What makes good music good music?

[FaultySanity]

In your own words, what do you think makes good music good music?

Since all i listen to is classic rock - heres what i think:

Good rock music isnt all about solos and riffs, good rock music has to get you thinking. It doesnt matter about what - politics, life, or food - just has to make you think. For the unforunate people that havent had this i highly reccomend a song called 'Fortunate Son' by CCR (credence clearwater revival). This is the first song that really made me think. Its a war protest song made in 1969 against the vietnam war. This song demonstrats great vocals and guitar fills...again take a listen, its worth it.

So what do you guys think makes a song good?

 

[Absinthe]

Well, with most of the music I listen to, an emotional reaction on my part will generally require a melody of some kind. Somewhat sad and somewhat understated. No grand rapturing instruments for me. Something that I could just sit in my room with and listen to. I think that one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard is "Alberto Basalm" by Aphex Twin. It's got a very chilled beat and just focuses on the melody. It's one of those songs that, by it's peak, can nearly bring me to tears, and yet leave me with a smile on my face when it's all over.

Other times, I'll say "screw it" to melody and just go for something fast and constantly alternating. Good energizers, IMO. And they can absolutely fascinate me for hours.

 

[Direwolf]

Theres no one direct ingredient in music that makes it good. There's no single riff, beat, or lyric out there that is "perfect."
What matters is the amount of soul that the artist is able to put into their music. The more easily they can translate their thoughts and feelings into musical notes the more clearly the audience will understand them, and the more they'll want to hear.
Look at Dylan. The guy used simple melodies and vocals, and his voice was almost never on-key. But he's considered one of the greatest artists ever because of the sheer amount of feeling he put into his work. Anyone who can send emotion like that to their listeners will gather a following.

 

[Goatman88]

The Beatles are one of my fave bands. I love John Lennon's "Imagine" because it was the 1st song that really changed my life and made me think how great it would be if the world was really like that. Most modern songs are about money, girls, etc. and have no real emotional meaning at all.

 

[KagePrototype]

It's like asking what makes a good game a good game, or what makes a good movie a good movie. To explain something that's entirely subjective is quite a task.

 

[sabre0001]

So what do you guys think makes a song good?

This is just asking for trouble...Look at how many people say 'well x sucks' or 'y is better than any other band'...Its all preference. If people knew what made songs great, they would appeal to ALL markets and would already be rich!!!

 

[Garfield_]

good music makes me feel strong and great =)

 

[Darkknighttt]

good songs have to have the right amount of special parts to the song repeated like 3 times, and they have to sound good to.....

 

[DeVry Student]

I agree with the statement about emotion. One of the ways to look at this would be to judge computer game music. Some games that I liked w/ good music were Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Deus Ex, and Descent 2. The music should not only convey emotion, but it should convey atmosphere. In Unreal, the music was just awesome. Take the Temple of Vandora for example - the music just fit the map like a pair of jeans. Nice thing bout Unreal engine music is that you can use programs such as Mod Plug to convert the .umx to .wav and the .wav to .mp3 w/ dBPowerAmp. Good music should also allow the purchaser to use the product freely for whatever purpose that is desired as long as it does not include piracy - but anti-piracy measures should also not interfere with Fair Use rights (Digital Rights Managed by Microsoft is an example of how NOT to do this) - You didn't lease the CD, you purchased it.

 

[Venmoch]

For the unforunate people that havent had this i highly reccomend a song called 'Fortunate Son' by CCR (credence clearwater revival). This is the first song that really made me think. Its a war protest song made in 1969 against the vietnam war.

Of course if anyones played Battlefield: Vietnam they'll know this one. And somehow whenever I see helicopters flying in a warzone its the first thing that comes to my mind. Probably because all the pilots insist on playing it

But yeah it rocks.

 

[Bad^Hat]

The X factor.

 

[SupremePain]

Rock........haha owned!

 

[Steve]

I've always thought the mark of good music is the ability to evoke an emotion without any thought. In other words, you hear the music, you feel sad, instead of you hear the music, it reminds you of that time your girlfriend left you, you feel sad.

 

[DeusExMachina]

If music can make me think, inspire me, or feel emotion, its good music to me.

 

[PoeticRocker]

If you can recreate a specific feeling that everyone can relate to through music then that is good songwriting. Its not just sad or angry - it varies with different dimensions of the emotion. Then there is the catchy songwriting method, sure its catchy, but it wont last long like the sentimental songs. It seems today many of the recent bands just put together songs with catchy melodies. In my opinion, todays music lacks the imagination and artistic elements that make the song timeless.
Just bands whining about life sucking, politics sucking, and love sucking.
Their brand of music doesnt appeal to me at all, the music should create vivid paintings in our minds. Where all our senses flow through us and we feel the world itself.

 

[baxter]

Great music is the song that just brings that little lump to your throat, makes you just stop for a moment and remember that moment when you thought " what a great song"

It is virtually impossible to say what makes a song great as everybody has differant tastes.You cannoy say that a great guitar solo or drum solo makes a great song.

A great song is the one that no matter how shitty your life is or just how down you feel makes you feel better, just for that moment.

 

[R@mmstien]

The shitty songs.... becuase they make the good ones that much more rewarding to listening to :afro:

 

[Orgonomist]

The only two things I care about are sentiment and musical capability. Genres are irrelevant to me; If a musician is genuine, has something to say that intrigues me, and can write a tune, I'll aways be interested. I won't fault pop music if it succeeds in those areas.

I've found the most revealing facet of a band in this respect is the vocalist. It's always painfully obvious when somebody isn't singing with 100% conviction, and I can't think of anything that puts me off a band faster than that. I think this is why I detest those pop-punk bands so much; they're just not believable.

 

[burner69]

I'm into trance/hardcore/house, so I'll try and explain the workings of a great song in this field.

Emotional response, put simply, is what makes the best of these genres the best.

The start needs to make you want to move, to dance, as the above fall under the spektrum of 'dance' music (loosely in places). But the important part is the build-up and the drop.
You need anticipation, you need your skin to rise into gooseflesh as the song rises up towards the drop, with trance you need to get the urge to just throw your arms up, close your eyes, and let the music wash through you. With hardcore you need to be grinning, knowing it's about to kick off into a lively bit of a tune, and the same for most house music, particularly hard.
The drop is the most important part, what the build-up is leading to, and what all the previous response was gearing up to prepare for.
With trance all those goosbumps in your arms will just wash up your arms, down your back, and you're in a state of euphoria - such strong emotional responses are rare unless under the effects of certain drugs, but most all good trance tracks achieve this to some degree.
With hard house and hardcore it should crescend up into a quality, cool as fcuk, danceable riff that you've been waiting for.

And of course to be good, they have to be enjoyed sitting down with your cds chilling out, and get a similar, if not greatly reduced, response.

 

[CrazyHarij]

What makes music good is about association.
You hear a certain instrument, the way it is played, or the lyrics and what they have to say, a certain scene in a film or game related to the music, and whenever you listen to the music you are reminded by this and the emotional state, so that's what makes a song special pretty much, at least in my experience.

One personal example would be the song "Living on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. Once, my brother was on his way to visit me and he told me he had Max Payne with him, I was really hyped for the game at the time. He also had a video on a CD of a friend of him making an alternate musicvideo to Bon Jovi's song, so we played it before starting up Max Payne.
It was a really special fun moment, and whenever I listen to the song I'm reminded of that, which is why I really love it.

Another example which I experienced just today was the music in the first tutorial in Ground Control 2. The track is very simple, it is a little ambient with a simple electric guitar plucking in a slow, special mood. Together with the atmosphere in the game, a futuristic apocalyptic urban environment, it reminded me of 80's movies like Terminator and Mad Max, but not just the movies but the atmosphere itself, and the look I had upon it when I was very little. It reminded me of when I was so little and with my family, when I where in the wild in the area I lived during sunsets, and stuff like that.

This song gave me goosebumps and almost brought me to tears just because of the simple combination, and I absolutely love the song. I wish I could get a hold of it outside the game, unfortunately the game data files are all packed in a unknown fileformat for the game.

I like many kinds of music however, and there are many factors which make a track good or bad in the technical sense. But I think the above theory is the main ingredient of what can make a certain song really special and dear to you.

And to think of this has simply to do with association and nostalgia, just pure sentimental stuff.. It's really wonderful, isn't it?

 

[kaffo]

Origial and alternative music with looots of feeling = good music. Synth/industrial bands like Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly and Einstürzende Neubauten gets my creativity going.

 

[el Chi]

Lots of synthesisers, needless feedback, drum solos that go nowhere, squealing vocals with obtuse lyrics about labradors and a lead singer with the dress sense of Sir Paul McCartney on a gay cruise.

 

[PoeticRocker]

Lots of synthesisers, needless feedback, drum solos that go nowhere, squealing vocals with obtuse lyrics about labradors and a lead singer with the dress sense of Sir Paul McCartney on a gay cruise.

Queen? Man do i agree!

 

[Goatman88]

I just beat Medal of Honor-Pacific Assault and i LOVED the soundtrack. The music made me think about what it really was like to fight in WWII or in any war.

 

[Dalamari]

Lyrics with meaning behind them, electric organ that doubles as the base line, a guitarist that uses his fingernails instead of a pick, a vocalist that passes out on stage and goes off on poems in the middle of songs. Oh, and a drummer.

 

[mortiz]

The X factor.

The Iron Maiden album? :upstare:

 

[Laivasse]

I listen to death/black/extreme metal. I don't adhere to these genres all that strictly however, because I will listen to anything which contains what I consider to be the magic ingredient ingood music - artistic passion. If the artist truly believes in what they are doing, and isn;t just pumping out pretentious twaddle or making an aimless tune because they like the idea of being in a band....then theresults are always somewhat special, even if they are sometimes constrained by the limits of being in a certain genre which sucks inherently.

Seriously though - passion. That will cause those inarticulable feelings to just well up every time.