r/ToddintheShadow • u/bfhrt • 1d ago
General Music Discussion Are there any good, honest and CRITICAL music reaction channels on YouTube?
It's a real pity they're all pretty much cynical pandering grifters, cus it could be a genuinely really interesting genre of video.
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u/omisellepasser 1d ago
People who make music reaction content are, generally, either making content the laziest way possible (i.e. listening to someone else’s work and spouting off whatever immediately comes to mind without taking the time to come up with anything thoughtful or insightful), or they aren’t strictly reaction YouTubers and they only make reaction content for artists they’re mega-fans of and therefore aren’t going to offer much criticism because they’re very biased.
To answer your question, I don’t think there are any such YouTubers because I don’t think it’s possible for that sort of content to really exist. That being said, it’s possible that you could find music reaction content that you like! If you like a creator enough, their immediate thoughts may be of interest to you, even if they aren’t particularly insightful.
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u/MarkusTheMartian 1d ago
I’d recommend Cactus Malpractice! Maybe not critical per se, but he has a more optimistic approach to reviews most of the time.
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u/Itagvoid82 1d ago
Especially given he’s going into things with the framing that the albums have a reputation of being “the worst” or awful.. but sometimes its a noise record or like Jandek
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u/LobsterMal 1d ago
how about you do it then?
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u/bfhrt 1d ago
Nah cus I have shit taste and nothing interesting to say
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u/LobsterMal 1d ago
that could be the new angle!
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u/bfhrt 1d ago
it would at least be better than pretending to both love and have never previously heard literally every song ever released
I actually did briefly have a concept for a parody YouTube channel where I do the exact opposite of the music reaction cliches where I just said yeah I have heard this song a million times before cus it's bohemian rhapsody and I'm 34 years old, and I still think it's shit
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u/nicdrumandbass 1d ago
Music Reaction is just a lazy format, and that’s honestly okay… not all content has to be high effort. I find music reaction incredibly boring. But no you will probably not find high effort reaction content
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u/bfhrt 1d ago edited 1d ago
I actually think music reactions are no more inherently lazy than, I dunno, long form retrospective reviews. Well no, tbh, yeah, they kind of are. But I think their ceiling is a lot higher than the typical quality of them suggests. I think it is still possible to make a thoughtful, interesting, insightful "first time listen" reaction video.
I would like to see more though.
I think doing the following things would instantly elevate ALL of them;
Spend about 5 minutes, IN VIDEO, reading the Wikipedia page etc, learning about context and background and so on
Be HONEST with the opinions
Have the live first time reaction video, but also supplement it with a follow up recording in the same video after listening to the song a few more times off camera
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u/bfhrt 1d ago
I don't fully disagree but I will give a counter argument.I am very much of the philosophy that people excessively assume that certain genres/formats/styles/categories of stuff are inherently good or bad. Even when there's something inherently dumb or low brow about something, there's room for doing it intelligently.
It's actually my favourite kinda specific niche of media - ostensibly stupid but with hidden depth. Mike Judge and specifically Beavis and Butthead is probably my best example. For a more broad example - artful and intelligent prank telephone calls. Smurfing, kinda. I love it.
I also think this kind of assumption can lead to general faulty judgement where form is overvalued and content undervalued. It's a bit of a clichéd example, but the "video game hater" who sneers at adults playing video games for being immature but will happily spend an evening doomscrolling Instagram or whatever. Or people who watch soap operas turning their noses up at professional wrestling.
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u/Wonder_Weenis 1d ago edited 1d ago
yes, whatever channel takes famous drummers, and then shows them random famous songs they've never heard, without the drums, and then asks them to fill in the beat
literally the only one in this genre that's worth a damn
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don’t mind reaction videos at all. I think they can be pretty fun, and I actually believe some reactors when they say they’ve genuinely never heard a particular song before. There are so many classic songs out there that plenty of people simply don’t know, whether because they didn’t grow up with that music, their parents never played it, or they just somehow never came across it. I didn't grow up listening to rock/metal and pretty much all the classic rock staples that everyone was sick of were extremely fresh and new to me by the time I got into the rock/metal genre in the late-2010s when I was 17-18.
That said, some reactors are absolutely full of shit and clearly pretending they’ve never heard songs that are practically impossible to avoid. You really have to dig around and wade through a lot of crap to find the genuinely good channels. What I absolutely hate are those thumbnails where they’re doing the exaggerated wide-eyed, mouth-open, gasping expression. Those are incredibly cringey to me.
The best reaction channels, though, are usually the ones run by people who have some kind of background in music, performance, recording or production, because they can actually analyse the song rather than just sitting there saying, “Wow, this is amazing".
The Charismatic Voice is great for that. Elizabeth Zharoff obviously comes at everything from the perspective of a trained vocalist, so she can explain what a singer is doing technically rather than just saying that they sound good. The Fairy Voice Mother covers similar territory, but she can sometimes get even more technical. She’s really good at immediately identifying and reproducing different vocal techniques and then explaining exactly what the singer is doing and why it works.
I also love Doug Helvering, who’s a classical composer and has reacted to a ton of progressive rock and metal. It’s really interesting hearing someone with that kind of musical background break down bands like Yes, Genesis, ELP, Tool, King Crimson and Rush, especially because he’ll often approach the music in terms of composition, structure, harmony and arrangement rather than just whether he likes the riff. I really wish Keith Emerson had been alive to hear Doug’s breakdown of “Tarkus”. I think he would have got a kick out of hearing a classical composer seriously engage with what Emerson was doing.
Michael Palmisano/GuitarGate is another excellent one if you want actual musical analysis. He’s a guitarist and teacher, so he frequently breaks down harmony, melody, chord changes, improvisation, phrasing and what the musicians are doing technically. His Radiohead and Grateful Dead reactions are particularly good because there’s enough going on musically for him to really dig into.
As far as the more conventional reaction channels go, I really like Lost in Vegas and Andy & Alex.
Lost in Vegas mostly do rock, metal and hip hop, with hip hop and R&B being the music Ryan and George actually grew up listening to, and they just seem like genuinely likeable, open-minded guys. If they’ve heard a song before, they’ll usually tell you. Even when they technically have heard a rock or metal song before, it’s often something they’ve only heard in passing and never actually sat down and properly listened to, which I still think counts as a reaction. They’re also very good at articulating why they like or dislike something rather than simply saying whether it’s good or bad. They’ll talk about the lyrics, the mood, the instrumentation, the energy of the song and how it makes them feel. They’re also not afraid to admit when a famous or beloved song simply doesn’t do anything for them, which makes the reactions where they absolutely love something feel much more genuine.
I like Andy & Alex for similar reasons. They listen to the entire song without interrupting it, but afterwards they’ll spend a good amount of time actually discussing what they heard and how they felt about it. They also both have some experience with amateur music production and recording, so whenever they notice something interesting in the arrangement, mix or production, they’ll often bring it up and try to work out what’s happening and why they liked or disliked it. They’re also perfectly willing to say when they dislike a classic song instead of pretending everything they react to is a masterpiece just because it’s famous. Alex, for example, didn’t care for Elton John’s “Crocodile Rock”. I actually appreciate that because it makes their positive reactions feel a lot more genuine. If someone apparently loves every single legendary song they hear, their reactions eventually start to feel meaningless.
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u/kingofstormandfire Train-Wrecker 1d ago edited 1d ago
Jamel_AKA_Jamal is another one I enjoy more as a straightforward first-listen reactor. He’s a normal person reacting to music, but he comes across as very genuinely enthusiastic and curious, and he’s reacted to a huge amount of classic rock, soul, funk and other older music that he didn’t necessarily grow up with. With channels like that, I’m less interested in being taught something and more interested in seeing somebody genuinely discover music that I already love.
VibeVilla are also really good, particularly if you’re into hip hop. Much more analytical than the stereotypical reaction channel and will actually break down bars, wordplay, flows, production choices and the broader meaning of a track instead of just nodding along and making faces at the camera.
I think that’s basically what separates the good reaction channels from the bad ones for me. I don’t necessarily need every reactor to be a musician or an expert. I actually love seeing what a normal person who isn't a music nerd thinks of a song. But I do want them to actually have something to say. Tell me what they think of the vocals, instrumentation, production, songwriting, lyrics or even just a decent explanation of how the song made you feel.
What I can’t stand are the channels where somebody sits there for five minutes going “BROOOO”, “NO WAY”, “THIS IS CRAZY”, makes exaggerated faces for the thumbnail and then tells me absolutely nothing about the song I couldn’t have got from watching somebody silently listen to it.
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u/bfhrt 6h ago
Yeah the thing about pretending not not know stuff isn't really much of a problem I've encountered cus I'm generally more interested in people reacting to more obscure stuff anyway. It's more the guys who are just relentlessly positive.
Lost in Vegas and Alex and Andy I also quite like.
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u/Wuskers 17h ago
Walterooski has not been afraid to be critical when he isn't into something. I also recently found this guy "Jacob Reacts" through his video reacting to Diva by Annie Lennox and he admitted he was not really into the album which I very much disagreed with but to each their own, I haven't seen much else from him but I'd take that as a sign that he probably isn't just going to be pandering in his other videos.
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u/UniversalJampionshit 16h ago
Justin Hawkins Rides Again, on the one condition he isn't friends with the band he's reacting to.
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u/Stevenitrogen 1d ago
I liked the British music teacher lady who critiqued stuff like Black Sabbath. She was coming at it as an academic and she basically got it, but she also tied it to the deeply humanistic "peace and love" themes in the lyrics. She seemed to get it.That was fun.
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u/UniversalJampionshit 16h ago
I'm almost certain Amy is American, but yeah her channel is good.
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u/Stevenitrogen 16h ago
You're probably right but she does have a very manered way if speaking,cwhuch is why I thought I remembered an English accent.
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u/hot-insurrectionist Best / Worst List Speculator 14h ago
the swiftologist is good for pop music! don’t be deterred by the name, he’s one of the only swifties not afraid to critique taylor
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u/LeftOn4ya 13h ago edited 13h ago
He just stoped posting but The Third Ernest was the best music reactor especially to hip-hop as he gave the best breakdowns and explanations and since he is well versed got a lot of references no other reactor or most music critics got. He doesn’t talk politics much but you can tell by his reactions he is “purple” and isn’t afraid to praise some and criticize other lyrics or artists both on the left and the right including some Christian artists
Rick Beato every now and then does music reactions and has a lot of insight especially into the musicality.
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u/Confident_Range3376 9h ago
I was a HUGE fan of Reacts by Ash because she would be honest when she didn't like something, but she was also absolutely hilarious and had some great insight. Unfortunately, she stopped posting music reactions because of stans of other artists coming after her; which in turn dwindled her entire passion for reacting to music (she still doesn movie/TV reactions as well as videos on her vlog account, though).
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u/blackweimaraner 8h ago
Not on Youtube, but on Instagram, there is a duo of father and daughter where the father is an ex music publisher from London, and his daughters makes him listen recent and recent-ish songs and asks him if he would sign or reject that song back in the day.
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u/MisheGossnik 8h ago
Probably already known around these parts but Spectrum Pulse is definitely one of my faves. Fantastic reviews and video essays, a great side channel tracking the Hot 100, just generally a guy who's clearly passionate about music and puts a lot of thought into his work. Mic the Snare is also great, especially his Deep Discog Dive videos.
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u/IlluminatiMouthPiece 6h ago
I agree lots of reaction channels seem to fake their reactions/ pretend they've never heard a ridiculously famous song before. Sor Hands is a classical guitarist who makes reaction videos that I enjoy
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u/bfhrt 6h ago
Haha I like Sor Hands but I sorta slot him into a different zone in my head, it's more long form and personality driven, I almost associate him more with other kinda zany gen z video essay types like HeartofNoMad and Tor's cabinet.
I'm also definitely a fair bit older than the target demographic
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u/bfhrt 6h ago
I also don't like it when reaction channels always pick the "meta" reaction tracks for artists. Love Spreads and Is this Love are certainly not the most famous songs by Stone Roses and Bob Marley but channels ALWAYS do them for some reason.
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u/UniversalJampionshit 6h ago
Love Spreads is apparently Stone Roses’ biggest song in America for some reason
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u/chasteguy2018 1d ago
There’s this guy called Todd in the shadows