So I figured in the face of such a Vulgar blog I would make today a two-blog-day. I know I said tomorrow but its my blog and I am really not angry...now. I am going to do the one thing that I detest on DM's blog and that is Blog about music. Specifically music I think is great and no one else cares about. It's not my fault though, a lot of acts I like way back when are way back now and killing it. I wish bands now a days would get time to develop instead of creating 1 song album after another. Its Junk! If you need proof go to a local "Music Store" and you'll soon notice that over half of their selection is DVD's and another portion is crappy band things none the less the music has become forgotten. This also holds true for MTV and Much who play crappy reality TV shows all day long. Why Because bands now are terrible. Its really sad when these bands that make comebacks are the biggest thing happening. So with out further adue I presnt to you some music.
Remember Rage Against The Machine, well lead signer Zack has a new deal called One Day As A Lion. I think it rules and no you can't pick up any sounds in stores in Regina. Side Note RATM is also recording a new album.
Another band I enjoyed a lot is the Toadies. Their newly released album comes in the wake of a break lead singer Lewis took from his other great band the Burden Brothers.
Seven Mary Three also released an Album this year which sounds low key but really good.
I am also quite happy with my boy Lyrics Born. And the new albums from Dragonforce and Avenged Sevenfold have peaked my interest and ironically these three are the only albums on my list you'll find in Regina stores excluding anything past the last album LB had.
Before I forget I got one more for you whether it is good or bad I leave that to you either way its a little odd and strange to see Chris Cornell doing this.
Enjoy and Good Listening.
27 Return Mail:
I think that bands are as good, or bad as they have ever been. It's just easier now for bands to get marketed and get big having just one good song. People can buy their one song on itunes or whatever and don't listen or care to listen to the rest of the album. Back in the day you only really had the choice to buy the whole CD, so instead of only having one good song, the band just sucked and you didn't buy it. So blame the internet I guess.
Those albums you mentioned are great. I really like the One Day as a Lion, it's great. Also the Toadies and Seven Mary Three are good as well.
Other great recent albums
- Slipnot - All Hope is Gone
- Disturbed - Indestructible
- Nine Inch Nails - The Slip - Free from their website btw
Also check out The Whigs and Operator. Operator has a singer that sounds just like Chris Cornell.
That is a bold comment coming from you Josh. I blame people we want our music like we want food fast and cheap so unfortunately that means its no good. And actually albums sales have gone up in recent years ironically in a time when the internet was suppose to destroy the industry.
Disturbed is good, I haven't heard NIN and I hear good tings about slipnot but I have never been a fan.
Also seems how I can't get any of my CD's in here can anyone get them? I don't want to point fingers but you know who you are I've seen your resources.
You detest my music blogs? *tear*. You're always the first to comment on them and sometimes even agree. I'm a little choked up.
Also, that was my comment on DVDs taking up music stores these days during our conversation in the house on the exact same topic.
I otherwise agree. And I can't believe Josh didn't mention the new metallica. Maybe you go to jail if you mention metallica on the internet these days.
The Burden Brothers are a dandy find.
New Metallica? How can anyone have heard that yet... It isn't released until Sept 12th.
It was on the wolf last night on the world release. I think its less than good. Its OK.
Sorry DM but I never listen to the music you offer, well sometimes, a guy can only handle so much Fred. And they are usually long and boring maybe if you made them funny. Be funnier.
Also Josh I plan on listening to your offerings and work today I'll give you a review later today.
Also DM I put it together the DVD thing with the death of music. I just seen a thing where someone else said that, like Gene Simons, and I agree cause when you think about it everybody gets their music off the internet and not TV or music stores. I think Radio ratings have also gone up in recent years.
I didn't find the BB they came naturally after trying to find out what happened to the Toadies ironically they were the ones that informed me a year ago that the Toadies were playing and recording again.
Slipknot is not my thing I could do without. I am listening to Operator right now and he sounds similar to Cornell but not the same they are pretty good all around though. NIN is downloading as I type.
They're back too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25qiZy7vmqY
Yay! :P Haha.
Operation had good variety, some very Badmotorfinger Soundgarden to newer sounding nice melodic stuff. I enjoyed them so. The Whigs not so much. To much of that hey we're indie so we need to sound indie yet we wanna go big like P-Diddy. I hate that sound its a terrible kick back to terrible music rather than good like Operation. I dislike The Whigs sorry Josh.
Amber that was uncalled for besides what happened to Mark? Thats right the good vibrations of NKB where is he? Likely being better than the rest of them.
NIN is OK, its very typical NIN some of the musical stuff isn't good but would make good BKG music in movies. But it is free so why wouldn't you download it.
Downloading music is killing the recording industry like home-fucking is killing the prostitution industry.
Go riders!
The spoken words of someone who can't sell a album if NIN gave it away for him.
I think you missed the blog Brody it was about music.
M. I think music is as good as it every was. I think you are just starting to hate everything. I hate this, that band sucks, nobody knows how to drive. I think you should go see a shrink or something. Lighten up a bit. Just like many breakups - It's not the music, it's you.
And Brody... I agree. Go Riders! It goes with any post.
I miss full albums being good that's all. I did give props to Avenged, Dragonforce and Disturbed. LB is also fairly new. Actually all the bands have been around a while.
I can't believe no one posted anything about Cornell's new stuff. I thought it was a stretch not bad but not great. I can't wait for full songs.
I admit Go Riders is always a good comment just like Go Leafs is always a bad one. I'm gonna pay for that later.
Go Riders! Da-da-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding....
I think the market is just more diversified now. It's like with movies you can say all the movies being made today are awful, again a bold blanket statement, but consider that the number of movies being made each year has steadily sky-rocketed (just like the amount of music being produced).
You might not like the top 40 songs being played on the radio each week, but there's some amazing music still being produced and more variety to choose from then ever before. Bands that couldn't get noticed before now have myspace, facebook and youtube.
It's not that stores, tv, or consumers are getting tired of selling CDs or playing music videos. Now you just have more outlets for getting it, and the changes are a result of them trying to survive.
The fact that we can now control how we enjoy and purchase music makes 2008 a great time to be a music fan, and I personally think that anyone making the argument that there is no good music anymore has simply given up on looking for it.
You wouldn't go to a clothing store, try on one shirt, find out it doesn't fit, and then assume that only your old clothes were worth wearing. You search for new stuff you like!
Good that you're not completely cold to new music yet M, but you seem to evolving into a stubborn old man already, haha.
I was a stubborn old man 10 years ago and don't get me started on clothing the stuff they make for little girls now is gross.
I can't help but not like the music it seems to me that this diversity just makes certain groups cater to certain demographics and that's it, their fan base can only reach so many.
That cool sound, the indie rock sound (or timbaland for that matter right weezer) that everyone likes I feel is just inferior rock. Its an excuse for the majority of music to be crap. Like punk when it started, its an idea a revolt but its not good. It took time for punk to evolve into something people liked rather than just a culture. Everyone forgot how to have fun with it and everyone tries to cater a sound. A band like Danko Jones should be huge; a straight ahead rock band that has fun with being a rock band (I like to make the distinction of a Canadian ACDC) yet they still have to play the pump despite having like 5 records all of which are good. They don't sell large on the internet, get limited time on the radio (the stations that are forced only play them b/c they're Canadian and you won't see them in any hip urban community radio b/c there is only room for that cool indie rock sound despite it getting over produced to that point) and all their promotion is in the shows and word of mouth. At the same time you have the Jonas Brothers, why are they a big deal? B/c they cater to 13 year old girls who think they are cool, cute and have a good sense of fashion despite the fact the whole gig couldn't be more fake and all those reason have nothing to do with music. Please don't take the JB's as the definitive music in my mind I have been let down by veteran bands to, the last Foo Fighters Album (double disc) was junk, but they moved on and made a killer one this year. My point is I am sick of hearing a song and going ooo that is crap or the opposite oo that is great who is it?????? No one knows. Great example Rev Theory played here friday night I didn't go Why? B/c I don't know who they are. I learned later they play that Hell Yea song, I like that song. What else do they have??? I am likely better off not going to the show.
As for the blanket theory, I do not agree. Yes more is done but that makes 1 out of 1000 good I'd rather have my odds whittled down to 1 out of 100 being good. In other words having more crap to sift through doesn't make a gem better. It makes a lot of people waste a lot of money on things not worth it. That is what producers count on, that is why they produce songs not albums and that is why I'd say it is now crap.
I do agree if you look for it you'll find it but its a lot of looking and a lot of wasting.
That rider win was ridonkulous and I thought the season was over when Cates took that hit. um ding dong ding??? Did I do that right Josh?? Why am I doing that??
I largely agree with what your saying, but I do think the number of artists making music does make for a better atmosphere of choice. In the 60's or 70's you may have had several major rock groups dominating, whereas today you can have hundreds. Think of the benefit of having one group making music you like, or now having 10 groups each with a slighty different take on the same genre. Like movies, if you like comedies you can see a new one everyday now by going to the video store. It is work in some ways, but I guess it depends what your preference is. You can like whatever you want whether it's 1 group or 1000, but I stand by the quality still being there.
Consider that a lot of what you're saying isn't just part of the current scene either. The Jonas Brothers, like the Backstreet Boys before, and even the Beatles and Elvis before them all catered to a massively popular audience, many of which were teenage girls. I think there has to be some merit to what they're doing, because consider that millions are trying to achieve the same thing, yet somehow they broke through. No, it's not all great, but just like time has made the Beatles and Elvis legends (and rightfully so), the perception of some of these pop bands can easily change when time allows us to take note of the impact they really had.
I don't know how I got on this, I just wanted to spread the love of music. Josh I blame you.
I guess personally I want one band I love rather than a bunch of songs by different bands I can't name. Its like cheering for the riders vs I like that guy that plays in the cfl.
Yes music is more diverse, yes the people are more talented yes the relation of Elvis to the Jonas brothers is there (I would argue in favor of the beetles to take them out of that equation noted I'm not even a big fan of the beetles, also I hope no elvis lovers read this cause they'll be pissy b/c essentially your right and the Beetles fit the equation) my point still stands the game has changed with all this good stuff comes more hacks likely on a parallel ratio but it still makes for greater volume of crap and less bands get to form and hang around. These bands may have talent and may be as good as bands before but in the grand scheme of things are forgotten. It seems to me that there are no good bands and just good hit makers. That's all they care about rather than making legends out of themselves. For that matter our generation has no "Beatles" "Elvis" "Stones" "Zep" our generation will never be a musically great generation. We will be the generation of nothing significant musically.
The bottom line is that it is my opinion, I do not want to invest my time and effort in to something that is going to be terrible. Everyone has their taste and I hate where the industry is going, I see it destroying itself and I just want to enjoy these relics that still kick the shit out of any new group. I blame Josh, all you had to do is say "That Cornell stuff is interesting".
Ohh M. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to turn the world on you. I must just bring out the best (worst) in you.
Editing Luke - I concur with what you are saying.
I'm thinking that it's just the evolution of a culture, or business or whatever you want to call it. The same thing is happening in many places. Probably has something to do with the world becoming a smaller place. Now you are seeing all these bands you would never had the chance to see before. Back in the day you would never have heard of a band unless they were signed to major label. But many bands still existed, they just played locally waiting to be discovered. Now without as much effort or money, these bands can release world class albums (in recording quality, not necessarily in content), so you will be able to get much more variety. This is probably what is leading to the so-called crap bands that are out there.
So you agree there is more crap bands out there.
Back in the day people couldn't keep going with shit music like today, in fact really oddly terrible music is in demand, remember that guy from American Idol that couldn't sing at all and everyone laughed at him, even he got a record deal.
I completely agree there is a culture change and I am telling you that I think it sucks. At the end of the day our music sucks and it will never recover because of what we have done. That's how this generation of music will be perceived, the one that had it all, the talent, the technology, the money, the diversity, the means and some how we did nothing with it.
And don't confuse quantity with quality.
While on that I ask you two What are the top 5 bands of 2000? How many of these bands will go on to sell out stadiums 30 yrs after the fact Alla Stones?
I wouldn't be surprised to see Coldplay, Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, and so on, still making music 20 years from now. Whether you like them or not, they've managed to diversify and each release multiple hugely successful albums since 2000. Those aren't just one hit wonders. Coldplay's Viva La Vida is breaking album sales records and is completely unique to their previous albums, and this is their 4th!
I'm not arguing quanitity over quality, I'm saying that because there are just more artists in general the ratios have all gone up. More good and more bad. It's not longevity that makes a band great either. The whole existence of the Beatles lasted just under a decade and still they're music is popular and selling.
There are major artists in our time, some of which I named above, and the only thing seperating them from the major acts of the past is what I said before: time to take note of their impact.
You sure are racking up the comments here!
If any of those artist still want to be around they'll have to turn to producing music. None of them have dominated like bands of the past. The only band closest to us that has that kind of prestige is U2. Don't ask me how. Remember when NSYNC was killing records? Where are they now? Oasis was the biggest thing to come out of Europe Where are they?? Nickleback??? Every last one of them will be a skid mark in dirty underpants. Coldplay is the only one that has a chance and that is for time to tell. The others cater to much to specific groups in an ever changing culture. What ever they achieve in our time will be forgotten. They do not connect with an entire generation like previous acts have and it is b/c of the direct aim to sell artist to certain groups.
Now I give you the benefit of the doubt that the ratio with growth has stayed the same. However you have to consider the talent pool much like an athlete talent pool. More players doesn't make a better game, more teams doesn't make a better game in fact in most cases expansion has made a decline in the level of play needed to make it in the sport. What professional leagues battle is finding that right balance of talent vs. quality of talent. Meaning that the larger you make the league the more you let in the people with mediocre talent as you bleed the talent pool dry.
Given that you have to see that in music the talent pool is uncontrolled more so than ever. In all likely hood this has stretched the pool past its limit and the majority is now junk and the ratio bends to favor mediocrity. This is likely how it works.
Yes there is good music out there but its few and too far between. With our resources we should should be able to limit that gap and have a far better ratio. That given I will say we have much better talent creating songs but that is it. Yes we have more songs that are good to listen to and they come at breakneck speed due to this growth but at the end of the day you can only remember so much and what you remember are the bands that persevere. This is why longevity is so important and this is what we lack more than ever. The funny thing is that all the bands we have mentioned have had the chance to develop in the system. They all have like 5 years in the industry and the majority have started in the 90's as huge acts.
The first decade of 2000 is almost done and I can't see the band/group that will survive to likes of the Hip, Dave Grohl, U2, Aerosmith, ultimately only time will tell.
There will always be good music but there will always be a lot more bad music. Buying one song on the internet sucks. The fact that albums are created with the intention of making every song on it great sucks. The fact that there is too much out there to remember names sucks. The fact that it is pointless to try to remember a name b/c you know they won't have another good song sucks. The fact that music stores don't sell music and I can't get CD's I want sucks. The fact that TV only shows reality shows rather than artists or features on the artist sucks. The fact that when a band reunites is bigger than the next Jonas Brother's tour sucks. We have all this opportunity yet it all sucks. Music is killing itself. Thank god for the few bands from the 90's that still make music. And dragonforce for being so dam fast.
I meant the fact that albums are NOT created with the intention of making all the songs great sucks.
I think your falling for nostalgia. Other than personal taste, there's no proof that any groups of the past had much longevity either. Think of the Rolling Stones, sure they're still around, but people go to their concerts to hear their handful of hits. Their legends because they're still making music, but aside from 'greatest hits' albums what recent success comes to mind for them and all these other acts you mention. All bands have a limited time in the spotlight before the next best thing comes along.
Their hits still stand and still pack stadiums and still sell. Also Hits being the key word. The number of Hits they have is 9 so its not just that bringing people in. JT and Keys have 4 and 3 number ones. I can't see them selling out Taylor Field for 2 shows. Mariah Carry has 18 only surpassed by the Beatles at 20.
I think you may have said the most intelligent thing on this 3 blogs worth of comments, There's no proof that any of the groups... are good or bad. For as much as I am right you are right and we're all wrong for that matter.
Their last album was A Bigger Bang released in 2005. Surprise surprise Rolling Stone magazine praised. They have also sold more than 200 million records. A far cry form the Beatles but decent.
I don't really like the stones that much either so its not so much a sense of nostalgia.
and I think we can leave it at that because we've come back around to personal taste again. music can be as good or as bad as the listener decides, and there is no shortage of new or old acts to fill the time :)
Post a Comment