Daily Doug Reaction

BaldJean wrote: progaardvark wrote: A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers! we saw the video yesterday. he was absolutely fascinated

Do any of these experts ever find fault with the music that they are reacting to? I mean even the 2 ghetto rappers on YouTube are ecstatic to listen to "My Best Friend's Girl" by the Cars!

SteveG wrote: Do any of these experts ever find fault with the music that they are reacting to? I mean even the 2 ghetto rappers on YouTube are ecstatic to listen to "My Best Friend's Girl" by the Cars!

dr wu23 wrote: 5 pages on idiotic reaction videos...? Really..?

I'd hardly call Doug's reaction videos idiotic.  I watched the one earlier on "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" and thoroughly appreciated it, and I appreciate his approach (I love A Plague)..  He has a lot more to say from a music theory perspective than the vast majority of reviews.   It made me think of some of the most negative reviews on Pawn Hearts in PA, a divisive album, and how I wish Doug could maybe help those people to hear the music from a different perspective.  I'd like to listen some of his on music I have not appreciated.  I could not do what he does, at least not now as I have more difficulty retaining information and am altogether slower, even if I tried to really study music.  I wish Doug were a member of our forum, there are many things I'd like to ask him from an epistemological and ontological perspective when it comes to music analyses,  criticism and judgments of quality especially when one does not know the intent of the artist, and I'm interested in ethical considerations when it comes to criticism.  Not knowing my music theory very well limits how I can talk about music, unfortunately, and 15 years active at this music forum has hardly made me an expert.  Watching his videos I do think I'll become more versed in theory and hopefully be able to appreciate certain music at a deeper level of understanding.  Of course one can appreciate music and find it interesting without liking it.  I like how he describes the music, which I think the best reviewers are good at (even if not going into such detail), and I love various reviewers who focus more on describing their experience with the music.

Logan wrote: I'd hardly call Doug's reaction videos idiotic.  I watched the one earlier on "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" and thoroughly appreciated it, and I appreciate his approach (I love A Plague)..  He has a lot more to say from a music theory perspective than the vast majority of reviews.   It made me think of some of the most negative reviews on Pawn Hearts in PA, a divisive album, and how I wish Doug could maybe help those people to hear the music from a different perspective.  I'd like to listen some of his on music I have not appreciated.  I could not do what he does, at least not now as I have more difficulty retaining information and am altogether slower, even if I tried to really study music.  I wish Doug were a member of our forum, there are many things I'd like to ask him from an epistemological and ontological perspective when it comes to music analyses,  criticism and judgments of quality especially when one does not know the intent of the artist, and I'm interested in ethical considerations when it comes to criticism.  Not knowing my music theory very well limits how I can talk about music, unfortunately, and 15 years active at this music forum has hardly made me an expert.  Watching his videos I do think I'll become more versed in theory and hopefully be able to appreciate certain music at a deeper level of understanding.  Of course one can appreciate music and find it interesting without liking it.  I like how he describes the music, which I think the best reviewers are good at (even if not going into such detail), and I love various reviewers who focus more on describing their experience with the music.

Catcher10 wrote: Logan wrote: I'd hardly call Doug's reaction videos idiotic.  I watched the one earlier on "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" and thoroughly appreciated it, and I appreciate his approach (I love A Plague)..  He has a lot more to say from a music theory perspective than the vast majority of reviews.   It made me think of some of the most negative reviews on Pawn Hearts in PA, a divisive album, and how I wish Doug could maybe help those people to hear the music from a different perspective.  I'd like to listen some of his on music I have not appreciated.  I could not do what he does, at least not now as I have more difficulty retaining information and am altogether slower, even if I tried to really study music.  I wish Doug were a member of our forum, there are many things I'd like to ask him from an epistemological and ontological perspective when it comes to music analyses,  criticism and judgments of quality especially when one does not know the intent of the artist, and I'm interested in ethical considerations when it comes to criticism.  Not knowing my music theory very well limits how I can talk about music, unfortunately, and 15 years active at this music forum has hardly made me an expert.  Watching his videos I do think I'll become more versed in theory and hopefully be able to appreciate certain music at a deeper level of understanding.  Of course one can appreciate music and find it interesting without liking it.  I like how he describes the music, which I think the best reviewers are good at (even if not going into such detail), and I love various reviewers who focus more on describing their experience with the music. That's what I really like about his channel. I mentioned earlier, it actually made me think again about reading music as he was doing a reaction of Tarkus while following along with a piano transcription, he did same with Firth Of Fifth. It sparked something in my brain to go back to elementary school when I played clarinet in orchestra for 3 years, trying to read music again......Will I go further to try and teach myself more, maybe... But I was starting to relate to a lot of stuff he was saying and again brought back some memories of music teachers I had in school.........I think it's cool if you can follow along and semi-read music. You are spot on as what he is doing is giving me some different perspective on what to hear for especially in the lower registers that is the meat and bones of music. And I like that he is really into lyrics and themes, for the most part he will get the jist of a pc and understand what the artist was trying to convey and then he will relate that to the music and those moments that exude emotion. The ending of Firth Of Fifth where he describes the piano ending as being the 'river of constant change' as Tony Banks plays alternating keys....

Edited by Logan - June 10 2021 at 17:11

Yeah, you have to distinguish Doug and Rick Beato's videos from other 'amateur enthusiast' kinda videos.  Doug and Rick break down the compositions and explain what makes them great.  You can plead subjectivity and claim such analysis itself is therefore futile but at any rate, such an analytical approach to the music is more interesting than merely the emotional reactions of fanboys/fangirls as they listen through.  Doug's analysis of Firth of the fifth was particularly brilliant. 

rogerthat wrote: SteveG wrote: Do any of these experts ever find fault with the music that they are reacting to? I mean even the 2 ghetto rappers on YouTube are ecstatic to listen to "My Best Friend's Girl" by the Cars! Oh, when it happens, it's probably worse than when they are gushing silly. Here's a rather weird reaction to Ocean Gypsy.  Albeit you have to blame whoever made that youtuber listen to the Bottomline performance of that song as you couldn't find a more soporific version of it.

In deference to this girl reviewer, who ever she is, she said that she like's 80s rock better than 70s rock, so that says a lot about her tastes. Or a lack there of. Apart from being a pedestrian take on "Ocean Gypsy", I've always found the song to be a bore with melodramatic lyrics, "made for" Renaissance classical overtones, and synth strings. Too typical, in my book. Perhaps if she "reviewed" something more accessible like "Carpet of The Sun" or "Northern Lights", that would have appealed to her 80s pop tastes. Or even "Trip To The Fair" with it's macabre lyrics.

Edited by SteveG - June 11 2021 at 06:08

Catcher10 wrote: The main take away from all these reactions is that the musicianship in the progressive rock genre is of a high/masterful level that I think both Doug and Rick Beato would attest to and the bulk of that being music that was created 40-50yrs ago.....the age when bands were really bands and recorded as a group.

  Hear, hear!