How Does Anyone Really Like Dir en grey?

It’s funny how radically different musical tastes can be. I was scanning through the Comcast On Demand music videos and came across a video for the song “Agitated Screams of Maggots” by the Japanese band “Dir en grey”. After approving dozens of comments about Kyo, Toshiya, Shinya, and Die, I figured I see what all the fuss was about. See if maybe I had, via this site, managed to discover a new band to throw on the ‘ole iPod.

After all, the band must be something special if the rank as one of the greatest hard rock artists and greatest rock bands of all time, consist of one of the greatest singers of all time, one of the best bassists, one of the best metal guitarists, and one of the best rock drummers. Especially if the have not squandered their talent and have instead managed to record one of the best metal songs ever.

So with my remote I navigated to the video and pressed play. It may have been my lofty expectations or my desire to hear something unique that influenced my perception, but what I heard was far from entertaining or even, dare I say, good. What I heard blaring from my speakers was so short of what I would expect from a band with so many accolades. While I probably shouldn’t formulate an opinion based on a single piece of work, I really have no motivation to spend another 3 minutes of my time giving the band a second chance.

The point I making, however, is not that Dir en grey is not a good band, it is just that in my opinion, they seem to be formulaic, unoriginal, and basically un-listenable. My point is that there are people out there who do like the music as evidenced by the fact that their votes along with a healthy portion of sampling error, have pushed the band towards the top of so many lists.

This fascinates me. It always seems strange to me that people could have opinions that are so genuinely different from my own. Evidently, my tastes in music are outside of the mainstream, but I still find myself thinking that if people really listened to the music I like, they would have no choice but to like it too.

It is still hard for me to believe that a person could really think Dir en grey could be the best band they have ever heard. The thought always creeps into my mind that if people who say this really took the time to listen to “good” music, they would rethink their opinion. Of course, a Dir en grey fan may very well think the very same thing about me.

Posted March 5, 2007 by admin in response to the list of Greatest Rock Band Of All Time.

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