I have a large collection of CDs. Many of these do not make it off the shelf often, or indeed at all. I thought today I would select some of these albums and write about them, trying to discover why I have abandoned music I once loved.
1. In Time: The Best of R.E.M.
I own a pile of R.E.M. CDs. In fact I own every one of their albums from Green onwards and the best of their singles from when they were signed by IRS instead of whatever other label took them over (Warner I think). Anyway, I suppose I've overplayed all of their music now to the point that I no longer listen to it. Also, the fact that the school played this album two years ago to get kids to class on time after the locker bell may have influenced my opinion.
2. Wires, Art of Fighting
I bought this in 2001 on a day when I felt quite depressed- my cat had just been run over, it was a cold and miserable winter. It was a very appropriate album at the time. It's also a beautiful album but on the whole not especially uplifting. I do occasionally listen to it but generally the slow melancholia just doesn't appeal anymore. I really went through a phase of loving this kind of stuff, though.
3. Yourself or Someone Like You, Matchbox 20
Yes, well, your Honour... I was young and in year 11 and had just broken up with someone and felt miserable about it, so middle of the road commercial angry rock music really appealed to me, OK? I accept the lack of music savvy I possessed at the time. I promise never to stray again into the world of cringeworthy music. I should have stuck with Whatever and Ever Amen but that was becoming a bit too overplayed for its own good.
4. Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
I saw this in JB HiFi the other day and was reminded of my youthful folly in 1996, when I thought Ironic actually was and then later worked out it definitely isn't in any way. But this was one of the first CDs I owned. I played it all the time. At least three or four times a week. And I didn't own any other CDs at the time, so I didn't know any better. I still like Not the Doctor and All I Really Want, actually, but none of the other songs have made it into my iTunes library.
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2 comments:
Hmm, I wonder what inspired this particular article.
Let me guess. Someone you know made a derogatory comment about REM, and so you felt compelled to tell the world how you "no longer" listen to them.
Except no one really reads your blog, as far as I can see, so I don't understand the point. What's wrong with REM exactly? Okay, I see why you feel the need to "apologise" for once liking Matchbox 20 and Alanis Morissette (I don't AGREE with it, but such behaviour from you doesn't surprise me in the least)... but what's so wrong about liking REM?
You know, there IS such a thing as good "popular" music. It's true that there's also such a thing as terrible popular music that should never have been made. But the albums you mentioned certainly don't fit into that category. No, they're not classic albums that people will remember for years and years to come, but they're albums that a lot of people enjoyed at a certain point in time, and for good reason. (I'm excluding Art of Fighting from this because I've never listened to them, and I doubt many other people did either).
Here's a thought for you - bands like Split Enz and Crowded House The Beatles were all phenomenally successfully, and I know for a fact that you listen to them without shame. They were, and still are, very popular because they made great music. REM have released a lot of great songs too. I really don't think you need to disown your REM albums.
Furthermore, an album isn't automatically worth listening to just because:
a. It's played on Triple J
and
b. It doesn't sell many copies
True, there are lots of great bands and artists that deserve to sell many more CDs than they actually do.
There are also bands that don't sell albums (and are therefore considered "worthy") because they are simply crap.
Sorry, but you can't stereotype music into two general categories like that, so that good = unpopular and bad = popular. It doesn't work.
Actually I think 'Jagged Little Pill' is something of a classic album and the 'Best of REM' is also pretty damn good. It's just that, as I said, I don't really listen to either of them now. People are allowed to change their minds and to not be in the mood to hear a certain kind of music at a particular time.
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