The Big Sellout

[Lt. Bob]

actually to be honest ...... I kinda like everything. It's rare that I hear something that I can't stand.
Some stuff starts to wear on me quickly but, in general, I like music and that kinda means all of it.

And if anyone with money is out there ....... I'd sell out in a second if there's money to be made!
I'm definitely a whore.

[SEDstar]

took me a while to realize, but, i always wondered why a band would suddenly APPEAR, have a big GREAT hit song... couple others almost as good on the album... and o course, other songs around them, whatever.

than a lot of times? hat might be about "it"... yeah, theres another album, but... suddenly its a couple covers, a couple polished pop-ier things...

I THINK what happens a lot? They were working on stuff coming up... but theres always ONE song the band wrote, the BIG one... they end with a few other good ones around it in their set, but...

I think that ONE big song, and a few of the almost as good ones around it? Thats the GEMS out of their sum total of years f work coming up... what do you DO for an encore, your sophomore album? Well... you DO have a budget now, and a (hopefully) good producer...

over polished pop sells albums to kids, we all know it... critical acclaim is NICE, but... its still a business. Record company wants (needs?) SALES... producer(s) are INVESTORS, and they do their thing on what the artist comes up with... when needed, the producer picks out covers and gets the rights to do them, the producer "helps" them finish lyric/music ideas...

*shrugs*

a relative FEW bands? They are all serious about everything, and they have talent, have educated themselves, they do a lot of work to keep getting better at everything... i figure those are the ones that go on to do several "good" albums...

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THEN, theres that "thing" when an established artist no longer needs money? They have enough for 10 lifetimes. Fame? They had more than they wanted. At that point, if they are REALLY good, and creative?

you get the album later in the career... YOU know the one... differrent genres out of character for them, experimental stuff... theres always a song based on some rare jungle chant fertility ritual they liked the sound of while touring the rain forest, LMAO

theres usually a GEM or two on those types of albums, late in the career of a long established artist. Its a lot of times a BUST, too many different genres.

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i think "they" build a first album a lot of times around ONE singer and HIS one great song of his life, and his other stuff that goes with it... but, without a solid TEAM of a "real" band, all good, all experienced and educated... you end up with the "flash in the pan" syndrome...

having one big STAR singer songwriter is great, but... nothing beats a really solid TEAM of long time ultra dedicated professionals... in my book anyways...

[grimtraveller]

Ever write off an album and then go back years later and realize it was really pretty good? Tell me yours and I'll tell you mine. Grim, you must have something.....

albums that you've slagged off and then realized were pretty good years later.

I can't really think of any.

Actually, one that I've thought of is Suzanne Vega's "Days of open hand". A good mate of mine that died last year and I used to work together on a couple of adventure playgrounds and we used to do alot of fundraising together. This heavy marxist intent on overthrowing the Conservatives {this was the 80s !} that we knew was grudgingly impressed because we had big plans for the kids that lived in the area and frequented the playground and he used to refer to us as "a couple of Maggie Thatcher type entrepreneurs....." which, believe me, was paradoxical because he meant it in a grudgingly complimentary way, but to a couple of Black guys, it wasn't really the kind of thing you'd be proud to display on a T shirt. Even a ripped one that only cost £2.
Anyway, I digress.........
When my mate and I used to get together to chat and plan and fundraise, he'd more often than not stick on either one of Vega's first two albums and over a three year period, I grew to really dig them, borrowed them off him and taped them. So by 1990 he was quite excited to play me "Days of open hand". It was her new LP at the time. I was kind of looking forward to it and on a journey up to Nottingham, we gave it a blast. And I was so disappointed. I really thought it was crap and that she'd shot it. There was nothing approaching "Small blue thing", "Solitude standing", "Calypso", "Cracking", "The Queen and the soldier", "Ironbound market", "Wooden horse" or other greats. I thought "what a crock !" and subsequent listens didn't appease my wrath. "Don't walk near Islington, Vega ! I'll be looking out for you, wench !".
But you know, we used to play pool every wednesday and they were really competitive sessions. The loser over a three month period had to stand a "eat whatever and however much you like" pizza so neither of us liked to lose. Defeat could be so depressing ! And while we were playing, there'd be music playing and every so often he'd shove on "Days of open hand" and initially, I'd be like 'mutter......grumble.....bloody Vega crap.....grizzle.....whinge.....' but over a period of time, I thought that it was OK. Not earth shaking, but OK. And I realized that it was one of those albums that is flaming hard to get at first, but if you do try with it, it had some real nuggets. So I bought a copy {by now this was the mid 90s} and between then and now, I have to say, I love the album. It's got some OK songs, some good ones and some utter masterclasses. It's actually a real progression from "Solitude standing" {though it's still a classic and my favourite of the three of hers that I have}.

[rayc]

I've only ditched a couple of albums over my 4 1/2 decades of buying music. Some are consigned to collect dust, albeit in alphabetical order & chronologically alongside other releases by the same artist, some only get a run every year or so and some get played every month, (Cold Fact, Songs of Love & Hate, Yoshimi, The 1st Mull Historical Society album, Wire, Imperial Bedroom, 801 Live, NTYBOAFriend, D'AccorD, Break Away, Hall Of THe Mountain Grill, Forever Changes, Radios Appear, In Flame, Altered Beast, Marquee Moon, Boy Child, Argus etc all sit in a draw at my bedside for the evening listen before sleep).
I do give up on an artist/band when they run out of steam: Elvis Costello in the last few years (around TV show time), Black Sabbath post Ozzie, PFloyd by WYWHere, and some when they sell out/change direction, grow up or explore their Jazz Fusion side (I loved Spinal tap)! Some I persist with in hope of the resurrection (& because they do get at least a couple of excellent tracks on an album) like Nick Cave (he's became a bit tame - The alter ego band seems to have provided an outket for that side of him recently at least).
The last few days I've listened to Let's Active from the mid 80's, Leonard Cohen from 1970, a live Zeppelin (Celebration Day), Sabbath's SBS, Greg's last, Supercreep's last, Bowie's Diamond Dogs (& a live version of that album I pulled to gether from various sources) The Stanglers 1st, Kill City, Flaming Lips' Yoshimi, the 2nd Oasis album, Bruce/Trower's Seven Moon, a live compilation I made of Reed's Berlin (mainly from RNR Animal & LReed Live), Little Birdy's Hollywood, Ido1957's recent Hamilton Steele CD and the Go-Betweens' Before Hollywood.
I can't help it - I like music that I like.