Random Music Thoughts

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Obscured By Clouds is an interesting Floyd album. While not as good as its predecessor Meddle or the follow-up Dark Side of the Moon, it essentially sounds like a dry run for a lot of the recording techniques and sounds they would try with Dark Side. Some of the synths, for instance. Also, Waters' lyrics are thematically close to what he'd explore on Dark Side and later on The Final Cut. This album is the sound of a band in the process of reinventing themselves and finding their voice. It's also the last really democratic album before Waters become the dominant creative force (it's the last Waters era album in which Gilmour or Wright had any songwriting credits for both lyrics and music). It was Waters' band from Dark Side on and until The Final Cut (the latter which may as well be regarded as a solo Roger Waters album, as by that point Wright was out and Mason and Gilmour were little more than glorified session players).

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

To me, Bowie's most interesting albums are his transitional ones. The Man Who Sold The World, Diamond Dogs, Station to Station, Lodger, et al

Diamond Dogs is a weird one, you've got throwbacks to his glam rock phase like "Rebel Rebel", but then there's songs that hint at his philly soul period such as "1984" and "Rock and Roll With Me"

Station to Station has "Golden Years", which feels like a continuation of Young Americans' blue eyed soul, but then there's the title song which clearly points to his Berlin period.

And Lodger is just manic. While it continues in the spirit of Low and Heroes, it's clear he was interested in the more commercially oriented rock sound he'd follow up on with Scary Monsters.

With all of the above, there was usually at least one song on each album that was a sort of "preview" of things to come. Even Heroes, which I don't really think of as a transitional record, ends with "The Secret Life of Arabia", which sounds a lot closer to Lodger than anything else on Heroes.

The one really jarring blank spot in his discography is the gap between Scary Monsters and Let's Dance. It's a really abrupt shift if you listen to them back to back. Nothing could have really prepared listeners for that shift. I mean he did a couple singles in the interim--"Under Pressure" with Queen and "Cat People" but those sound more like a continuation and evolution of the Scary Monsters sound and don't really foreshadow the super commercial, pop sound he'd run with on Let's Dance and Tonight. There was an edition of Let's Dance with "Under Pressure" as a bonus track, and it just really doesn't fit with the other songs. Although it also doesn't really fit with most of the songs on Hot Space, the Queen album it was eventually released on.

 

[The Cat]

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I love early U2. Some of the early songs have an otherworldly sound. Simultaneously uplifting and meloncholy.

The instrumental section of Gloria beginning around 2:21 reminds me of Can’s Damo period jams. Or like a really rough version of the middle of Pink Floyd’s Echoes compressed into a punk format.

The first four albums are a perfect run. I think they started buying into their own hype and taking themselves a little too seriously on The Joshua Tree. Though Achtung Baby and Zooropa did have some good songs

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Also, Gilmour’s power chords at the end of Sheep always reminded me of The Edge’s guitar playing. I wonder if Edge owned a copy of Animals.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

U2 fucking suuuucks after Pop.

I don’t get why critics think they’re so innovative, especially with anything after Pop. Most of their albums after that sound like trite, sentimental, safe adult contemporary music made for wedding receptions. All That You Can’t Leave Behind just sounds so dated, yes even more dated and bland than the electronica infused Zooropa and Pop

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Pretty Hate Machine is my favorite NIN album. Maybe it’s not the masterpiece that The Downward Spiral is, but I enjoy how it’s just drenched in synth pop.

 

[ilikeitlikethat]

This is what Jimi Hendrix done.

That's a comb and a cigarette paper on Crosstown Traffic; NOT a kazoo

 

[EJCC]

You know when you're not sure if a band (or author, or screenwriter) is self-aware and critical about what they're doing thematically? Like, are you endorsing this or are you depicting a cautionary tale?

I have recently been introduced to the band Badflower and feel this way STRONGLY about them. Can't decide whether I'm impressed or disgusted.

Case in point: "Don't Hate Me" (lyrics linked here). Do they really think that celebrity culture is what creates dudes like that? Because it absolutely isn't - even though it's probably what those dudes tell themselves to make them feel better.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

You know when you're not sure if a band (or author, or screenwriter) is self-aware and critical about what they're doing thematically? Like, are you endorsing this or are you depicting a cautionary tale?

I have recently been introduced to the band Badflower and feel this way STRONGLY about them. Can't decide whether I'm impressed or disgusted.

Case in point: "Don't Hate Me" (lyrics linked here). Do they really think that celebrity culture is what creates dudes like that? Because it absolutely isn't - even though it's probably what those dudes tell themselves to make them feel better.

What is the rest of the output like? Without listening to them, I'm getting a strong "emo for incels" vibe.

Keep in mind that I still hate emo music, so that's not an endorsement. I listened to a spotify playlist a few months ago that was "alternative of the 2000s", which meant that the kind of music I liked as well as the kind of music I did not came up. It was interesting how there were some styles I warmed to (skatepunk) and some that I still did not (emo). It's not because they express feelings, but rather the way they do it in this kind of cookie-cutter angsty way that really grated on my nerves. I mean I like stuff like this for Pete's sake:

.

 

[EJCC]

What is the rest of the output like? Without listening to them, I'm getting a strong "emo for incels" vibe.

The vibe is absolutely "I'm having a self-pitying meltdown and being incredibly destructive and harmful to the people around me, FEELINGS" - but it's very catchy in an emo/alt-rock/alt-metal way and is extremely popular. They have a song that's entirely about trying to kill yourself that has like 50 million listens on Spotify? And they have a handful of hits that are also kind of "sympathy for the devil" about shitty men (like the one I linked the lyrics to).

But that's what I mean about the critical eye - like there's no way those lyrics I linked are endorsing that behavior. But what I'm struggling to understand is, are they ACTUALLY saying that the incel garbage is society's fault and the incel-type guys are the victims? Or are they saying that that's the internal narrative that those guys have and it's up to you to decide whether or not you believe it?

I've looked around online to try to find thinkpieces about them but it's possible that they aren't big enough yet for that to happen, or just that my search terms were bad.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

The vibe is absolutely "I'm having a self-pitying meltdown and being incredibly destructive and harmful to the people around me, FEELINGS" - but it's very catchy in an emo/alt-rock/alt-metal way and is extremely popular. They have a song that's entirely about trying to kill yourself that has like 50 million listens on Spotify? And they have a handful of hits that are also kind of "sympathy for the devil" about shitty men (like the one I linked the lyrics to).

But that's what I mean about the critical eye - like there's no way those lyrics I linked are endorsing that behavior. But what I'm struggling to understand is, are they ACTUALLY saying that the incel garbage is society's fault and the incel-type guys are the victims? Or are they saying that that's the internal narrative that those guys have and it's up to you to decide whether or not you believe it?

I've looked around online to try to find thinkpieces about them but it's possible that they aren't big enough yet for that to happen, or just that my search terms were bad.

Most likely they are trying to pander to angsty teens because that will help them get big, rather than make any kind of grand statement about anything. I'd also say it doesn't matter what the intent is... have you noticed a bunch of right wing dipshits love Rage Against the Machine?