"These are arguably the two best bands in history..."
Ooookay.
But are they though? Really? Bit unlikely. (I mean, come on, in all of human history, these two grunge metal bands from the late 90s / early 00s - their songs are the best ever?) Ehhhhhh no. The very fact that I'm indifferent to them does suggest you might be overstating your case somewhat...
You think they're the best? Good for you - they do have strong compositions, decent lyrics, and evocative themes. But I don't have to think they're the best. And the fact that you - wholly un-ironically - tried to convince me they were the best thing in all of Human Musical History To Ever Exist isn't something I can take seriously.
You are welcome to love any band you love - just as I am. But please don't try to lecture me on why a band you like is the best in all of humanity's rather long and varied history of musical expression. (Come on - arrogant much?) I will get snarky, or laugh, or be rude, or all three. If our positions were reversed I would expect no less from you. You wouldn't agree with me if I said two artists were the best ever in their field from the entirety of history - especially if those artists were very similar thematically and had come to light in the same decade of the same century. At that point it smacks not of artistic perfection but of personal preference. Which is fine. But I am not obliged to buy into your preference.
And you will leave in a snit, slamming every door you can find, and I will shrug and curl up with the chittens. Because who needs that sort of drama over a difference of opinion about a song or a band? Not me. And I don't understand why you're so keen to be invested in it. Does my apparent lack of detailed Scene Music Appreciation offend you?
Music isn't a thing you get to be right about. It's an art form and mode of expression to appreciate on an individual level. I don't police your music - don't lecture me on mine.
I went to Uni and there I've had plenty of boys boor the hell out of me, banging on about how they have a grander appreciation of music than I do. (That was a fuck ton of lectures I never asked for but put up with because I didn't know any better.) Thing is, I'm not 19 any more. I don't need to listen to a lecture disguised as a chat-up line. I don't need to even listen to any opinion on something so diverse and culturally and historically fluctuating as music, let alone agree someone's right. Want to know why? Because there is no universal law of music that says your opinion is correct - any more than mine is in disagreeing.
Yes, there are scientific and mathematical elements to music, but it's an art. The most perfect piece within its genre will be appreciated by some and not by others. People are allowed to appreciate the music they appreciate. It's not objective. There is not a Enshrined Statute of Musical Taste.
Oh no! I like Stabbing Westward as apposed to Tool (when they both sound very similar). Foolish me! Stabbing Westward was but a poor Grunge/NIN/Tool knockoff who were late to the party...
.... And? So what?
I don't care who Stabbing Westward vibed from or ripped off. Don't care who came before or after them - why do I need to? I like their music; why does it have to be more complicated than that?
I understand you're passionate about music and that's commendable. But is storming away and telling me to fuck off the most grown up reaction to not convincing me of your apparently ironclad argument?
I've told you that I don't care about music in the same way you do. I don't care if one band was legit or came first or was better. I care what I like listening to. I don't care about genre or definition of style or who did what when. I care about what I want on my playlist. I can't be arsed to be schooled by a music snob about why one band I haven't heard is so much better than one I already like. You're not going to argue me out of my musical preferences unless pressing play drop-kicks a kitten.
Here's an idea: instead of telling me off because my taste in music is apparently poor and derivative, why not say 'Oh - you like Z! Have you heard of X or Y? They were around a bit earlier but have a similar sound - I think you'd like them...'
Just a suggestion.