Friday, October 27, 2006
Great Band Tragedy I: Counting Crows
Listen to Murder of One. Listen to Accidentally in Love. What happened here? How did the Counting Crows descend from the parapets of awesome music to the sludge of muckraiser music? I want some answeres, Adam. What did you do? You should be ashayayayayamed, to quote yourself. There was a brief moment in history where the scales were tipped. I think it came with the myriad of boring tracks that came off of Recovering the Satellites that did it. I was all into them through August...and Everything After and then through their little singles off of soundtracks (Einstein on the Beach, Ghost in You), but the remainder has been a disaster. It's so sad. You wish they would have just dissolved after internal fighting and left one brilliant album for history. Maybe I shouldn't be angry when bands break up because they have a great shot at doing something to tarnish their legacy. So Ladies and Gentleman, I present the Counting Crows as our first specimen of a great band tragedy. Let me know if you have any other candidates.
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3 comments:
Good nomination. Very good one. I have August... on my list of The Eight but I'm not proud of it. That album just killed me when it came out. Now, I look over it on my iTunes like intentionally walking past an old friend in a crowd because I've got nothing left to say to him. We're just too different.
I have to nominate R.E.M. for this one. Maybe just because I've been listening to them a lot lately--from Chronic to Leaving--and it's just a sad, sad tale. Do people just get old? Is that it? Did they just get old? Is it physically impossible for them to make great music anymore? If so, God help them. And God help me for not giving up on them.
A very resounding nomination for Weezer. I don't have the words to describe what The Blue Album meant to me. It's perfect. Well, almost perfect. I never really did get into "No One Else." But that's fine. I still give it ultra high marks in spite of it.
Also, The Unicorns. I know you're probably laughing at this one. Yes, I still love The Unicorns. In fact, I was listening to them last night while doing dishes and I just kept thinking about how perfect WWCOHWWG? is. Perfect. This one is a little bit different, though, because the death of The Unicorns gave birth to Islands so I can't really complain. It's like a great lesson in life after death. Yeah, it's exactly like that.
What about NMH virtually disappearing after Aeroplane. That's kind of a tragedy--at least for some. Not me, really. I mean Aeroplane is great but I like Avery better. But, whatever.
What about the tragedy of the Arctic Monkeys (not that they're a "great band") ever getting a record deal? Ever making it on the radio or tv or the internet or anywhere else in the world? Yeah, that's a tragedy for me. And for you. It's a tragedy for every one of us.
That's all for now.
All I can say is that LIVE ACROSS TWO WIRES is a pretty fantastic 2-disc set. I'm kind of ashamed about saying that, but it is. I'd leave that as the Counting Crows final mark.
And, instead of all this negativity... what about Bands That Deserve Better? I'll tackle it. At some point. I promise. The list starts with Calexico.
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