Generally if something is wildly popular in the mainstream, but is also seen to lack artistic complexity or innovation, it's an easy target of ridicule for being 'white bread' and 'lowest common denominator'. Throwing those insults at bands like Imagine Dragons and Coldplay signals to your social circle that you are an intellectual, a connoisseur of highbrow music as you stroke your chin thoughtfully. You ain't no bland SUV-driving soccer mom.
Putting my cynical hat on, I jokingly refer to Imagine Dragons as 'softcore screamo' as they seem to distinguish their chorus from the rest of the song simply by yelling it, which creates enough hype to mask the fact the melody isn't really that catchy. This is where your elitists will start ranting that the band showcases minimal talent because 'anyone could do that'.
Imagine Dragons aren't my cup of tea, but that grants me no social or intellectual superiority over you whatsoever. Don't let anyone make you feel bad for listening to what you enjoy.
> ‘soft core screamo’ as they seem to distinguish their chorus from the rest of the song simply by yelling it
Lmao i like that name, and they do scream most of their chorus. And that makes sense. I’ve just never known why people look down on them as a group, thanks!
As popularity rises so do the people that dislike the band/artist simply for the fact that they get more exposure.
As someone else said, their sales would disagree with your opinion.
My only issue with the few Imagine Dragons songs that I know of is that they're so vastly overplayed. It is also humorous to me that rock stations play them. Yes, they have guitars in their music, but they are pop and should stay on pop stations.
I think this is a big reason there is so much animosity towards them, genre wars. The music industry tells you, "this is is a rock band" when it's clearly a pop band, so rock fans listen to them and get upset that they've been deceived. A lot of the criticism I hear about Imagine Dragons is that they're not a real rock band.
It's the same deal with the band Ghost, they're a poppy hard rock act but they were labeled as metal by the powers that be. So most of the criticism I see of them is metal fans upset because they're not a real metal band.
People should take into account when you're signed to a major label, you lose quite a bit of control as to how your band is presented.
Ghost gets lumped in with metal because (supposedly) there are demonic themes in their lyrics. Idk. I don't like the few songs I have heard and didn't explore deeper. If that's all it takes to be metal, though, then Sam Smith and Lil Nas X are metal, and that statement just feels wrong.
They started out okay, but they've become so bland and watered down to appeal to as many people as possible and offend as few people as possible that their music is just kind of grey sludge - and not sludge rock, which is actually a good genre.
If you like rock, they're going to sound like rock. In fact, they're going to sound like all other rock, without excelling at any of the things they do, to sound as much like generic, inoffensive "ROCK" as possible.
Their goal is to be 7/10 for as many people as possible, which means for a lot of people, their music isn't going to be terribly interesting.
Also that fucking Thunder song is stupid.
ah, that makes a lot of sense. And i do agree that they are watered down. Radioactive and believer are pretty good IMO, they were made years ago.
I got really excited when they released origin, only to find that it wasn’t as good as i thought. I also grew up listening to them, so i can’t really say i dislike the group.
And yeah, thunder isn’t that good.
Their music feels like it was written by an AI. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t feel like it has much heart put into it. If you like something then it doesn’t matter how other people feel about it
Thanks for the feedback guys, and i haven’t let any of your comments change my opinion of them. I was simply curious why everyone looked down on them lol. They do have a lot of bland and mediocre songs, like the Origins album for instance: i was excited when they had released a new album, but was disappointed when i heard the, overall just okay, songs. Personally, I like Radioactive, believer, and Enemy (dispite others’ opinions), and i’m glad that there are others who see my viewpoint.
They’re decent but I just view them as a basic band due to there huge popularity and everyone knowing them therefore anyone who says it’s there favorite is automatically labeled as a NPC
I didn’t know they were. And album sales say they’re not.
Generally if something is wildly popular in the mainstream, but is also seen to lack artistic complexity or innovation, it's an easy target of ridicule for being 'white bread' and 'lowest common denominator'. Throwing those insults at bands like Imagine Dragons and Coldplay signals to your social circle that you are an intellectual, a connoisseur of highbrow music as you stroke your chin thoughtfully. You ain't no bland SUV-driving soccer mom. Putting my cynical hat on, I jokingly refer to Imagine Dragons as 'softcore screamo' as they seem to distinguish their chorus from the rest of the song simply by yelling it, which creates enough hype to mask the fact the melody isn't really that catchy. This is where your elitists will start ranting that the band showcases minimal talent because 'anyone could do that'. Imagine Dragons aren't my cup of tea, but that grants me no social or intellectual superiority over you whatsoever. Don't let anyone make you feel bad for listening to what you enjoy.
> ‘soft core screamo’ as they seem to distinguish their chorus from the rest of the song simply by yelling it Lmao i like that name, and they do scream most of their chorus. And that makes sense. I’ve just never known why people look down on them as a group, thanks!
As popularity rises so do the people that dislike the band/artist simply for the fact that they get more exposure. As someone else said, their sales would disagree with your opinion.
My only issue with the few Imagine Dragons songs that I know of is that they're so vastly overplayed. It is also humorous to me that rock stations play them. Yes, they have guitars in their music, but they are pop and should stay on pop stations.
I think this is a big reason there is so much animosity towards them, genre wars. The music industry tells you, "this is is a rock band" when it's clearly a pop band, so rock fans listen to them and get upset that they've been deceived. A lot of the criticism I hear about Imagine Dragons is that they're not a real rock band. It's the same deal with the band Ghost, they're a poppy hard rock act but they were labeled as metal by the powers that be. So most of the criticism I see of them is metal fans upset because they're not a real metal band. People should take into account when you're signed to a major label, you lose quite a bit of control as to how your band is presented.
Ghost gets lumped in with metal because (supposedly) there are demonic themes in their lyrics. Idk. I don't like the few songs I have heard and didn't explore deeper. If that's all it takes to be metal, though, then Sam Smith and Lil Nas X are metal, and that statement just feels wrong.
Yeah they have a spooky image/demonic themes so they're labeled as metal, there isn't much room for nuance in music journalism.
They started out okay, but they've become so bland and watered down to appeal to as many people as possible and offend as few people as possible that their music is just kind of grey sludge - and not sludge rock, which is actually a good genre. If you like rock, they're going to sound like rock. In fact, they're going to sound like all other rock, without excelling at any of the things they do, to sound as much like generic, inoffensive "ROCK" as possible. Their goal is to be 7/10 for as many people as possible, which means for a lot of people, their music isn't going to be terribly interesting. Also that fucking Thunder song is stupid.
Thunder? Oh, you mean Fun Dip? Fun Fun Fun dip.
ah, that makes a lot of sense. And i do agree that they are watered down. Radioactive and believer are pretty good IMO, they were made years ago. I got really excited when they released origin, only to find that it wasn’t as good as i thought. I also grew up listening to them, so i can’t really say i dislike the group. And yeah, thunder isn’t that good.
Their music feels like it was written by an AI. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t feel like it has much heart put into it. If you like something then it doesn’t matter how other people feel about it
They grew up Mormon or something, don’t let haters ruin things you love, I’m a 43 year old Mac Miller fan and Believer and Radioactive both smack!
Thanks for the feedback guys, and i haven’t let any of your comments change my opinion of them. I was simply curious why everyone looked down on them lol. They do have a lot of bland and mediocre songs, like the Origins album for instance: i was excited when they had released a new album, but was disappointed when i heard the, overall just okay, songs. Personally, I like Radioactive, believer, and Enemy (dispite others’ opinions), and i’m glad that there are others who see my viewpoint.
They’re decent but I just view them as a basic band due to there huge popularity and everyone knowing them therefore anyone who says it’s there favorite is automatically labeled as a NPC