Is it a matter of taste or is some music just bad and some people's taste is bad?

Question

I argue there is some music that is just plain good, and you lack taste if you don't like it. They, there's some that is so bad you probably lack taste if you like it.

Call it the classics. What do you think? Is musical taste 100% relative?

If you think it's not completely relative, what would be an example of an album you think everyone should like?

For my money, if you like rock, "Who's Next" is the greatest rock album ever and you lack taste if you don't like it at all.

Ape, Ape. Dylan would be on my list of artists that, if one categorically did not like his stuff, I would think their ears were defective. I think musical taste is not absolutely relative. But, of course, people are free to like and dislike as they please. My personal example is Wagner. I hate Wagner because I hear a bombastic sort of character in it that I detest. But, I have to admit some of it is exhilirating, and he was an innovator in his own way.

Answer 1

I agree with what Reba McEntire once said "There's only really 2 types of music in the world. It's either good or bad"
I'm both a rock and country fan. Mostly country though. Majority of the rock that I listen too is from the 80's like Madonna, Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi and etc. So I'd say best rock album would come out of the 80's like something like AC/DC'S Back in Black and Bon Jovi's Slippery When Wet.
Take Care,

Answer 2

This is a great question!

Obviously there are some albums/songs which are widely believed to be great and it seems crazy to hear that some people don't like it at all. I do however still think that it is a matter of taste. While Who's Next is a great album (definately in my top ten) I don't know if I would say it is my personal pick for best album of all time. I don't know if it is 100% relative because, as you said, some works are widely believed to be awesome, surely too great a coincidence to be relative?

Answer 3

The question I have to ask is who gets to define the good? No one has the right to define "good taste" for everyone else.

It's not 100% relative, but there is also no universal criteria on which we can judge music. The problem is that everyone looks for different things in their music. Myself, I look for things like lyrics, songcraft and distinctiveness, but I would not fool myself into thinking that everyone should feel the same way and if they don't that there is something wrong with them.

Bob Dylan is a good example. I love Dylan and I bet you do to, but does the fact that many people think Dylan is good necessarily make him good? If someone has different musical values Dylan could be painful to listen to. His voice is the obvious example; if we value technically good singing than Dylan would not be "good". Furthermore, his song structure is often repetitive; he can commonly go verse after verse after verse and nothing changes much and he has often used the same general structure over and over in different songs (he admits as much in his autobiography). One could rightfully find it tedious and repetitive. Not to mention that there is a certain part of Dylan who is one of the great thieves in all of music. As such we cannot say that even Dylan is universally good.

I am left to conclude that musical taste is mostly relative. I think you and I share certain conceptions of the good in music, but I personally consider it arrogant to think that if other people disagree with my view that they are definitely wrong. Indeed, there are fans of jazz and classical music that think rock and pop belong to a lower order of music all together; From this view I must, therefore, have bad taste because I do not usually listen to either.

On an aside, Who's Next has a special place in my heart as my first "serious" album. Before I heard that album (when I was around 17) I never listened to music because the music I heard on the radio or TV did nothing for me. The synthesizers were like nothing I had been exposed to before and there was something about the guitar at the beginning of Baba O'Reilly, I suppose, that hooked me. I must have great taste.

Answer 4

Taste is relative to a person's surroundings. Believe it or not, your parents have more to do with your musical tastes than you would ever admit in public.

Answer 5

it REALLY depends on the person's preference.

Does someone who likes coke over pepsi lack taste?

no.

It depends on the individual.

Answer 6

i think it depends on the person, their age, and what the people their age are listening. for instance, when i was little i liked the beetles, now i like fergie, pussycat dolls, cascada, etc, and ater i will proably like the things my mom likes now.