This was a question I pondered last night as Grand Wizards Of The Aryan Brotherhood Hawthorne Heights walked onto the stage at Cricket Arena. They were wearing all white, which I guess is to promote the Ohioan race? It just made me think “how cute, they wore matching rock band costumes! And it’s not even Halloween!” Oh, and when they came out, they had three guitarists, not counting the bass. And while I’m sure that talented artists could do some impressive things with three electric guitars simultaneously turned up to eleven, I didn’t hear anything of the sort last night. I mean.. seriously.. three electric guitars?? Other bands have successfully rocked out with a violin or a piano. How about two bassists? I can’t think of any band that’s ever done that, and a good bass player can do things much more interesting than just playing the root note of every chord. Or what about a rock band with a flute player? All I’m saying is that there are much more interesting ways to use a fifth member of a band than to give him another guitar. To be fair, I had a pessimistic attitude going into their set, since I only know one of their songs (“Ohio Is For Lovers”) that I don’t like (I mean, the chorus doesn’t make sense- “you know you do you kill me well, you like it too and I can tell”). Then halfway through the set, he told everyone to take out their cell phones and light the place up. After that song, he told us all to text “HH” to some number, at which point I leaned over to Garrison said “I think we’re too old to be here.” Now I can identify with senior citizens who are told that all they need to do to get medicare is to log on to this URL follow the hyperlinks to the appropriate form.
Maybe I’m getting too old to identify with songs that all the depressed and angst-filled teenagers like so much. I’m just not at a point in my life where I’m concerned with questions like “What am I going to do when I graduate?”, “Will I ever find love?”, “Why do my parents hate me?”, “Why don’t I have a cool cell phone?”, “How can I get more friends on MySpace?”, or <insert typically generic teenage moaning here>. I mean, I’m happy with my marriage, I have a good job, and being a geek isn’t a Bad Thing like it was in high school. What I’m trying to say is that I’m not really wanting or waiting on anything right now, the way I was when I was let’s say 15-to-21-ish. Not that I think I’m somehow more enlightened than any other human being. I’m really just saying my interest in music in general (and rock in particular) is on a decline because I just don’t identify with the lyrics as strongly as I used to.
So anyway, after Hawthorne Heights, The All-American Rejects came out and put on a pretty good (albeit short) set, and then Fall Out Boy played a better-than-expected show (I like their CD, but they were so terrible on SNL that I was afraid I wouldn’t like them live). But this post wasn’t about them, it was about the thoughts that were running through my head as I was watching five preppy kids from Ohio pretend to be a rock band while thousands of fifteen-year-olds screamed along and took low-res pictures with their cell phones, presumably to put them up on MySpace today.
I don’t want for anything that I don’t have, all that I want is waiting for me there
May 3, 2:47 pm
Although I don’t own any of their work, Jethro Tull’s front man was a flautist (he played a flute, for those who may be vocabulary challenged). And the Mahavishnu Orchestra (which I highly recommend) included a violinist. But those bands were popular back before I was even born; I highly doubt anyone does that kind of thing today.
I’m of the opinion that no good music has been released since 1984 (with a few exceptions, including anything by They Might Be Giants, Brian Wilson’s SMiLE, and a small handfull of other similar acts). The Buggles correctly proclaimed it: “Video killed the radio star.” Music today is so over-produced. Anymore, it seems like it’s more about how it looks than how it sounds.
I’m just glad that Amazon carries all of the old, rare stuff that I’m into. Otherwise, I might really go crazy.
May 3, 3:57 pm
“Flautist”? That’s seriously the correct word? That’s kinda funny looking.
I think I’m gonna have to go ahead and disagree with you on the whole 1984 thing.. I mean, there was overproduced before then (see KISS, or The Monkees--the original boy band!).. and most modern bands aren’t very thrilled with big record companies (see the entire indie genre).
On a side note, Everything In Transit is easily the best album I’ve listened to in the past year or two.
May 3, 5:53 pm
You make a good point; over-production has been done before (I wouldn’t consider The Monkees to be very talented at all). But nearly everything today is over-produced. What bands formed during the 1990s consistently sell out arena sized venues, a-la the 30,000 seat venues of the 60s and 70s? Where are The Who‘s, The Rolling Stones, and the Pink Floyd‘s of today? IMHO, no one seems to be making an impact on music like those guys did. No one lasts like those guys have.
I also don’t deny that record companies are evil, and I don’t mind sticking it to them. But they seem more motivated today in making money at the expense of lackluster talent than they seemed to way back when. At least as I see it, they used to care about the music in addition to the money. Now, money is all that matters.
To each his own, I guess. That album you linked to reminded me of the theme song to “The OC” (which I’ve only ever heard via a spoof on The Simpsons (Milhouse of Sand and Fog)).
To quote Brian Wilson (from what might be the greatest album of all time, Pet Sounds):
I guess I just wasn’t made for these times...
May 4, 8:50 am
I’m not sure how an absence of extremely popular super-groups indicates that music is too over-produced. But I think the internet has been largely responsible for this decentralization of the music industry. In the 1970s, they had like three national TV networks and the radio, and that was pretty much the only way to hear music unless you lived in a city big enough to have a scene. In the last seven years the music industry has changed a lot, and it can support a lot more bands and genres, on small/independent record labels. And I don’t think that’s a bad thing personally. Not to mention that the shows I’ve seen in clubs with less than a thousand people present are much more enjoyable than those in big arenas (and I think most artists prefer the small venues too).
May 5, 1:28 am
Lack of super-groups...? Seriously? Two letters. U2. If they’re not the super-group of super-groups, I don’t know who is. Maybe The Super-Group. But, last I heard, their drummer was arrested for molesting farm animals. Or maybe that other super-group, Jesus the Christ and His 12 Homies.
But seriously, “flautist” is correct. As is, “pianist.” And there has definitely been good music since 1984. And no, Metallica is not part of that list.
May 5, 9:33 am
Haha yeah I forgot about U2, but they weren’t formed during or after the 90s either. I think Eminem can still sell out big venues, and he’s been around since 1998 or so. I think Pearl Jam can still sell a lot of tickets, even though they haven’t had a big hit in a long time. There are probably a lot more than we realize (like, I think Cher of all people had a tour recently that sold out some big venues).
And it looks like “flutist” is also considered correct, which is what I would have said. :)