Which artists do you just not get?

Great thread.

I don't get:

Dave Matthews
Phish
Lyle Lovett

And I'm a hardcore Deadhead, someone who's "supposed" to like all three of the above. Yes, the Dead I got. Big time, but not really before I saw them live (Colt Park, 1975). Someone above noted the distinction between the live Dead and the studio Dead. Not even close to being the same band. I always assumed that they did the studio stuff to keep the mainstream world and record industry happy and the concert promoters (other than Bill Graham) fed with pr fodder. I have about 50 Dead recordings in one form or another, but haven't listed to a studio recording in years. To me, the Dead have ALWAYS been a band to listen to live or not at all. With the new Dicks Picks (since no. 17 I think) coming out in HDCD, it's a whole new world from 6th, 7th or 8th generation cassettes.

IMHO, most people who either don't get the Dead or don't like the Dead, when pressed, seem to be most turned off by the Deadhead "culture," and know very little about--or worse have never heard--the music. I've turned a few friends from detractors to fans when I dragged them to a show. And it didn't even require drugs!

Dcwinton, how can you like the Dead and not like Phish? The first time I heard Phish I thought someone had cloned Jerry's DNA.

I know. Strange. But I find them very gimmicky and a bit too clever for what I think their level of talent can handle. Sort of like Foreigner trying to play Pink Floyd or Steely Dan. I wish I did like 'em, because it would make my social life easier, and my family life too as I turned my four nephews into Deadheads and they all became Phish and Dave Matthews fanatics. My loss I'm quite certain, but there's no accounting for taste.

For me, the difference is the songs.

Snora Jones