Which of your favorite bands/music would you consider "Goth" and why?

Betrothed2Death · 03-25-2006, 04:44 PM

Uhm, this is hard for me because I don't think too many of my bands are Gothic but if I had to classify some of their music as being Gothic I could perhaps give it ago...
I think that Malice Mizer and Moi Dix Mois deffinately have strong Gothic influence in their music, I think Voltaire's music - a lot of it but not all - is very Gothic sounding (I love Ex Lover's Lovers but Anniversary doesn't sound very Gothic at all) Loreena McKennitt I think has some songs that could be somewhat Gothy such as perhaps The Mummers' Dance? Manson, MCR and Evanescence have a Gothic feel to their music but I don't think their music is entirely so.. Tom Waits has a couple Gothy songs such as Russian Dance and Kommienezuspadt (I love love LOVE those songs!) I think that Bjork has some relatively Gothy stuff maybe such as Lilith.. The Mars Volta a bit... Johnny Hollow.. yeah.... Come to Daddy by Aphex Twin is pretty freaky but I dunno if I'd consider them Gothic.... The video kinda is though... Some of my Arabic music is and the song Three Voices from the game Silent Hill III VERY much so.. amazing song... I think that there are quite a few videos that are Gothic that are done by non-Gothic bands and the songs themselves weren't very Gothic at all either such as All That I've Got by The Used, Blue Orchid by The White Stripes, I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic! At The Disco, Helena by MCR, I'm So Sick by Flyleaf and some others... but then again, this is my concept of "Goth" so you all might disagree...

~Gaia<3

Circle V · 03-25-2006, 05:10 PM

Tom Waits! Aaaah! So cool!

Ahem. Faith and the Muse have a rather Gothic sound. Otherwise, the Gothic-sounding bands I listen to are, well... Goth-rock bands.

Betrothed2Death · 03-25-2006, 05:11 PM

lol I love Tom Waits

Circle V · 03-25-2006, 05:14 PM

His sound isn't very Gothic, though the imagery and themes apparent in his lyrics can be. It all depends on whether you draw a distinction between "Gothic" and "dark."

Betrothed2Death · 03-25-2006, 05:23 PM

For me, Gothic and Dark are very similar indeed. To me, being Gothic is about being Dark. And I do agree with you that most of his music isn't very Gothic but I think the two songs I mentioned above sound pretty Gothic. One more so than the other.

TheKorovaMilkbar · 03-25-2006, 06:11 PM

The Cure, anyone?

Betrothed2Death · 03-25-2006, 06:26 PM

That's funny because I wouldn't consider The Cure to be Gothic, actually. I know everyone considers them to be one of the great Gothic bands or whatever but I actually think them being closer to Emo than Goth. Forgive me, everyone, but it's just a personal opinion.

~Gaia<3

Loy · 03-25-2006, 08:15 PM

"The Cure are the Led Zeppelin of the fucked-up generation" Carlos Dengler of Interpol.

Jane13 · 03-25-2006, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Circle V

Tom Waits! Aaaah! So cool!

I bought Beautiful Maladies with my birthday money 8)

But what is it with "considering" bands goth? It's like Wolf Moon (forgive me for quoting without permission) says; you either are or you aren't. Just because a band isn't goth doesn't mean you can't listen to it, nor does listening to non-goth music make it goth because you're just so über. What bands do I listen to that I consider goth?

The Cure
The Bauhaus
Siouxie Sioux
Sisters of Mercy
and a lot more....

why do I consider them goth? Because ther ARE.

DemureDemise · 03-26-2006, 10:29 AM

The Sisters of Mercy
Switchblade Symphony

The Sisters of Mercy are goth (to me) because of the themes in their music. Switchblade Symphony....there's just something about them (to me) that makes them goth, dark and sinister.

Betrothed2Death · 03-26-2006, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jane13

I bought Beautiful Maladies with my birthday money 8)

But what is it with "considering" bands goth? It's like Wolf Moon (forgive me for quoting without permission) says; you either are or you aren't. Just because a band isn't goth doesn't mean you can't listen to it, nor does listening to non-goth music make it goth because you're just so über. What bands do I listen to that I consider goth?

The Cure
The Bauhaus
Siouxie Sioux
Sisters of Mercy
and a lot more....

why do I consider them goth? Because ther ARE.

I never said you can't listen to a band because it's not considered Goth. I was just curious as to what people considered Goth because it's kind of a subjective word. How do you know WHAT is Goth and what isn't? The definition varies from one person to the next. There is no set modern definition as to what "Goth" is which is why I asked this question. And, like I said above, I don't consider The Cure to be gothic so there we go again. YOU might, but I don't. So that's why I said, "Which do YOU consider...?"

WolfMoon · 03-26-2006, 11:16 AM

When it comes to music, I don't think it's a subjective term.

Garth Brooks wrote 'Thunder Rolls' and I don't think any of us think it's the least bit goth. It might deal with dark imagery, but that doesn't always make something goth.

Dark and goth are not interchangable labels.

Jane, no worries, babe! That's exactly what I meant and I stick by it.

<3's Jane

Beowulf · 03-26-2006, 11:31 AM

The bands I like that I consider Goth...

Sisters of Mercy

Fields of the Nephilim

The Mission

Christian Death

Bauhaus

The Cure

Type O Negative

WolfMoon · 03-26-2006, 11:39 AM

Oh, don't forget Depeche Mode!

They have like dark lyrics to some of their songs and stuff.

Wot?

DemureDemise · 03-26-2006, 12:49 PM

Wolfie said dark and stuff!

verdelay · 03-26-2006, 01:45 PM

*clutches hold of thread with both hands*

This is a more-to-the-point reiteration of my recent post on the evolution of gothic music. The conclusion we were coming to there was that 'goth' is a subjective label, and that anything 'dark' may be considered gothic. I agree with the point made above, however, that dark and gothic are not exactly freely interchangable. But I would still contend that mood, image and lyrical themes are more important than basic instrumentation or musical style.

Tom Waits - thematically, yes; instrumentation - no, not really. Nick Cave? For sure, but he'd probably punch you in the throat if you told him that to his face; Depeche Mode? Ask someone from Poland or Hungary. The Cure? Not gothic for one, gothic for another. Depends on the album or era (Let's go to bed???). The Sisters of Mercy? Quintessentially so; I don't suppose anyone thinks The Smiths are a goth band? But the lyrics are pretty morbid sometimes (!)... Dead Can Dance? Not really all that much like Christian Death are they?

Hmmm.

Perhaps, then, if you are going to use it as some kind of label (and lets face it, what else is language for?) then 'goth' is best applied as a kind of prefix or suffix: goth-rock; goth-metal; glam-goth; gothpop etc., rather than being a genre of its own?

Or perhaps you simply know it when you bloody well hear it. Labels be damned.

(thoughts? opinions? fierce rebukes???)

vy
__________________________________________________
crystal discs turn black as bronze in the sun

Betrothed2Death · 03-26-2006, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by verdelay

Perhaps, then, if you are going to use it as some kind of label (and lets face it, what else is language for?) then 'goth' is best applied as a kind of prefix or suffix: goth-rock; goth-metal; glam-goth; gothpop etc., rather than being a genre of its own?

I agree with you and I was using Gothic a label to encompass all types of Gothic music including Goth-Rock, etc. So pretty much, that's what I was getting at. I guess I should have made myself more clear, then. That's also why I think that "Goth" can be subjective: because there are so many different types of Goth. When one simply says Goth, who knows which one they are referring to. That's all I meant when I said that.
I do also agree that Dark and Gothic aren't exactly interchangeable but the line distinguishing the two is very thin and can get muddled sometimes. Perhaps, it would be better to call Tom Waits Dark than Gothic?

~Gaia<3