History FranchiseOriginalSin / Music

* Music/{{Gorillaz}} as a project has always had multiple collaborators, with some of their most beloved songs featuring a guest artist. ''Music/DemonDaysAlbum'', which is often considered their golden age, has a total of five guest artists, while ''Music/PlasticBeach'' got ten, which was a plot point in that phase's lore. That said, the focus was always on [[VirtualCelebrity the band itself]], with extensive lore and character work. This led to a popular criticism of ''Music/{{Humanz}}'', where it felt like the guest artists [[SpotlightStealingSquad outshined the band]] to the point where 2D's voice was only in a select few spots. This in turn made fans feel like the album was a collaborative work using the Gorillaz name rather than an actual Gorillaz album. It was [[AuthorsSavingThrow addressed]] when "Sleeping Powder" was released during the phase, which was a song directly by and about 2D in-universe. ''Music/TheNowNow'' also only had two guest artists as a response to the criticism. Additionally, both ''The Now Now'' and ''Song Machine'' go back to focusing more on the band as characters.

** It's worth noting, however, that going back further to when the genre was an offshoot of the UsefulNotes/WashingtonDC HardcorePunk scene shows what is very much an aversion of this trope, as the much more introverted introspective lyricism was meant as a ''reaction'' against the sexist attitudes common in hardcore punk circles at the time, something which may surprise the genre's more serious detractors who are largely only familiar with what came out in the 2000s.

** His later albums were often criticised for his tendency towards the syrupy and the angry. These elements were always in place, but were kept balanced out with accessible music, largely due to others around him (such as his brothers in The Jacksons and producer Quincy Jones). By the time of ''Music/{{Dangerous|Album}}'', Jackson had total control over his music and the elements described became much more prevalent. While it and its follow-ups ''Music/HistoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI'' and ''Music/{{Invincible}}'' were very popular at the time, they are often seen nowadays in lesser terms than ''Music/OffTheWall'', ''Music/{{Thriller}}'' and ''Music/{{Bad}}''.

** Music/{{Nirvana}}'s ''Music/{{Nevermind}}'', the [[GenreTurningPoint landmark album]] that catapulted grunge into the spotlight, came to be known as much for its {{epic riff}}s and (by grunge standards) fairly polished and commercial sound as it was for its DarkerAndEdgier lyrics and subject matter. Music/KurtCobain himself developed [[CreatorBacklash very conflicted feelings]] towards ''Nevermind'', particularly the lead single (and the band's SignatureSong) "Smells Like Teen Spirit", largely for this reason, and Nirvana's follow-up album ''Music/InUtero'' (which, notably, [[BrokenBase a large contingent of fans]] sees as Nirvana's ''true'' masterpiece) quite deliberately had a more abrasive, less mainstream sound in an attempt to turn off what Cobain saw as the band's MisaimedFandom. Even as early as 1997, before PostGrunge had fully emerged as the dominant brand of American rock, music critic Chuck Eddy had [[https://books.google.com/books?id=aDnuT65VRzYC&pg=PA239&lpg=PA239&dq=here+comes+the+part+of+the+song+where+we+have+a+tantrum&source=bl&ots=I5xLAeQFrz&sig=VwNDAAqp_KxgqAaN91EwXynTFyA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG3dWqgZbKAhUOyWMKHb7cDA4Q6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=here%20comes%20the%20part%20of%20the%20song%20where%20we%20have%20a%20tantrum&f=false noted]] that Nirvana pioneered its most overdone tropes.

** Nirvana's contemporaries Music/PearlJam and Music/{{Soundgarden}} also played a heavy role in popularizing the most derided tropes of post-grunge, such as recycled ClassicRock riffs, {{Wangst}}y lyrics, and especially {{yarling}} (post-grunge vocalists from [[Music/{{Creed}} Scott Stapp]] to [[Music/{{Nickelback}} Chad Kroeger]] were heavily influenced by Eddie Vedder's style of singing). Even at the time, Pearl Jam's debut album ''Music/{{Ten|PearlJamAlbum}}'' attracted some HypeBacklash from Seattle grunge purists, with Cobain calling them {{sellout}}s and Vedder himself expressing [[CreatorBacklash disappointment]] over the production, though their continued experimentation on ''Vs.'' and ''Vitalogy'', as well as [[ScrewTheMoneyIHaveRules their fight with Ticketmaster]], eventually won Cobain and many other critics over.

* EmoMusic is frequently criticised for angry, sexist lyricism that frequently spills over into glorifying downright disturbing views towards women. This arguably dates back to what is arguably the TropeCodifier for the genre, Music/{{Weezer}}’s critically-acclaimed ''Music/{{Pinkerton}}'', which has lyrics that frequently engage in stalking, oriental fetishism, or downright manipulative, possessive behaviour. The main distinction is that while ''Pinkerton'' largely comes across as pathetic and disturbing, it’s on ''purpose'', with enough moments of self-awareness and humor to make it clear that they knew the sentiments contained within the album weren’t remotely healthy -- something that many of the bands that followed in their footsteps seemed to lack.

** His later albums were often criticised for his tendency towards the syrupy and the angry. These elements were always in place, but were kept balanced out with accessible music, largely due to others around him (such as his brothers in The Jacksons and producer Quincy Jones). By the time of ''Music/{{Dangerous}}'', Jackson had total control over his music and the elements described became much more prevalent. While it and its follow-ups ''Music/HistoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI'' and ''Music/{{Invincible}}'' were very popular at the time, they are often seen nowadays in lesser terms than ''Music/OffTheWall'', ''Music/{{Thriller}}'' and ''Music/{{Bad}}''.

* Music/{{Gorillaz}} as a project has always had multiple collaborators, with some of their most beloved songs featuring a guest artist. ''Music/DemonDays'', which is often considered their golden age, has a total of five guest artists, while ''Music/PlasticBeach'' got ten, which was a plot point in that phase's lore. That said, the focus was always on [[VirtualCelebrity the band itself]], with extensive lore and character work. This led to a popular criticism of ''Music/{{Humanz}}'', where it felt like the guest artists [[SpotlightStealingSquad outshined the band]] to the point where 2D's voice was only in a select few spots. This in turn made fans feel like the album was a collaborative work using the Gorillaz name rather than an actual Gorillaz album. It was [[AuthorsSavingThrow addressed]] when "Sleeping Powder" was released during the phase, which was a song directly by and about 2D in-universe. ''Music/TheNowNow'' also only had two guest artists as a response to the criticism. Additionally, both ''The Now Now'' and ''Song Machine'' go back to focusing more on the band as characters.

** The majority of things critics complain about in his post-overdose work were present from 1997-2002, such as: his immature and ClassClown-to-{{Wangst}}y MoodSwinger personality, his whiny [[NerdyNasalness nasal voice]], his wobbly and pitchy singing, his excessive use of TakeThatCritics and AccentuateTheNegative, his self-obsessed subject matter, his stale pop culture references, his PeripheryHatedom for TeenPop or commercial hip-hop genres that he shouldn't care about anyway, being [[DawsonCasting a grown adult with kids rapping about subject matter from the perspective of a child]], his production being either highly commercial or overly eccentric, {{Glurge}}y pop choruses, kitchy samples, Dad-rock, overworked lyrics concentrating on [[TechnicianVersusPerformer technical fireworks over musicality]], songs that aren't really about anything except chaining together gross punchlines and complex rhyming, his use of [[ActingForTwo silly voices and accents]], his heavy use of the BottomOfTheBarrelJoke, and his use of celebrity namedropping and homophobic and misogynistic slurs as VulgarHumor. The most significant changes in his musical style since his time as a critical darling and his time as a critical pariah is that he [[HurricaneOfPuns began using much heavier wordplay]] and his rapping sped up a lot. What has changed is the cultural context around him -- in the early 2000s, he was the biggest celebrity in the culture, had a much more unstable personality, and was seen as a dangerous ''event''. Now that he's just one of several major white rappers, a sober father of grownup children, and decades have passed without him ever [[AntiRoleModel brainwashing the youth of America into killing people]], he doesn't seem as scary. An entire [[FollowTheLeader subgenre of hip-hop based around aping him]] and doing everything as annoying as possible in his style but without Eminem's quality musicianship to make up for it has also forced negative re-evaluation.

** Music/LLCoolJ's ''Bigger and Deffer'', particularly the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NEUX-HYRtUA "I Need Love"]], inflicting the rap ballad on the world. While "I Need Love" was a great song, few rappers have been able to do the rap ballad half as well as LL Cool J, instead producing [[SweetnessAversion sappy and treacly songs that at best aren't what their core audience are here for]], and at worst are [[MoneyDearBoy grossly commercial at the expense of the actual music]], especially when trying to mix rap and R&B was just GenreAdultery.