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What the hell is 'butt rock'?

That's not fair to nu-metal. There were totally like 2, maybe 3 nu-metal bands around the turn of the century that weren't completely awful.

Slipknot wasn't one of them tho.
 
Mass Effect said:
You mean people have different interpretations of what a musical label is and have different opinions on which bands classify as said label, just like virtually every other musical genre/label?

With that logic, might as well just get rid of the idea of genres for everything really.
Click to expand...

If something means 'A' to some people and means 'Opposite of A' to other people and means 'B' to a third group, the word is meaningless. Words mean things and are used to communicate. If they mean entirely different things to different people, there is no communication happening.
 
Teeth said:
If something means 'A' to some people and means 'Opposite of A' to other people and means 'B' to a third group, the word is meaningless. Words mean things and are used to communicate. If they mean entirely different things to different people, there is no communication happening.
Click to expand...
This.

This thread is proof that Gaf's music enthusiasts certainly aren't aficionados. Folks calling crotch rock butt rock, butt rock nu metal, and claiming that GnR is the same type of music as Poison; absofuckinglutely nonsense. Guns N Roses was a late 80's hard rock band that became something of an antithesis of the prevailing pop friendly and excess driven hair metal of the time. Guns N Roses was so popular because they were much more grounded and real when rock had become so theatrical.

And those calling Guilty Gear's soundtrack butt rock? Get some help or at the very least read a bit on the subject before showing your ass.
 
To be really pedantic in a way that doesn't matter but I find useful (because it's frankly a useless term), butt rock doesn't actually apply to any actual bands. In my specific usage (I'm an academic, sue me) I refer to butt rock as generic rock music without lyrics used to evoke rock music without having to pay licensing fees to established bands.

If you've ever seen a random ESPN highlight reel, that is the best example of butt rock I can think of.

In video games:
(seriously though, no judgement is given here. Both of these songs are cool and Frank Klepacki is God)

This song is called "Ownage"

Some fighting game music from Dead or Alive 4

A lot of Guilty Gear stuff almost certainly would qualify too.
 
Dolobill said:
Butt Rock doesn't go away. There will always be modern butt rock. Glam shit was the butt rock of the 80's.
Click to expand...

I don't doubt "butt rock" is a bad thing to call that, I will always refer that to be "Hair Metal" (not JUST because how they all had big hair), which is the perfect name for that style. I think of hairspray, light and chemically, and hair all puffed up and fluffy with no substance.

When I think of "Butt Rock", I think more of post-90s mainstream disposable bullshit pop-rock that wasn't of other sub-genres (Grunge, Alternative Rock, Nu-Metal...). A lot of members of butt rock bands make themselves look hardcore or edgy, while the music is anything but.
 
MagnaderAlpha said:
When I think of "Butt Rock", I think more of post-90s mainstream disposable bullshit pop-rock that wasn't of other sub-genres (Grunge, Alternative Rock, Nu-Metal...). A lot of members of butt rock bands make themselves look hardcore or edgy, while the music is anything but.
Click to expand...

Yeah the term definitely didn't even come around until the mid to late 90s. The story goes that it comes from radio stations that played "Nothing But Rock." So it just started as a joke to refer to late 90s radio hard rock. Then because it had the word "butt" in it, people started applying it to anything they don't like.
 
Former music critic/editor here. I believe I actually had a hand in attaching that specific term to some of the bands mentioned here, because my music scene (Dallas in the early '00s) had a serious influx of post-grunge, non-rap metal bands. They stemmed from the period from 1997 on in which bands became reductive, boring copies of Stone Temple Pilots, Candlebox, and Alice in Chains—and thus missed those bands' throwbacks to everything from the Rolling Stones to Black Sabbath. Creed, Puddle of Mudd and Nickelback were the poster boys.

Some of y'all already linked to https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Butt Rock cuz you're geniuses.
 
So much bad information in this thread...

Late 60's-70's Rock/Classic Rock:
Aerosmith
Led Zeppelin
Rolling Stones
The Who
AC/DC (also 80s)

80's Rock:
Guns N' Roses
Van Halen
Whitesnake
Ozzy

70's/80s Metal:
Black Sabbath
Judas Priest
Motorhead
Deep Purple

80's Hair "Metal"/Glam:
Poison
Motley Crue
Bon Jovi
Quiet Riot

80's Thrash Metal:
Metallica
Megadeth
Anthrax
Slayer

90's Grunge/Rock:
Nirvana
Soundgarden
Peal Jam
Stone Temple Pilots
Alice In Chains


Late 90's/Early 2000s "Butt Rock":
Staind
Nickleback
Creed
Puddle of Mudd
Seether
Hinder

etc

2000s Rock:
Foo Fighters
Queens of the Stone age
Radiohead (also 90s)
Coldplay
Audioslave
The Killers

2000's and 90's Nu Metal:
Korn
Slipknot

There is a ton of stuff I'm skipping over in the 90s like Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime, Green Day, things were exploding with different sub-genres and alternative. I also skipped a lot of Punk stuff in 70s and 80s, the whole Southern Rock genre, and countless variations of punk rock and metal.

I also left out a lot of great bands in the classics rock era like Floyd and Queen etc. But my goodness do some of you not understand butt rock. It is that late 90s early 2000s rock that sounds like the above. If you want a little genre bleed I could see Jimmy Eat World, 3 doors down, Matchbox,Blink 182, or crap like smashmouth sneaking in there as that was all happening at the same time but all of these classic rock bands that people are naming don't fit the bill at all.

Then again labels like Butt Rock and Dad Rock (very different, see 70's and 80's above) are pretty dumb to begin with.

But this misinformation makes me wonder what kind of crap GAF listens to.
 
Reagan's BR said:
So much bad information in this thread...

Late 60's-70's Rock/Classic Rock:
Aerosmith
Led Zeppelin
Rolling Stones
The Who
AC/DC (also 80s)

80's Rock:
Guns N' Roses
Van Halen
Whitesnake
Ozzy

70's/80s Metal:
Black Sabbath
Judas Priest
Motorhead
Deep Purple

80's Hair "Metal"/Glam:
Poison
Motley Crue
Bon Jovi
Quiet Riot

80's Thrash Metal:
Metallica
Megadeth
Anthrax
Slayer

90's Grunge/Rock:
Nirvana
Soundgarden
Peal Jam
Stone Temple Pilots
Alice In Chains

Late 90's/Early 2000s "Butt Rock":
Staind
Nickleback
Creed
Puddle of Mudd
Seether
Hinder

etc


There is a ton of stuff I'm skipping over in the 90s like Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime, Green Day, things were exploding with different sub-genres and alternative. I also skipped a lot of Punk stuff in 70s and 80s, the whole Southern Rock genre, and countless variations of punk rock and metal.

I also left out a lot of great bands in the classics rock era like Floyd and Queen etc. But my goodness do some of you not understand butt rock. It is that late 90s early 2000s rock that sounds like the above. If you want a little genre bleed I could see Jimmy Eat World, 3 doors down, Matchbox,Blink 182 sneaking in there as that was all happening at the same time but all of these classic rock bands that people are naming don't fit the bill at all.

Then again labels like Butt Rock and Dad Rock (very different, see 70's and 80's above) are pretty dumb to begin with.

But this misinformation makes me wonder what kind of crap GAF listens to.
Click to expand...

Fucking finally, someone who knows their shit. Thank you.
 
Teeth said:
According to this thread, butt rock is simultaneously so generic that you'd never remember it and ultra catchy poppy ear worms. Both rock that is about party anthems and crybaby emo-metal core. It's both 80s hair metal and radio friendly modern rock. It is both screeching vocals and dad rock.

It is everything.

It is meaningless.
Click to expand...
.
 
Phediuk said:
also, AC/DC, Van Halen, Aerosmith. Basically any shitty rock band from the 70s/80s that have t-shirts in Walmart.
Click to expand...

I'm seriously going to pretend I didn't just read you call Van Halen shitty. The other are great as well, but Van Halen is absolutely glorious.
 
Reagan's BR said:
So much bad information in this thread...

Late 60's-70's Rock/Classic Rock:
Aerosmith
Led Zeppelin
Rolling Stones
The Who
AC/DC (also 80s)

80's Rock:
Guns N' Roses
Van Halen
Whitesnake
Ozzy

70's/80s Metal:
Black Sabbath
Judas Priest
Motorhead
Deep Purple

80's Hair "Metal"/Glam:
Poison
Motley Crue
Bon Jovi
Quiet Riot

80's Thrash Metal:
Metallica
Megadeth
Anthrax
Slayer

90's Grunge/Rock:
Nirvana
Soundgarden
Peal Jam
Stone Temple Pilots
Alice In Chains


Late 90's/Early 2000s "Butt Rock":
Staind
Nickleback
Creed
Puddle of Mudd
Seether
Hinder

etc

2000s Rock:
Foo Fighters
Queens of the Stone age
Radiohead (also 90s)
Coldplay
Audioslave
The Killers

2000's and 90's Nu Metal:
Korn
Slipknot

There is a ton of stuff I'm skipping over in the 90s like Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime, Green Day, things were exploding with different sub-genres and alternative. I also skipped a lot of Punk stuff in 70s and 80s, the whole Southern Rock genre, and countless variations of punk rock and metal.

I also left out a lot of great bands in the classics rock era like Floyd and Queen etc. But my goodness do some of you not understand butt rock. It is that late 90s early 2000s rock that sounds like the above. If you want a little genre bleed I could see Jimmy Eat World, 3 doors down, Matchbox,Blink 182, or crap like smashmouth sneaking in there as that was all happening at the same time but all of these classic rock bands that people are naming don't fit the bill at all.

Then again labels like Butt Rock and Dad Rock (very different, see 70's and 80's above) are pretty dumb to begin with.

But this misinformation makes me wonder what kind of crap GAF listens to.
Click to expand...

This. I like you and this post.
 
Affeinvasion said:
To be really pedantic in a way that doesn't matter but I find useful (because it's frankly a useless term), butt rock doesn't actually apply to any actual bands. In my specific usage (I'm an academic, sue me) I refer to butt rock as generic rock music without lyrics used to evoke rock music without having to pay licensing fees to established bands.

If you've ever seen a random ESPN highlight reel, that is the best example of butt rock I can think of.

In video games:
(seriously though, no judgement is given here. Both of these songs are cool and Frank Klepacki is God)

This song is called "Ownage"

Some fighting game music from Dead or Alive 4

A lot of Guilty Gear stuff almost certainly would qualify too.
Click to expand...

This is what buttrock has always been to me.

The entirety of the Bruce Falconer DBZ soundtrack is also buttrock. FITE ME!!
 
The great Ryan McCaffrey once said dynasty warriors featured nothing but awful buttrock.

I have to disagree with him as dynasty warriors has some of the most memorable songs I've heard in gaming. Though you gotta cherry pick the good songs :p.
 
Jawbreaker said:
Yeah, they're cock rock.
Click to expand...

GnR is in that in-between hair metal and butt rock, like Motley Crue and later Metallica: nobody was making fun of a GnR patch on your denim jacket, but 'Appetite For Destruction was butt rock's 'Nevermind', and a lot of metal bands turned butt rock in course.

I think it was really a term for people who'd like, say, Mercyful Fate - to call Kiss fans a bunch of posers, so it should continue in the traditon of an insult from a sub-'er' culture to another.
 
I think for me the ultimate example was the Excite Truck soundtrack.

It so perfectly encapsulated the vibe of Monster Trucks.
 
Your Creed variety post grunge drivel that gets radio play and usually feature one hit wonders because they have no real talent to begin with
 
Breads said:
UD works on consensus. The consensus is always the first definition. The fifth entry has less than 10% of the upvotes of the first.
Click to expand...
The Internet is a shitty place for consensus on knowledge.
Because yeah, I grew up with hair metal=butt rock and no flood of kids on the Internet disagreeing can change that.

It pains me that nowadays Nickelback is considered butt rock. So suddely I am supposed to say "Japanese hair metal"? Bah.
 
Reagan's BR said:
So much bad information in this thread...

Late 60's-70's Rock/Classic Rock:
Aerosmith
Led Zeppelin
Rolling Stones
The Who
AC/DC (also 80s)

80's Rock:
Guns N' Roses
Van Halen
Whitesnake
Ozzy

70's/80s Metal:
Black Sabbath
Judas Priest
Motorhead
Deep Purple

80's Hair "Metal"/Glam:
Poison
Motley Crue
Bon Jovi
Quiet Riot

80's Thrash Metal:
Metallica
Megadeth
Anthrax
Slayer

90's Grunge/Rock:
Nirvana
Soundgarden
Peal Jam
Stone Temple Pilots
Alice In Chains


Late 90's/Early 2000s "Butt Rock":
Staind
Nickleback
Creed
Puddle of Mudd
Seether
Hinder

etc

2000s Rock:
Foo Fighters
Queens of the Stone age
Radiohead (also 90s)
Coldplay
Audioslave
The Killers

2000's and 90's Nu Metal:
Korn
Slipknot

There is a ton of stuff I'm skipping over in the 90s like Nine Inch Nails, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime, Green Day, things were exploding with different sub-genres and alternative. I also skipped a lot of Punk stuff in 70s and 80s, the whole Southern Rock genre, and countless variations of punk rock and metal.

I also left out a lot of great bands in the classics rock era like Floyd and Queen etc. But my goodness do some of you not understand butt rock. It is that late 90s early 2000s rock that sounds like the above. If you want a little genre bleed I could see Jimmy Eat World, 3 doors down, Matchbox,Blink 182, or crap like smashmouth sneaking in there as that was all happening at the same time but all of these classic rock bands that people are naming don't fit the bill at all.

Then again labels like Butt Rock and Dad Rock (very different, see 70's and 80's above) are pretty dumb to begin with.

But this misinformation makes me wonder what kind of crap GAF listens to.
Click to expand...

Spot on, this is as accurate an answer as OP will need in my opinion. To your last point, every single member on here will have at least one song/album/artist/band/genre that they like/listen to that at least one other person will deem "crap".
 
Shitty radio station always used to say
"Nothing but Rock!"
"...but Rock!"
"Butt Rock!"

Those really terrible songs you sing when you've had a couple beers.

Kryptonite

Third Eye Blind
 
I remember reading someone who doesn't know what the hell theyre talking about call the music on Ys: the Oath in Felghana "buttrock." On that day, I learned not to trust the musical taste of anyone who uses that term. Best OST ever.
 
Mass Effect said:
You mean people have different interpretations of what a musical label is and have different opinions on which bands classify as said label, just like virtually every other musical genre/label?

With that logic, might as well just get rid of the idea of genres for everything really.
Click to expand...

More accurately, people born in the 70s and 80 s are citing Poison, Warrant, Motley Crue, GnR, and folks born after that are citing Slipknot and Nickleback. Definitions change over time.
 
FoxSpirit said:
The Internet is a shitty place for consensus on knowledge.
Because yeah, I grew up with hair metal=butt rock and no flood of kids on the Internet disagreeing can change that.

It pains me that nowadays Nickelback is considered butt rock. So suddely I am supposed to say "Japanese hair metal"? Bah.
Click to expand...

Consensus is good for language though.

Which is what UD is about.
 
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