Civilized Discussion of Music

[Rateus]

Hey Dzuna. Alter Bridge wrote you a song.

 

[TheJLT]

Hey Dzuna. Alter Bridge wrote you a song.

Actually, in the series, Dzuna herself has never been shown to experience nor enjoy pain. However, she greatly enjoys inflicting pain or observing suffering. She is not a masochist. She is a sadist.

 

[Rateus]

Actually, in the series, Dzuna herself has never been shown to experience nor enjoy pain. However, she greatly enjoys inflicting pain or observing suffering. She is not a masochist. She is a sadist.

They never said whose pain ;-p

 

[chaosenjoyer]

From the artist who brought you Neon Gravestones, Addict with a Pen, and Redecorate...

 

[Zules]

An important music:

 

[Zules]

Saw The Killers for the 2nd time ever last night (first time was in 2013) -- that's why I was doing the listen-through of their discography here recently. But then, after I finished the listen-through in March, they had to cancel & reschedule the show for May. Strangely enough, this was the 2nd time the Houston show had been rescheduled. I think the original date was in November or something??

I loved the show; it was really great! They tried really hard to apologize for rescheduling the show twice First they started the show by sending out the "band's doctor" who said he had an announcement -- "don't shoot the messenger, but the entire band has tested very positive............................... FOR ROCK N ROLL" -- then later on, Brandon Flowers gave an extended speech/apology in the middle of a song which was pretty humorous. They also gave everyone in attendance a free poster that said "3rd time's a charm" which was really nice!

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1657932642002542593

 

[chaosenjoyer]

My favorite artist (waterparks) made clean versions of the songs on their latest album. Sometimes the bad words are silenced, sometimes they're drowned out by odd sound effects... but in one song, the lead singer did something a little different... I've been laughing about this one for a while now. The censored line is after "maybe I'm a soulsucker".

 

[Storel]

My favorite artist (waterparks) made clean versions of the songs on their latest album. Sometimes the bad words are silenced, sometimes they're drowned out by odd sound effects... but in one song, the lead singer did something a little different... I've been laughing about this one for a while now. The censored line is after "maybe I'm a soulsucker".

Sorry, I couldn't make out what they said after "maybe I'm a soulsucker". Can you provide details?

 

[chaosenjoyer]

He says But you're just a really cool person buddy, look at you!

 

[Storel]

Cute.

 

[Apricity]

Vocal artistry:

A

 

[chaosenjoyer]

this song made me cry a little bit and I love it so much

 

[Apricity]

Wow. Just wow.

I don't know how she does it, either...

A

 

[Rateus]

Listening to Tara MacLean and getting weepy, what a way to spend a Sunday afternoon...

Here's the album on YouTube, although I'm listening to a CD.

 

[Rateus]

Dear all of the monsters that come out during the Minecraft night:

A Message to You Zombie

 

[Zules]

Thirty Seconds To Mars reads Exvulnerum CONFIRMED

 

[Rateus]

Cheer Up Fun Time Instrumental Album

 

[Oegyein]

Musical opinion rant time.

I'm sure you've heard the song "Hallelujah". If not, go listen to it now because it is, in my opinion, one of the greatest songs made in the last century. That said, I also like listening to covers; I enjoy hearing how songs sound in other voices, and how other talents interpret them. One would imagine that a song as prolific and well known as Leonord Cohen's magnum opus would garner the attention of a multitude of musicians and, by sheer force of numbers and the method of "throw as many different versions until one works" would the perfect cover be made.

... Garbage. Hot steaming garbage, all of it. This is not a criticism of the singers' voices, nor their talent. In fact, a lot of them have incredibly powerful voices, voices which would be perfect for a song like this, and yet they all fail. Why? Because they stress individuality.

These youtube artists all try to sound 'unique' and 'different', ironically making them all sound the same. Too many of them shove an ungodly number of warbles into their harmony, I guess because that's what people think makes a good singer now?

The general pattern of the original song is unique from other music, because it takes the shape of a mountain of sorts. Cohen begins a steady climb from the beginning of the song to the first 'hallelujah', in which we reach the peak of that particular mountain. As the chorus comes in, we again begin the ascent, building upward with each 'Hallelujah' until the final on, ending on a climax and descending back down to sea level for the next verse. It's not a perfectly straight climb up the mountain, but it's steady, reliable, and strong.

Then comes in these pop singers who shake the road, smash potholes into the pathway and build their routes in impractical and unsatisfying curly lines that add nothing to the climbing experience. In fact, you start cursing because it's added another 5000 steps to your hike and you haven't eaten lunch yet.

Alright, the metaphor's escaping me, but I think I've made my point clear. The original works because it's simple. It's uniqueness does not come from "deviating from the status quo", but from building the song around simple but interesting structure (i.e. a peak or climax). Once you take focus away from this peak, the charm of the song is lost amongst a sea of uninspired molehills each pretending to be a mountain top.

One final peeve I have with these covers is the note they end the chorus on. Keeping with the mountain visualization, Mountains go up, reach their peak, then back down to the bottom level (for argument's sake, I know not all sides of the mountain are level). They do not, however, end in a slippery ramp of doom like some ski trail sending you flying into the abyss. I find that a good chunk of these covers try to make the second last note of the chorus lower than the final note, again creating this jarring "quirk" that seems to exist only to be unique. It's innocent enough at first, heck, it's incredibly ignorable, but once you realize its commonality, it niggles at the part of your thinkpan that deals with annoyance. We've already gone up and over the mountain, a satisfying experience all around, but the place this annoying faux-bump at the end that doesnt need to be there ruins the experience altogether.

Halleujah is a simple song that stands out, not by throwing itself in every direction, but by picking one and doing it well. Its beauty is in its simplicity, and when you try to bend that simplicity you stand the risk of breaking it. That's not to say that every single cover must adhere to a strict blueprint, but when making creative changes to an existing piece, an artist should ask themselves: "Why am I changing this? Does this benefit the artwork? Or am I just trying to stand out for uniqueness' sake."

With that said, rant over.

- Some guy who never studied music theory.

 

[Rateus]

Musical opinion rant time.

I'm sure you've heard the song "Hallelujah". If not, go listen to it now because it is, in my opinion, one of the greatest songs made in the last century. That said, I also like listening to covers; I enjoy hearing how songs sound in other voices, and how other talents interpret them. One would imagine that a song as prolific and well known as Leonord Cohen's magnum opus would garner the attention of a multitude of musicians and, by sheer force of numbers and the method of "throw as many different versions until one works" would the perfect cover be made.

... Garbage. Hot steaming garbage, all of it. This is not a criticism of the singers' voices, nor their talent. In fact, a lot of them have incredibly powerful voices, voices which would be perfect for a song like this, and yet they all fail. Why? Because they stress individuality.

These youtube artists all try to sound 'unique' and 'different', ironically making them all sound the same. Too many of them shove an ungodly number of warbles into their harmony, I guess because that's what people think makes a good singer now?

The general pattern of the original song is unique from other music, because it takes the shape of a mountain of sorts. Cohen begins a steady climb from the beginning of the song to the first 'hallelujah', in which we reach the peak of that particular mountain. As the chorus comes in, we again begin the ascent, building upward with each 'Hallelujah' until the final on, ending on a climax and descending back down to sea level for the next verse. It's not a perfectly straight climb up the mountain, but it's steady, reliable, and strong.

Then comes in these pop singers who shake the road, smash potholes into the pathway and build their routes in impractical and unsatisfying curly lines that add nothing to the climbing experience. In fact, you start cursing because it's added another 5000 steps to your hike and you haven't eaten lunch yet.

Alright, the metaphor's escaping me, but I think I've made my point clear. The original works because it's simple. It's uniqueness does not come from "deviating from the status quo", but from building the song around simple but interesting structure (i.e. a peak or climax). Once you take focus away from this peak, the charm of the song is lost amongst a sea of uninspired molehills each pretending to be a mountain top.

One final peeve I have with these covers is the note they end the chorus on. Keeping with the mountain visualization, Mountains go up, reach their peak, then back down to the bottom level (for argument's sake, I know not all sides of the mountain are level). They do not, however, end in a slippery ramp of doom like some ski trail sending you flying into the abyss. I find that a good chunk of these covers try to make the second last note of the chorus lower than the final note, again creating this jarring "quirk" that seems to exist only to be unique. It's innocent enough at first, heck, it's incredibly ignorable, but once you realize its commonality, it niggles at the part of your thinkpan that deals with annoyance. We've already gone up and over the mountain, a satisfying experience all around, but the place this annoying faux-bump at the end that doesnt need to be there ruins the experience altogether.

Halleujah is a simple song that stands out, not by throwing itself in every direction, but by picking one and doing it well. Its beauty is in its simplicity, and when you try to bend that simplicity you stand the risk of breaking it. That's not to say that every single cover must adhere to a strict blueprint, but when making creative changes to an existing piece, an artist should ask themselves: "Why am I changing this? Does this benefit the artwork? Or am I just trying to stand out for uniqueness' sake."

With that said, rant over.

- Some guy who never studied music theory.

A worthy rant. It's very tough to match to original, though I think the Rufus Wainwright version is my favourite (and I know the Jeff Buckley fans will come for me, I'm not saying his version isn't excellent, I just don't enjoy it as much).

 

[Val]

Musical opinion rant time.

I'm sure you've heard the song "Hallelujah". If not, go listen to it now because it is, in my opinion, one of the greatest songs made in the last century. That said, I also like listening to covers; I enjoy hearing how songs sound in other voices, and how other talents interpret them. One would imagine that a song as prolific and well known as Leonord Cohen's magnum opus would garner the attention of a multitude of musicians and, by sheer force of numbers and the method of "throw as many different versions until one works" would the perfect cover be made.

... Garbage. Hot steaming garbage, all of it. This is not a criticism of the singers' voices, nor their talent. In fact, a lot of them have incredibly powerful voices, voices which would be perfect for a song like this, and yet they all fail. Why? Because they stress individuality.

These youtube artists all try to sound 'unique' and 'different', ironically making them all sound the same. Too many of them shove an ungodly number of warbles into their harmony, I guess because that's what people think makes a good singer now?

The general pattern of the original song is unique from other music, because it takes the shape of a mountain of sorts. Cohen begins a steady climb from the beginning of the song to the first 'hallelujah', in which we reach the peak of that particular mountain. As the chorus comes in, we again begin the ascent, building upward with each 'Hallelujah' until the final on, ending on a climax and descending back down to sea level for the next verse. It's not a perfectly straight climb up the mountain, but it's steady, reliable, and strong.

Then comes in these pop singers who shake the road, smash potholes into the pathway and build their routes in impractical and unsatisfying curly lines that add nothing to the climbing experience. In fact, you start cursing because it's added another 5000 steps to your hike and you haven't eaten lunch yet.

Alright, the metaphor's escaping me, but I think I've made my point clear. The original works because it's simple. It's uniqueness does not come from "deviating from the status quo", but from building the song around simple but interesting structure (i.e. a peak or climax). Once you take focus away from this peak, the charm of the song is lost amongst a sea of uninspired molehills each pretending to be a mountain top.

One final peeve I have with these covers is the note they end the chorus on. Keeping with the mountain visualization, Mountains go up, reach their peak, then back down to the bottom level (for argument's sake, I know not all sides of the mountain are level). They do not, however, end in a slippery ramp of doom like some ski trail sending you flying into the abyss. I find that a good chunk of these covers try to make the second last note of the chorus lower than the final note, again creating this jarring "quirk" that seems to exist only to be unique. It's innocent enough at first, heck, it's incredibly ignorable, but once you realize its commonality, it niggles at the part of your thinkpan that deals with annoyance. We've already gone up and over the mountain, a satisfying experience all around, but the place this annoying faux-bump at the end that doesnt need to be there ruins the experience altogether.

Halleujah is a simple song that stands out, not by throwing itself in every direction, but by picking one and doing it well. Its beauty is in its simplicity, and when you try to bend that simplicity you stand the risk of breaking it. That's not to say that every single cover must adhere to a strict blueprint, but when making creative changes to an existing piece, an artist should ask themselves: "Why am I changing this? Does this benefit the artwork? Or am I just trying to stand out for uniqueness' sake."

With that said, rant over.

- Some guy who never studied music theory.

Say, considering your experience regarding Hallelujah covers, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this cover/parody: