Over my many years of listening to
music, there have been times when a record or an artist didn't line
up with me or I just didn't get what they were up to.
For years, I had an averse reaction
to the Velvet Underground and Suicide. As these were both bands that
launched a thousand or so other bands, I knew there had to be
something there that I was missing. I also had a similar issue with
David Bowie because I was only familiar with his mid-80s singles that
were on the radio and was completely ignorant to his first four
albums.
Instead of dismissing this music and
pitching the records into my local used bin, I put them back on the
shelf and would go back to them every so often. A few years ago, I
put on Loaded by the Velvet
Underground and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I suddenly locked in
and went backwards through their catalogue. Then I went from their
first album back to Loaded. I had a new fascination that I could not shake. Luckily, this was
right around the time where all of their albums were getting the
deluxe anniversary reissue treatment. Each one was bound in a coffee
table book with photos and essays. There were new stereo and mono
mixes along with outtakes, live recordings and a two-bowl corner
sink. I didn't fall down a rabbit hole so much as a bottomless pit.
It took until this
past year for me to wrap my brain around Suicide. Alan Vega and
Martin Rev put together a dense pile of sound that is not easy to
listen to and are certainly not for the faint of heart. Their first
album is the one you put on at the end of night to tell your guests
the party's over. My way into their music was through Alan Vega's
final solo record IT which was released shortly after his
passing. I suddenly understood what Trent Reznor is always reaching
for but always falling just short of. They are an all out aural
assault that can cause brain damage and alienate your loved ones. Their music is art that challenges you to keep up with what they are
doing. It took me ages to get to them and I have been greatly
rewarded for my efforts.
With
Bowie, I think my issues were my own maturity and a lack of access to
his first four albums. In my younger days, even if I had access to
them, I don't think I would have had an appreciation for his older
albums due to symptoms of being an angry young man. Now that I am an
angry old man that tires easily, I can slow down and find great joy
in listening to The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The
Spiders From Mars. After
repeated listenings, I am thoroughly convinced that it is one of the
greatest albums ever committed to tape. Sadly, the new boxsets that
are coming out every fall are sonically lacking and do a great
injustice to the man's work.
A lot of people
have problems with an artist's newer music. Saying that their new
record doesn't hold up to their older records. If I encounter this
in myself, I usually put the record back on the shelf for a few weeks
and then go back to it. Maybe I wasn't ready for it or my
expectations were built up in a way no record could meet. Or maybe I
was just in a shitty mood and should have reached for the Slayer
instead. These people create music for a living. Maybe they have a
better idea of what they're trying for than I do so I'll give it
multiple listens before writing it off. And that rarely happens. It
may take a few spins for me to catch up but more often than not I can
eventually see their forrest through the trees. Besides, if a band
put out the same record every other year, wouldn't that get boring? They're growing and changing just like the rest of us so it's logical
that their art would grow too.
No comments:
Post a Comment