ScarletHawke
09-16-2004, 05:30 PM
I've said before on another thread (probably the Lyrics one) that I wasn't much into pop love ballads. That's not to bash anyone who is, though. It's just not my thing. I seem to have left that mushy ballad stuff behind once I hit college. After awhile it all sounds the same -- same tempo, same theme, even in some cases the same lyrics. Much of it bores the crap out of me, which in a way is a real shame because that means I can't listen to 99% of the stuff they put on the radio nowadays (especially those "Lite Soft Rock" stations -- *shudder!*).
That's the problem with a lot of pop music. Most of it has been put through the Corporate Studio Commercialized Ultra-Blandinator Sound Equalizer. Something supposedly "brand new" comes out, and you get a feeling of deja vu. No, you're not going crazy -- what you're hearing has been recycled to appeal to the masses.
To me, that's not what music should be. Music should be something that makes you wake up and say, "Holy sh!t! What the hell is that?!" Music should be the Holy Grail, pointing you toward something bigger than yourself. It's doing its job when it picks you up, shakes you out, uplifts, shocks, disturbs, and haunts your dreams. It should make you feel alive. Good music will probably never make it on prime time or, God forbid, an Old Navy commercial. (Is anyone else scared by those things?!)
So I suggest, if you've been listening primarily to Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, B2K, Eminem, Jessica Simpson and the Steve Miller Band, take a chance and try something a little different. Go back a decade or two and try Kate Bush, The Cure (Disintegration was their best album IMHO), Sisters of Mercy, New Order, Depeche Mode, Alice in Chains, Violent Femmes. Or try more modern stuff that doesn't always make it on the radio playlists: KMFDM (aka MDFMK; if you wanna know what that means you can PM me), Zeromancer, Stromkern, Assemblage 23, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden, Less Than Jake, Rage Against the Machine, Beborn Beton, Porn on Beta, X Marks the Pedwalk, Neurotic Fish.
Or try a musical style that you never thought you'd like. For years, I thought classical music was boring. Then I discovered baroque. Now I love Vivaldi's "Spring" and I've developed an appreciation for Bach. Also, there's a group called Mediaeval Baebes that put out some amazing choral music based on "hits" from the 12th to 16th centuries. Wonderful stuff. And if you can find it, try Stan Rogers for some of the best folk music ever.
At worst, you'll have a broader view of music in general, and education is never a bad thing. At best, you'll have expanded your horizons and maybe found something you really like that you never thought existed. :cool:
That's the problem with a lot of pop music. Most of it has been put through the Corporate Studio Commercialized Ultra-Blandinator Sound Equalizer. Something supposedly "brand new" comes out, and you get a feeling of deja vu. No, you're not going crazy -- what you're hearing has been recycled to appeal to the masses.
To me, that's not what music should be. Music should be something that makes you wake up and say, "Holy sh!t! What the hell is that?!" Music should be the Holy Grail, pointing you toward something bigger than yourself. It's doing its job when it picks you up, shakes you out, uplifts, shocks, disturbs, and haunts your dreams. It should make you feel alive. Good music will probably never make it on prime time or, God forbid, an Old Navy commercial. (Is anyone else scared by those things?!)
So I suggest, if you've been listening primarily to Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, B2K, Eminem, Jessica Simpson and the Steve Miller Band, take a chance and try something a little different. Go back a decade or two and try Kate Bush, The Cure (Disintegration was their best album IMHO), Sisters of Mercy, New Order, Depeche Mode, Alice in Chains, Violent Femmes. Or try more modern stuff that doesn't always make it on the radio playlists: KMFDM (aka MDFMK; if you wanna know what that means you can PM me), Zeromancer, Stromkern, Assemblage 23, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden, Less Than Jake, Rage Against the Machine, Beborn Beton, Porn on Beta, X Marks the Pedwalk, Neurotic Fish.
Or try a musical style that you never thought you'd like. For years, I thought classical music was boring. Then I discovered baroque. Now I love Vivaldi's "Spring" and I've developed an appreciation for Bach. Also, there's a group called Mediaeval Baebes that put out some amazing choral music based on "hits" from the 12th to 16th centuries. Wonderful stuff. And if you can find it, try Stan Rogers for some of the best folk music ever.
At worst, you'll have a broader view of music in general, and education is never a bad thing. At best, you'll have expanded your horizons and maybe found something you really like that you never thought existed. :cool: