AWKWARD ZOMBIE

I'm not saying it's that drastic certainly, but that genre isn't just opinion

Of course it's not just opinion, but I'm willing to bet that most people wouldn't be able to seriously know the difference between "Imagine Dragons" and... I don't know, whatever you would consider to be a proper indie rock band. When it's at that point, it IS a matter of opinion.

Okay yeah, I'll agree with that

I dunno, it's not because non-physicists can't tell the difference between types of quarks that it's a matter of opinion. As long as the differences between genres can be properly defined, it can be determined in a fairly objective manner.

We're not talking about theoretical physics, we're talking about music. It's a form of art, and as such it is open to a certain degree of interpretation. What I'm saying is that there isn't any clear difference for genres, other than, say, separating broad umbrella genres like metal or country or jazz. Large genres can be clearly separated, but subgenres are trickier because they tend to be developed out of, or in response to, each other. There's much more room for interpretation at that level because bands often incorporate themes, sounds, or whatever they like from similar subgenres when developing their own unique voice. That, and also the fact that many bands don't like being labelled with genres anyway precisely to avoid this kind of confusion.

Yes, at which point the differences can't be clearly defined any more. My point was that some people not being able to tell the difference doesn't mean there isn't any, at long as there are people that still clearly can.

I'm awful with genres, so maybe I have no idea what I'm talking about. But I honestly think alternative rock and indie rock have become pretty wide labels these days, and most people I know of have stopped using "indie" to describe actual independently labeled musicians and have started using it to describe "indie-sounding" music.

But yeah I would throw the words "indie-sounding" "pop" and "rock" at Imagine Dragons without really knowing what I'm talking about. And the local "alternative" station plays them all the time, complicating matters a bit.

In other news, I just bought Florence and the Machine's newer album, I wasn't NEEDING to get it, but it was pretty cheap on Amazon and most of the songs are pretty good.
Whoops and then I also bought Ratatat's Classics

I could go on for an hour about all the various metal subgenres but when we start talking about any other genre I'm pretty daisies lost, besides for some electronic stuff. Start talking to me about indie rock and alt rock and post rock and I'm like ???

The one genre outside of metal I thought I'd always be able to identify was ska. Not because I like, but just because it's got such a unique sound that it is very difficult to misappropriate. But apparently I insulted some ska enthusiasts at college one time for asking if they liked Sublime. Fuck me, what the fuck do I know anyway.

I like Ska. My favorite kind of ska is where it's upbeat and has bugles in it. The song The Impression That I Get is a good example. Those kinds of songs always make me feel optimistic/pop flyin' for some reason.

fuck I can't think of a genre of music I generally DISLIKE, unless it's like some fourth-dimension shit



or country

i lik al the musiks cept country an rap

Now interrupting debate to show off a sample of what I'm composing right now.

https://soundcloud.com/xemnaught/vaun-battle-sample

Mainstream Metalcore: Could Be Worse.