At Date: Fri, 30 Jul 2004 09:58:12 Michael wrote:

>No Doubt is an interesting example, because they are a commercial band that 
>has tried some different stuff.  I have a theory that the long lag between 
>albums makes most artists more conservative -- when you spend so much time 
>between releases, it actually inhibits artistic growth, due to a fear that 
>if you change too much, you lose your audience.  But when you record a lot, 
>the growth is a natural by-product -- if you're recording a new album every 
>9 months, you'd get bored doing the same thing.
>
>This is a generalization, but I think most commercially successful acts who 
>don't release more than an album every two or three years tend to play it 
>safe.

Is it the act playing it safe, or the A & R department of the record label?

Columbia Records sent Tal Bachman back to the drawing board after 80 songs. 
Then they dropped him...leaving a 4 year gap between the debut and his new 
indie record.

Sometimes conservativism has to do with the indecision of the marketing 
machine behind the scenes who would rather have all the singles, images and 
clever "catch phrases" mapped out before it hits the public eye.

What happened to the days when you just recorded 10 songs, slapped a picture 
of the band on the cover and let radio drive the thing into the Top10? Oh, 
yeah.....greed.



Jaimie Vernon,
President, Bullseye Records
http://www.bullseyecanada.com
Author, Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicPopEncycloPages