what matters most?
 

different people place importance on different aspects of music. thus a poll!

Lyrics. A song without good lyrics is hollow. It's like a tuxedo without a person in it. Like a bottle of water without water. Like a house without no one to call it home.
(And, so that people will identify more with my metaphor, like a poser claiming to be a goth because he looks dark.)

oops i somehow managed to post two of the same damn thing >.<

jillian i seriously love your mind.

That depends. There's some bands that have pretty silly lyrics, but are still awesome.

I must say, Cruxshadows' lyrics are by far the best I've heard in a long time though.

cruxshadows does own pretty fucking hard.

Not true. What about Bob Dylan? His harmonica skills were amateur at best.

The song could be about cleaning a toliet, but as long as the instrumentals are good, I will like it. Good lyrics are just an added bonus to fun sounding music, in my opinion.

Wouldn't the lyrics, music, and members all end up being on the same pyramid inevitably? (genre doesn't really matter as any genre can affect a young person's mind)

I mean, without the members, who else would be noodling away creating the music and lyrics. It's part of their initial vision and part of what they want to bring to the table before their time's done but I suppose that when the members leave or break-up this point becomes moot. Without the music, the lyrics wouldn't have a backbeat with which to penetrate the the deep recesses of the soul. And without lyrics, how else would identify with the members ideas? Pete Townshend, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain (yes, despite all the slag he usually gets, he was a pretty good songwriter), Brian Wilson, and Rivers Cuomo all wrote about their internal conflicts that could easily be a reflection of the listener's who internal conflicts.

i know some people who judge a band solely on the political opinions and so forth of the band members. its really annoying.

You should tell them not every band has to be a U2 or Clash clone. Some can be quite enjoyable without having political affiliations.

or i could beat them to death with an ipod.

That works too.

Good and creative lyrics matter a whole lot, but it absolutely needs music to go with it. I think that one depends on the other. But, heres the thing. I personally think that even if you write the coolest lyrics in the world it would sound lame without music, whereas you can write a cool song and play it without lyrics (an instrumental) and that can sound amazing.

lyrics without music are just poems.

I'm a music guy myself. That's what I notice first, and that's what makes or breaks a band for me. Most of the time either I can't comprehend what the lyrics are, or don't understand what they're about.

In a band, all the individual members adds a bit of themselves in the music. How would Nevermind have been without Grohl? The Beatles without Paul McCartney? Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band without Bruce Springsteen?

Not very good. Or possibly better. But different. Different at least.

Krist Novoselic didn't contribute as much to Nirvana's music as Cobain, or even Grohl, and where's he without them? In politics. *shrugs*
We all know how Grohl have been doing.

Creativity is what makes music great. Creativity and luck.
Putting together a band without creative members would make a short-lived band. But this discussion should probably just be dealing with the everlong debate whether the music or the lyrics are the most important aspect of mu .. erm, songs.

As I can enjoy songs where I don't even know what language they speak in, I'll say the music is the most important. Yup.

I can't decide.
There's songs with awful lyrics that I listen to for the guitar.
And songs with awful music that I listen to for the lyrics.

It depends on my mood, but it's usually music.

Christian Death's "Romeo's Distress" did that for me. The lyrics are blah, but the music itself is just great. While simple it really packs a punch.

This question is impossible to answer.

I like a band called Pluxus. They haven't got a singer, and no lyrics, just music... and I totally love TSOM to death, but they would be nothing without the charismatic profile of Andrew Eldritch, who (more or less) IS The Sisters Of Mercy, and his wonderful lyrics. Both these bands are on opposite sides of the genre-list too...

So... no answer.

To me is the music . I usually prefer that the guys/girls simply shut the **** up , unless they are clever enough to make something new about songwriting . But to write some lyrics just to fill empty spaces irritates me , I'm thinking on bands like Camel which had to write lyrics because some clever guy was the opinion people need to hear lyrics to buy an album...

Awww , no , wait , now I'm thinking on Joy Division , with those amazing lyrics ... Forget it , I can't give you answers ... It depends on the band , on the quality of every part , lyrics or music , which is better ... Arrrg!! I don't know , same as Methadrine , what a question is this btw? ...

I cannot love something if it has a dreadful tune. I can enjoy and appreciate the lyrics, but I won't get any joy out of listening to it.

I only listen to bands with good lyrics becuase, I want to emotionally be able to connect to what the band/artist is saying. But then again, music also matters alot too, I think both lyrics and music are important.

Well what if the lyrics are great and the music is great, but doesn't go hand in hand with each other? Also, lyrics don't have to be entirely awesome. The human voice is also an instrument of music. There's been some bands who's singers don't even speak in a language. They just make noises with their mouths.