Re: the 9th wave

[Dongerous! <fastslow@idt.net>]

At 4:14 PM -0000 6-4-97, stephanie bush wrote:
>I don't remember who originally posted that they didn't like 'The Ninth
>Wave',

I'm the one.  :-)

>but I would be _really_ curious as to why you don't like it.

I went back and listened to it yet again after posting...just to make sure.
And, yes, I can say quite confidently that I find "The Ninth Wave" to be
the biggest load of pretentious nonsense since "Tales of Topographic
Oceans" by Yes. I feel like someone is forcing me to listen to the audio
portion of a bad art movie without at least letting me be distracted by the
visuals. Obtuse dialogue and obscure production may impress the
impressionable, but I find it to be hopelessly self-indulgent.

Contrast this with the wonderfully well-realized combination of songwriting
craft, production and performance in the five songs in "Hounds of Love"
sequence. I love the insistence of "Cloudbusting," the self-revalation of
"Hounds of Love", the forboding tenderness in "Mother Stands for Comfort",
the celebration of "The Big Sky",  and the surrender in "Running Up That
Hill."

> It pretty effectively encapsulates _everything_ I like about KB's
>music - it's simply a beautifully, beautifully realized work of art.

Okay. I think TNW allows KB's worst tendencies for pretension run wild for
far too long.

> I would cautiously
>propose that it is one of those things that transcends such oppositions as
>good/bad;  i.e. you may not _like_ it, but you still recognize its merit,
>correct?

Sorry, but I don't recognize its merit. I think TNW is something we're
supposed to be kind about, right?

> just wondering - I hate to just _assume_ that you are a pod
>person!

Actually, I'm a singles person. I think KB's best work is when she makes
herself accessible in the more structured environment than the
less-disciplined album setting.

- Don
KB fan for 19 years