To think The Beautiful South...

[RuudVanWrinkleBreath]

were...bloody amazing!?

AIBU to think this band might be the most underrated band in the UK...EVER!?

I have just blasted out their greatest hits whilst wrapping presents and had a nostalgic sing-along. So many wonderfully written songs, great singers too. Criminally underrated in my opinion.

AIBU?

I love them. Paul Heaton is doing a UK & Ireland tour at the moment. I have tickets to see him in Dublin in March.

I mean after Genesis obviously, they are the best band on the planet.

Yes, absolutely class.

I love A Little Time. It's my woman power tune. It's as my DD would call it "peak savage"

Rotterdam and Don't Marry Her are exceptional. I would love to see Paul Heaton.

I've loved them since I was little - I had no idea what 36D was about until I was much older!! I was fascinated by the artwork on the 0898 album. And I really like their version of Don't Fear the Reaper.

Love Deacon Blue as well.

That kind of undermines the point of a discussion board though, no?

Why can't you love the wrinkles of a woman/man you've shared a life with?

I don't rate Lennon/McCartney either, I thought I was alone.

I can't say I'm a fan of the later stuff but "Choke" is one of my absolute favourite albums ever.

they aren't one of my favourites, but they have some catchy tunes, and I admire that Paul Heaton is very invested in keeping their ticket prices low so that people can afford to go and see them and have a couple of drinks without being well off. he seems a really decent sort.

Seen Beautiful South live several times and also him on his own. I think he's a musical genius

I think Quench is a great album too

I saw them (well some of them) live a couple of years ago, with my best friend and our two little ones on a Sunday lunchtime. It was AMAZING! They sounded good and the vibe was beautiful.

Yabu! I love music, have a very wide range of favourite bands/singers/songs ... but there is not a single Beautiful South song that I can bear to listen to for one second. No exaggeration. That radio gets turned off the second I hear an opening bar. I'm almost phobic!

Paul Heaton to me is smugness personified.

I think PDH peaked with the Housemartins, I still have several Housemartins songs on playlists (though I don't hate Beautiful South or anything, all good sing alongs, and I love sail this ship alone, one of his best). Paul Heaton is a lovely guy, and still good live.

The cringe is physical

Nope not for me - twee lyrics and make me switch off.. Don't marry her is one of the most irritating songs ever!

Not rating McCartney as a songwriter is a bit like not rating Constable as a painter or not rating Navratilova as a tennis player.

Not liking McCartney as a songwriter is something a bit different, although I would hope suggests ignorance on your part rather than terrible taste. McCartney's canon is so huge and so varied and has been covered by so many artists in so many styles who have found something melodic and/or lyrical in it.

Oh dear.

?

I like The Beautiful South, but I can also see why they can be a bit chalk down a blackboard for others. I think Paul Heaton is a terrific songwriter, but not all his songs are terrific. "Every penny don't fit the slot", if you like. Prettiest Eyes makes me cry, but I can understand why some might find it overly sentimental.

I just think calling any the best band of all time or whatever is sort of reductive and childish. And...Genesis? Pompous, bombastic, overwrought, noodling early Genesis? Or wailing, leaden, lumpy, generic later Genesis? Come on!

Interesting that not many people are middle ground on this. They are highly marmitey!

Like, I hate them so much that if I hear them, I will make a point of telling everyone how awful they are. I don't do that for bands I find mildly irritating, like U2

There are some voices that sound awful to me - including all BS singers. The singer from texas. Robbie Williams. Michael Buble. The singer from the Mavericks Raul Malo
I wonder if it's a nasal and pitchy affectation thing like another poster find annoying

A bit like how some people have a strong aversion to coriander but I love it

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The debate is historic

Lennon, on the other hand.
'Imagine' is an atrocity.
'Double Fantasy' was poorly reviewed until Mark Chapman stepped in, then all of a sudden Lennon was hailed as a genius, instead of a self-confessed wife-beating smack head.

Haha. Sense of humour breakdown here?

Doesn't happen so much now does it?
I remember Spandau Ballet or Duran Duran (you couldn't like both, and I didn't like either) and long nights at teen parties arguing why The Cure were better than The Smiths (still a hill...).
And this is before that awful 1995 Blur/Oasis nonsense.

And @JustMeAndTheFish 'The Lamb...' is one of my favourite ever records, but after Peter left they just weren't the same.