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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Bill Silvers <wsilvers@earthlink.net> |
| Subject | Re: RockLog: TSooL at the Bluebird |
| Date | Fri, 11 Apr 2003 00:31:05 -0500 |
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Stewart Mason replied:
> >>You know, I can't comment on TSOOL's live show since I've never seen them,
> >>but does anyone else think that "Behind the Music" is a snoozer of a
> record,
> >>coughing up every '70s rock cliche with very little inspiration (and
>frankly,
> >>even less editing)?
> >
> >Yes. I'd have gone to see them here in KC despite my feelings, just to see
> >if I got a better impression, but I wasn't $12 interested given my previous
> >investment in BEHIND THE MUSIC. Any band that can keep a record of songs
> >below 4 minutes earns extra credit in my book.
>
>I dunno, it depends on what the band in question is going for. I think if
>you're a cars-n-girls power pop band and your songs are consistently longer
>than 2:45, then you're terminally guilty of padding and your record
>probably sucks. But if your musical touchstones are the same as those of
>TSOOL, then brief little pop songs are pretty much beside the point.
I went to check the track listing for the record to see just how long those
songs run, and was surprised to see that only five of fifteen tunes go over
4 minutes. So my memory of the record (which I'll admit right up front I
haven't listened to in a year or so- I bought it in late fall of 2001 and
worked on liking it through the winter) was of songs that felt like they
were going on longer than they actually were. I don't think the BEHIND THE
MUSIC matches the catchiness of the bands that you cite in your AMG review
(false dichotomies of the differences between those and "cars-n-girls power
pop band(s)" aside), though it certainly makes me want to go back and give
the record another try or two. It wouldn't be the first time I had to go
back to a record months later to appreciate it.
>I still like EXTENDED REVELATION best of all the Soundtrack's albums,
>personally. Still, I have to repeat: Motorpsycho are doing the same thing
>as TSOOL, they're doing it better, and (for what it's worth) they're
>occasionally doing it for around three and a half minutes at a time.
Well, the time thing is a personal preference, and one which you rightly
point out has better specific than general application. I do think that
songs simply running too darn long is a common problem these days, and I've
found that across the genres of music that I listen to. Certainly I find
myself thinking having those thoughts a lot more often than I find myself
wishing that an artist would run a tune out for another 1:30. <g>
b.s.
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