So today is the last real day of my vacation. Saturday and Sunday are just the typical weekend so today is the last day I should have been working but wasn't. Since I've done a lot around the house this week, I've kinda been taking it easy today. I did take my car back to have something else fixed today, also dropped off phone books at a recycling place (when are they going to stop making phone books?), and I went out to get a couple of things in preparation for the stained glass classes I'll be doing in a month or so. Aside from that stuff, I haven't done too much and while I rarely watch TV in the day even if I'm home, I turned it on this afternoon and saw that the Fuse music channel was doing a top 20 countdown.
Now, I don't listen to a ton of music. It's not that I don't like music but I find talk radio more relaxing when I drive. In addition, there aren't any music stations I like. WMMS plays Metallica every 10 minutes, and the other stations either play the same moldy classics or some indistiguishable new bands that are currently popular. So, since I don't listen to much music in the car, every once in a while I like to watch these countdown shows to see what's popular and what's going on.
Boy, what a mind numbing experience. First, let me say that I only made it through about 10 of the top 20 videos so I can't say that my comments are based on the entirety of the countdown. Of the videos I saw, I can make a couple statements. The guys were exclusively white, exclusively under 25, and exclusively male (I know, that seems redundant but where have female singers gone?). The only exception to the under 25 limit and old sage of the group I saw was Billy Corgan with the reconstitued Smashing Pumpkins singing "Tarantula," a horrible shadow of former Pumpkins songs. At least he appears to have snagged another female bass player.
As I watched this stuff, I couldn't help but wonder what the hell has happened to music? These bands like My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, Plain White T's, etc., just have absolutely nothing going on. They all sound exactly the same. Their lyrics are inane and the musicianship is sophomoric. I was in my teens and early 20's during the hair metal 80's and I'll freely admit that the lyrics those bands wrote were not Shakespeare. But many of those bands employed truly talented musicians and, while their lyrics were dumb, at least they were FUN. Many of the bands I listen to today, bands that participate in the Warped Tour and other similarly themed concerts try to sound all angry and depressed. They try to capture the whole teen angst thing that's fueled rock for years. But in the end, these bands are so non-descript that they come off as bland and boring. Even My Chemical Romance, which tries to inject a little theater into their performance, looks more like a bad cabaret act than true angry bad boys of rock. Laugh all you want at Motley Crue but these guys were OD'ing on heroin and snorting ants with Ozzy. Somehow a lot of the guys in bands today look like they still live with their parents when not on tour.
I'm not arguing for bands to engage in stupid antisocial behavior. I'm just puzzled at the identify of rock right now. In the sixties, it was about social commentary, peace, and love (even if it was mostly about getting stoned). In the seventies, you had arena rock with super-groups and album oriented radio. It was the heyday of classic bands like Zeppelin, Rush, Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, etc. (even if it was mostly about getting drunk). The eighties had hair metal and new wave (even if it was mostly about snorting coke). The nineties had alternative and grunge (even if it was mostly about shooting heroin). Alternative is still what they call a lot of the music right now but it is not recognizable next to Pearl Jam or Stone Temple Pilots or Soundgarden.
I'm not sure what you'd call the 2000's. Maybe the Beige Period because it all seems so homogenized and bland. I know I sound like someone who is just a middle-aged crumudgeon who isn't open to new music. Of course that's true. But, I still like good music when I hear it. I thought Gorillaz did some great work in "Feel Good Inc." Gwen Stefani's first solo album had some incredibly well-produced songs and, while it's become trendy now, I love Alison Goldfrapp's music. But these are all a couple years old now. It's not that I just want to hate the younger generation's music. I'd just like to find something that you can listen to more than once. Most of the popular bands today remind me of Steven King novels. They're pleasant enough to read but they're really all the same and once you're done you're not quite sure that you didn't just waste several hours of your life.
It's too bad because I don't know what teens today will look back on when they're my age. My nephew, who plays drums, likes Rush and Pink Floyd more than the music of his generation. I can look back on my childhood and earlier adulthood and I remember some truly amazing groups who had multitudes of hit songs. That just doesn't happen anymore. That's not surprising since our culture is so disposable but it's odd to me because music was such a part of my history. I remember waiting for new Blondie or Van Halen albums. I'm secure enough to admit having Pat Benatar posters in my room but hey, at least she had several multi-platinum albums. Periods of my life in junior high and high school were defined by the music we listened to. I can't imagine that now with iPods and a singles-oriented culture. Don't get me wrong. I think digital music is one of the best developments of mdern culture but I can't help thinking my nephews are still missing out on something.
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3 comments:
Oh Don. This is why I almost never listen to the radio. (Ironically enough, today I did, probably 105.7 or something. Not even NPR.)
I think some of the mediocrity -- hell, I think one could argue that a lot of the music isn't even THAT good -- comes from this proliferation of "Do It Yourself/Everybody's A Star" madness what with YouTube and American Idol (OMG, have you ever SEEN that? Even my seven year old pointed out that those people STINK.) Oh, and there is zero talent.
Talent. Remember talent?
I'll admit being pleasantly surprised on occasion. But I think the reason I drifted back toward bluegrass and other kinds of low-impact music is that really, you can't fake it on a mandolin or a fiddle, or even an upright bass.
And truly, the bands from the 80s and some from the 90s really did have a lot of talent. The Chili Peppers were one of my favorites, along with Pearl Jam and Dave Matthews. REM has always been top of my list but they have really lost their way a little, I think. Anyway, at that time in the late 90s and early 2000 I think people were craving something more sophisticated.
The industry is in deep, deep trouble. Concerts are too expensive, and instead of buying an entire album at Borders for $17.99, you can just pick the tracks you want off of iTunes or some other online music merchant, at .99 a pop. At the moment, the recording industry and its accomplices in commercial radio have to pander to the masses to stay in business. This is why internet radio poses such a threat. It's an equalizer both for artists and labels.
I think this is why I'm such a fan of live music, and of showing my kids that, if we go to Blossom and hear the Orchestra do this Mozart piece, it's the one and only time that piece will be played just that way. The same goes for any concert experience, for that matter.
All true Mando. I view satellite and internet radio like cable TV. There are some real gems out there and it's great for exposure to things you wouldn't get to hear on terrestrial radio. But, there's an awful lot of Law & Order and Andy Griffith reruns too...
Geez, Don, when did you turn into a grumpy old man? ;)
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