Music You Should Love, But Don't

by Bob Boilen

Think about the music you love. Do you find yourself attracted to, say, a distorted guitar and female singers? Concept records or CDs with psychedelic covers? World-music collaborations or homemade recordings by Midwestern singer-songwriters? It happens often, where I'll see a record that's totally up my alley. A good bunch of the time, I'll love it. But then there are times when I don't.

It happened for me with the new Green Day record. The band hits a lot of my soft spots: For one, it's changed since its early days, and I like that in a band. It has a sound you can immediately identify; I like that, too. It has a good drummer, and that's key for me. The new record is a concept record in three parts -- an epic of sorts -- and that always gets me listening. But I don't like this band much. I think it's the singer that turns me off.

This has happened to me in the past, with bands like R.E.M. and U2. So what are some of the bands you should love, but don't? Can you think of an act that has all the talent in the world, but you can't get into it?

10:56 AM ET | 05-26-2009 | permalink

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