Re: Other Artists; OK! I Give Up!

[heisjohn@juno.com]

Ron wrote:
>--- Chris Williams wrote:
>> Most of what gets popular sucks.
>Exactly!!!!

Hhmm...  don't know if I agree with this statement at all.  Kind of a
real big sweeping generalization, no??

Sara's new release entered the US charts at #2 -- eclipsed only by the
Men In Black soundtrack(!).  Now that she's (finally) considered
"mainstream", the extension of this argument (to its illogical
conclusion?) suggests she's going to be lumped in with her "tiresome"
fellow Lilith compatriots soon (as overplayed as Jewel, Sheryl Crowe and
Paula Cole, for example).  Since familiarity breeds contempt, a whole lot
of the "popular sucks" mentality is no doubt a function of the number of
times you've heard the same thing over and over again on the radio (or
TV, mall, elevator, etc).

I, for example, found Alanis (as reinvented by Glen Ballard) very fresh
the first few times I heard it -- then found myself "hating" her.  Was it
the overall shallowness of the angry white chick thing, or was it that
I'd just grown tired of it?

>A lot of people are all too eager to get on a new artist's bandwagon.
>Case in point:  Jewel.

True, but I don't know if it's a genuine "herd mentality" at play here,
or merely a matter of accessibility.  Either way, it doesn't mean she
"sucks".  Maybe you've just heard "Who Will Save Your Soul" a couple
hundred times too many.

> How the HELL can Jewel be a VH1 artist of the month....when she only
HAS 1 album????  
>aarrgh!! 

Simple, she's hot right now and her 15 minutes aren't up yet.  What
better time to feature her as artist of the *MONTH*?  (We're not talking
about artist of the year or decade here.  VH1's artist of the month
profiles *today's* new sound -- with no regard to the artist's
longevity.)

>In the past 3 years, I've "discovered" several bands & artists that 
>started 
>their careers in the 60's.  Most of those artists are still around.  
>Their
>longevity is indicative of the quality of their music.  For me, three 
>come
>to mind right away:   Grateful Dead, Moody Blues and Amazing Blondel.  
>I LOVE
>those 3 bands. 

Now this is exactly what I'm talking about.  I *strongly* dislike the
Grateful Dead.  I've always been repulsed by their insipid hippie stoner
facade, but I can't honestly say I think they "suck".  (Now the Doors on
the other hand...)

Musical preference is just too subjective to classify this way. 
Depending on your particular leanings, you can slam an individual artist
or even an entire genre ("rap sucks"), but you can't (categorically) say
an artist "sucks" based on their popularity.

John