posted June 19, 2002 11:01 PM            

I just want to say that i am extremely proud of these three bands. They somehow found a niche amist the boybands and brooding rock. I think its great. I hope a whole slew of these brit influenced solid rock take over the airwaves. Id rather be stuck in traffic listing to Last Nite for the hunderedth time than Staind over and over again. I hope this is the music revolution ive been wating for. I know it starts in baby steps. I sure hope this is it. Quality over Quantity at last?

Do you guys think bands like this will stick? Can the American public appreciate good music like this?

posted June 20, 2002 11:59 AM            

Moreover, I would also be careful in solely pinning accountability on the American public. American fans should be held accountable for making boy bands, pop princesses, and brooding rock groups popular, but they are just as guilty as the European fan base that supports them. Remember, the Backstreet Boys and NSync became popular in Europe before they became popular in the United States. The Backstreet Boys' "As Long As You Love Me" won MTV Europe's select award in 1996-97 (if I'm not mistaken), where viewers were allowed to select favorite videos from a menu on the screen. Furthermore, NSync was popular in Germany, then Europe, and finally in the United States. The success of both groups in the United States made it possible for other boy bands and, to a lesser degree, pop princesses to garner popularity here. Everything seemed to take off from there. In the end, I personally believe that making bad music popular transcends geographical boundries as well, although I will comment that it has a lot to do with how the industry is run today. That's an entirely different can of worms.

With that being said, what is the future of music right now? I personally believe that it will partly depend on how the musical tastes of teenagers and "traditional" college students evolve. Will they start going after more serious music, quality as opposed to mass marketing? Or, will they stay the course? At the same time, the future of music also depends on what today's teenagers and "traditional" college students listen to. They play an integral role in what music is listened to and promoted.

Does this mean we'll get more of the same, or will we get a change in musical trend? In short, is this the revolution that Mari is looking for? It all depends on what one defines as revolutionary. In my opinion, I believe we are headed for a change of musical trends, as opposed to a revolution. I don't see anyone out there right now, outside of Radiohead (and I could be wrong), that could revolutionize music. To me, there's nothing being released right now that will change the way music is made, which would make it a revolution in my eyes.

However, I believe that we are witnessing a shift in musical trends. We can trace this change as far back as mid-to-late-2000 with Radiohead's release of "Kid A," and its follow-up "Amnesiac" in 2001. We can see it in 2001 with releases from Jewel, Travis, Elbow, The Strokes, The Dave Matthews Band, Remy Zero, Duncan Sheik, and Pete Yorn to name a few. This year, Sheryl Crow has released new material, Dave Matthews has new material coming out in July, Coldplay will have a new CD out in August, Duncan has material on the way in October, while Sarah McLachlan will probably have a new CD out in 2003. Consequently, I think the music scene is changing right now, although I wouldn't quite classify it as revolutionary yet.

Just my two cents, I could write more, but I feel as if I just wrote a book.

posted June 20, 2002 04:47 PM         

What we have is the unfortunate combination of a large generation of kids with money and their raging hormones that need an outlet. But eventually they'll become more interested in their peers than in Britney Spears... One can only hope.

That being said, I'm optimistic that good music will always be around somewhere (maybe not on the radio though, but somewhere) because of talented, idealistic people who conceive their creative wonders out of an inner need to do so... without any thought of profit margins and demographic and image and all that crap.

posted June 25, 2002 12:01 PM            

I remember a few years ago, just before the likes of the Backstreet Boys came to fame, there was a great rise in good music after the time spand of hair bands and grunge. These things tend to come in alternating time periods.

posted August 03, 2002 10:27 PM            

I can't wait for the Coldplay and Sheik albums....