Who decides nowadays what you listen to. Is it you or is it some skilled hip manager working for record company in conjunction with the press? Is there really good music still made? Or are all the songs we hear not just from bands pushed to reach a certain release date?

How many of the CD's you have bought do you actually still like, or just listen to now and again? How often have you heard some bands new album being talked about to the point that you just have to see what it's all about?

Found this article quite interesting and the views in it so very true in many ways, so I thought I should post it here. If it makes just one more person look at the big picture, then I achieved my goal in doing this.

http://www.the-smallprint.co.uk/musi..._from=&ucat=2&

I for one never saw myself as one of these sheep, but who's to tell if I'm not just kidding myself. I sure own a lot of CD's gathered up through the years that I never listen to. Don't you ?

Sleepless

I take it that you are a fairly young man living at home with his parents and, as such, will not know about the good music from previous decades that the article is talking about.

Well, I am old enough to remember the 60's (and the following decades) but not nostalgic enough to romanticise that only good music was produced back then. All decades have had their share of rubbish (mass produced nonsense) made only to make quick sales to the masses and money for the record companies. And guess what, the masses seem to like them, not because the music is any good, but because some of them simply went to No.1 in the UK charts. For example, The Birdy Song, Shadup You Face, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Hey Macarena, plus others I am too ashamed to remember or have blocked from my conscious thought.

I can bet you that all the people that made these (awful) songs No.1 are now too ashamed to admit that they ever bought them.

I can tell you one thing about music and the human condition, when the majority of us get older, we tend to forget the awful amount of rubbish we listened to when we were younger and only remember the good stuff. And then we go on to fool ourselves that only good stuff was made back then and that today's music is all rubbish.

This I used to hear from my parents and now I am hearing this from my friends, which I then have to remind that we were deluged with rubbish music as well.

Simply put, good music will always be remembered while rubbish, though now selling by the truck load, will soon be forgotten.



UK Bob

I may be young (not as young as you may think though), but I did recognize myself in that article. I BTW like good music no matter if it was made in the 60's or 2006 :wink: Oh and you're right about me living at home with my parents (you try going to school and renting)

After reading that article I wen't through my extensive music collection (around 200, I call that extensive), and while I found many CD's that I don't in any way regret buying (maybe worth mentioning that almost all of those were single artists CD's and not compilations) I had to admit that at least 50% of it I could very well have lived without and almost all of those had rated high in the charts and praised in the media.

Which was the reason why I posted the article here

Well Sleepless

We are agreed, but as you said:Just remember who runs the media, i.e. middle aged men who know more about money making and running their respective businesses than original sounding music.

So, is it any wonder that rubbish is constantly praised in the world media while truly talented artists have to struggle.


UK Bob

Interesting article or points made. As for myself, I've for years listened to the alternative radio stations. Looked out for true innovation in music; fusions, etc. something that's different to the rest. ie: originality.
But that's just me. Funny at the top of that page was Alice Cooper's image. I liked his music until he dumped his band & was bought by commercialism. With exceptions I'm not a big fan of highly commercial music. But everybody for their own views on music & what turns them on.

I have bootleg recordings of Tool & King Crimson live together I've downlded. If that makes any point. lol

Alice Cooper did quite alright even after buying in to commercialism. Just try to listen to his "Hey Stoopid" album.

I like pretty much all good music, but especially like "original" and am a bit of a Technojunkie. That music sure isn't commercialized and since it's very rare to find whole CD's that are any good with technomusic I am very wary before buying any of it.

I bought every CD of artists like Sheryl Crow and Prodigy (I know, there quite a difference in what music they play, thus good for proving my point) and their latest albums have really gone downhill, not really because they bought into the whole media thing, but because they try to follow or stay ahead of the times. OK Prodigy's "Action Radar" is probably the best song they ever made, "Girls" is up there as well, also Crows "Letter to God", but still the rest of the CD sucks.

I remember a time when you could put either one of these artists CD's on and just let it play from track 1 to the end. Well not anymore. I think release dates have become much more important than actually putting the finishing touches and an album. And that's a shame.

You know Sleepless (& LOTR)

You have hit another good point right on the head, publishing organisations are all about releasing something on schedule rather than when it is finished.

For example, I don't read fiction books anymore mainly because they start off very good and, at the end, the conclusion is so obviously rushed.

How many times have we bought new software that only started to work properly after six to nine months of updates.

And now we are seeing films edited in ways designed to hide the parts that they did not have time to finish and include.

So really it is no surprise that artists are also rushed to push out albums, hence only having one or two tracks that are any good while the rest of the tracks are dross.

You know, I remember a time when an artist was given anything from 18 months to 3 years to complete a follow up album but, I guess, those times are now gone.

Conclusion, each passing year we are deluged with more and more dross.

Taking this one step further, right now we have the technology in our homes to select and put together albums/CDs of our favourite music. No wonder the RIAA are trying to kill it off because how else will they continue to sell us their over priced and over hyped crap.

Nuff said.



UK Bob

Today's music charts are what I consider the guidelines for the brainless youth, who are advised by other brainless youth on what's hot or not in the music and entertainment world.

But then again, i'm a person who tries before he buys...What I do is I download all the new release singles for the next month. I burn them onto a cd or 2 depending on the amount of singles I have downloaded, and I play them in the car, if they are songs after 3 plays I start skipping, I know not to buy them because I'm sick of the song and if I buy the cd i'm more than likely to take it to a second hamd dealer within 6 months of purchase.

Dreamtech

I am old enough to say, with conviction, that all chart music throughout history have been aimed at the brainless record buying masses, for example of past rubbish, how could songs like The Birdy Song, Shadup You Face, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, Hey Macarena ever reach No.1 in the UK charts.

So it just not brainless youths of today buying rubbish, it's brainless youths of the past, present and (possibly) future that will continue to buy musical dross and rubbish.


UK Bob

Bob, I totally agree with you...so those types of songs should have never made it to number #1. Actually to my opinion they didn't belong in the charts in the first place. But I will give a true fact, Metal dominates the world...but you never see them in the charts, why? Because a small majority of people deem it offensive, violent & demographic to religion, culture, race & ***.
You might prove me wrong and say what about Metallica & Pantera? They are possibly the only two who had a privilledge to even have a glimpse. Other than the so called nu breed of hardcore metal bands such as Fear Factory, Slipknot and Mudvayne.