Clarification, please!

[Jakehammaren]

Ah, the world of music genres. Some people love 'em, some people hate 'em, some hate to love 'em, and some love to hate 'em. None of this changes the fact that they exist, and the fact they are inevitably misconstrued. Does anyone have a favorite genre that is constantly being misused? Would you like to clarify what that style of music actually is, so we, the misinformed public can better understand the music you so passionately love? If so, this is the place to do it!

(Note: PLEASE know what you're talking about. If you're going to post here, please have researched your topic first.)

[Amorphous]

Obviously there is metal, being one of THE biggest misunderstood music genres of the world but I am not here to talk about metal.

Gothic Music is one of the biggest misunderstood genres and cultures on this earth. I would like to start of with the fact that the best definition for any 'true' goth is as followed; Goth: "Someone who sees beauty in something that has none to the casual observer".

Ok so now that, that is out of the way I would like to address the actual music. Goth music is not the bands here listed as followed.

Bands often confused for Gothic music
The following is a list of bands that are often called goth, but they are not. [Note that metal and industrial are not even close to goth]:
A Perfect Circle
AFI
The Birthday Massacre
Cradle of Filth
DImmu Borgir
Evanescence
funkerVOGT
Good Charlotte
Hatebreed
HIM
Insane Clown Posse
Interpol
Jack Off Jill
KoRn
Lacuna Coil
Linkin Park
Marilyn Manson
Megadeth
Mudvayne
My Chemical Romance
Nightwish
Nine Inch Nails
Nocturne
Ramstein
Rasputina
Razed In Black
Scarling
Skinny Puppy
Slipknot
Tool
VNV Nation
:wumpscut:
Within Temptation

I'd also like to say that the information posted here was not originally done by me but fits this topic quite nicely and I feel that I could not have said it any better, thus I am using quotes though if I had to I could easily type out a post of my own that would be in contrast with this.
[quote]
"Proto-Goth"
Butn before we get into what goth was defined by, let's go into what it came out of. Though none of the bands mentioned are directly a part of the goth genre or culture, goth took heavy influence from glam-rock, psychedelic rock, and of course, punk rock. Even early metal had an impact on goth.

Proto-Goth Bands:
Alice Cooper
Black Sabbath
David Bowie
The Doors
The Germs
Iggy & the Stooges
The Misfits
Mott the Hoople
The New York Dolls
Roxy Music
The Sex Pistols
T-Rex
The Velvet Underground
X
[/quote]Now, Goth Rock music is defined by this. [quote]Goth-Rock
The core of Goth Music, obviously. Goth is often, but not always, soft, dark, and melodic. It emerged in the late 70's with Siouxsie & the Banshees(probably the most essential goth-rock band, though they got their start as a punk band), and Joy Division. It came directly from the punk-rock scene. Later, in '79, the band that was said to kick start the genre, Bauhaus released their big single, 'Bela Lugosi's Dead', this song is described as the key goth-rock song. In '80, the post-punk group The Cure, released the album 'Seventeen Seconds', which helped to move the genre even further. The Cure's album 'Pornography' is a very heavy goth album, and after that album, the band moved in and out of the genre constantly. In the early 80's the original English punk band, The Damned, broke away from their punk roots into goth-rock with 'The Black Album'. The Damned's next album, 'Phantasmagoria', was pure goth-rock, and lost them many of their punk followers. The Sisters of Mercy soon came to be and redefined goth(though singr Andrew Eldritch denies it). Their album 'Floodland' is a goth rock classic, with the hit 'This Corrosion'. From Australia came Nick Cave and the Birthday Party, who's album 'Junk Yard' is another classic.

Bauhaus split into Love and Rockets, Peter Murphy solo, and Tones on Tail, and The Sisters of Mercy split into The Sisterhood and The Mission(UK). Classic goth-rock bands changed styles, though some bands such as Siouxsie & the Banshees, have stayed pretty close to the genre. And other new bands have emerged. [/quote]Goth-Rock Bands:
1919
And Also the Trees
Attrition
Bauhaus
Birthday Party
The Bolshoi
Chameleons UK
The Church
Claire Voyant
Cocteau Twins
Coil
Corpus Delecti
The Creatures
The Cure
Current 93
The Damned
Danse Society
Death In June
Depeche Mode
Diamanda Galas
Die Form
Echo & the Bunnymen
Fields of the Nephilim
Ghost Danse
Gitane Demone
Human Drama
Inkubus Sukkubus
Joy Division
Kill Sister
Lestat
Lords of the New Church
Love & Rockets
Love is Colder than Death
Lycia
March Violets
Miranda Sex Garden
The Mission (UK)
Mortiis
The New Creatures
New Model Army
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Nosferatu
Patricia Morrison
Peter Murphy
Play Dead
Red Lorry Yellow Lorry
Rosetta Stone
The Shroud
Siouxsie & the Banshees
Sisters of Mercy
Sopor Aeturnus
Sunglasses After Dark
Swans of Avon
This Mortal Coil
ThouShaltNot
Tones on Tail
Tuxedo Moon
Two Witches
Usherhouse
Voltaire

We also have.[quote]Death-Rock
Let me start by saying, death-rock and goth are two different genres, however, death-rock had a heavy influence on goth, and had common fans. Deathrock, also known as Death punk, is a term used to identify an offshoot of 1970s punk rock subculture in America. Despite similar genre names, Deathrock has very little in common with death metal. Deathrock should also not be confused with shock rock. Generally speaking, death rock first appeared on the American West Coast in the late 1970s, particularly in Los Angeles with bands such as .45 Grave and Christian Death. The style later appeared in cities across the United States and other areas of the world in the early to mid 1980s. In London, England, The Batcave was an early goth nightclub in London, England. As one of the most famous meeting points for early goths, it lent its name to the term Batcaver, used to describe old school goths. The club opened in July 1982. Originally specialising in New Wave and Glam rock, it later focused on Gothic music. There were mainly three bands performing there, namely Alien Sex Fiend, Sex Gang Children and Specimen. Their style was later betitled as Batcave(also essential to death-rock).

As the modern goth scene has drifted further away from its punk roots with EBM, techno, fetishism, shock rock and nu metal, many new punk-influenced goth bands have (and continue) to appear in the underground as a reaction to this trend. Cinema Strange, The Brides, and The Vanishing are relatively popular examples of modern death rock bands. [/quote]And
[quote]Darkwave
Darkwave is a relatively widely used term in the gothic-industrial subculture to describe a music genre, although it has no one single, agreed upon meaning. Its first usage appears to have been in the early 1990s, to describe a synthesizer-based variant of gothic rock developed largely in Germany. The most popular example of a darkwave band would be The Cruxshadows.

Shortly afterwards, in the United States the term "darkwave" became associated with music produced on the Projekt records label because it was used as the name of their printed catalog. The Projekt label carried bands such as Lycia, black tape for a blue girl and Love Spirals Downwards, all characterized by slow, moody ethereal female vocals, with a strong Cocteau Twins influence (something like the later music of Dead Can Dance). This sense of the term darkwave would also apply to similar music from other labels carrying similar work (e.g. World Serpent and Middle Pillar).

It's often suggested that the primary motivation for using the term "darkwave" is an attempt at gaining some distance from these other categories that are regarded as too cliched, over-exposed, or pass� [/quote]If you would like a list of music from any of these two genres I could easily make one up for those who are curious. But for now I will keep the post length down.

[Shi no Tenshi]

Woohoo! The two bands that always sprung to mind when someone mentioned goth music was Siouxsie and The Cure. So I'm not as musically dumbfounded as I thought. Although, I think David Bowie falls under almost every category in existence.

To tell you the truth, I think pop can be very misunderstood (I'm not actually bothered to research this topic because this is only my opinion but ah well). I always thought that pop was short for 'popular' (thus Pop Art), so that pop music is something formulated by the people who listen to it and buy it. People who are disgusted by pop should check out Madonna's Ray of Light album - it's a sweet blend of electronica and generic pop music, as well as what seems to be some post rock/ambience and trip hop influences. The song 'Candy Perfume Girl' is a song that definately demands a listen.

[Guest Heero yuy]

[QUOTE=Jakehammaren]Ah, the world of music genres. Some people love 'em, some people hate 'em, some hate to love 'em, and some love to hate 'em. None of this changes the fact that they exist, and the fact they are inevitably misconstrued. Does anyone have a favorite genre that is constantly being misused? Would you like to clarify what that style of music actually is, so we, the misinformed public can better understand the music you so passionately love? If so, this is the place to do it!

(Note: PLEASE know what you're talking about. If you're going to post here, please have researched your topic first.)[/QUOTE]

When I tell people that I like "metalcore" they just think I like band like System of a Down and other band, that aren't remotely close. That really gets me mad, there's a big difference between "nu-metal or whatever it is" and metalcore. Metalcore has a more heavier set, than bands like System.

I hate how people use the word "Emo" too...it's really dumb to label anything sad as emo. And not all kids who listen to that genre have to like Dashboard. (old taking back sunday is better, dashboard sucks)