transitions.

Fat Houdini

All of these 2020 memes are stale, low hanging fruit without redemption

Final Cut is Pink Floyd’s last good album