Music You've Outgrown

[mth]

We're not the same people we were as kids or teenagers or even as we were earlier in our adult years. So, obvious as we change/grown, so do our musical tastes. I thought it might be interesting to discuss some of the musical artists we used to really like but we've moved on from and why.

I'll get it rolling:

U2 - A buddy of mine started getting into them late in high school and I followed suit. Like most folks, I was trying to find myself in my college years and was leaning more into my Christianity so the religious overtones in U2's music were appealing to me. Fast forward to the 2010s when I became an atheist and the religious appeal was kaput and I had heard more about Bono being a bit of a douche, so I was over them. I'll admit they've got a few bangers I'd still enjoy (Bullet The Blue Sky and Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me Kill Me come to mind).

Moby - Same friend as above got into him in high school with his Play album so it rubbed off on me. I ended up getting very into him, bought just about every album, etc.. I have to say, the guy has made some absolutely beautiful music. But the man himself got to be too much for me. He's just the worst kind of vegan: obnoxious, preachy, factually inaccurate, he is similarly off-putting in expressing his political opinions (even though we likely line up pretty closely), and the nail in the coffin was when he claimed he dated Natalie Portman who responded that, no, they had not, he was just a weird old guy stalking her. Yeah, ok, fuck off, Moby.

Insane Clown Posse - One of the cool edgy kids in my grade in middle school kind of introduced everyone to them, making mix tapes and passing them out so they became the thing among the cool edgy kids. Of course, I wanted to be cool and edgy so I played the a shit out of that tape and tried to get on board which lasted maybe a year or two. As mentioned above, i was a Christian for most of my life and eventually I had a moral conflict with their lyrical content (ironic considering their whole God message reveal thing) and gave up on them. Now I just think they're goofy and terrible but whatever, no ill will.

Breaking Benjamin - Got into them in college thanks to being featured in a WWE video game. As mentioned, trying to find myself, feeling angsty and misunderstood, so I connected to some music that was more in that vein. I was also in a long distance relationship so there was some emotional strain and yearning that I felt was resonated in their stuff, I suppose. BB were a favorite band of mine throughout college and even into my married years. The fandom died when i picked up a new album of theirs, listened to it a few times and just felt like it was forgettable and same-y and that sparked a realization that I no longer felt the overall emotional connection I used to have, even to their previous stuff. They've got some decent tracks but I just don't vibe with them anymore.

[Donald]

I always thought U2 had a couple of good songs, but majority of it was trash. I actually tried listening to U2 earlier this year and couldn't make it past an album

I've been sitting here trying to think of music I've outgrown, but to be honest I like listening to most things, and the music I listened to in the 90s is still the same music I listen to today, and modern artists that are similar.

But there really is one artist that I used to love that I just can't listen to anymore:

Weird Al Yankovic

I think of most of it as novelty music, and you know his music is mostly geared towards the younger crowd. I mean there are a few tracks I still love and listen to from time to time, like Amish Paradise and It's All About the Benjamins, but a lot of the songs I don't think have aged too well. Also, his more recent parodies are of songs I'm not familiar with. Like, I recall a parody of an Usher song, and a Taylor Swift song. Just don't know the originals, sorry. I have all of his CDs, even the compilations the Food Album and the TV Album. Was always listening to them as a youth. I did watch the Weird Al movie that just came out and loved it though

I started out my musical journey on R&B/pop, like TLC, Boyz II Men, Salt N Pepa, but I wouldn't say I outgrew them, as I'll listen to them if they come on randomly, or if I'm feeling nostalgic.

[Nash Diesel]

I wish I could contribute to this thread but aside from the random radio hit I might've liked when I was 9 years old I really haven't outgrown anything. It seems I just keep adding on. We have a saying in my circle of friends, "I'm not a music nazi" Pretty open minded and what I like never really goes out of style. Like @Donald said about nostalgic feelings, that's how I get with certain artists/groups/bands/etc. Again aside from not really going out and listening to New Edition or MC Hammer these days I can't really say I outgrew anything.

Expand is more like it. I feel like I was fortunate to have older cats in the neighborhood who turned me on to music like Ice-T or LL Cool J when I was 8-9 years old. Most kids were just listening to whatever their parents were playing in the car or at home while I was hanging out with 15 year olds who were into 2 Live Crew, NWA, or the rock stuff like Faith No More and Metallica.

And the other thing is I don't think if you've outgrown a band or music style if you still listen to their music. So if you hated the new Breaking Benjamin but still listen to Diary of Jane on full blast I think it's more that they don't produce banger after banger. You mentioned ICP and I will say that I spent 1996-early 2000 in that "juggalo" world so maybe I outgrew them because I don't go out of my way to listen to ICP like I would've at 17-18 but I could probably say that about a ton of bands/groups. But I'll still throw on Ringmaster or Riddlebox. I'll check out the new stuff but I haven't bought an ICP album in 20+ years I bet.

[Donald]

Only thing I know about ICP is from WWE, and they don't know how magnets work.

[Nash Diesel]

Only thing I know about ICP is from WWE, and they don't know how magnets work.

If it wasn't the 15th time I heard someone say this today when slighting ICP I'd probably laugh. But after 10 years of constantly reading/hearing people connecting that line with everything ICP related, makes me want to draw a bath for my inner Stan.

With that said, ask 10 people on the street, 0/10 know how fuckin magnets work lol

[Donald]

Not slighting ICP. Just one of the few things that I've heard about them. Do I know how magnets work? Opposite poles pushing against each other? I don't know. Oh, I also know they had a Chris Benoit song, and Juggalos, Slim Anus maybe

[Nash Diesel]

Not slighting ICP. Just one of the few things that I've heard about them. Do I know how magnets work? Opposite poles pushing against each other? I don't know. Oh, I also know they had a Chris Benoit song, and Juggalos, Slim Anus maybe

Go listen to that song I think they don't know how a lot of shit works lol.

I don't mean slighting like "Fuck ICP they're idiots!" I guess "poking fun" is a better way to phrase that. It's their "don't you know wrestling's fake!"

[BigAl]

Breaking Benjamin - Got into them in college thanks to being featured in a WWE video game. As mentioned, trying to find myself, feeling angsty and misunderstood, so I connected to some music that was more in that vein. I was also in a long distance relationship so there was some emotional strain and yearning that I felt was resonated in their stuff, I suppose. BB were a favorite band of mine throughout college and even into my married years. The fandom died when i picked up a new album of theirs, listened to it a few times and just felt like it was forgettable and same-y and that sparked a realization that I no longer felt the overall emotional connection I used to have, even to their previous stuff. They've got some decent tracks but I just don't vibe with them anymore.

I loved BB's first few albums. Over the past couple years I think there's been a song or two here or there that I've liked but nothing has really struck me as being great.

Along those same lines, Shinedown and Creed. Loved Creed's first three albums but couldn't listen to their fourth when they got back together. Shinedown, loved their first three but since then I just can't listen to them. I really liked their first album, got me through a particularly rough time in my life. I loved their angry-angsty lyrics and still do, but now they're just slightly harder dad rock.

[Nash Diesel]

Now are we talking about artists that we stopped liking their music because it started to suck? Or are we talking about artists that we loved Human Clay but now we're like, how the hell did I love that shit??

[mth]

Sure, all of that is on the table.

[Nash Diesel]

There's definitely bands/artists out there that wore out their welcome with my ears over time. I guess I was coming from a place of "Who did I listen to that I look back on going wow what was I thinking?" lol That list is very small and mostly filled with pop/rap hits of the late 80's early 90's in my childhood.

Definitely artists that I was really into that as time went on I bought less of their stuff because it wasn't that good. Mystikal for example. Great albums at the start, once he started making money it became really lazy. But I still listen to his first 2 albums religiously.

[NeseToTheFace]

For me it's Eminem. I can't really even listen to his earlier stuff any more. It was probably a good idea at the time but now it feels like it's geared towards the me twenty years ago.

[BigAl]

Definitely artists that I was really into that as time went on I bought less of their stuff because it wasn't that good. Mystikal for example. Great albums at the start, once he started making money it became really lazy. But I still listen to his first 2 albums religiously.

This is what I was just saying to someone the other day. I love a lot of rock band's first couple albums because they were angry and depressed and I dig that kind of music/lyrics. Then they get popular, get rich, start getting happier and suddenly their music changes and it's just not as good. Shinedown and Trapt are definitely like that for me. Crossfade as well, and Staind.

[BigAl]

I know the music I like has definitely mellowed out as I'm getting older too. Over the past couple years I've gotten really into "soft" bands like The Killers and Bleachers. Big fan of Bleachers.

And there are so many bands/songs/albums that I love but I find it hard to listen to them due to whatever emotional memories I have attached to them. Can't be getting depressed listening to Seether before I go home after work.

[Nash Diesel]

This is what I was just saying to someone the other day. I love a lot of rock band's first couple albums because they were angry and depressed and I dig that kind of music/lyrics. Then they get popular, get rich, start getting happier and suddenly their music changes and it's just not as good. Shinedown and Trapt are definitely like that for me. Crossfade as well, and Staind.

Shout out to the Crossfade reference. I will say this, their 2nd album was pretty lackluster but the last album We All Bleed was fire. Heavier and a lot better production.

Man once Aaron Lewis and Fred Durst sat on the stage and did "Outside" that was a wrap for Staind lol. Don't get me wrong, I think Break The Cycle is a great album but after that record it was very much "How can we recreate So Far Away and Outside?" And then Lewis just went off the deep end. He got sucked into that era of bands/artists from the rock world who saw the writing on the wall and tried to go country. Country is the new rock, they took back their spot after 80 years playing 2nd fiddle to the rock genre lol.

For example, my least favorite Foo Fighters album is Echo Silence because when they wrote it, they were also writing a country album. They decided to not do another double album like In Your Honor, so they mashed everything into one. Cuz they knew that when you had fuckin Def Leppard and Taylor Swift doing a CMT showcase together, rock as we know it was 4th-5th down the list of popular genres.

[Donald]

It's been a while since I've listened to Staind.

[Melly]

All of the Christian tunes:
Dc Talk, Rebecca St. James, Plumb, Newsboys

Michael Jackson because,well, ya know.

[Nash Diesel]

All of the Christian tunes:
Dc Talk, Rebecca St. James, Plumb, Newsboys

Michael Jackson because,well, ya know.

?

[Donald]

We live in a world were accusations means guilt.

[Melly]

I won't get into it with ya.

[3puppies]

I have outgrown liturgical folk music.

[BigAl]

Shout out to the Crossfade reference. I will say this, their 2nd album was pretty lackluster but the last album We All Bleed was fire. Heavier and a lot better production.

Man once Aaron Lewis and Fred Durst sat on the stage and did "Outside" that was a wrap for Staind lol. Don't get me wrong, I think Break The Cycle is a great album but after that record it was very much "How can we recreate So Far Away and Outside?" And then Lewis just went off the deep end. He got sucked into that era of bands/artists from the rock world who saw the writing on the wall and tried to go country. Country is the new rock, they took back their spot after 80 years playing 2nd fiddle to the rock genre lol.

For example, my least favorite Foo Fighters album is Echo Silence because when they wrote it, they were also writing a country album. They decided to not do another double album like In Your Honor, so they mashed everything into one. Cuz they knew that when you had fuckin Def Leppard and Taylor Swift doing a CMT showcase together, rock as we know it was 4th-5th down the list of popular genres.

Like 10 or 12 years ago I was driving home from work and I saw a little spot at the end of my street that I had no clue was there. They had a sign out from that said "Crossfade Friday Night, $15" or something like that. Ended up walking there with a couple friends and saw them in a one room standing room only theater. It was pretty cool.

I didn't mind the Aaron Lewis/Fred Durst team up when it happened because I was in high school and thought it was cool, haha. Now, not so much. I don't remember the last Staind album I liked but it was a long time ago, that's for sure. Even then chances are it was mostly the deeper album cuts I liked.

[Nash Diesel]

Like 10 or 12 years ago I was driving home from work and I saw a little spot at the end of my street that I had no clue was there. They had a sign out from that said "Crossfade Friday Night, $15" or something like that. Ended up walking there with a couple friends and saw them in a one room standing room only theater. It was pretty cool.

I didn't mind the Aaron Lewis/Fred Durst team up when it happened because I was in high school and thought it was cool, haha. Now, not so much. I don't remember the last Staind album I liked but it was a long time ago, that's for sure. Even then chances are it was mostly the deeper album cuts I liked.

I liked that acoustic performance as well. I just think that from that point on Lewis was trying to incorporate those type of songs and it killed a lot of what I liked about their sound. They do have an underrated Unplugged performance, again a spawn of the Family Values performance with Durst as they only had the 1 album out at the time BUT still very good. A weird time for rock. This was really where I kind of stopped going out of my way to listen to rock music and anything new whether that was established or new bands in general.

I know the artists get fucked but Spotify has allowed me to kind of go back over the last 15 years or more and catch up lol. Plus my kids are old enough to where they're not only listening to my shit but turning me on to the newer stuff and/or rappers, bands I never really got into over the years.

[BigAl]

I liked that acoustic performance as well. I just think that from that point on Lewis was trying to incorporate those type of songs and it killed a lot of what I liked about their sound. They do have an underrated Unplugged performance, again a spawn of the Family Values performance with Durst as they only had the 1 album out at the time BUT still very good. A weird time for rock. This was really where I kind of stopped going out of my way to listen to rock music and anything new whether that was established or new bands in general.

I know the artists get fucked but Spotify has allowed me to kind of go back over the last 15 years or more and catch up lol. Plus my kids are old enough to where they're not only listening to my shit but turning me on to the newer stuff and/or rappers, bands I never really got into over the years.

I saw a couple Aaron Lewis shows where he just kind of fucked around with an acoustic guitar and would tell stories as he played songs. Did lots of covers which was cool. For his encore he'd unplug his mic and just sing without any guitar or anything. That was really cool.

I like when my niece asks me about bands I listened to because she wants to know about 80s and 90s music, mostly rock and rap, but then she calls it classic rock or classic rap and it kills me haha.

[Nash Diesel]

I saw a couple Aaron Lewis shows where he just kind of fucked around with an acoustic guitar and would tell stories as he played songs. Did lots of covers which was cool. For his encore he'd unplug his mic and just sing without any guitar or anything. That was really cool.

I like when my niece asks me about bands I listened to because she wants to know about 80s and 90s music, mostly rock and rap, but then she calls it classic rock or classic rap and it kills me haha.

I dug quite a few of those acoustic performances until he went off the deep end and turned into a tool. Once he started going the Kid Rock route I bailed.

My older kids (17-21) have always kind of been exposed to my music and the rappers/bands/singers that I'm into and grew up on. My oldest daughter though is definitely one of those kids who wish they grew up in our time haha. The movies, the music, the clothes, she's all about it. She's the perfect audience for that show Stranger Things lol

Look man when you turn on the classic rap station and it's fuckin Triump by Wu Tang I'm just like come on now lol. It's funny when I was growin up I thought like classic rock was just that Ted Nugent Lynyrd Skynyrd sound because you'd have say a new Ted Nugent song or new Motley Crue in like 1991 and the classic rock station is playing it. They weren't playin Little Richard, Elvis, the Beatles, it was music mainly from the 70's and 80's. Now you turn on classic rock radio and I haven't heard anything past the Seattle grunge era. No Staind or Korn just yet lol. So I'd def classify music 30+ years ago "classic" but it doesn't make me happy.

[Fro]

As some others have mentioned, I don't think I've "outgrown" any music other than childish stuff like Weird Al. I do however think some has aged badly and as more and more years pass, only the best stuff from past decades continues to get played. I used to love Puff Daddy and Ma$e, and those are artists that I don't listen to much at all now, but I'd say it's because the quality wasn't high enough to stand the test of time as opposed to me outgrowing it. But I suppose that's somewhat of a semantics distinction. With all of that 90s/early-2000s hip hop I used to love, I still love a lot of it, but the songs I keep in my iTunes library have been dwindled down to just the classics.

Now maybe my taste wasn't mature enough to recognize at the time that Puffy and Ma$e weren't making great music, but I don't think that's the case. They were making "hip pop", which I don't think is a real term but I'm using it anyway, and I think they made it pretty damn well. I still like pop music, whether that's hip hop/R&B styled or pop in general. Some pop music stands the test of time, and some doesn't. I think of "Call Me Maybe" as a really great pop song that probably won't stand the test of time, but I haven't outgrown enjoying a catchy song like that. Or Drake, or whoever.

Also it's not like all Puffy songs aged badly. Victory still bumps.

[Donald]

I listened to Come With My by Puff Daddy the other day, from the Godzilla soundtrack, for the first time since the early 2000s and it's just as good as I remembered

[Nash Diesel]

Some music just gets replaced. You can't consistently listen to 500 different rappers, bands, singers, etc.

[Fro]

Some music just gets replaced. You can't consistently listen to 500 different rappers, bands, singers, etc.

True. Unless you're someone who really chooses not to listen to new stuff (and certainly a lot of older people reach this point eventually), then then there will always be new music to listen to. Therefore your annual allotment of music listening can only be occupied by so much old stuff (not to mention the ability to go back and discover old stuff you never heard before). But the classics will be in your rotation forever, even if you only cycle back to them once every 5 years or 10 years. Same with movies and TV shows. Sometimes I think about my cycle of The Sopranos. It's my favorite show and I'll always watch it, but I'm not sure if my re-watch cycle will stay at about once-every-5-years forever (which is about what I do now), or gradually increase to a longer cycle. All art has diminishing returns IMO. Even the best album or movie or show, if you consume it repeatedly you'll get sick of it. But after a time you'll go back to it. At least that's the case with me - I know other people who don't like to re-watch movies and shows like that. And maybe they don't circle back to old albums/songs either.

[Donald]

Looking at my last.fm, there are 20 or so artists that I listen to consistently. Everything else is from me just saying to myself "man I haven't heard this artist in a while"

Don't tend to listen to new stuff, unless it's a new album from a band or artist I already like.

[BigAl]

Maybe a better question isn't so much what have you outgrown but what kind of music have you grown into? How have your musical tastes changed since you were a teen, in your 20s, 30s, etc?

[Nash Diesel]

My musical tastes have grown just like my food palate has grown. When you're younger you don't really know any better. What's popular, what are your parents/siblings listening to, etc. As we get older, and if you aren't just a whatever's mainstream type music fan, I think that definitely should expand. Don't just listen to what everyone else is or what your older cousin listens to, find your own playlist so to speak. I love reading about artists who were like "Growing up we listen to a lot of Motown and then when I got older I branched off into Rakim, Kool G Rap because they were sampling those old songs that I liked" or something to that affect.

I won't front, growing up as a youth in the late 80's there were groups like New Edition, New Kids on the Block, some other shit that was hot when I was 6-7 years old that I thought was awesome. I had posters of Bobby Brown, New Kids, MC Hammer, a few others that you have to start out with "Back when I was in 1st grade we were into this!" And I'm not saying I don't go back and listen to some of them joints lol.

[Donald]

Can you imagine how different things would be if you didn't catch that video on TV by an artist, or heard a particular song on the radio, those moments that sparked your fandom of an artist? Like man, if I had never watched that show 12 Angry Viewers on MTV in 1997, I'd have never, ever seen the music video for Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy, from which I became a massive fan, buying up all the albums, singles, compilations, etc. I could. Just wild to me.

[Nash Diesel]

Can you imagine how different things would be if you didn't catch that video on TV by an artist, or heard a particular song on the radio, those moments that sparked your fandom of an artist? Like man, if I had never watched that show 12 Angry Viewers on MTV in 1997, I'd have never, ever seen the music video for Aphex Twin - Come To Daddy, from which I became a massive fan, buying up all the albums, singles, compilations, etc. I could. Just wild to me.

Yep. I think about that when I listen to bands like Deftones who I had first heard on The Box with their single "Bored". Or seeing Eyedea win Blaze Battle on HBO.

[Badger]

I’m one of those guys that don’t really outgrow things like music, I just store it in my memories as being a nostalgic guy, may want to listen to it whenever I’m in the hood. Kinda like when I got into wrestling where most of my social circle who watched it have moved on but I guess I like to retain the memory as still watch it to this day.

Guess I’m a hoarder. Also could be because I think a lot of current music does suck.

[virms]

Most of the stuff I listened to as a kid I still listen to. Maybe not every day but I still listen to it with the exception of kids incorporated but tbf I never really liked them. My dad was just a cheap bastard and knew they covered some of my favorite songs so it was easier buying it than separate albums of the music I actually wanted.

[Romford Pele]

On U2, I think the first 20 years they were excellent. Had they stopped in about 2000, I think they would have a much better reputation.

For me, it is Oasis. In the 90s in particular they were enormous, probably the most popular band in the UK. Then, like U2, they started producing worse and worse albums. When I went to see them in 2005 I realised it was actually quite formulaic.

[Donald]

I think Oasis had a couple of great albums, then a slew of mediocrity, and finished it up with 2 really good albums.

[virms]

I still like oasis but I'm mainly all about Noel. As far as rock music goes he is definitely one of the better songwriters of the last 30 years.

[Donald]

I get laughed at when I say I like Standing on the Shoulders of Giants so what do I know.

[virms]

I get laughed at when I say I like Standing on the Shoulders of Giants so what do I know.

It was definitely a departure from their normal sound but I liked the album overall. With the change in sound and losing founding members thats usually the recipe for a shit album or people just shitting on it "cause how dare they change." The majority of the songs are good on it. I particularly like it because of the time and creative freedom Noel had on it not to mention he played pretty much all the instruments on it minus the drums, some keyboards and a few guitar parts.

[Romford Pele]

I'd argue that Definitely Maybe is their best album. Just raw rock music at it best.

[Nash Diesel]

There's a lot of music I listened to as a kid/teen that I found a new appreciation for as I got older. I remember not being really into Wu Tang Clan. I liked GZA, Method Man, but the group itself I didn't latch on to until my early 20's.