Review, Scrutinize, Dissect a Band, Album etc.

[melon1]

I would really like to have the name of this board changed ... I'm a pretty modest guy, and really not that comfortable with my name up in lights, so to speak. So maybe Mr. T will accomodate me in this ... especially since I argued so eloquently to get others to recognize his name-change from Melon to Mr. T.


Consider it done, friend.

[chrisfan]

kool said:

I have Tunnel Of Love. I found it dirt cheap about a year ago, and since I've always liked "Brilliant Disguise" I decided to give it a shot. I do believe it's a fine record. But I really have no desire to check out his other stuff. It's a case of "if you've heard one, you've heard them all". The only advantage I'll give him over Plant is that he's a better lyricist. That's where it ends.

I think that Mantis is right that in the Springsteen catalog, Tunnel of Love somewhat stands out on it's own. It grew out of a lot of change and introspection in Springsteen's life - he went from being a hard working singer to almost a flavor of the month pop star with Born in the USA. He married the hot hollywood wife, then had that all fall apart. He tasted the glory life, and then decided to (to a degree) go back to where he'd been. Tunnel of Love grew out of all of that, and is almost perfection in terms of the order of songs following the progression of a relationship, and what Springsteen was going through at that time in his life.

Aside from that, I can see where the argument would be made that for the rest of his catalog, a lot of it sounds the same. But with Springsteen, I don't think it really matters all that much. For me, his music has always been more about capturing the mood and feeling of a moment than it is about great vocals, or musical compositions. When people talk about the greatness of Springsteen live, it's about the energy - not the staging. There's some level of spirit that is captured in his music that makes each song special. And as I say that, I realize why so much of his recent stuff is so lost on me. Sure, I disagree with a lot of the politics he seems to be motivated by these days. But I disagree with the politics of other music that I still love. But in that music that Springsteen has gone to, he's more interested in making a statement than he is in capturing a mood. Obviously, IMO, he's better at capturing moments than he is at creating movements.

All of that said, I still firmly believe that Born in the USA should go down in history as one of the highest selling pieces of utter crap ever. It's not even an album - it's a collection of songs, with some rather craptastic ones taking up a lot of the room.

[melon1]

Wow! A big, long, descriptive post from Chrisfan about music. I haven't seen one of those in a while, or, hell, EVER that I can remember. Good post, CF.

[chrisfan]

When it comes to Springsteen or The Clarks, I can talk. Most of the music you people talk about ... I"ve got nothing. My knowledge of The Ramones is Rock and Roll High School.

[RocDoc]

That Plant has/had no range has to be qualified by the fact that being within that band he wasn't asked to exhibit much range...at least within those watershed first 4-5 discs of theirs...his banshee wail was what they needed and required, but...he since, HAS done a Cab Calloway big band R&B schtick (the better than simply 'fair' Honeydrippers) and when he gets out with the typically shit hot rock bands he fronts on his solo shows, he definitely puts it out. Like this simply fucking fierce Glastonbury show that I taped from the radio a few years back.

And his latest 'Soundstage' show on PBS here is also showing a wide array of the music which interests him, out to African/'World' music and then back to the raging shit which made him his fortune...and created one hell of an interesting rockstar life for him.

And he's aged FAR better than the way the doddering Jimmy Page looks like these days.

There IS indeed 'wankery' happening these days (and back to Miles and to even Armstrong I suppose), BUT it's ridiculous to propose that lengthiness equates to 'wankery'...and 'there's nothing worthwhile to say if you gotta solo' (Huh?) is pure presumption from someone perhaps who just doesn't understand it in the way that it's presented, whether from not having a musical background or simply different perception of rhythm/melody which they've developed.

Or conversely failed to develop.

[Ayinger]

The couple songs I've watched so far of the Soundstage w/Robert Plant showed a very worthy presence (if you will...) coming out of our dear Percy. As I stated elsewhere, he just seemed very into his craft and presented it honestly. Not to mention if fuckin' rocked!