[untothebreach]

I see the same thing happening in metal. When I was in highschool, there were a few genres -- mostly 'thrash/speed', 'death', 'black', 'progressive' and maybe a couple more. In college I kind of got away from metal, and in my late 20's got back into it. After getting back into it, I thought "what the hell happened?!!?" There are now so many genres, I don't even know where to start. The hardcore punk of the 80's and 90's was now a legitimate "metal" genre, and every band that had even a hint of hardcore in it got "-core" added to their label. So now you have 'thrashcore' 'deathcore', and my favorite, 'metalcore'. Hardcore was originally supposed to designate a band that was a punk band that incorporated metal aspects into their songs. So it was already a mix of metal and punk, so what the hell is 'metalcore' supposed to be?? A metal band with aspects of punk, I suppose, but I still think the label sucks.

Then you have 'progressive' added to anything that isn't consistently in 4-4 time. Or the even dumber label, 'math metal'. There are even subgenres of prog now, including the dumbest sounding name ever, 'Djent,' which is supposed to be the sound that an extended range guitar makes when palm muting a low string through some shitty digital distortion.

I don't even want to get into the "post-" prefix either. The first time you see a redditor talk about the "post-hardcore progressive deathcore" band they love, you feel like shooting yourself in the face.

[makmanalp]

No offense, but your comment reminds me all too much about the elitism that surrounds music criticism. I listen to a wide range of metal. I, for one, encourage the experimentation and the cross pollination with other genres.

Who really cares whether this, for example: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry0dHtwD4TU) is metal or not? Mostly people who care more about being "fucking metal" than music. Is it such a surprise that liking a kind of music can be about more than just social capital?

Yes, as genres get more complex, genre labels also become more complex. And sometimes the defining characteristics aren't clear. So what? This isn't a bad thing. If all "prog" was the same, then it'd be boring. There'd be no point in having yet another prog band. You'd be constrained by the label into doing a certain thing. People rightly chose not to do that. A genre gets you 80% there in terms of guessing what a band sounds like, and that's okay.

[pistle]

Seriously.. that's not metal. Just because a metal band once made a song that sounded a little like something on that album (when they crossed over to general acceptance) doesn't change the objective FACT that it is a sad version of some prog rock crap from the 70's.

Javascript is not strongly typed. Nothing can change that fact.

Genres in music aren't more complex now. They are becoming more meaningless. When the new set of kids come through and don't understand the historical context and meaning to the way the same term lumped music tone and song structure together, it puts on display how much "music" IS just fashion. Metal implies a certain set of social perceptions that the listener wants to evoke, but the correlation to the music is all gone.

Maybe someone wants to wear the metal coat of armor instead of being labelled a pansy light-alt-rock fan, but that link is more the latter than the former.

So many times, the genres' names sound more like how someone wants to present themselves philosophically vs. what is actually engendered in the production of the sound being labelled. Minimal house, neurofunk, metal, death metal, etc.

And there is no point in ever having another prog band or song. Same with jam bands and songs.

[untothebreach]

I'm sorry it came off as elitism, I definitely didn't mean it as such. I listen to bands from pretty much all the genres I mention, I mainly have a problem with the labelling itself.

[bitcrusher]

You are so right about this. I think the only thing worse is that through it all, whatever band you like is NOT METAL. Only the three sub-sub-sub-genres that I like are true metal.

Bah. Get off my lawn.