Cruiser - as a person who actively dislikes rap and hiphop, I’m interested in your opinion of some original music my son is doing with some dudes that he met. It sort of a fusion that incorporates elements of lots of stuff, including rap. I’m still trying to get a handle on what I think about it myself, but there are parts that I like. And there is nothing wrong with saying that it stinks if that is what you think. Anyway here is where it is:
Here.
Listen to ‘What’s goin on’. Let me know what you think.
| Quote (DrGuitar @ May 12 2006,08:25) | ||
Geez... When was it a requirement for protest songs to be written by Mozart? |
Well to me it is the point. Poltics and music is a match. It always will be. I'm not proposing to be a mystical prophet of song lyrics but I disn't hear anyone bitchin when U2 put out Bullet the Blue Sky on the Joshua Tree, which was clearly a satire on American foreign policy in the late 80's.
Neil Young is a talented musician (IMO) but listening to that particular song, it lacks depth and I am questioning if he sacrificed to make a statement. If he did, I don't think it's cool.
I say it’s very good tspringer. I’m not a fan of straight rap (for a lot of reasons including subject matter and the lack of melody, etc), but I love reggae and combinations of styles including rap when done well. (I played in a reggae band for a few years in the late 80’s…we did a lot of stuff that was in a similar style as What’s Going On and Doncha Know) Your son’s stuff is very tasteful and tastefully done. It gets my vote.
| Quote (cruiser @ May 12 2006,14:28) |
| ... to say that Young and excellent music are mutually exclusive is just silly. Cheers Cruiser |
Hmmm...
I did not say that Neil is not an excellent artist. He most definitely is. But is his musical composition considered "musical excellence"? I guess it depends what you consider to be "musical excellence". If you consider Dylan's work or Tom Petty's work to be musical excellence, then Neil is certainly in that league. If you consider musical excellence to be music that needs no words to convey complex emotional content and tell a story, then you might not consider Neil's compositional skills to be "musical excellence". As Mr Soul said,
Neil is about raw emotion & energy.
I couldn't agree more. He does not need to be musically excellent to convey his artistic views. And as I said, he is most definitely "artistically excellent".
It doesn't really matter how I feel personally about Neil. He is the most "Neil Young" you can get in a single package and he is best at being himself. He does not need to be Bach to be a music composer or an great artist. And I don't expect Neil to play guitar like Joe Pass or BB King. If he did, he wouldn't be Neil.
I’m on board with that song springer it has melody and changes The rap is a bit in the background then moves forward so there is some nice arranging there.and I really like reggae…you know how tough it is to convey thought and ideas in a chat room thing. and Dr Guitar I wasn’t denigrating your musical insight I guess my main point is that it’s all SOOO subjective. One thing I really appreciate about this forum is the grace everyone affords these discussions. Come to think of it its the visual of rap as much as the hard core rap where the beat is soo pervasive and the pimping on stage is always the same moves with crotch hand thing going on, It’s been 15 years and they are still doing the same strut.
Cheers
Cruiser
See, I believe that simple is also complex.
To take an overused chord progression and create a unique and memorable melody to pure genius. How I wish I could do that. You can name most any of Neils older works and just like the Beatles, the tune pops into your head. He may not deliver it with purest precision but neither does Willie Nelson…another musical genius. Don’t you wish you’d wrote “Crazy”?
KingFish
Thanks Cruiser. And yeah, truth is if you think a thing is simple youre just not looking hard enough. Nothing is.
And yep, the visual image that is usually associated with rap really is tiresome and shallow.
understatement and/or simplicity is certainly a craft and difficult to achieve. Those songs are also great fun to play…I think Fogerty, it allows one to get to the soul of the song to play and sing with feeling and not worry about all those chord changes. Early Santana etc…
Cheers
Cruiser:blues: