Even though it's not "rock" or "metal" per se, given the Gene Simmons avatar I'd have thought that music that actually moves like Vulfpeck would score higher than some of the type of this rigid, boring, vanilla prog metal that's getting scored highly. Different strokes I suppose but I'm genuinely surprised to see Stadler liking stuff like Threshold.
Some of that is on me, though. I know what you're saying. I can't explain it, but my bullshit meter kind of goes crazy with stuff like Vulfpeck. I played in a band in Philly - I was a Mummer, for anyone that knows what that is - and our rehearsals would be a group of guys in a room, facing each other, and jamming for three hours. Best times of my (musical) life, and there were guys in that room (not me) that were as able as any of the "heroes" we worship, but for various reasons (usually either "kids" or "their own heads"), they didn't get out. And a lot of those guys were aware of their ability, but were, for lack of a better word, bitter, and so there was no pretense, no bullshit, no playing around. No "look how cool I am" because the guy next to you was invariably way cooler. It was just about playing for fun, and getting the best version of whatever it was we were trying to get to. So I don't really like "musical superiority" or "musical snobbery" very much.
It's kind of why I love Kiss so much. Yeah, money, I get it, but they make no bones about what they do and why they do it, and I love that.
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I would say I'm probably one of the .01% of people on this forum who stand with you in thinking that Kiss are/were a million times better than most self-described "prog" metal. Why? Because, although they weren't the best players, they fundamentally understood that rock music was supposed to move you, that rules are meant to be broken, and that music is something that energizes and empowers. Ironically, it seems like the only place I consistently find this mentality anymore is in hip hop, funk, rap, soul, electronic music, and other related genres. Ironically, I don't find this approach in rock, no matter how hard I try, and even less often do I find it from "prog" metal bands, who compose as if they are doing a project for a music theory seminar. Anyway, I don't want to derail your roulette, but I genuinely thought you might be able to appreciate my perspective.
I very much do appreciate your perspective. I don't think we're coming at this fundamentally differently, but I think there's a difference between music that is what it is - and it moves you or doesn't - and music that is calculated to be a certain way. I don't want to bad mouth Vulfpeck too much, because a) I don't want to hurt antigoon's feelings, b) I actually didn't think it was BAD, I just didn't like the vibe, and c) it's all music and therefore subjective, but it bugged me that I almost felt... left out, for lack of a better word, because (and again, I'm talking about two different songs here, but condensing them for space reasons) Joe Bart and Theo were so over the top expressing something that I patently wasn't feeling. And I get it; I listen to a ton of music where that happens (I don't at all feel the rage in the heavier music I listen to) but it was almost condescending in a way that I can't put my finger on. I'm going to piss people off here, maybe, but I don't see much difference in Theo doing the pitchy hand thing while singing - and thereby indicating how seriously he is, and by extension, we should be, taking this music - and any of the saccharine pop music that is calculated to be a certain way. it's why I referenced Steely Dan in the writeup, because the Dan took their music painfully seriously, but we as the audience were never told that we had to too.
It's also why I'm souring on Mike Portnoy a little bit, because I think the notion of "87 bands" has channeled him into calculating what he should play. "This is my prog band, so I'm going to do THIS", and "this is my METAL band, so I'm going to do THIS". The best part of Dream Theater to me was when you had James singing like Steve Perry from Journey, you had John playing like Alex Lifeson from Rush, you had Mike playing like a cross between Keith Moon and Ringo Starr, and Kevin playing like I don't know who, but not anyone in the prog or metal field, that's for sure. And yet it worked.
I've told this story before, but I took my kid to see Kiss in 2014, with Def Leppard opening. Now, this wasn't nearly her first concert, or even her first rock concert, but after Def Leppard, she asked me "did they play all that or where they playing to a tape?", and I told her "they played every note except for a couple of keyboard things" (which was, as far as I can tell, true). She couldn't believe people could play instruments like that. Then Kiss came out and it was a lackluster show for the first four songs or so, then Gene's rig failed (he was left hanging about five feet off the stage) and he was PISSED. You could palpably tell how angry he was, and you could see him barking at one of the roadies on the side of the stage. And from that point on, even with Paul's now shitty voice, it was one of the best Kiss shows I've ever seen (I'm well into double digits at this point). You could physically tell the band kicked it up a notch, and my daughter noticed it too. The next day, she posted a screen shot of the explosions during RnRAN, and put the caption "Greatest night of my life."
I'm way off on a tangent now, but it's my roulette so there.
Good discussion.
Topic: Stadler's Wheel of Fortune! (A Roulette) - ROUND 7 RESULTS (Read 38274 times)