For all my kind of pseudo-punk rock wingeing, I'm forced to conclude that U2 is one of the handful of big acts who actually are keeping the banner of rock waiving.
Whose it going to be next? Billy Joel? Abba?
Wait a minute, I already decided those guys wrote some pretty good songs.
At least: (1) I still don't like progressive rock (though, disturbingly, two friends whose other aesthetic judgments I put a great deal of creedence in are big fans of the form), and (2) I'm irrationally exuberant about the fact that James Williamson and Iggy Pop have made peace and the former is resuming his rightful place with "Iggy and the Stooges" (to be differentiated from "The Stooges," for whom Ron Asheton, R.I.P., played lead guitar).
See, the thing about prog-rock, I've decided (after a binge of King Crimson over the past couple of days) is that most of it is really pretty appalling. But the guys who performed it worked so hard getting their instrumental chops into shape and slaving away at composing unlistenable 24-minute, 1-album-side mock operas, that they ended up learning quite a lot about music. So every major prog rock act that kept at it for long enough eventually produced somewhere around half a dozen absolutely first-rate 4-minute songs (and occasionally even more than this - see Pink Floyd and Jethro Tull).
Contemplating this fact cheers me up from time to time, because it makes me think that the protestant work ethic maybe isn't _always_ just a depressing falsehood.
Posted by: Mark Silcox | October 29, 2009 at 09:32 PM
Yeah, I resonate with all of that.
Have you heard the newer metal prog rock band Opeth? Listening to them is very strange for me because I recognize their absolute brilliance, but still have no inclination towards fandom. Usually my cognitive judgments and affective reactions go hand in hand, but not with these guys.
Posted by: Jon Cogburn | November 05, 2009 at 09:21 AM
Had a go at Opeth, and I agree with you. Gorgeous production values and some very nice solos. Totally forgettable lyrics, though, and the songs all seem completely devoid of dramatic or melodic structure. I think that if Beelzebub had dinner parties, this is the sort of stuff he might play in the background for his guests.
These days, (and in spite of their considerable cheese factor) all of the other metal I listen to pales in comparison to Monster Magnet.
Posted by: Mark Silcox | November 06, 2009 at 05:17 PM
Prof. Cogburn: Screw Opeth. If you want to go European, teutonic thrash is where it's at. See Kreator, Sodom, and Destruktion.
Posted by: Brandon | November 20, 2009 at 07:22 AM