What song are you listening to?

[mvp 78]

Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind

[Emmz]

Oh man, the cover of the Rollin' Stone. That's so substantial.

Nevermind received airplay because it was relevant to teens, the follow-up album was not aimed in that direction because Kurt wanted to avoid becoming mainstream. He hated Nevermind, and everything but the songwriting and musicianship was the production crew's doing. It doesn't indicate mainstream popularity when other artists were significantly more successful than one top 10 hit in 4 studio albums.

[Emmz]

Sounding poppy does equal mainstream. Mainstream isn't completely about how many records are sold or any billboard charts. It is about sound too. The last 2 Black Keys albums were produced with the intent of being mainstream. There is no way around that. The instrumentation and production is done with the intent to be mainstream. They have won 3 grammys and been nominated for like 10 of them. They did a goddamn arena tour and sold out madison square garden in 15 minutes. If that isn't mainstream then nothing is. Nickelback has sold 50 million albums, sure, but that's over a longer career of putting out the same type of shit over and over. If Black Keys were putting out the same type of popular material they have been since 2010 since they formed that number would be different, but they didn't, they made straight up blues rock for the majority of their career, something that isn't mainstream at all in this country.


also, there is this article i found: http://theblackkeysfanlounge.com/201...instream-band/

One hot 100 hit, only 2 million in sales through 7 studio albums, doesn't sound mainstream at all. And if you achieved mainstream success, you have the airplay and sales figures to back it up. Mainstream as a sound is insignificant to what's being debated, and if it's the case then everything said here is a moot point. They FOR SURE sound mainstream, but they haven't achieved the successes that even some other indie artists like Adele, Foster The People and Fun have. Those are just the ones with indie backgrounds like The Keys.

[Emmz]

Anyways, I'm bored by this argument.

Odelay by Beck.

[onlybereaved]

Right, I must be ignorant then. The Black Keys aren't mainstream, my bad.

[Emmz]

Right, I must be ignorant then. The Black Keys aren't mainstream, my bad.

Glad to see you're finally coming to your senses.

[onlybereaved]

lol!

Honestly Emmz, you are clearly a bright girl, and also know your music. But in my opinion, of the zillion bands in the world, if the band in question is played on the radio on a regular basis, and known by the vast majority of people who listen to music and are somewhat up to date on current popular bands, they are without argument considered mainstream. Period.

We could get into bands who no-one has heard of / no-one will ever hear of that have a 'mainstream sound' - that's a different story. The discussion in question is specifically related to how well-known the band is by the vast majority of people who listen to music in mainstream mediums (ie. radio, MTV, etc).

The Black Keys, again, most certainly qualify as mainstream - all day long. You're just kidding yourself if you insist on suggesting otherwise.

Let's make a new poll titled "Do you consider The Black Keys "mainstream" lol. Can't win'em all, Emmz.

[mvp 78]

Tombs - Path of Totality

[onlybereaved]

Dag Nasty - Can I Say
Municipal Waste - Wastem' All
Palehorse - Demo
Bloody Sunday - They Attack At Dawn
Turning Point - Discography 2x12"
Judge - Discography 2x12"

[mvp 78]

Dave Smalley and Zoli Teglas are probably my favorite hardcore vocalists... Can I Say is so fucking classic, I could listen to that record every day for the rest of my life and not get bored with it.

[onlybereaved]

Right?

Amen.

[onlybereaved]

Bouncing Souls - Maniacle Laughter

[onlybereaved]

Billy Club Sandwhich - Slow With Your Hands
Billy Club Sandwhich - Suckerpunched
Power Trip - March To An Evil Beat
25 Ta Life - Hardcore Rules

[Emmz]

lol!

Honestly Emmz, you are clearly a bright girl, and also know your music. But in my opinion, of the zillion bands in the world, if the band in question is played on the radio on a regular basis, and known by the vast majority of people who listen to music and are somewhat up to date on current popular bands, they are without argument considered mainstream. Period.

We could get into bands who no-one has heard of / no-one will ever hear of that have a 'mainstream sound' - that's a different story. The discussion in question is specifically related to how well-known the band is by the vast majority of people who listen to music in mainstream mediums (ie. radio, MTV, etc).

The Black Keys, again, most certainly qualify as mainstream - all day long. You're just kidding yourself if you insist on suggesting otherwise.

Let's make a new poll titled "Do you consider The Black Keys "mainstream" lol. Can't win'em all, Emmz.

Oh yah, perception is reality ya know.

[Emmz]

Off work, feeling aggressive because my feet kill, so fuck it I'll take the bait, and I won't let you blatantly twist reality. The vast majority of people are fucking morons who couldn't tell their head from their ass, much less know what good music is. Those people listen to the stations that play a rotation of 10-20 songs over and over again. Sales figures don't lie. The assumption that everyone else's friends all have decent taste in music, and that every fucking Wal-Mart has Black Keys songs on the PA? That's just a really weak argument. You can't win em all, but until you actually make a few points that can be validated, you're down big on the scoreboard in this one. Even facing 2 guys who have essentially been wanking eachother off instead of making points, I can say with full confidence that I'm correct, and I don't seek validation through others' opinions. If you can't make an argument for yourself, and you need a poll, then you shouldn't be debating in the first place brah.

Shit at least BPEF did some research to point out there they're trending toward the mainstream. Oh wait, I already posted that a full page before, nvm.

Lol, so we have these points for you guys:

1. MLB the Show has Keys music

Why this is bullshit: Baseball games have ALWAYS had indie rock music. Even with MVP baseball, it was The Hives, The Bravery, Hot Hot Heat, etc. the first Keys song on the show was 10 AM Automatic, most definitely mainstream right? LOL

2. Their music plays at Wal Mart.

Why it's bullshit: more holes in this argument than swiss cheese, but more than anything, it just bears no significance. I heard a really nice cover of "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by some Hawaiian dude I'd never heard of, does that make him a mainstream success? Fuck no.

3. Mainstream sound=Mainstream

Why it's bullshit: Tame Impala, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Animal Collective, dude there's hundreds of poppy bands that never hit mainstream success. Also, you can actually quantify mainstream success, you cannot with sound. I could sit here all day and deny that something sounds mainstream because it's completely subjective. Mainstream success is easily found through chart positions and how easy it is to hear your music on the radio.

4. They've done well on the album charts

Why this is bullshit: this one's actually true, they've released two straight top 2 billboard albums since moving to a major label. However, they still haven't moved nearly as many units as the major players on the charts. 2 million in sales is not that good for a band that's been around for a decade, and let's just assume 70% of those sales are from their last two"mainstream" albums. Still not even close to being up there with the Gagas, the Nickelbacks, the Biebers or the Adeles of the top 40. The Black Keys might be on pop stations soon, but they aren't right now. When they do, they'll truly be a mainstream success. And I bet they'll still sound fantastic.