Friends/Family You've Converted/Gotten Hooked

[Scribble R]

Originally Posted by merman

W/E. This "vocals" thing is pretty irritating, like when people say Bjork or indeed SR have irritating or grating vocals and they refuse to listen to the music on that sole ground. Honestly, I think all these divas that supposedly have gr8 voices, take for example Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion or Whitney Houston (ever since I've seen the wonderful Debra Wilson spoofing her, I can't mention Whitney and resist laughing) - when in fact their greatness only means they hit high notes and have BIG voices, not interesting voices. Not to mention their cookie-cutter songs, and there you have a boring result.
I'll take any shrill voice over that if the music has SOUL.
/rant

Exactly. It IS pretty irritating, because having a 'technically' or 'traditionally' good voice doesn't mean anything, if you're singing bullshit. Some of those reality shows piss me off the way people start rallying and weeping behind anyone who's able to belt it out like Whitney Houston or Celine Dion or whoever. Like that woman on Britain's Got Talent. I thought the response to her was a TOTAL overreaction, people saying things like "it sent shivers down my spine" and it was "breathtaking" just because she belted it out. Having a good voice is only PART of the recipe.

I want more reality tv shows that focus on singer songwriters. There are a few over here

I'd take Shiina Ringo's voice over Celine Dion's anyday, even if the latter may be a 'better' singer. Of course, you can get voices that sound great AND have character, like Mike Patton's <3

[LoverlyBijouu]

my sister listens to one or two songs like Poltergeist.
other than that, I don't share my Shiina

[Osiris12345]

Originally Posted by Scribble R

Exactly. It IS pretty irritating, because having a 'technically' or 'traditionally' good voice doesn't mean anything, if you're singing bullshit. Some of those reality shows piss me off the way people start rallying and weeping behind anyone who's able to belt it out like Whitney Houston or Celine Dion or whoever. Like that woman on Britain's Got Talent. I thought the response to her was a TOTAL overreaction, people saying things like "it sent shivers down my spine" and it was "breathtaking" just because she belted it out. Having a good voice is only PART of the recipe.

I want more reality tv shows that focus on singer songwriters. There are a few over here

I'd take Shiina Ringo's voice over Celine Dion's anyday, even if the latter may be a 'better' singer. Of course, you can get voices that sound great AND have character, like Mike Patton's <3

Mike Patton ftmfw. That guy just oozes awesome. All of his bands kick my ass.

Anyway, I agree with what you say to a certain extent but I do have a really high level of appreciation for singers like Christina Aguilera, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and Aretha Franklin. They sing these ridiculously hard songs to tackle and they have mad talent. Their vocal range is phenomenal. There is the fact that they don't write most of their songs and the actual quality of the songs is up for debate. But I wouldn't just brush off what they can do. I can guarantee you that Shiina Ringo couldn't sing half of their songs. And that says something. They're just two completely different styles of music. I appreciate them both for what they are. My personal preference is Ringo but if somebody told me that Whitney was a better singer than Ringo, I wouldn't try to argue with them.

Now are ANY of them better songwriters? Hell no x 100. It's still hard to believe that a girl under the age of 20 wrote Kabukichou no Joou and Marunouchi Sadistic. Those melodies are just brilliant.

[Scribble R]

Yeah, actually, I agree with everything that you said. It's just that it's annoying when people think that good vocals = good music. But yes, having a good voice is a talent in itself.

[s3r3nity]

Not too much of a success story, considering she's a J-music aficionado already, but I managed to convert my sister into liking TJ and SR. Not to the extent I do (she's too caught up in Sugizo, Yoshiki, and Gackt ) but she has La salle de bain on her iPod, and she'll occasionaly come into my room and ask to listen to some Shiina. She's 14.
I tried to get my boyfriend to like it while turning on KZK while he was over, but he mumbled something about me and my anime music (D<) and put on Killswitch Engage instead. hmph.

[merman]

LOL, like KZK is bubbly j-pop. Poor you.

[Ringo~Bingo]

I've maybe not got anyone really into Ringo but I have gotten them to stop treating it like it's comedy music solely for being Japanese. Right now I'm kinda blaring Tadashii machi and nobody really cares anymore, it's just like I'm blaring Oasis or Beatles etc so at least having it thought of as normal music is enough for me at the moment.

(I'll still work on getting them into her though)

[MBF]

well I got one friend of mine hooked (36 yo woman)... thanks to Heisei Fuuzoku.
Ah right and my little brother (7yo) likes her as well =D.

all my other friends and relatives that have heard her can't stand her voice... exception for some songs, though:

Put your camera down
Hatsukoi Shoujou
Karada
Shiseikatsu (?!)
Gamble

[so_cold]

Voice, schmoice... I'll have you know that my friend said her voice was really pretty (after watching the Kabukichou PV) . Maybe if the voice is a problem you could follow up with one of the Tomosaka Rie tracks SR wrote or play the long game with Utada (if Utada fans become SR fans).

I seem to be able to find people who think she's a genius, diverse, amazing, beautiful and talented, but noone who's a fan yet. Oh well.

[Osiris12345]

I guess it's the logic where someone sees a painting that they think is amazingly beautiful but wouldn't put it in their living room.