At Least They Know.
You know, recently (by which I mean in the period encompassing the past couple of years) I have found myself consistantly disappointed in the quality of the music with which we are bombarded. God it was hard not to end that sentence with a preposition. Proper grammar just ain't worth the hassel folks. No one would have noticed if I'd ended with a preposition, just like no one noticed that I used the passive voice in that first sentence...yet another no-no for would-be effective writers. And my flow! What's up with that non-existant entity?
I digress. What I mean is, all those bands that taught me how to love music, those artists who pulled me out of my little world of tightly-harmonized, lovey-dovey fifties-sixties-seventies schlock (with the exception of Floyd and the Stones and other excellent groups from my father's time), those contemporaries who taught me that yes, there is more to life than Huey Lewis and Phil Collins, those people who could make me cry with a simple, well-placed dissonance...those people seem to be incapable of producing anything unique anymore...let alone worth listening to. Live, Collective Soul, the Matt Good Band, Counting Crows, Greenday, Moist, Metallica, Black Lab...either they've disbanded, started shitty solo projects, or lapsed into mediocrity. When was the last time Live released something worth listening to? How long has it been since Collective Soul lost their funky voice and degenerated into tech-pop bubblegum? What the hell is Matt thinking? Gone are the days of long evenings spent, lights off, stereo cranked, just listening to a great album over and over again. Hell, I didn't even bother downloading Metallica's latest effort. Why willingly subject myself to disappointment?
But what about the new bands? Those beacons of hope for tomorrow? Well, I've got two words for you: disposable crap. Heck, maybe it's catchy...infectious even...but bands like Jimmy Eat World, LostProphets, Closure and Nickleback, though their music is enjoyable, lack real substance. There's no crunch to their effort. There's no pick-you-up-and-grab-you-so-hard-you-can't-breathe sensation the way there was with Pillar of Davidson or The Unforgiven. I miss being able to pop in a new album and feel chills up and down my spine right from the VERY FIRST CHORD. It feels like it's been a long time since that happened for me.
So I was ecstatic to find that, at least, one band has not slipped into shoddy pandering to mainstream tastes. They have maintained thier unique voice, and damn it, they have forced mainstream to come to them! Their latest effort, released only a few short weeks ago, DID send shivers down my spine on the first listen, and continues to do so. They hooked me early, and they've had me landed for a long, long time. With or Without You still makes me cry, and Mysterious Ways has fit into more mix tapes that I can remember.
God Bless U2.
I digress. What I mean is, all those bands that taught me how to love music, those artists who pulled me out of my little world of tightly-harmonized, lovey-dovey fifties-sixties-seventies schlock (with the exception of Floyd and the Stones and other excellent groups from my father's time), those contemporaries who taught me that yes, there is more to life than Huey Lewis and Phil Collins, those people who could make me cry with a simple, well-placed dissonance...those people seem to be incapable of producing anything unique anymore...let alone worth listening to. Live, Collective Soul, the Matt Good Band, Counting Crows, Greenday, Moist, Metallica, Black Lab...either they've disbanded, started shitty solo projects, or lapsed into mediocrity. When was the last time Live released something worth listening to? How long has it been since Collective Soul lost their funky voice and degenerated into tech-pop bubblegum? What the hell is Matt thinking? Gone are the days of long evenings spent, lights off, stereo cranked, just listening to a great album over and over again. Hell, I didn't even bother downloading Metallica's latest effort. Why willingly subject myself to disappointment?
But what about the new bands? Those beacons of hope for tomorrow? Well, I've got two words for you: disposable crap. Heck, maybe it's catchy...infectious even...but bands like Jimmy Eat World, LostProphets, Closure and Nickleback, though their music is enjoyable, lack real substance. There's no crunch to their effort. There's no pick-you-up-and-grab-you-so-hard-you-can't-breathe sensation the way there was with Pillar of Davidson or The Unforgiven. I miss being able to pop in a new album and feel chills up and down my spine right from the VERY FIRST CHORD. It feels like it's been a long time since that happened for me.
So I was ecstatic to find that, at least, one band has not slipped into shoddy pandering to mainstream tastes. They have maintained thier unique voice, and damn it, they have forced mainstream to come to them! Their latest effort, released only a few short weeks ago, DID send shivers down my spine on the first listen, and continues to do so. They hooked me early, and they've had me landed for a long, long time. With or Without You still makes me cry, and Mysterious Ways has fit into more mix tapes that I can remember.
God Bless U2.