| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| CPPJames |
Posted - 03/07/2003 : 11:17:05 AM
I'm just curious what everyone's take on this is. It seems to me like people that appreciate music tend to look at pop music as a bastardization of music. I definitely fall under this category more often than not. I don't like bands/"musicians" that were manufactured...it never works.
However, I feel like as soon as something hits the radio, a lot of people write it off and never listen to it again, even if they liked it previously. For instance (and I might take some heat for this), I like John Mayer. Yeah...some of his songs are kinda happy-go-lucky, and not the greatest ever written...but he has talent. I liked him before he was really mainstream, but it didn't bother me once he hit the radio. To each his own, let him do what he wants to do...I'm not gonna criticize him for it. If I were in the same position, I'd do the same thing.
I guess I'm just wondering where the *automatic* hatred of "pop" music comes from. Is it because the crowds go to hell and you feel like you're sharing "your" music with people that don't really appreciate it? Just curious if anyone has opinions on this...I know I've been guilty of it many times without really knowing why. |
| 10 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| tericee |
Posted - 03/15/2003 : 8:20:50 PM
Me too (buying music, not Metallica). But I also have a lot of respect for artists like TIM, who have both free and "retail" music available. I think it's clear that they are into getting their music out there, but they still need to make a living. |
| GuitarGuy305 |
Posted - 03/08/2003 : 01:06:56 AM
I still dig Metallica. And I was on their side and the other bands/artists sides with the whole "stealing" music on napster thing.
I maintain that if you want to hear a band/artist's new album, you should go out and buy it.
Adam |
| CPPJames |
Posted - 03/07/2003 : 8:41:47 PM
Well met, Silky. I agree with essentially everything you said. I've heard a song on the radio and thought it was actually pretty solid and then someone slammed with the fact that they didn't write it and I lost interest. While, I do not boast the musical talent you do (I make meager attempts), I can respect you being spurred by awe inspiring talent or extreme creativity.
I'll admit I got hooked on TR because of stream, yadda yadda...it inspired me to pick up an album or two. Without even getting to track #2, I realized that this man was the Einstein of the music world. In turn, this inspired me to see a show...and I was floored. I'll also admit that there are some songs that, while I respect them, I can't say I truly enjoy...they're just not my taste.
Don't know why I went on that tangent, but I spent a minute typing it so I'm not erasing it  . Anyway, I intended to get at the John Mayer topic again. Someone told me, and I haven't verified it, that he didn't write Neon, Wonderland or No Such Thing. I liked Wonderland the first time I heard it, hated it the second time...likewise with No Such Thing. Neon intrigued me because it's some solid guitar work and I was hooked on it until the aforementioned statement occurred and then I lost interest.
I also agree with PJK's thought that perhaps some bands/artists put out some poppier stuff to lure people into what's truly "them". I can respect that, at least to an extent. If I thought my album kicked ass, I'd want to get people to listen to it anyway I could. Call it selling out or what you will, I'm not concerned. I can't tell you how many times a girlfriend or some other person said "I picked up this album because of the single and it was nothing like I thought it would be." Come to think of it...I bet you're exactly right PJK.
James |
| victorwootenfan |
Posted - 03/07/2003 : 7:19:53 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Silky The Pimp
[quote]
The Guitar Trio etc
Is the paco de lucia, al dimeola, and john mclauhlin? If so, when i hear that cd of em i have, i just cream myself! It's just like opening notes of a song and then, GOO! |
| Jay |
Posted - 03/07/2003 : 5:00:49 PM
Here's my opinion on Pop:
http://www.timreynolds.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2867&SearchTerms=fun,essay |
| PJK |
Posted - 03/07/2003 : 3:42:08 PM
Some artists best work is never played on the radio. I think some songs are just better formatted for radio, or better meet the stations critera, whatever it is. Smashing Pumpkins for example, their best music was never heard on the radio. Hopefully people liked their music enough to buy the cd and then they would get to hear the rest. Ofcourse like a lot of bands their TIMe came and went and now Billy has a new band, Zwan.
I wonder if some artists create something they know will sell just to promote what they really want to get people to hear. Just a thought.
I don't really hate pop music but I tend not to listen to it because I listen to cds and rarely listen to radio. I have artists I like and there are so many of them I am never in short supply of music to fit my mood. |
| Silky The Pimp |
Posted - 03/07/2003 : 3:40:45 PM
quote:
I'm just curious what everyone's take on this is. It seems to me like people that appreciate music tend to look at pop music as a bastardization of music.
I definitely do... for several reasons, but certainly not on purpose.
I just have a hard time listening to music without being able to respect the artist, as odd as that may seem. I find it very hard to respect someone that exists in mainstream pop culture because of being "created" by a corporation for the sole purpose of making money. This is especially evident by seeing the popularity of the super gorgeous singer/dancer craze that's going on right now. Frankly, beautiful girls or good looking guys that can sing are a dime a dozen, so putting them in front of a camera with a voice coach, pre-written songs, and a choreographer does nothing for me. I absolutely cannot listen to anyone who doesn't write their own music with very few exeptions, mostly because there are so many people that could perform someone else's music. It's as though there's nothing to set that person apart from an average coffee shop performer doing covers.
The respect thing goes even farther for me as well. I know this sounds wierd, but even if the music is good, I just don't get anything out of it without respecting the artist... including those that I once loved but lost respect for. A perfect example of good music that I can't stomach is Santana's latest album. It's purely a cash cow meant to play off of the success of Supernatural, and that just totally turns me off. Same thing with Metallica... I can't listen to them anymore after the whole money-monger thing.
To take the whole elitist musical taste idea to another level... I find that because I am so neck-deep into playing music myself, I tend to seek out music that awes me in some way. I NEVER used to do this before I got so into making music, but I find that this is the kind of stuff that I enjoy most these days... hence my love for TR, Bela Fleck, SRV, The Guitar Trio etc. Stuff that I can pick out in 30 seconds by ear just doesn't move me. That's why, to me at least, most pop music seems to be, as you put so well, a bastardization of what it should be. The truly talented should be the ones on the radio, and the generic coffee house singers should be in obscurity. |
| Miss Sorrel |
Posted - 03/07/2003 : 2:14:07 PM
I think that repetition has a way of killing pop music as well. Again, take John Mayer. I had seen him, and was listening to his music when I could barely remember his name. Although now, I see his lyrics printed on sorority girl’s T-shirts, my roommate and her friends blare him, and during the rare occasions that I turn on the radio, within a short amount of TIMe, he’s on. It doesn’t take away from his talent… I am just sick of hearing him! Pop music seems to be the easiest sound to disperse because it has the widest range of listeners… hence it’s EVERYWHERE, and becomes overplayed… even my favorite musicians I have to take in doses. |
| CPPJames |
Posted - 03/07/2003 : 1:42:24 PM
Point taken...and I agree completely. I wasn't trying to say that people should love N'SYNC, lol...not by a longshot. I just implied that you can't fault people for becoming popular and ending up on the radio. Your DMB, Mayer, Popper examples are exactly what I was referring to. Glad to know that someone's on the same wavelength and I'm not alone =). |
| victorwootenfan |
Posted - 03/07/2003 : 11:37:35 AM
The way i view pop music is that about 75 percent of it is commercially produced crap that is made only to market money and has no actual taste or substance whatsoever. That other 25 percent are groups that "feel through the cracks." These are the groups that are talented that usually start on an underground level(i.e. dmb, john mayer, john popper), and because they're so popular in an underground way, they eventually hit the mainstream.
If these bands that hit mainstream stay relatively with the same sound, i'll still listen to em, but if they start blending in with the other pop crap, then i start turning the ears off of it. Hopefully that made sense. |
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