Monday, November 8, 2010
Genre: Values Porn
Pornography is defined as something with no artistic value designed to stimulate lust... so Values Porn is music with nothing to offer other than it gets the Family Values set frothy over their obsession with current, conservative mores... These are songs written to excite a group of people who live a certain lifestyle.
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Chris Brown - Yeah 3x
Fairly important: the formatting on this post goes to hell in most feeds, and it will be best read at ericonthecharts.blogspot.com
Artist:
Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
Seeing Chris Brown return makes me think about how compromised my view of him is. Since I love The Onion and I read The Onion's AVClub (which cares little for celebrity gossip, but finds humor in hubris, spectacle, and larger than life ridiculousness), I can't help but know that Chris Brown plead guilty to domestic abuse, put a backhanded apology video on YouTube, and tends to whine narcissisticly when he catches flak for hitting girls. When I hear a Chris Brown song, it's not just the song: there's a lot of backstory attached.
Putting my distaste for this guy aside, my image of him is basically informed by violence-- blood and bruises. So now that I've listened to two of his songs... why does he sound like such a pussy? “Yeah 3x” is basically the same thing as “Raise Your Glass,” but even if I think Pink's attitude is a put-on, she still sounds like she'd kick this guy's ass in front of the club. So does Adam Lambert, guyliner and all, now that I think of it. Hell, Willow Smith sounds more intense than this guy.
And when I say this is the same thing as “Raise Your Glass,” I mean it-- the chorus is “Hold your glasses up, people everywhere, now everybody put your hands in the air. Say: Yeah Yeah Yeah.” I know... pure poetry. And I was starting to worry that put your hands in the air was fading from the limelight-- we've got to thank ole' Chris for keeping that torch burning,
Among other things: Chris Brown is also a revivalist for the Non-Threatening Rap Verse Towards The End Of A Non-Threatening Pop Song, the likes of which I haven't heard since Bobby Brown contributed to the Ghostbusters 2 soundtrack. Chris Brown's entry (ending with “So DJ turn it loud, and watch me turn it up. Don't worry about it, we here to party, so Jump! Jump! Jump! Jump!”) is so moronic I'm actually getting nostalgic for almost-rhymes about Vigo, the master of evil.
I'll be shocked if this guy writes any kind of music; this amazingly bland techno pop is the kind of prefabricated non-music I always complain about, and I'm sure it was handed to him by a producer. There's not a single note sung where his voice isn't autotuned, so, after two songs with Chris Brown, I'm pretty sure he can't sing (or he would have done it by now) and I'm not sure he's demonstrated any skills or talent.
I have been told that Chris Brown is an exceptionally beautiful man... I imagine that's how he got this job. He doesn't seem to do anything: he's a pop singer who can't (or at least doesn't) sing, so I figure he's there to model and pose. That starts to put the violence in perspective, too-- all the whining and egotism from Brown in the wake of his headlines hint that this is not a comfortable guy. I wonder how great the divide is between his self image and his public image.
It probably doesn't matter-- he's got his name on a song that is one of the worst so far. A lot of the songs I've disliked have been generic retreads of techno-pop, but this one is so wimpy and lifeless it even fails at being recycled dance music. I doubt the music took longer than ten minutes to assemble, the lyrics were written by a 3rd grader, and it's sung by a computer.
Stay with the song, walk away, or run like hell:
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Willow Smith - Whip My Hair
Fairly important: the formatting on this post goes to hell in most feeds, and it will be best read at ericonthecharts.blogspot.com
I did see The Karate Kid remake (ironically set in China, and featuring no karate) and I spent the entire movie wishing I could strangle the older Smith kid. Will's son, Jaden, spends the entire movie looking smug... the kind of entitled self-worship that wafts off this little boy seems like it might be his best impression of his dad's trademark, laid back cool, but it's not a very good impression. The kid seems like a prick.
Here, it sounds like Willow is being poised to follow in her father's Nickelodeon-friendly, early career, but this “we ain't doin nuthin wrong, so don't tell me nuthin” posturing is just annoying. I didn't like it when Pink was selling it, but coming from a 10-year-old? The song feels like the Disney-run Dev2.0; music written by adults struggling to find lyrics innocuous enough for parents to purchase and rebellious enough for kids to want it. I'd say the wild and irascible act of whipping one's hair was a poor choice... but I must be wrong, because here it is in the Top 20, so somebody must be buying it.
Musically, this thing sounds... expensive. While there's no pre-fab techno beat here, every sound has been cut by diamonds and coated in platinum. This is not a quickly tossed-off product by a pop machine looking for a quick hit; Smith™ entertainment is looking to establish a brand, and they pulled out all the stops: at any second during this song, something is being echoed, pitch bent, time stretched, filtered, reverberated, doubled, or otherwise made to sparkle.
The result is nothing short of obnoxious: the music is inhuman, the voice is a prepubescent chirp, the lyrics are idiotic, and the chorus will make any adult want to punch a wall. Adults surviving this track-- we all need to listen to aging Canadian punks as soon as possible. My gift to you: grownups.
I do worry about the Smith children and the existential crisis that looms in their future-- Normally, the children of celebrities have a tough time, and the norm for child stars is... well... I guess "bleak" is the word. The Smith children are members of both camps: theses are now child stars whose famous parents are propping them up in the public eye. I'm actually hoping they don't get eaten by the Fame Monster in the next few years... no matter how cocky they seem as gradeschoolers, I don't think anyone wants to see kids crash and burn.
Artist:
Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
As a responsible adult, I feel it is my duty to make sure everyone knows about the most recent threat to the delicate youth in our community. More dangerous than marijuana, more deviant than sexting... I am referring, of course, to hair-whipping. Respectable members of society cannot walk down the street without seeing these untamed and reckless children whipping their hair around, defying the most precious rule of mature social interaction: Thou Shalt Not Whip Thy Hair.
"Stop whipping your hair back and forth, you crazy kids!" We plead in vain. They continue to whip their hair. It seems to be unstoppable; kids are whipping their hair back and forth on every sidewalk in the nation, sometimes as late as 7:00... even 8:00 at night.
Parents: talk to your children.
I keep going back to “Of course I don't listen to the radio; I'm not a fifteen year-old girl” as I work on this, and “Whip My Hair” provides a fantastic example. I guess it shouldn't be a shock-- we dwell in the Age of Bieber, and kiddie pop is a massive commodity... but it's not being marketed to me, and isn't something anyone old enough to drive should have to listen to. The endless, squeaky repetition of “I whip my hair back and forth” in the chorus is irritating enough to make The Chipmunks sound appealing in comparison.
Billboard lists her as Willow, but it wasn't until I looked down at my MP3 player that I saw that this was in fact Willow Smith-- ah! I vaguely remember hearing about this: she's Will Smith's youngest child, here to further Smith™ brand entertainment and help her family take over the world.
"Stop whipping your hair back and forth, you crazy kids!" We plead in vain. They continue to whip their hair. It seems to be unstoppable; kids are whipping their hair back and forth on every sidewalk in the nation, sometimes as late as 7:00... even 8:00 at night.
Parents: talk to your children.
I keep going back to “Of course I don't listen to the radio; I'm not a fifteen year-old girl” as I work on this, and “Whip My Hair” provides a fantastic example. I guess it shouldn't be a shock-- we dwell in the Age of Bieber, and kiddie pop is a massive commodity... but it's not being marketed to me, and isn't something anyone old enough to drive should have to listen to. The endless, squeaky repetition of “I whip my hair back and forth” in the chorus is irritating enough to make The Chipmunks sound appealing in comparison.
I did see The Karate Kid remake (ironically set in China, and featuring no karate) and I spent the entire movie wishing I could strangle the older Smith kid. Will's son, Jaden, spends the entire movie looking smug... the kind of entitled self-worship that wafts off this little boy seems like it might be his best impression of his dad's trademark, laid back cool, but it's not a very good impression. The kid seems like a prick.
Musically, this thing sounds... expensive. While there's no pre-fab techno beat here, every sound has been cut by diamonds and coated in platinum. This is not a quickly tossed-off product by a pop machine looking for a quick hit; Smith™ entertainment is looking to establish a brand, and they pulled out all the stops: at any second during this song, something is being echoed, pitch bent, time stretched, filtered, reverberated, doubled, or otherwise made to sparkle.
The result is nothing short of obnoxious: the music is inhuman, the voice is a prepubescent chirp, the lyrics are idiotic, and the chorus will make any adult want to punch a wall. Adults surviving this track-- we all need to listen to aging Canadian punks as soon as possible. My gift to you: grownups.
I do worry about the Smith children and the existential crisis that looms in their future-- Normally, the children of celebrities have a tough time, and the norm for child stars is... well... I guess "bleak" is the word. The Smith children are members of both camps: theses are now child stars whose famous parents are propping them up in the public eye. I'm actually hoping they don't get eaten by the Fame Monster in the next few years... no matter how cocky they seem as gradeschoolers, I don't think anyone wants to see kids crash and burn.
Stay with the song, walk away, or run like hell:
Genre: Kid Pop
These songs obviously weren't meant for adults. Kid Pop aims to relate squarely with a pre-high school audience and could easily be considered novelty songs.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Recalibrating
Well, the #3 spot is kind of a pain: the top of the charts is pretty static and doesn't move around much... so I'm re-picking my numbers. Originally, I just thought I'd move #3 up, but the whole system was lacking balance, so let's try #11, #33, #66, and #99. I'm hoping 11 is far enough down to be dynamic.
Since all the numbers have changed (and may change again), I'm tagging/labeling these things by their relative position. I know my nerdy engineering side is showing, but from the top of the charts down I'm calling these High (#11), HiMid (#33), LoMid (#66), and Low (#99). There-- fixed; if I have to change numbers again, at least posts will stay consistent.
...and I wanted to pick the numbers before the Billboard site updated, and with any luck Taylor Swift will be out of #11 next week. Oh please god, no Taylor Swift.
Since all the numbers have changed (and may change again), I'm tagging/labeling these things by their relative position. I know my nerdy engineering side is showing, but from the top of the charts down I'm calling these High (#11), HiMid (#33), LoMid (#66), and Low (#99). There-- fixed; if I have to change numbers again, at least posts will stay consistent.
...and I wanted to pick the numbers before the Billboard site updated, and with any luck Taylor Swift will be out of #11 next week. Oh please god, no Taylor Swift.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
T.I. - Got Your Back
Fairly important: the formatting on this post goes to hell in most feeds, and it will be best read at ericonthecharts.blogspot.com
Huh. T.I's a kiss-ass. Who woulda thought?
Maybe T.I's making up for Wiz Khalifa's casual misogyny, but I don't know if he needs to be stroking the female ego this hard-- he comes across as the hero in his own romance novel. Maybe he should re-think his promotional photos and go with something a little more book-cover Fabio... because, seriously: “We front row at fashion shows as well as sunday morning service.” He left out the part where he makes her breakfast in bed and does the dishes after.
Like the other songs this week, no one's using stock beats-- musically, this is a more thoughtful piece than something that raids the europop handbook-- but that lead synth sounds like the Casio my little sister had when she was 8. So: points for actually doing something with the music... points off for it not sounding very good.
Artist:
Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
 |
| He'll go to church with you and then visit your mom |
“Got Your Back” is somewhere between that groveling stand-up guy who proclaims “women are smarter than men” to his audience to win approval and the easy sketch comedy bit about the perfect boyfriend who loves to hang out with the lady's mother, watch Oprah, and take dance lessons together.
Maybe T.I's making up for Wiz Khalifa's casual misogyny, but I don't know if he needs to be stroking the female ego this hard-- he comes across as the hero in his own romance novel. Maybe he should re-think his promotional photos and go with something a little more book-cover Fabio... because, seriously: “We front row at fashion shows as well as sunday morning service.” He left out the part where he makes her breakfast in bed and does the dishes after.Like the other songs this week, no one's using stock beats-- musically, this is a more thoughtful piece than something that raids the europop handbook-- but that lead synth sounds like the Casio my little sister had when she was 8. So: points for actually doing something with the music... points off for it not sounding very good.
One thing that stands out over the course of this song is T.I's skill with rhythm and rhyme: this guy is clever and unconventional, stacking rhymes within and throughout lines, having the rhythmic payoff hit a beat later than you'd expect; it's my first time listening to him, but it's pretty easy to tell that this guy has some chops.
It's a little sad that this song is so damned cheesy, though. It's hard to listen to anyone pander this shamelessly.
Stay with the song, walk away, or run like hell:
Genre: Ass Kissing
Occasionally, an artist will kiss ass. Ass Kissing songs pander to, suck up to, and otherwise belittle themselves before a group or issue they desperately hope to win the favor of. This happens every time an artist writes a song about the style in which they write (such as metalheads writing metal songs about how great metal is to win the favor of the metalheads who listen to metal), but also includes any song that sucks up to a particular group.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Wiz Khalifa - Black and Yellow
Fairly important: the formatting on this post goes to hell in most feeds, and it will be best read at ericonthecharts.blogspot.com
Artist:
Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
As soon as I ask “where have all the rappers gone?” I find myself engulfed by them... so before I get into Wiz Khalifa, I'm going to ask: where have all the bands gone? I'm not just curious-- I'm praying I can evoke them the way I've evoked rappers. Here's hoping.Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
As for “Black and Yellow,” I'm discovering that my measure of these songs' worth fall into two very easy categories: separating the wheat from the chaff is as easy as determining “does this song have any personality?” That may just be my particular relationship with music, but I'm usually going to value a song that has the stamp of effort and humanity above a song that sounds perfectly engineered to end up on the charts regardless of who sings it.
And now we break from pop music to explore the dominant themes in the writings of George Orwell...
Just kidding. (but not really)
There are so many hilarious mistakes in the brag track “Black and Yellow” that it sort of demands respect for being such an individual's song. From the weirdly Christmas carol opening to the main theme (apparently, his car is black and yellow: “the niggas' scared of it, but the ho's ain't”), there isn't actually anything good about this song, but it's so humorously, badly written that it's a hell of a lot more endearing than a lot of the bad songs I've heard so far. There's no way a pop producer or media guru made this song happen.
The goofy “Jingle Bells” chorus (which also opens the song) is part of it: where Waka Flocka Flame's song was dramatically epic, Wiz Khalifa's sounds like a Christmastime commercial for bargain kitchenware. This is music that invites Dick Van Dyke down the chimney... it's even funnier in a song that is mostly one guy bragging about how sexy and dangerous he is.
MCs and rappers, more than anyone else in music (except maybe the black metal guys... but I doubt they're going to be popping up here anytime soon), represent their image in words; Wiz Khalifa doesn't come across as a particularly bright guy. For one, even if his car impresses guys and attracts women, talking endlessly about his car does nothing but make him sound like a huge douche, and his delivery doesn't exactly make him sound clever.
My favorite part of this affair is that the ridiculous Christmas chorus is, verbatim “Yeah! Ah-ah, you know what it is. Black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow,” and... while I figure that we all get the point of the song... by the end he calls us all out: “You already know what it is. If you don't, you should by now.” The constant harping on what it is keeps bringing Grandpa Simpson into my head.
Moving on, lyrics like “not a lesbian, she a freak, though” remind me of the parallels between the current hip hop and R&B scene and 80's party rock hair metal-- these are dim guys who relate to the whole world through the prism of a giant ego. Big houses and shiny cars... now bring me the women. For this song, that isn't even symbolic; the car really is the whole point, and Khalifa thinks it makes women want him and men want to be him.
Embracing the fact that this is not the way a hip with the ladies, admired by the fellas, suave, cool guy talks (I have a really nice car! You should see it!), I'll take the funny-bad music over the bland-bad any day... but outside of a good laugh, I'm not needing to hear this one again.
Please tell me this guy's not a superstar.
And now we break from pop music to explore the dominant themes in the writings of George Orwell...
 |
| Just imagine the car... |
There are so many hilarious mistakes in the brag track “Black and Yellow” that it sort of demands respect for being such an individual's song. From the weirdly Christmas carol opening to the main theme (apparently, his car is black and yellow: “the niggas' scared of it, but the ho's ain't”), there isn't actually anything good about this song, but it's so humorously, badly written that it's a hell of a lot more endearing than a lot of the bad songs I've heard so far. There's no way a pop producer or media guru made this song happen.
The goofy “Jingle Bells” chorus (which also opens the song) is part of it: where Waka Flocka Flame's song was dramatically epic, Wiz Khalifa's sounds like a Christmastime commercial for bargain kitchenware. This is music that invites Dick Van Dyke down the chimney... it's even funnier in a song that is mostly one guy bragging about how sexy and dangerous he is.
MCs and rappers, more than anyone else in music (except maybe the black metal guys... but I doubt they're going to be popping up here anytime soon), represent their image in words; Wiz Khalifa doesn't come across as a particularly bright guy. For one, even if his car impresses guys and attracts women, talking endlessly about his car does nothing but make him sound like a huge douche, and his delivery doesn't exactly make him sound clever.
My favorite part of this affair is that the ridiculous Christmas chorus is, verbatim “Yeah! Ah-ah, you know what it is. Black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow, black and yellow,” and... while I figure that we all get the point of the song... by the end he calls us all out: “You already know what it is. If you don't, you should by now.” The constant harping on what it is keeps bringing Grandpa Simpson into my head.
Moving on, lyrics like “not a lesbian, she a freak, though” remind me of the parallels between the current hip hop and R&B scene and 80's party rock hair metal-- these are dim guys who relate to the whole world through the prism of a giant ego. Big houses and shiny cars... now bring me the women. For this song, that isn't even symbolic; the car really is the whole point, and Khalifa thinks it makes women want him and men want to be him.
Embracing the fact that this is not the way a hip with the ladies, admired by the fellas, suave, cool guy talks (I have a really nice car! You should see it!), I'll take the funny-bad music over the bland-bad any day... but outside of a good laugh, I'm not needing to hear this one again.
Please tell me this guy's not a superstar.
Stay with the song, walk away, or run like hell:
Genre: Bragging
The Brag track is simple: the artist wants you to know how great he/she is. These songs crop up in more flamboyant hip hop and rock artists... you know, the big ego guys.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Waka Flocka Flame - No Hands
Fairly important: the formatting on this post goes to hell in most feeds, and it will be best read at ericonthecharts.blogspot.com
So... moving on: I've already hit this week's #17 too, but as far as I'm concerned, Cee Lo can stay in the top 20 forever (if there were any justice in this system, the zero-personality Rihanna and Usher tracks would be eating his dust). This brings us to Waka Flocka Flame: it's no surprise I don't know this guy, but man is that an awesome name. I'm not sure I could say it aloud and keep a straight face.
This was the hardest "style" category I ever tried to lock down... it's not entirely a bragging track, but it's also not all about the awesome booty; it's a little of both. So I'm going with "Impress the Girl"-- it's boastful, but it's boastful to win the hottie.
Artist:
Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
I may have to re-think my song selection process-- while #3 in the charts has a lot more flexibility from week to week than #1, it doesn't really change enough for me to get a lot of new music. Nelly held the spot two weeks in a row, so I skipped down to #4 last week and got Rihanna. Nelly's no longer #3 this week... but guess what: Rihanna is. I had to skip down to #5 to find a song I haven't already reviewed-- and that gave me another mass produced, cookie cutter techno-pop song. Seriously: I tried to write a review of "DJ Got Us Fallin in Love" by Usher, but it was like trying to review a McDonald's cheeseburger: I didn't like it, but it was too generic to inspire any kind of criticism other than “why do people buy this?” It all points to me needing to find a different number in the top 10, a little further from the traffic jam around #1... but that will be next week.Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
So... moving on: I've already hit this week's #17 too, but as far as I'm concerned, Cee Lo can stay in the top 20 forever (if there were any justice in this system, the zero-personality Rihanna and Usher tracks would be eating his dust). This brings us to Waka Flocka Flame: it's no surprise I don't know this guy, but man is that an awesome name. I'm not sure I could say it aloud and keep a straight face.
Thankfully, Waka doesn't live in the pre-fab pop wasteland that houses the godawful Usher track I narrowly avoided-- this beat wasn't pulled from the factory demo of an old Roland groovebox. There's some clever movement to the kick, and the rapid hi-hat is always bouncing around in the stereo field. I don't want to blow it out of proportion, but somebody actually worked on this beat and got creative. And the hype man's part in the beginning of the first verse is an awesome almost-synth-kick: “bow bow bow bow...”
And, hey, this answers a question I've been asking myself for a little while: I've been hearing a lot of soulless autotuned singers over funkless raver beats, but didn't there used to be rappers in this genre? Everyone on this track has better style, flow, rhythm... well, better everything, than the guys on Chris Brown's track. Lyrically, it is a club track: lots of bragging, calling out the song's guest stars, and appreciating the booty, but it's nice to hear some wordsmiths simply ply their trade. It's a nice change from the empty non-song I thought I was going to write about today.
Add N to (x), an all-vintage-synth band, has a song called “The Regent Is Dead,” which evokes a kind of swords and sorcery, epic fantasy landscape... musically, “No Hands” reminds me of that piece. I think that's both cool and sort of hilarious: the synth progressions are kind of epic. 80's fantasy movie epic. This might be the most gravitas booty's ever had. (ha!)
Overall, I think there's some pretty cool stuff in here, and it is a huge step up from a lot of what I've heard while doing this project... but I'm not ready to call myself a Waka Flocka Flame fan. I'm not calling “No Hands” a bad song; I'm thankful it broke up a rut I needed to escape, but I'm also not keeping a copy.
And, hey, this answers a question I've been asking myself for a little while: I've been hearing a lot of soulless autotuned singers over funkless raver beats, but didn't there used to be rappers in this genre? Everyone on this track has better style, flow, rhythm... well, better everything, than the guys on Chris Brown's track. Lyrically, it is a club track: lots of bragging, calling out the song's guest stars, and appreciating the booty, but it's nice to hear some wordsmiths simply ply their trade. It's a nice change from the empty non-song I thought I was going to write about today.
Add N to (x), an all-vintage-synth band, has a song called “The Regent Is Dead,” which evokes a kind of swords and sorcery, epic fantasy landscape... musically, “No Hands” reminds me of that piece. I think that's both cool and sort of hilarious: the synth progressions are kind of epic. 80's fantasy movie epic. This might be the most gravitas booty's ever had. (ha!)
Overall, I think there's some pretty cool stuff in here, and it is a huge step up from a lot of what I've heard while doing this project... but I'm not ready to call myself a Waka Flocka Flame fan. I'm not calling “No Hands” a bad song; I'm thankful it broke up a rut I needed to escape, but I'm also not keeping a copy.
Stay with the song, walk away, or run like hell:
This was the hardest "style" category I ever tried to lock down... it's not entirely a bragging track, but it's also not all about the awesome booty; it's a little of both. So I'm going with "Impress the Girl"-- it's boastful, but it's boastful to win the hottie.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Genre: Impress the Girl
I came up with this one on the fly-- it's part Brag track, and part seducer. The middle ground was undefined enough that Impress the Girl manifested in my head as all those songs where the bragging had only one goal: to get the girl.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Linkin Park - The Catalyst
Fairly important: the formatting on this post goes to hell in most feeds, and it will be best read at ericonthecharts.blogspot.com
Artist:
Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
Oh sweet Jesus. Song:
Style:
Billboard:
Week of:
Play:
Linkin. Fucking. Park. I know I claimed not to be clued in to the legacy and backstory behind these tracks, but I've known about Linkin Park for many years-- if anything, I'm surprised they're still around.
(maybe this #99 thing wasn't such a good idea after all.)
I used to use Linkin Park as an example about how fads and media hype dull anything original that crops up. Though I'm not a fan, Korn kicked off a wholly unique sound when they first came out; it's actually kind of amazing they became popular. Their impact rippled out into bands like Limp Bizkit, which shined up the nu metal thing and made it mass consumable for the frat boy crowd. But wait! We can water this trend down further!
And so Linkin Park was constructed and packaged for the crowd that just wasn't ready for something as hard (dude!) as Limp Bizkit, already a more mass-consumable Korn. A copy of a copy... and that was ten years ago.
If my first reaction was “Oh no, not these guys again,” my second though was... well, it's nice to see a band on the list. I was starting to wonder if people still listened to bands-- everything I was getting up to this point has all been a singer and a producer, and I'm much more interested in a group of musicians working and playing together. I've actually done both, and I prefer my band to my studio work. Personal preference.
Good news first: Linkin Park is no longer playing rap rock infused nu metal, so if you want to find juvie rebellion at Wal*Mart, these are no longer your guys.
Now the bad news: Nothing that starts with polka intro this long is allowed to sell us this much tortured artist angst. With the organ washes, plaintive pianos, and plinky raver synths, the tortured vocals make me think someone's been taking Reznor lessons.
The somber, self-serious vibe is more annoying when you figure out that the song doesn't actually make any sense-- it seems like it might be a kind of anti-oppression or brink of self destruction song... but it's not. I'm wondering if Linkin Park have turned into an anti-music Dadaist collective, and threw endless chanting, polka beat intros, self important rock posturing, a Creed-like "save me" coda, archaic synth stabs, and nonsense bits of purple prose into a blender as a statement against the modern music world. That would make the endless chanting of "God bless us every one" make some sort of sense.
I sort of wish that were true...
The somber, self-serious vibe is more annoying when you figure out that the song doesn't actually make any sense-- it seems like it might be a kind of anti-oppression or brink of self destruction song... but it's not. I'm wondering if Linkin Park have turned into an anti-music Dadaist collective, and threw endless chanting, polka beat intros, self important rock posturing, a Creed-like "save me" coda, archaic synth stabs, and nonsense bits of purple prose into a blender as a statement against the modern music world. That would make the endless chanting of "God bless us every one" make some sort of sense.
I sort of wish that were true...
Stay with the song, walk away, or run like hell:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)