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| From | "Michael Carpenter" <stagefright@msn.com.au> |
| Subject | Re: What IS influence, anyway?/The 3 album theory? |
| Date | Thu, 1 Mar 2007 11:07:19 +1100 |
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Sam again wrote most diligently:
>
> Right, and I never stop ranting about that one. You almost can't look
> through my year-end best-of columns without seeing me making
> a big deal
> over bands that haven't overcome their influences. That's a
> significant
> problem in Power Pop, where the shadows of The Raspberries and the 3Bs
> (Beatles, Badfinger, Big Star) seem to loom so large,
This is a big one for sure. The template for this style of music is so
distinct, and in many ways so good, and in other ways so pure and essential
that it's almost impossible to separate the influences from the style. Ie:a
perception that you can't be powerpop without big harmonies, jangle or power
guitars and good neatly written songs/melodies. It seems stretching beyond
that disqualifies you from being powerpop. It seems like almost every
variation on powerpop was covered by the essential powerpop bands, so being
a powerpop artist almost instantly means you're going to be derivative to a
certain degree. I guess it's the nature of a genre whose roots are now 40
years plus old. In the same way that when there was a rock n roll revival in
the mid 80's with the Georgia Satellites and several others that it
unmistakenly harkened back to the early days of rock and roll.
But it's hard.. For fans of this music who also happen to be writers and
artists, there's nothing more pleasing than writing a song that makes you
feel like some of your favourite songs ever. Unfortunately that often means
you're being derivative. The good artist will try to push beyond that and
work harder, but sometimes it's a hard habit to break..
>
> With this, we're not talking about influence. We're talking about the
> other "i," imitation. All good artists go through imitative
> stages early
> on (see if you can comment on anything I wrote between the
> ages of 18 and
> 22 without using the word "Eliot," for example), but by the
> time you're
> in your mid- to late 20s, if you're a serious artist that's
> over. I don't
> mind hearing the influence, but I don't want to hear a tribute band,
> either.
This is a great point, and leads nicely into a big theory I have. I believe
every major artist, or minor one for that matter, through the history of
modern music hasn't really found their voice until the 3rd or 4th album. If
you look at any major artist, the first 2 albums seem to be the artist
learning the studio, learning the record making craft, purging their
influences. By album 3 or sometimes 4 they're pretty much done with that and
have refined their craft and stykle enough through this process to develop
their own voice. Speaking personally, I believe my first 2 albums are FILLED
with unapologetically stylistic 'homages'. The 'Hopefulness' record less
than 'Baby'. Ironically for me, it was on the first SOOP record that I
really started to let go of needing to create pastiches, and in my head it's
clear to see that the last stuff I recorded for that SOOP record (King's
Highway, I'll Get You, This Will Be Our Year) reflect the sound I really
wanted to put together, which ended up being reflected further on
Kingsrdworks and Rolling Ball.
But enough about me... Think about some of your favourite artists and see if
their voice didn't really develop til album 3. Here are some examples..
(this doesn't necessarily mean their publicly perceived 'best' album.. But
the album where their stylistic voice seemed to emerge most clearly..)
Beatles - Hard Days Night
Springsteen - Born To Run
Tom Petty - Damn The Torpedoes
Rolling Stones - Aftermath (album 4)
The Who - Sell Out
U2 - War
The Byrds - 5D
The Band - Brown album (album 2 I know, but these guys were pretty seasoned
by then)
And one last thing.. Mike B wrote how he sometimes claims artists influences
in reviews, only to find out the artist had never heard of the reference. I
remember getting a LOT of Elvis Costello for my first 2 albums, and I only
had a best of, which I only listened to the great obvious 'hits' of. I've
since investigated further, and I think I understand... I think..
MC
I blog at www.myspace.com/michaelcarpenter
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