The Album Review Club - End of Round #9 Break (page 1904)

Saddleworth2 said:
Maybe it’s an age thing. Maybe our generation, once you mention pop, thinks immediately about Sparks, Beatles, beach boys, kinks, T Rex, 10cc, Roxy, Bowie, and if we keep going a little longer, Deacon Blue, Prefab Sprout, Squeeze and others. All quite different but all bloody fine pop music.
then someone plays an album with three minute songs in it, calls it sophisticated pop and immediately we set it against our reference library. It’s tough to get excited when there is nothing unique or new in what you are listening to.
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It probably is an age thing.
I tended to think of pop music as chart music. Bands that specifically wrote singles. I considered it purely commercial in it’s most obvious jangly way.

But maybe that’s the problem with that kind of thinking. We end up compartmenting bands into a preconceived niche or genre. We try to put names on the kind of music. But so many artists play across multiple genres, Bowie being the prime example of not letting himself become compartmentalised. ( I think I just made that word up) And his longevity is as a result of this in no small way.
All musicians draw on influences from previous generations as well as their contemporaries. I am even now listening to stuff I love like what I offered in here and finding a multitude of comparisons with stuff that sometimes has me scratching my head. I can sometimes hear Blur, World Party, The Foo Fighters, and others in the one album as well as the band just sounding like themselves and nobody else sounding like them. Hell sometimes I hear all that and throw in The Doors and The Who all in one song. That’s just my experience influencing me, I guess.
And still the music seems unique to me.

At the end of the day what is pop nowadays? What is wrong with an element of commerciality in a bands repertoire. God knows it’s hard enough for them to make a dollar these days.
 
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mancity2012_eamo said:
It probably is an age thing.
I tended to think of pop music as chart music. Bands that specifically wrote singles. I considered it purely commercial in it’s most obvious jangly way.

But maybe that’s the problem with that kind of thinking. We end up compartmenting bands into a preconceived niche or genre. We try to put names on the kind of music. But so many artists play across multiple genres, Bowie being the prime example of not letting himself become compartmentalised. ( I think I just made that word up) And his longevity is as a result of this in no small way.
All musicians draw on influences from previous generations as well as their contemporaries. I am even now listening to stuff I love like what I offered in here and finding a multitude of comparisons with stuff that sometimes has me scratching my head. I can sometimes hear Blur, World Party, The Foo Fighters, and others in the one album as well as the band just sounding like themselves and nobody else sounding like them. Hell sometimes I hear all that and throw in The Doors and The Who all in one song. That’s just my experience influencing me, I guess.
And still the music seems unique to me.

At the end of the day what is pop nowadays? What is wrong with an element of commerciality in a bands repertoire. God knows it’s hard enough for them to make a dollar these days.
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All artists and bands are commercial. They don't all make the best decisions with their music or towing the record part line, but they all want paying for what they do.
 
mancity2012_eamo said:
It probably is an age thing.
I tended to think of pop music as chart music. Bands that specifically wrote singles. I considered it purely commercial in it’s most obvious jangly way.

But maybe that’s the problem with that kind of thinking. We end up compartmenting bands into a preconceived niche or genre. We try to put names on the kind of music. But so many artists play across multiple genres, Bowie being the prime example of not letting himself become compartmentalised. ( I think I just made that word up) And his longevity is as a result of this in no small way.
All musicians draw on influences from previous generations as well as their contemporaries. I am even now listening to stuff I love like what I offered in here and finding a multitude of comparisons with stuff that sometimes has me scratching my head. I can sometimes hear Blur, World Party, The Foo Fighters, and others in the one album as well as the band just sounding like themselves and nobody else sounding like them. Hell sometimes I hear all that and throw in The Doors and The Who all in one song. That’s just my experience influencing me, I guess.
And still the music seems unique to me.

At the end of the day what is pop nowadays? What is wrong with an element of commerciality in a bands repertoire. God knows it’s hard enough for them to make a dollar these days.
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It's not called the music business for nuthin'.

The world has changed and th situation now is more complicated but the fundamentals are never too far away i.e. record companies do not relase albums for atristic reasons: they do so to sell them and make money.

Art, schmart.
 
mancity2012_eamo said:
It probably is an age thing.
I tended to think of pop music as chart music. Bands that specifically wrote singles. I considered it purely commercial in it’s most obvious jangly way.

But maybe that’s the problem with that kind of thinking. We end up compartmenting bands into a preconceived niche or genre. We try to put names on the kind of music. But so many artists play across multiple genres, Bowie being the prime example of not letting himself become compartmentalised. ( I think I just made that word up) And his longevity is as a result of this in no small way.
All musicians draw on influences from previous generations as well as their contemporaries. I am even now listening to stuff I love like what I offered in here and finding a multitude of comparisons with stuff that sometimes has me scratching my head. I can sometimes hear Blur, World Party, The Foo Fighters, and others in the one album as well as the band just sounding like themselves and nobody else sounding like them. Hell sometimes I hear all that and throw in The Doors and The Who all in one song. That’s just my experience influencing me, I guess.
And still the music seems unique to me.

At the end of the day what is pop nowadays? What is wrong with an element of commerciality in a bands repertoire. God knows it’s hard enough for them to make a dollar these days.
Click to expand...
I am very guilty of having a million musical prejudices. I do like some music across every genre and I have my reference points in each and it isn't really that often that a new band or artist joins or displaces my favourites. Although I have enjoyed listening to new music as part of this thread, nothing has come close to joining my 'circle of trust'.

But thats just me.

Married to the same woman for 46 years and worked for the same company all my working life. Doggedly loyal and lacking in any imagination clearly ;-)
 
The good news is that we are back up to 14 voters this week, the bad news (for @FogBlueInSanFran) is that the reaction to the Welcome Interstate Managers was pretty mixed. The overall score was torpedoed by a couple of low balls (editorial comments for entertainment value, folks - don't read too much into my words!)

Still, it seemed to be one of those choices that got us all talking, which can only be good. The average score was 6.07, which is just above the relegation zone.

I haven't asked him, but I trust him enough to expect that @BlueHammer85 has got his next choice lined up and will drop us some clues in due course.
 
RobMCFC said:
The good news is that we are back up to 14 voters this week, the bad news (for @FogBlueInSanFran) is that the reaction to the Welcome Interstate Managers was pretty mixed. The overall score was torpedoed by a couple of low balls (editorial comments for entertainment value, folks - don't read too much into my words!)

Still, it seemed to be one of those choices that got us all talking, which can only be good. The average score was 6.07, which is just above the relegation zone.

I haven't asked him, but I trust him enough to expect that @BlueHammer85 has got his next choice lined up and will drop us some clues in due course.
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Not disappointing in the least and glad we got some more participation! Thanks Rob.
 
BimboBob said:
It's like lift music. I know I've heard this before but can't remember where. An hour later it comes to me. Everywhere. This album is as generic an album as you could wish to have. a bit of swearing? Check. Guitar pop hooks? Check. Lyrics that have to rhyme? Check. But what of the mid song solos I hear you ask. Oh wait...check.

It's kiddie rock. Rock lite. A collection of guitar songs aimed at the late teen/ early 20 something American kids. You know the type. Until...

They suddenly branch out. It's part Beach Boys, part Simon and Garfunkel, part country (Hung Up On You), part Oasis...It's as though they decided to chuck in everything and anything...

I like an album as an adventure, start from the beginning and listen, a journey, with a common theme running. This is not that. The whole album splutters along, staggering from one genre to another without really hitting the mark in any. Is it any wonder that their previous outing bombed and their record company cut them loose? Without Stacy's Mum this album would have followed.

Plus points? Erm...they sing the word shit? There's none really. It's been done before them. It's been done better than them. It's of it's time. It's very dated. It gets a massive 2/10.
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Now that's a review.
 
ok!

clues...

artist or band... come from near Manchester!

90's album

Friday 31 December 2100 will be the next time...
 
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