Music snobbery

I have a confession:

I am a music snob.

It’s true.  I love music and I have opinions about it.  I’m a fan.  And a critic.  I don’t make music, I don’t play any instruments, I don’t write songs–but I know what I like.  Even though sometimes I can’t really tell you why I like it.

And I certainly know what I don’t like.

There are songs and bands I don’t like, but yet cannot properly explain why I don’t like them (like Bon Jovi.  I hate Bon Jovi and I have no real reason as to why I don’t like their music.)  There are groups that I dislike so much that I have to immediately reach for the tuner on the car radio upon hearing one or two notes of a song.

There are bands/songs/artists that I associate with periods of my life or people from my life.

However, I am not the kind of music snob that only listens to bands that no one else has heard of (this shirt from Threadless makes me laugh.)  And though I may not like the music you like, I do try to respectfully agree to disagree.  Seriously, I try.  I am just not always good at it.

Since I just mentioned it, how ’bout I tell you about what will immediately make me turn the radio dial?

Bands/Artists/Groups that I’d rather not listen to (in no particular order):

Avril Lavigne , Billy Joel, anything pop-country (like Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, Shania Twain,) well, really 95% of country period (I really only like old school country western like Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Pasty Cline and the like,) anything Christian (sorry Jesus,) Katy Perry (I don’t get her appeal whatsoever,) America, The Carpenters, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Pink Floyd (sorry, it’s true,) Kiss, Poison and a variety of other “hair bands,” crummy modern rock like Buck Cherry, Nickelback, Limp Bizkit, Puddle of Mud–or what have you, Britney Spears and other varieties of “pop tarts”, Smashing Pumpkins (only because of Bill Corgan’s voice,) any music that is unnecessarily noisy and/or angry, rap that is just about sex/drugs/getting drunk/etc and has no real beat or “music” to speak of, new U2 (I like old U2 just fine.  After that “Vertigo” song came out, I was done.)  And MANY more…

I could go on and on, really.  As you can see, I am sort of an equal opportunity music hater–kind of all over the place.

How ’bout you?  What music makes your skin crawl or your ears bleed?