Posted on 10/31/2014 11:49:08 PM PDT by This Just In
MUSIC | U2 pans for wisdom in Songs of Innocence
There is only one thing worse than being talked about, says a character in Oscar Wildes The Picture of Dorian Gray, and that is not being talked about.
The Irish rockers U2 and their partners at Apple tested that idea by placing free copies of U2s latest album, Songs of Innocence (Island), in the accounts of iTunes subscribers on Sept. 9a date, coincidentally, that also marked the 124th birthday of Colonel Harland Sanders and the 48th anniversary of Elvis Presleys debut on The Ed Sullivan Show.
(Excerpt) Read more at worldmag.com ...
He thinks Obama is peachy.
And, again, his tax views.
Most times I choose to separate music that I love from the politics of the artists that perform them.
If I didn’t do that, there would be very few artists that I could enjoy.
For whatever reason, creative people tend to be extremely left brained. I’m not sure why that is.
For example, one of the finest songs I’ve ever heard, a truly touching song, is “Just Breathe” by Pearl Jam.
Eddie Vedder is an utter douchebag when it comes to politics, but that is not why I like the song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0mhrqfeFjQ
Perhaps one of the very best songs I’ve ever heard in all my life.
“..over-saturated with sanitized music.”
I was reading an article where the guy was lamenting that the kids of today aren’t rebelling against anything. They all have their noses in their i-pods, and protected by mommy and daddy.
I didn’t agree completly - but the outward expression of teenage angst was really captured in the sixties and seventies I think more than anytime else. And a lot of those epic artists tapped into that.
But - I think the big thing is that an artist can’t make money with an “album” anymore. Heck - a lot of those long lasting hits were just a “one-hit-wonder” on a 45. To make money you have to tour - which is really tough for a new band.
I bet someone, when they first started thinking of i-tunes and cheap song sharing, figured it would be an explosion of musical talent. In some ways I suppose it is - but I’m guessing it is pretty hard to sort through all the crap to find the gems. Back in the day, the radio listeners, DJ’s and record companys did that for us. “Dude - I played that new song on my show last night and my phones lit up!”
“...from the inception, was a band that had a flaming peacock with a bullhorn, a saltbox to stand on, and empty ideas.”
I hate to break this to you, but you just described the average rock/pop band.
“I find it funny,that everybody who rushed to put that latest release of music on YouTube, had their posting MUTED, according to YT copyright policies.”
Oh, you mean GOOGLE’s youtube? Google, the multinational corporation that is in direct competition with APPLE?
I find it funny that you failed to do the math in your correlation between the two.
Trust me when I say I understand. I come from a multi-generational family of artists in the professional film and music industry...on both sides of the family.
Absoutely agree.
A great disservice has been done to generations of young people for many decades now.
Somehow, those who are free raised those who desire to be shackled and to shackle others.
I pretty much listen to International music now, there’s a great world of music out there beyond the Anglosphere. I find I actually enjoy music when I don’t understand they lyrics.
You are forgiven, Phil Lynott, one of the greatest frontmen ever.
The bands never made money on albums; that was all the record company’s, unless the bands got to own their own catalog and then they got the royalties. It was always about touring, and even then the bands got ripped off unless they had managers like Peter Grant, who insisted on 90/10 splits of gross revenue in the band’s favor.
Touring has always been a major part of an artists income. You have to promote your music. Steely Dan was the exception, but musicians have to hit the road and promote their album, besides the fact that we just need to perform.
Teenage angst was and is just a byproduct of what happens when families deteriorate. The music was just another way for these youths to express their frustration, confusion, and anger. Add the liberal agenda into the public education system as well as the continued slide from Judeo-Christian values in society, and there you some of the causes.
If you add to this fundamental shift in society the change in the way ppl understand economics, the role of our government, commerce/trade, or lack there of in a free society and there you have it....our current situation.
Thankfully I was raised on international music as well as country, pop, rock, jazz, and classical.
What artists are you currently listening to?
I'm convinced had XTC continued touring they could have been much more popular, they certainly put out a lot of great music.
True, but there are times in which the end game is not popularity...especially when popularity threatens creativity.
That’s music’s timeless.
A lot of Polish artists, like Kasia Kowalska, Wilki, Hey, Edyta Bartosiewicz. There’s an online Polish music station I listen to all the time. I’ve also started listening to more French music as well, since I am trying to learn the language.
I’ll have to check that out.
Have you ever listened o Gizmo (Stewart Copeland), Salif Keita, Richard Bona, or Tinariwen?
I saw Richard Bona when he was in the Pat Metheny Group, he was amazing. Guy plays bass just like Jaco.
I”m envious. I haven’t seen him perform live.
Of the artists you’ve listed, I liked Wilki and Edyta Bartosiewicz. Still have to spend more time with the music, though. Thanks.
Yes - another Thin Lizzy fan!
Gene Simmons (whose artistry consisted of makeup, platform shoes, a freakishky long tongue, and one actual hit song) sounds like a cranky old man who doesn’t like the music his kids listen to. My own father would point out that 1958-1983 featured almost no music from the supremely talented big band acts that he preferred.
On Gene Simmons challenge to name musical anythings from the last 25 years: my son would say Green Day, My Chemical Romance, No Doubt, and Smashing Pumpkins as some rock bands ... if you’re going to count Diana Ross from the earlier era then you have to count Beyonce from today (as a female diva who ditched the her original group when they were no longer of any use to her) ... if you’re going to count Madonna, then you have to count Lady Gaga (as ex-Catholic provocateur, with daddy issues and ever changing wardrobe) ... if you’re going to count MTV-created Michael Jackson, then you need to count Katy Perry (whose videos are have similar production quality, with self-deprecating humor instead of misplaced grandiosity) ... and then there a couple dozen hip-hop artists (most of whom I don’t care for although it’s hard to deny that someone like Dr. Dre is very talented, no matter what you think of the hip-hop lifestyle).
I love many of the same bands that Gene Simmons did because I grew up in that era. But it was an era with a limited number of media outlets and expensive recording technology, so the same hundred or so guitar-oriented rock bands would be on everyone’s list.
Today my son and his friends can record and mix an album in our basement and share it with a few hundred of their friends over youtube. I’m pretty sure they’re not as good as The Beatles, but I’m not at all sure he and his friends aren’t making better music than Gene Simmons did.
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