Deconstruct the Classics!

Mondo Bungle · 06-25-2015, 04:54 PM

That's the first time I've ever seen Hotel California's album cover

The Batlord · 06-25-2015, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EPOCH6

All of that being said, clearly I love the track, but I honestly don't care at all for the rest of the album, besides Life in the Fast Lane.

While I find "Hotel California" dull, but still acceptable in a meh kind of way, I fully endorse "Life in the Fast Lane". It's got a simple rock 'n' roll energy that kicks a moderate amount of ass, sort of like Styx's "Renegade". It's not my fav song by any means, but I can definitely enjoy it to an above-moderate extent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

^it's in the general music section so there's not really any limitations. I kind of threw it out as a joke but we can roll with it.

Oddly enough I think that it does have a kind of beauty about it, albeit an ugly and abrasive form of beauty. There's something about it that's incredibly hypnotic so long as you don't get irritated by it. Some of the feedback loops are kind of angelic if you can pick them out, which makes me think of another thing that I love about the album: it's dense as hell. It's sort of like a Pollock painting with layers and layers of colours and paints, but instead with sounds. It's busy enough to sound different from listen to listen (although certain melodies are more pronounced), but to me it doesn't sound convoluted even though there's a lot going on. Plus I like how intense it gets and the ending is one of my all time favourites.

Make that a yes and a half for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Screen13

I might sound like the most pretentious person here, but it actually MMM calms me down.
Industrial is the key word for it's after effects on an influence scale, but this seriously helped me form my opinions on how I listened to these works. On a Cinematic level, this would work great in a Future Shock film as it sounds like the breakdown of everything electronic, especially the Lock Groove - It was actually a major trend of film by the time of it's release.

Experimental Music fans of the day caught the jokes as well as saluting the fact that a major music star who decided to do a sonic FU did it in a way they can understand right in the middle of the John Denver and Boogie Rock era. Unlike George Harrison's Electronic Sound, this was a stone cold attack of sound with a bleak beauty.

Try listening to this in an abandoned building!

I'll repost my thoughts about MMM from the What Are You Listening Thread, but I agree with both of these opinions. I don't dig it to the extent that the above two posters do, but their general sentiments I agree with, and I can see myself digging it more and more with repeated listens, even if I'm never completely sold on it...

Quote:

I can never make up my mind up about this album. I was listening to it last night, and I can dig it for that first track, cause there's that pulsing, cascading rhythm that's oddly beautiful, and there's always something new happening that catches your ear, before dying a quick death, only to be replaced by something else in your other ear (when on headphones). So for a while it's... I won't say great or anything, but at least it's engaging (even for a Philistine like me).

But I can only focus on it for so long, and then it just starts making me feel claustrophobic. About halfway through the second track (forty minutes or so in) I had to turn it off, cause it was making me feel genuinely queasy. I like music that can provoke non-positive emotions, and even psychosomatic reactions, but I can only take so much of it, depending on the reaction. (That's actually the only the reason I can take Merzbow on the odd occasion I can quasi-enjoy him; the mid-nineties stuff I've heard from him is so sonically all-consuming that it overwhelms the thoughts in your brain, both conscious and subconscious, somehow quieting your mind, almost like reverse meditation.)

Still, I'm happy that Metal Machine Music exists (much like almost all of Diamanda Galas' music). In a way, it's actually more intense than a lot of Merzbow, just because so much is happening at any one time, and even though it kind of bleeds together, if you're actively listening to it, it never seems to repeat itself.

So I guess that's kind of 3 to 1 in support of Metal Machine Music. Kind of.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Guys, don't start fighting again.

It's about whatever you want it to be about. I would say MMM qualifies, as it's certainly well known, and I did say any genre. Frownland, are you looking to be signed up then, and is this the next battle? Anyone else want to sign up?

Have you ever listened to Metal Machine Music? If not, I won't rec it for your Love/Hate thread, since I don't see you enjoying it at all, but it's still one of those albums you should listen to, if for no other reason than that it's just a historical artifact that everyone should hear at least once. (Though if you hate the style of Merzbow on principle, then it's not going to win you over.)

Trollheart · 06-25-2015, 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland

Didn't you ask if this was the next battle? I mentioned that I threw it out as a joke but I guess we could keep MMM, if only to piss YD off

.

Yeah I did ask, cos I wasn't sure if you were being serious and then people started talking about it. So which one is it? If it's TMR, you know where my vote goes! Actually, you don't: this isn't necessarily about whether or not you like the album, but whether it deserves to be called a classic. I might hate, say, Thriller, but I would never suggest it should not be considered a classic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mondo Bungle

That's the first time I've ever seen Hotel California's album cover

Seriously????

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Have you ever listened to Metal Machine Music? If not, I won't rec it for your Love/Hate thread, since I don't see you enjoying it at all, but it's still one of those albums you should listen to, if for no other reason than that it's just a historical artifact that everyone should hear at least once. (Though if you hate the style of Merzbow on principle, then it's not going to win you over.)

I have never listened to it, but to be fair I don't listen to albums just because they "should be listened to". As I've said many times, my main criterion for listening to music is that I want to enjoy it, and if I already know, or have a good idea that I'm not going to enjoy it, why bother? It's like they say about books: definition of a classic is a book everyone wants to have read, but nobody wants to read. I suffered through a short part of Moby Dick and then could take no more. I treat music in the same way; if it doesn't engage me, then I don't care how popular, essential or classic it is, I have no interest in listening to it. Except maybe on a dare.

@ Frownland re Masada: good. I hope for once I'll enjoy one of your recs.

YorkeDaddy · 06-25-2015, 05:49 PM

MMM is definitely not something that everyone should hear. Maybe if you enjoy abrasive noise music and feedback experimentation then yes it's an essential listen. If you don't fall into that category, like the vast majority of the human race, then it is nowhere near something that's necessary to hear.

**Frownland** · 06-25-2015, 05:53 PM

You should at least listen to it to know if you hate it or not. It is a pretty iconic part of music history as well, given how big Reed was when he dropped that album.

Trollheart · 06-25-2015, 05:55 PM

I think we covered this argument in Frownland's other thread. I don't actually think there are any albums that are mandatory or that you must hear. Sure, I'd say "You haven't heard DSOTM? Correct that immediately!" or something, but it wouldn't mean everyone should have to listen to it. Same with any album really. How long before I eventually heard Sgt Pepper? Didn't spoil my enjoyment of music for over 40 years, and to be fair, didn't do anything much to improve it either. Each to his own, say I.

**Frownland** · 06-25-2015, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I think we covered this argument in Frownland's other thread. I don't actually think there are any albums that are mandatory or that you must hear. Sure, I'd say "You haven't heard DSOTM? Correct that immediately!" or something, but it wouldn't mean everyone should have to listen to it. Same with any album really. How long before I eventually heard Sgt Pepper? Didn't spoil my enjoyment of music for over 40 years, and to be fair, didn't do anything much to improve it either. Each to his own, say I.

If somebody wanted to educate themselves on music history, MMM would be on the list for sure. Several other albums would be above it, sure, but I think its notoriety makes it a classic.

Trollheart · 06-25-2015, 05:59 PM

Right. So for the purposes of this thread, which album are you proposing?

**Frownland** · 06-25-2015, 06:04 PM

Might as well stick with MMM. TMR was a shooin anyway.

Trollheart · 06-25-2015, 06:08 PM

Okay then. I make it 3-1 for Yes. Once it goes 5 in advance in either direction we can call it.

06-25-2015, 05:53 PM	#45 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	You should at least listen to it to know if you hate it or not. It is a pretty iconic part of music history as well, given how big Reed was when he dropped that album. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

06-25-2015, 05:55 PM	#46 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	I think we covered this argument in Frownland's other thread. I don't actually think there are any albums that are mandatory or that you must hear. Sure, I'd say "You haven't heard DSOTM? Correct that immediately!" or something, but it wouldn't mean everyone should have to listen to it. Same with any album really. How long before I eventually heard Sgt Pepper? Didn't spoil my enjoyment of music for over 40 years, and to be fair, didn't do anything much to improve it either. Each to his own, say I. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

06-25-2015, 05:59 PM	#48 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Right. So for the purposes of this thread, which album are you proposing? __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

06-25-2015, 06:04 PM	#49 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	Might as well stick with MMM. TMR was a shooin anyway. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

06-25-2015, 06:08 PM	#50 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Okay then. I make it 3-1 for Yes. Once it goes 5 in advance in either direction we can call it. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018