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|   I will be gone for a week in sunny Spain, so here's the word | Darius
May 12, 2001 7:59 AM | | So you won't be hearing from me in a while (unless you do within the next hour or so). So since I won't be around sticking up for my viewpoints for a week, let's go over a few things:
1. Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince are not guilty pleasures. They made some of the best, most original pop music of the 80s (that it was way overplayed does not change that fact).
2. Simple is not bad; it can be liberating. The Ramones barely knew how to play their instruments and their lyrics were purposely silly. But they were one of the most influential bands of the past thirty years and their primitivism was a wonderful cleansing influence on rock music -- the rock equivalent of what Descartes' "Cogito, ergo sum" did for philosophy, reduction back to rock's basic essence in order to build back up from there. The Ramones and bands like them, by breaking down rock, reinvigorated and made it possible again.
3. Rap music, for all its problems, kept music dangerous original and vibrant (and kept dangerous original and vibrant music popular) in the 80s and 90s when rock wasn't always up to the job. For that I cut the genre a lot of slack. Everybody who sent me their address for my rap comp should be receiving it shortly.
4. Progressive music does not all suck. The Yes Album, for example, kicks a$$. So does Misplaced Childhood. And Foxtrot. Don't tell anyone I said that.
5. Rave rec for the week: If you don't have them already, check out the single cd compilations "The Best of The Crystals" and "The Best of The Ronettes" for gorgeous emotionally intense pop music with that classic early Phil Spector sound. Re-discover why "Be My Baby" was Brian Wilson's favorite song of all time.
That's it for now; have a good week. |
| The Gospell According to Darius | maf
May 12, 2001 10:10 AM | | Can I get an Amen? |
| I will carry this with me always | KevB
May 12, 2001 11:28 AM | | On point 2, I agree, simple when done well is good, and the Ramones did simple better than most bands of that type for the most part, which is why I listen to their stuff every once in a while.
I would argue that Springsteen, circa 1974-75, also stripped down rock back to its essence and its roots, incorporating all the influences that made rock great (r&b, folk, soul, garage), but with greater breadth of vision and lyrical beauty, to form a quintessential American sound with much more depth, which is why his songs will have a more lasting legacy.
On point 4, thanks for the bone, and I will say the same for punk--it does not all suck. |
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