Diva Vs. Real Analog

[aMUSEd]

Groups like Genesis never had top 40 hits until they finally "sold out" and started cranking out crap like "Follow You Follow Me" and "Misunderstanding". "Invisible Touch" was another "let's make some money" song.

'I know what I like' was well before that (1974) and at least top 30 (Genesis always had the ability to write songs with good hooks even well before they went mainstream)

"I know what I like" only charted in the UK and hit #21 on the charts.

Being from the UK I didn't even consider the US charts. You folks hadn't even heard of Kate Bush until Tori Amos started channeling her.

[wagtunes]

I don't see anything wrong with Skrillex. I actually liked that first video he did, with the sample of the lady screaming. And I'm OLD lol!

I think most people who know about music kind of gave up on anything being truly pioneering anymore. But many of those same people think that, besides Wagner, there hasn't really been anything notable in music since Beethoven.

To me that leaves out John Coltrane, Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Brian Wilson, Lennon and McCartney, Johns Cage and Zorn, Phil Spector, George Clinton...

Everything is relative. For many people, all symphonies sound the same because, for the most part, they use the same instrumentation. You need to really dive deeply into the music itself to spot the differences between the composers. And for most people, that's just too much work.

[wagtunes]

Groups like Genesis never had top 40 hits until they finally "sold out" and started cranking out crap like "Follow You Follow Me" and "Misunderstanding". "Invisible Touch" was another "let's make some money" song.

'I know what I like' was well before that (1974) and at least top 30 (Genesis always had the ability to write songs with good hooks even well before they went mainstream)

"I know what I like" only charted in the UK and hit #21 on the charts.

Being from the UK I didn't even consider the US charts. You folks hadn't even heard of Kate Bush until Tori Amos started channeling her.

You can dismiss the US charts if you want. But facts are facts. More album and single sales come from the US than the UK if for no other reason than the size of the two countries.

[fluffy_little_something]

I don't see anything wrong with Skrillex. I actually liked that first video he did, with the sample of the lady screaming. And I'm OLD lol!

I think most people who know about music kind of gave up on anything being truly pioneering anymore. But many of those same people think that, besides Wagner, there hasn't really been anything notable in music since Beethoven.

To me that leaves out John Coltrane, Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Brian Wilson, Lennon and McCartney, Johns Cage and Zorn, Phil Spector, George Clinton...

Everything is relative. For many people, all symphonies sound the same because, for the most part, they use the same instrumentation. You need to really dive deeply into the music itself to spot the differences between the composers. And for most people, that's just too much work.

Classical music sounds a bit depressing and boring to me, and indeed mostly all the same. There are a few exceptions, mostly romantic French stuff, that I like, but the overwhelming rest sounds cold, soulless, artificial (oddly, as they did not even use synths), mathematical and constructed to me. And Opera is outright irritating and ridiculous
Of course I might like it had I lived centuries ago, who knows...

[aMUSEd]

Groups like Genesis never had top 40 hits until they finally "sold out" and started cranking out crap like "Follow You Follow Me" and "Misunderstanding". "Invisible Touch" was another "let's make some money" song.

'I know what I like' was well before that (1974) and at least top 30 (Genesis always had the ability to write songs with good hooks even well before they went mainstream)

"I know what I like" only charted in the UK and hit #21 on the charts.

Being from the UK I didn't even consider the US charts. You folks hadn't even heard of Kate Bush until Tori Amos started channeling her.

You can dismiss the US charts if you want. But facts are facts. More album and single sales come from the US than the UK if for no other reason than the size of the two countries.

I don't care. If anything that's the problem, bands like Genesis could only get in after they watered their sound down because to get anywhere in the US charts you usually need an enormous marketing machine behind you.

[wagtunes]

I don't see anything wrong with Skrillex. I actually liked that first video he did, with the sample of the lady screaming. And I'm OLD lol!

I think most people who know about music kind of gave up on anything being truly pioneering anymore. But many of those same people think that, besides Wagner, there hasn't really been anything notable in music since Beethoven.

To me that leaves out John Coltrane, Mahler, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Brian Wilson, Lennon and McCartney, Johns Cage and Zorn, Phil Spector, George Clinton...

Everything is relative. For many people, all symphonies sound the same because, for the most part, they use the same instrumentation. You need to really dive deeply into the music itself to spot the differences between the composers. And for most people, that's just too much work.

Classical music sounds a bit depressing and boring to me, and indeed mostly all the same. There are a few exceptions, mostly romantic French stuff, that I like, but the overwhelming rest sounds cold, soulless, artificial (oddly, as they did not even use synths), mathematical and constructed to me. And Opera is outright irritating and ridiculous

Hey, not everybody likes classical music. I love it.

Well, most of it.

[wagtunes]

Groups like Genesis never had top 40 hits until they finally "sold out" and started cranking out crap like "Follow You Follow Me" and "Misunderstanding". "Invisible Touch" was another "let's make some money" song.

'I know what I like' was well before that (1974) and at least top 30 (Genesis always had the ability to write songs with good hooks even well before they went mainstream)

"I know what I like" only charted in the UK and hit #21 on the charts.

Being from the UK I didn't even consider the US charts. You folks hadn't even heard of Kate Bush until Tori Amos started channeling her.

You can dismiss the US charts if you want. But facts are facts. More album and single sales come from the US than the UK if for no other reason than the size of the two countries.

I don't care. If anything that's the problem, bands like Genesis could only get in after they watered their sound down because to get anywhere in the US charts you usually need an enormous marketing machine behind you.

I won't even argue with that. I agree. It's a problem IF you're a purist and want a group to stay true to their roots.

In an interview with Phil Collins (I wish I could find it) he was asked about "selling out" when they finally made it big. His answer was along the lines of "I don't really look at it as selling out as expanding our musical horizons." In short, he basically said that the group always made music that they liked.

Was he being honest? No way to know. Personally, I don't really care. I don't blame him for wanting to make money if that's what his goal was.

For the record, Genesis is still one of my all time favorite groups. I just didn't care for their stuff in the 80s.

[Z1202]

Abusing a synth, what is the purpose of that? There was a video of a Japanese guy kind of abusing a Minimoog pages ago, but frankly, most of those sounds had no musical value in my view.
Extreme sounds may be of interest to about 1% of synth users, for the rest stuff from Xils, Tal, GForce, U-he etc. will do.

Musical enough?
http://vk.com/wall161447783_2956

[fluffy_little_something]

The accusation of selling out is odd. If someone makes music that doesn't appeal to people, they should do it as a hobby. But when you want to make a living from music, you need to be popular to a certain extent. And most people simply are not into weird and progressive music, but into simpler, more pleasant, easier to digest music. They want to feel rather than analyze music.
Kool and the Gang have also been accused of selling out, but I like both their earlier stuff and some of their successful stuff. Selling does not necessarily mean producing crap.
With many bands it is just an evolution. As long as people are young they automatically like to experiment a lot, not just in music, and as they get older they calm down so to speak.

[wagtunes]

Abusing a synth, what is the purpose of that? There was a video of a Japanese guy kind of abusing a Minimoog pages ago, but frankly, most of those sounds had no musical value in my view.
Extreme sounds may be of interest to about 1% of synth users, for the rest stuff from Xils, Tal, GForce, U-he etc. will do.

Musical enough?
http://vk.com/wall161447783_2956

Cool! What synth was that made with?

[Hank the Knife]

Phil Collins is a guy who pretty well knows how to sell HIMSELF. If you get my drift..
Don't know what it has to do with the topic though

[Z1202]

Abusing a synth, what is the purpose of that? There was a video of a Japanese guy kind of abusing a Minimoog pages ago, but frankly, most of those sounds had no musical value in my view.
Extreme sounds may be of interest to about 1% of synth users, for the rest stuff from Xils, Tal, GForce, U-he etc. will do.

Musical enough?
http://vk.com/wall161447783_2956

Cool! What synth was that made with?

Some custom DSP in Reaktor Core. Nothing fancy, just some extreme settings. Essentially just the same old square waveform.

[fluffy_little_something]

Abusing a synth, what is the purpose of that? There was a video of a Japanese guy kind of abusing a Minimoog pages ago, but frankly, most of those sounds had no musical value in my view.
Extreme sounds may be of interest to about 1% of synth users, for the rest stuff from Xils, Tal, GForce, U-he etc. will do.

Musical enough?
http://vk.com/wall161447783_2956

And can't you do that on a good standard soft synth?

[wagtunes]

Abusing a synth, what is the purpose of that? There was a video of a Japanese guy kind of abusing a Minimoog pages ago, but frankly, most of those sounds had no musical value in my view.
Extreme sounds may be of interest to about 1% of synth users, for the rest stuff from Xils, Tal, GForce, U-he etc. will do.

Musical enough?
http://vk.com/wall161447783_2956

Cool! What synth was that made with?

Some custom DSP in Reaktor Core. Nothing fancy, just some extreme settings. Essentially just the same old square waveform.

That was done with Reaktor? Wow! I really need to learn how to program that thing. Unfortunately, digging into the core is way beyond my level of programming ability.

[whyterabbyt]

I would say a 70's band is a band whose prime time was in the 70's

Yes, because 'prime time' is so universally defined and agreed upon for bands, especially those who's careers span multiple decades, as is the case for all three acts mentioned as 70s bands.

So much so noone is allowed to refer to the band by the decade they were formed, lest the 'usual suspect' turn up.

Human League ; formed in the 70's, best album recorded in 1979, absolutely cannot be described as a 70s band.