smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "Seaman, Dave" <seamand@upmc.edu> |
| Subject | MBMBMBMBMB |
| Date | Thu, 17 Jul 2003 13:13:59 -0400 |
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<<<While I admit that the later Myracle Brah albums are not as
mind-numbingly
imitative as the debut ... a one-trick pony as a songwriter. >>>
Gotta agree with Stewart here. I don't dislike MB as Stewart does - i do
indeed like some of their songs. In fact, i liked a few off of the first
half of the debut quite a bit, on first blush -- but as I listened the rest
of the debut, then listened a few more times, and then over time heard a few
of their other cds, well... i guess it seemed to me, "hey good song! wait,
this next one sounds like that one... then the next cd - songs on this cd
sound like the songs on the previous cd... is this guy just rewriting the
same song over and over?"
IMO Andy Bopp's vocal melodies and chord structures are very similar from
song to song, and so is his instrumentation, arrangements, ... really, just
about everything. So, after initially liking some of the first cd, I got
bored pretty quickly after that. I've heard the recent cd that some folks
say is more adventurous -- but too my ears, not enough. Sure, there are a
few more instruments and textures weaved in - but compare the degree of
difference in sound and songwriting from song to song to, say, any album by
the Beatles from Help! on... (sure it's not fair to compare anyone to the
Beatles, but my comparison is ONLY a comparison of VARIETY of sound across
the course of a CD and from CD to CD.) Based on this criteria only, I'd say
MB goes about 3% of the way towards 100% variety of sound.
This is actually a complaint I have about a lot of groups, whether power pop
or just about any genre. I love albums like Queen's Sheer Heart Attack or
Elvis Costello's Imperial Bedroom or XTC's Skylarking, where just about each
song is wildly different from the one before it -- yet the strength of the
vocal and instrumental personality of the artist ties the whole package
together. Not to say that I don't also dig albums that have a similar sound
from track to track - just that I don't hear enough of albums with a more
varied approach.
And speaking of vocal and instrumental personality -- I think this is
another thing that separates the men from the boys (so to speak) in our
power pop genre. Even if an artist's songs are good and well-played, if
there is little to no personality evident to distinguish the artist from all
the others, the CD is not likely to stick in the long run. I like a great
song. But I also like a band I can recognize from a mile away. And it's
really great if this is more than just the sound of the lead singer's voice!
Okay, I'll get offa my soapbox...
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