Music has changed a lot in the last 10 years.
Some of that change has been great, some has been less so.
Much of this change has been driven by the influence of technology.
Suddenly the ability to make and listen to music has become easier … more accessible.
Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is open to interpretation … but one thing that I genuinely believe is a negative is that thanks to things like iPod/iPhone/iTunes [Sorry Bazza], the way we consume music has changed.
Nowadays, if a track doesn’t ‘grab you’ in the first 5 seconds, you can – and often do – move on to another song.
Nowadays, if you like a particular artist, you can choose to own just the tracks you like, rather than experience the whole song, let alone whole album.
It’s resulted in many artists changing how they write music.
Trying to grab the attention from the first note.
Creating the musical equivalent of a Michael Bay movie … all bluster, not much substance.
Some of that is good, but it also means ‘music appreciation’ is evolving/devolving into nothing more than track acknowledgement.
That’s why I really liked it when AC/DC refused to sell their music on iTunes.
They said their albums were created to be experienced as an entire piece, not to picked and played with.
Of course, when they realised how much cash they were missing out on, they quickly changed their mind, but the reason behind their initial stand is absolutely with merit.
But that’s not what this post is about, it’s about a band with the greatest hair since Joey Tempest of Europe.
Yes, I’m talking about one-hit-wonders, Flock of Seagulls.
Listen to this:
Yes, it’s their 1982 hit, “I Ran” … but the thing I love about it is that there’s 1 minute 32 seconds of musical intro before the lyrics come in.
NINETY TWO SECONDS.
Christ, that’s longer than some songs these days.
And I love it.
I love that it pulls you slowly into the adventure.
Preparing you for the moment it all kicks in.
And I honestly believe it wouldn’t be so powerful if it didn’t have that intro to the song.
Which leads to the bigger issue …
In these days where everyone seems obsessed with finding the shortest route to awesome, the sad truth of the matter is that by looking for shortcuts, you’re automatically running the risk of stopping awesome from ever truly happening.
Or said another way, if all you do is fuck, you’re missing out on the emotional satisfaction you get from seduction.
Yes, that is the worst analogy ever written.
Sorry.
OK, with that disturbing image now in your head, I think I’ll leave you to your weekend.
Ta-ra.