AboutAGirl
oh, be nice
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2005
- Posts
- 2,693
- Reaction score
- 11
IMHO bands shouldn't be expected to have the same views they had when they started. Especially considering bands are usually in their early twenties when they come out, if they didn't grow up at all past that point I'd be a little worried.
As I see it, artistic integrity is an illusion. None of us have any genuine idea what motives any musician has for doing anything. And if you honesty think anybody who is a successful musician wasn't trying to sell records and make money, you're probably wrong. There are millions of people vying for that next music spot, it doesn't happen by accident. Any musician you've ever heard, other than maybe a few local acts, were being cash conscious and trying to make money.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Burzum, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Beatles, anybody famous had to try to sell records. Yeah Neil Young gets to do whatever he wants now, and he has one of the strongest integrity records in music history, but even he had to work his way up and watch those turnstiles in order to get into a position where he could then do as he pleases.
In the 60s, making rock operas and psychedelic freak out albums was the commercial thing to do. In early 90s Norway it was more commercially viable to make atonal black metal than Norwegian pop, since you can sell metal to an international market. Commerciality isn't in the sound of a record, it's in the mind of the person making it, which is something we can never know for sure.
For all we know, Barry Manilow lives and breaths his music while The Who are just trying to rake in as much cash as possible. We can't read minds. I used to go on the whole artistic integrity bandwagon thing but then I saw the error of my ways through Tom Petty. Tom's a guy who has always stuck close and fast by the commercial route -- his songs are terse and succinct, universal love song lyrics and snappy choruses, heck his motto is "don't bore us, get to the chorus." But he's also got an integrity record stronger than anyone, consistently fighting against the record labels and standing by his principles. Turns out he's guy who just genuinely loves commercial music and believes in big choruses and universal lyrics. Or at least that's how it seems to me, I can't specifically say I know what's in his head. But just because something sounds "commercial" doesn't mean there's an ounce of commercial intent and just because something sounds "legit" or whatever doesn't mean that the person behind it wasn't trying to bank in on a trend and make some cash.
As I see it, artistic integrity is an illusion. None of us have any genuine idea what motives any musician has for doing anything. And if you honesty think anybody who is a successful musician wasn't trying to sell records and make money, you're probably wrong. There are millions of people vying for that next music spot, it doesn't happen by accident. Any musician you've ever heard, other than maybe a few local acts, were being cash conscious and trying to make money.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Burzum, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, The Beatles, anybody famous had to try to sell records. Yeah Neil Young gets to do whatever he wants now, and he has one of the strongest integrity records in music history, but even he had to work his way up and watch those turnstiles in order to get into a position where he could then do as he pleases.
In the 60s, making rock operas and psychedelic freak out albums was the commercial thing to do. In early 90s Norway it was more commercially viable to make atonal black metal than Norwegian pop, since you can sell metal to an international market. Commerciality isn't in the sound of a record, it's in the mind of the person making it, which is something we can never know for sure.
For all we know, Barry Manilow lives and breaths his music while The Who are just trying to rake in as much cash as possible. We can't read minds. I used to go on the whole artistic integrity bandwagon thing but then I saw the error of my ways through Tom Petty. Tom's a guy who has always stuck close and fast by the commercial route -- his songs are terse and succinct, universal love song lyrics and snappy choruses, heck his motto is "don't bore us, get to the chorus." But he's also got an integrity record stronger than anyone, consistently fighting against the record labels and standing by his principles. Turns out he's guy who just genuinely loves commercial music and believes in big choruses and universal lyrics. Or at least that's how it seems to me, I can't specifically say I know what's in his head. But just because something sounds "commercial" doesn't mean there's an ounce of commercial intent and just because something sounds "legit" or whatever doesn't mean that the person behind it wasn't trying to bank in on a trend and make some cash.