Just for the record...

I hate eminem.

Ditto.

me too

and a Guns 'n Roses performance featuring Axl Rose -- but apparently none of the other original members such as guitarist Slash.

Somebody didn't do their homework...

So do I. But he's better than GNR.

What? Sweet Child O Mine is one of the greatest 80s songs ever . But yeah, I hate most of their songs.

> I hate eminem.

Hehe, you are in for a rough life then. Yeah, he's a dick, but his latest album is his catchiest and most inovative yet; expect a lot more singles from it. He's going to be around for a while longer yet.

I hate eminem.

"Hate" is a little to harsh for me. I don't particularly care for him, but I don't hate him.

What I find despicable, and laughable, is his whole persona. And what is even more laughable, and sad, is all the wanna-beez who imitate him.

But then, there's always going to be those people who imitate the famous. People who don't have any sense of individuality, so instead they try to look and act like whoever is popular. Like lemmings.

So sad.

I think "hate" is a little too harsh for him. A person that I don't know, but know of or even a little bit about (because he happens to be famous), is not someone I can hate. Hate is such a strong thing that I reserve it for those special people who have attempted to ruin my life.

As for the music side of the argument: I will take any band ever, so long as they actually wrote a lyric or played a melody themselves on an instrument in their own song, over Eminem. Any fool can come up with a catchy 4-note tune and talk over a synthesized beat.

P.S. -- And Sweet Child O Mine IS one of the best songs of the 80's.

It takes skill to come up with those lyrics and rap them. Sure I think the whole rap attitude gets ridiculous, but I like an artist like Eminem who comes up with original and innovative stuff and makes it sound good. Eminem is one of the few rappers who talks about things other than his cars and hoes. I'd say Eminem is like the Nirvana of rap.

And I love GNR.

And I think the Hives suck. But the vines were good.

Eminem is one of the few rappers who talks about things other than his cars and hoes.

After that comment, this quote is obligatory:

"You know why Dre's record was so successful? He's rappin' about big screen TV's, blunts, 40's, and bitches. You're rappin' about homosexuals and vicodin. I can't sell this [censored]!"

Skill is not the word I would use. Sure, there is something to be said for that ability; the lung capacity to go on like that. Good singers have that same gift. But many of them also go through training to extend the limits of their voice as well as their lungs.

Imagination is definitely something that would come in handy. And a good vocabulary in order to rhyme. But rapping is talking. Nothing more than a good ear for the beat is necessary, in order to make the paragraph you wrote fit where you want it to.

I would concede that he is imaginitive, but not skilled. And the punk-ass, self-centered I-am-so-great-and-no-one-helped-me-get-here attitude is pretentious bullshit. No one gets a record deal without a lucky break.

I think I'll stick to my music, played with instruments by musicians, with talent and skill, that work with each other to make it all come together and sound amazing.

Edit: I think you like him simply for his "music's" shock value and because he says stuff no one dared to before.

When all that an artist ever talks about and writes about is how the press and everyone is so stupid for what he says, eventually the press will have nothing to bitch about anymore, thereby ruining his career. You get boring if all you do is complain all the time.

And the Hives are awesome. At least they're funny when they're full of themselves.

And I was pissed that the reruns of the VMA's cut out all the eminem/Moby stuff. I wish I'd seen that.

> Skill is not the word I would use.

What you do not appreciate does not require skill? I would daresay that there are few people who could even imitate him, much less come up with the kind of rhymes that he does.

Look, you don't appreciate rap music. That is fine, each of us likes what he likes. But not anyone can rap well, and few can rap really well. It does require skill, maybe not the same kind of skill as playing a guitar or drums, but skill nonetheless. You don't like the music, so you don't appreciate that skill, but that doesn't mean it isn't there. For instance, you imply there is no song-writing here; like he doesn't create melodies as well as create lyrics, but if you listened to it you would see that some of his melodies are quite good as well. You sound like all those old fogeys throught the the history of rock music who dismissed it as untalented noise merely because they didn't understand it.

I can see I'm going to start a flame war right here.

In my opinion Rap is missing a C.

I agree that it takes some imagination and 'craft' to rhythmically recite spken work to a backing track. But IMHO it's like golf. /me- ducks into bomb shelter
I agree that there is practice required to do it well, it's just something I don't see any merit in. Sort of like synchronised swimming or the 'world championship wrestling' /me- ducks again
Rappers and golfers get paid FAR tooooo much for the actual amount of effort required. I don't see how making lyrics about how evil you're going to be if anyone does anything wrong by you is particularly creative. Especially if the best word you can use is fuck. Re-arrange your threats into Elizabethan English and rap that and I'll give you credit.

I used to think rap was all crap. Then I discovered that it's only about 95% crap, just like every other music or general entertainment form out there. It seems to me that the difference is that most rap listeners don't seem to employ any sort of discernment at all. They'll like anything as long as if fits into a general category, regardless of its quality or whether it's already been done a thousand times before. (BTW, I see this same paradigm in the anime category as well.)

There are a number of rap artists out there that are/were phenomenal. While I dislike Eminem, I'm starting to recognize that he might be one of them. The Beastie Boys were, too, not because of their rapping abilities, but because of the other stuff they brought to it -- the punk and the balls-to-the-wall sampling. Run-DMC were very cool, too (despite the fact that I blame them for Aerosmith's renewed career). Digital Underground, De La Soul, and A Tribe Called Quest are all worth listening to, even if you don't otherwise like rap (I'm sure you rap-liking folks can see right through my bias). And even some of the acts that ended up spawning todays' mostly-crap ``gangsta'' rap were good, especially Public Enemy. Not to mention uber-classics like Kurtis Blow and Grandmaster Flash, if you like funk, like I do.

Which brings me to why I really hate rap. There is no space left for the rest of the (traditionally) black music community. The only other black music out there is what one of my (black) friends refers to as SBM (Sentimental Black Music) -- you know, the Luther Vandross/Barry White-type acts. Where's the funk? For god's sake, George Clinton hasn't released an album in six years. And the rest of the more standard R&B-type acts? Nowhere to be seen.

I don't really hate rap. But I hate the fact that it destroyed everything else.

There's hardly any respectable rap anymore. All the good rappers (2pac, Biggie, Big Pun, Eazy E,.... ) are dead. It's too bad, because all the people in rap now just care about how thick their wallets are.

Good point by the way, Bitt.

"Edit: I think you like him simply for his "music's" shock value and because he says stuff no one dared to before."

Yeah, that's part of it.


"And I was pissed that the reruns of the VMA's cut out all the eminem/Moby stuff. I wish I'd seen that."

Yeah, I was pissed, too. Did anyone see what actually happened?




Music is something you usually have to relate to to enjoy. If you can't relate to the lyrics then you tend not to enjoy it. That is why a lot of people don't like rap, and many of the rappers do make themselves sound stupid by some of the things they say. But if you can get past that and listen to Eminem or Snoop Dogg, you can see the talent that they have, and if you give it a chance you'll probably learn to appreciate it. The good rappers don't just 'talk' fast but it's more like singing fast - kind of like a guitar solo compared to guitar chords. Try singing along to any rapper just to see if you can.

I think it would be more fair to bash the attitude and subject matter of rap, rather than rap itself, because when someone says they don't like rap, it's usually not the singing style or music they have a problem with but it's just the whole 'gangsta' part of it that they don't like.

If you can't relate to the lyrics then you tend not to enjoy it.

One of my friends (the same one as before, actually) is a reasonably big car nut and likes to keep on top of black culture (he's in his early fifties, but he's still pretty hip, with an aged air). Anyway, he's always telling me about these rap lyrics that are based on incorrect (usually car-based) facts. The one I remember him telling me about is one where the rapper's referring to the Kumho runflats on his SUV, despite the fact that Kumho doesn't sell any. (I'm taking him at his word on both counts, here, but he's shown me proof of other similar things.)

It's just funny that these kinds of mistakes show that not only can I not relate to the lyrics, the rappers themselves often can't, either.

ninti, it looks like this area of the argument has been reduced to semantics. I define skill as something a person was once incapable of doing, at all, and then learned from someone else who was a master at it. The easiest analogy is going to college to learn a specialized field and then carving a successful career in that field after graduation.

A good vocabulary, imagination, and the physical ability to do what "talented" rappers do with words is what I think is necessary. The only thing that gets them to be famous is the attitude, in my opinion. Record producers want something similar to the attitudes of previous phenom rappers that made millions, but with a new twist. Eminem definitely has that twist.

I used to listen to some rap when I was little. When it didn't all suck. But now things have changed, and rap, in my opinion, has become the poster child for the collapse of commercial music. That would lead me into other topics, though.

Please don't think I'm judging the people who listen to Eminem or any other rapper, or judging the rappers themselves. I'm simply trying to explain why I don't like that particular form of "artistic expression."

Edit: And in the interest of fairness, why don't you list a few of his songs that have these wonderful melodies you claim he has written? I sincerely hope it's nothing akin to what Puff Daddy did with Jimmy Page. Puffy fans actually told me that Puffy wrote Jimmy's instrumental part.

> ninti, it looks like this area of the argument has been reduced to semantics.

Perhaps, but you seem to think that what he does is easy and anyone can do it. I do not agree with the assessment.

> The only thing that gets them to be famous is the attitude, in my opinion.

I will not deny that Eminem's attitude is a big part of his success, and certainly it is what a lot of people outside the sphere of rap note about him, but any fan of the genre will tell you that he does it differently then anyone else. It is his style of rhyming that really sets him apart, not his attitude.

> I'm simply trying to explain why I don't like that particular form of "artistic expression."

Hey, that's cool. As I said, we like what we like, no one can be "wrong" or "right" about not liking something. But I hate country, and I don't say that it doesn't take skill ot talent to write it. It is just not to my taste, that's all.

But I hate country

Then you haven't heard the right thing.

Now, I don't like all of those, but I doubt that you'd hate all of them, either. Just like most anything else, you probably just haven't found the right thing yet.

On the other hand, there's not enough hatred available for Nashville pop.

You guys really need to expand your rap horizons man. I'm not the biggest Eminem fan either, but damn, the genre is not crap.

Blackalicious, Jurassic 5, The Visionaries, Swollen Members, Aceyalone, Kool Keith and whatnot.

By the way, i [censored] hate Ludicrous and all that bullshit, "flaunt-the-south" rap thats been big lately.

I deny that it's skill that is necessary to write the lyrics. Anyone who can speak quickly enough, or forcefully enough, and clearly, with a good vocabulary, can do it. But they have to fit the image or they won't get a record deal.

I'm sure he does something differently. I'm sure there's something special about him. Otherwise he wouldn't have made it to the top of that commercial pile of bull.

And as for saying all of rap sucks, I'm not. It's just not my thing. Every rapper who was named in this thread by people as one that doesn't suck, except Eminem himself, is a name I've never heard of.

I am really just very sick of a lot of the mainstream commercial pop music. And yes, I consider rap a very alternative form of pop. People will forever be naming mainstream bands and artists that I have never heard of because I no longer go near MTV, VH1, or play-what-they're-paid-to radio.

You call it skill. I call it a physical gift with a good vocabulary. The fact remains that anyone with a similar lung capacity and vocabulary can do exactly the same thing. Whether or not they get a deal depends on how well they would fit into mainstream. And if they have a new gimick, and rise to the top because of it, then good for them.

I no longer wish to argue about his "skills" or anything else he may possess that made him famous. The fact remains that he is on top of a chart I would never listen to, a situation similar to Blink-182 and all of their copycat bands. I don't like any of that, either.

"And yes, I consider rap a very alternative form of pop."

It appears as rap and pop are converging together to form hiphop.

> deny that it's skill that is necessary to write the lyrics.

So poetry requires no skill?

By semantics, no. Imagination and vocabulary. I am through repeating myself to you. I do not like it and you cannot convince me to. You don't see me posting bands for other people to go try out.

I don't distinguish rap from hip hop, sorry. I didn't mean to cause offense by using genre names incorrectly.

You don't see me posting bands for other people to go try out

Sorry

no offense. I don't know if my genre names are correct or whatever - I was just thinking that it seems like rap and pop are getting less and less different from eachother.

> By semantics, no.

Ok, I just wanted to be clear. I think it is plain to me now that we have different definitions for the word.

> I do not like it and you cannot convince me to.

I wasn't trying to, that would be silly. I was just trying to convince you that it takes skill and talent. We disagree, but I think we have both made our respective points so I agree, let us drop it. Peace Deadfire.

Then we were thinking along the same lines. I'm not always a clear as I'd like to be.

the punk-ass, self-centered I-am-so-great-and-no-one-helped-me-get-here attitude is pretentious bullshit.

Exactly right. Well put.

Thanks, but a little late. I think we have agreed to go our separate ways on this subject.

Where I used to love a lot of rap, and still listen to the old stuff every now and then ( Run DMC all the way up to Tupac). Most of the new stuff is crap, such as Ludacris's new classic "Move Bitch" in which he is boasting driving drunk at a 100 mph down the free way so get the [censored] out of his way. Eminem, I like some his stuff because its amusing, some is just stupid, and some is just plain disturbing. But the face in rap I hate more than any other, sorry if some of you like him is Puff Daddy or P. Diddy, whatever, just for the fact, he cant come up with anything original, I havent heard one song of his that has atleast an original beat to it.

Sorry to rant, it just pisses me off that someone can make so much money stealing the beat from 80s songs.

the face in rap I hate more than any other, sorry if some of you like him is Puff Daddy or P. Diddy, whatever

But don't you love that highly original song "Come With Me"? What a great guitar part!

So poetry requires no skill?

Of course, poetry requires a great deal of skill.

But what does poetry have to do with Rap?

tanstaafl.

After following this thread (and others like it in the past), I'd just like to say:

With all the people on this board who are very into music (much more than the average joe), there are some of the most close-minded, opinionated people on here.

I'll have to admit I'm not the biggest fan of Eminem, but he's very talented when it comes to his writing skills, rapping skills and overall ability to express himself as he sees fit. Sure, he's got some REALLY bad/scary songs (see "Kim"), but he's got some great, catchy tunes (like "Without Me").

And I've said this before. I'll happily admit to listening to things like Britney Spears, 'N Sync, Limp Bizkit, etc. They all have their own merits.

So, try to appreciate all kinds of music and not make stupid comments like "I hate Eminem" without any justification as to why you made the statement.

Did anyone else think that G'NR performance was horrible? Axl sounded terrible, and Buckethead and the others looked like they were playing out of sync. What was with the braided hair, too? I think I'll pass on their next album...

Bravo svferris. I was originally an Eminem hater, but after listening to a few of his CDs with an open mind, I find that he's a pretty interesting and somewhat talented artist. Of course, his work isn't terribly smart or complicated, but the way that people get all uppity about him is exactly what he is trying to entice in people.

Hey everyone, he's f-ing with you and you fell right into his plan!

His tunes are quite catchy and fun to listen to.

Now boy bands, those are another story...

- Jon

Now boy bands, those are another story...

In general, you're right. But my defense of groups such as 'N Sync is that they can actually sing, unlike a lot of other groups who are just vocally enhanced in the studio. Have you ever heard 'N Sync do acapella? They do a great acapella version of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".

I think that there's a big difference between close-minded, opinionated, and particular. I, personally, am particular. This means that something has to be well more than mediocre for me to bother listening to it more than once or twice (or course, there's a lot of subjectivity involved in any such qualification). At the same time, I'm also not inclined to listen to music I don't find entertaining, regardless of its quality.

So, I don't listen to Eminem because I largely don't like the mainstream rap ideals (I realize that Eminem is far from mainstream in his lyrics and delivery, but much of the rest of it is quite so, to me). But I don't listen to Britney, 'N Sync, and Limp Bizkit because I don't enjoy that sort of bubblegum pop or nu-metal (which isn't far away from bubblegum pop, in my mind) in addition to the fact that they're crap.

You mean like that awful Chili's commercial?

Even the most spectacular artist can produce crap. And horrible artists can't give a good performance, even given excellent equipment.

I'm inclined to say that even if N Sync can sing well (which I'd debate), their material is so awful and so uninspiredly performed that it makes no difference.

Edit: BTW, Lance Bass to continue to plague the face of the Earth. My favorite quote from the article: ``In Bass' place on the trip will be a cargo container.'' Kinda sums it up, huh?

I also think some of his songs aren't half bad. But, well, I hate eminem.

For me, the reason was what I think I said before, yes, he always talks about what he thinks of people, but now it seems like all he does. He doesn't seem to talk or sing about much other than what the critics think about him. That's cyclical, and gets very boring. He just seems like such a whiny little bitch. Pardon the language, but he is. And his little display with Moby at the VMAs shows that.

Just because we say that we dislike the music doesn't mean we haven't listened to any of it.

Britney Spears and clones? Boy bands? sorry, I don't see any merits there. In that case anyone here can honestly say that those people have no talent. Basically, they're all people who were probably star singers at school or in their choir, but not pro-level. Then, simply because they look good, they are picked to be superstars. I'm sorry, but it would take a lot to convince me that Britney and Backstreet are anything more than creations built on good looks.

Of course, I just know that people are going to look back on them with the same nostalgia that we have for the Monkees now. Except at least they were more fun.

I agree and I don't think that expressing an opinion about musical tastes makes someone closed-minded or opinionated.

I happen to like discussing topics on this BBS where we disagree. In the past we were always able to have friendly disagreements that did not erupt into flame wars and name calling. Unfortunately, for some people, putting down a favorite artist is akin to starting a religious discussion, so that's kind of hard in any situation...

Yeah. I think some people take it all a little too seriously. But sometimes that's easy to do when you're talking to a faceless set of words on a computer screen.

Hey Tony, Rush sucks!

Although I did find it interesting that, just minutes after signing off of this BBS Monday evening, I had a discussion with my wife and one of my daughter's friends about Eminem. The kid's father (who is also a musician like me) won't let her buy an Eminem album on the grounds that he's a talentless two-bit hack. So my wife asked me about Eminem and I expressed a similar opinion, and it was just funny...

Hey Tony, Rush sucks!

You are incorrect. I will leave it at that.

See? We can express differences of opinion just fine on this BBS.

His behaviour at the VMAs was terrible. Since I love Moby, I was kind of upset that Eminem took that kind of attitude. It's funny to read Moby's take on it. Check out his journal at www.moby.com.

He CAN be a whiney bitch I agree...

I think of Eminem along the same lines as I think of bubblegum movies. Fun to watch, but I'm not expecting anything fantastic.

- Jon

It's fine to disagree, but at least have some kind of backup to your statement. That promotes a better "discussion", and not just arguments.

And, yes, Eminem does need to write about something else before he gets old and stale.

Okay, I didn't watch the VMAs (because they're even more corporate oriented than most awards), and I'm totally lost on this whole Eminem/Moby deal, and I can't seem to find anything that gives me any info beyond the fact that Eminem was a jackass to Moby. Is there any reason for this? Can someone fill me in? (Honestly, I don't know why I even care.)

> So, try to appreciate all kinds of music and not make stupid comments like "I hate Eminem" without any justification as to why you made the statement.

Personally, the way I see it is that "I hate xxxx" is not something that needs justification. This is a personal opinion, based on nothing more than your own feelings and tastes. it ultimately means nothing in any kind of global sense, it is local to you and your attitudes. You can can say you hate them, and I can say I love them, and neither of us is wrong. It is the more universal comments that I don't like; that someone sucks or is talentless. This is a global assertion that demands that everyone recognize its validity and gives no room for anyone else to feel differently. This goes beyond merely stating your opinion, instead of saying "I feel this way for this", you are stating "this is truth". That, to me, is arrogance and lack of respect for others.

Hehe, yeah I like Moby's site. It's like a step up from a cam-girl's site. Complete with diary, pics and everything

I am not exactly sure of the details, but Moby has been openly critical of Eminem's anti-gay lyrics for a while.

So a long time ago, Moby said something about Eminem being misogynistic. Then Eminem "dissed" Moby on a song - "Moby/ you can get stomped by Obie, you 36 year old bald headed fag blow me/You don't know me, you're too old let go its over, nobody listens to techno".

At the VMA, I guess Eminem thought that Moby was booing him when he went up to get an award. Eminem said something about "yeah, I'd hit a guy with glasses..."

That's basically it.

- Jon

I didn't watch the VMAs (because they're even more corporate oriented than most awards)

Now there's something I can agree with. I can't stand MTV. They barely play videos anymore. When they do play videos, it's only what they get paid to play (much like radio).

svferris, I assumed I didn't need to supply any arguments to backup my point of why I don't like him. If you think I'm closeminded, then that's fine, I guess I am. I still don't like him

Sadly, VH1, always being a trend behind MTV, is following in its footsteps. I've loved VH1 for the past 3 years, but now they've gone to mostly rap (I don't like the genre, and I'm sure a lot of people don't, so why play nothing else?), and they've now coming out with shows that have nothing to do with music. Has anyone seen the Rerun Show? It's horrible!

Anyway, I still watch old episodes of Behind the Music, but considering they only seem to repeat about 4 of them, there's not much point in it. In fact, I was shocked to look at the homepage for BTM. I had no idea that they had half these episodes. My personal favorite, Blind Melon, has probably only played once, on its airing.

Anyway, it's not like any of my favorite artists have music videos on those channels.

I hate Brittney ... but at the same time .... doood. Nasty thoughts!!!

Greg

Strange, but the only rap I listen to is 80's gangsta rap. Maybe I'm just sentimental, but Too $hort really brings a tear to my eye singing about Ronald Reagan selling cocaine in the White House ...

I just can't get into the new stuff. But I can't get the old stuff out of my mind at the same time. You'd think with all that pot consumed in high school, my long term memory would be shot. Nevertheless I know all the lyrics to NWA's first three albums.

Am I a pathetic white boy or what.

Greg

VH1... I thought the popup videos they used to do were sweet. I don't see much of those anymore.

popup video was definitely sweet, and was still about the music or the music videos. Now, like I said, we're getting shows like the Rerun Show, which has nothing to do with anything, not to mention just being a bad show.

I also find it funny that I just turned on the channel and they had that show "Fresh" on which supposedly plays "new and fresh music videos". The first video that came up is that John Mayer one. I think they've been showing that one for about 5 months now. Hardly fresh.

Do you guys get MTV2? They still show only videos, but it seems like they show way more rap than anything else. At least it's rap almost every time I flip over there. But at least they play videos.

It was really cool when they were just M2, before they changed their name to MTV2. They barely had any commercials, and the ones they did have were just house ads and network time-wasters. And there was a lot more less-inherently-popular music on there, as their VJs were actually knowledgeable about music, like that Matt Pinfield guy that hosted 120 Minutes (do they still show that?) and Jancee Dunn, who is a real music journalist (albeit for Rolling Stone). Needless to say, they're gone now, and apparently replaced with people who want to be that uncharismatic airhead, Carson Daly.

Yeah, MTV2 is okay, but for one thing, not everyone gets it. I don't get it because I only have basic cable and my area doesn't carry it.

And it remains a complete, utter mystery to me why Carson Daly was EVER on television. He has no personality, no sense of humor, and (I've been told) doesn't really have the looks. How in hell was he so popular?? And will someone tell me why he has a talk show now? Who approved that??

In addition, he seems to have little-to-no musical knowledge and actually appears uncomfortable in his own skin on camera. I would not be at all surprised if he turned out to be an android with interview questions programmed into him.

MTV hasn't had anything good on it since they got rid of Headbangers Ball. I thought Rock Show on VH1 was pretty cool, but it's only a half hour.

And Scott Ian has the best facial hair

Rikki Rachtman on every episode of Headbanger's Ball:

Dude, you guys are, like, my favorite band ever.

FYI, Carson Daly started at KROQ in LA, as did quite a few other people at MTV. He used to do the late night "electronica" show. I think it was on Saturday nights around 11pm. I remember seeing him at a KROQ Weenie Roast, and he was very excited to be presenting Chemical Brothers on the main stage. That was when electronica was really big (Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Crystal Method, etc.).

He seems to have gone straight from there to MTV. I don't get it. But, then Kennedy did the same thing. She was an intern at KROQ for like 6 months, then just like that, a VJ on MTV.

Maybe MTV gets all the KROQ rejects?

Britney Spears and clones? Boy bands? sorry, I don't see any merits there. In that case anyone here can honestly say that those people have no talent.

You mean you're watching Britney with the sound *on* ?!
Dude! You are totally missing the whole point.

Turn down the TV volume, put on your own rockin' tunes on the Empeg, open
a cold beer, and think to yourself, "hey, I'm saving five bucks on a table dance
right now!"

(Actually, I downloaded some shred-metal guitar covers of "Hit me baby one
more time" and "Crazy" that work GREAT for this. Highly recommended.)

I'd like to hear those covers. Where'd you get them?

You mean you're watching Britney with the sound *on* ?!
Dude! You are totally missing the whole point. Turn down the TV volume,
then poke your eyes out, open a cold beer, and think to yourself, "It's much better than Cats. I'm not going to see it, again and again."

I'd like to hear those covers. Where'd you get them?

OK, but remember, you asked for it....


This one is from Doug Stapp
It's still very poppy, and it has vocals (processed even more than Ms. Spears, if you can believe it)
but some guitar soloing rather uncharacteristic of this decade.
Click on "(You Drive Me) Crazy"
[edit: I just re-checked this link, and it is now a far inferior version to the one
I downloaded last year. That one was at a slower tempo, less modulated,
3 minutes instead of 1 minute, and had some intentionally cheesy cowbells
that greatly added to the general hilarity. Sorry, but I don't have the bandwidth
to be able to send you a copy of the good version right now.]

Neither of the other two versions have any vocals.

This one is from Chris Ptacek
It is a flurry of notes, barely recognizeable until the final few bars.
Supposedly he wrote this a joking response to a comment that some of his
earlier songs "didn't have enough notes."
Click on whoopsnowwhathaveidonemp3.mp3

The last one is by Scott Kerr on guitarius.com
which seems to have disappeared from the web.
It is probably the most tasteful of the three. Sorry you missed it.
I post the link here for posterity, in case guitarius.com ever re-emerges.