Music to believe in

 Back then you could believe the things Peter Garrett said 

A recent post on the Hardcore Hampster music blog got me thinking about artists who really wear their heart on their sleeve and songs that you believe every word said.

It’s an interesting question, what actually makes a song sound believable?

Is it the truth in U2's  'I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For', the absolute fury in Zac De La Rocca’s voice as he shouts “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” in 'Killing in the Name', or is it the sincerity in Ben Harper’s voice as he screams “I believe in a better way”? 

I hear it in 'Jesus Christ Pose' by Soundgarden (and throughout most of Badmotorfinger), but without a doubt it was the missing ingredient in Audioslave (incidentally, taste is the missing ingredient Chris Cornell’s recent solo efforts).

Some would say it’s all about how vulnerable the songwriter makes themselves through the lyrics.  But I get shivers every time I hear Van Morrison sing “I will drive my chariot down your street and cry” in 'Sweet Thing', even though I wouldn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.  Or try the Cold War Kids - Nathan Willet sings with so much passion that even on songs I don’t like I believe every word.  And then there are songs like 'Jeremy' by Pearl Jam, where Eddie Vedder reveals little if anything about himself, but you can’t tell me that’s not a believable song.  I would never deny that Jeremy spoke in class that day.  A good vocalist can pull sincerity off without having to delve too deep into their own demons.

You don’t even need a good voice.  Case in point: Peter Garrett.  Who sounds more passionate than our very own Minister for Environment, Heritage and the Arts?

Dave Grohl: "DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE GUM?"

The common theme throughout most of the music I find believable is yelling.  But there’s more to it than strained vocal chords.  If it was that simple, I’d be a much bigger fan of the Foo Fighters.  Dave Grohl, you can yell as much as you like – it doesn’t make your lyrics any more believable. 

At the end of the day,  believability is pretty subjective.  I hear it in songs like 'The ’59 Sound' by the Gaslight Anthem because I can identify with the themes of death and pain, but I find it noticeably absent in songs like 50 cent’s 'Fuck You', because I'm not a muthafukn gangsta who's been shot nine times in the hood. It’s all a matter of selective exposure.  You believe what you want to believe.  I’ll never find Nickelback believable simply because I’m just not that big a douche bag.  I hope.

Images:

• http://www.casafree.com/modules/xcgal/albums/userpics/12392/foo_fighters_photo.jpg
• http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/peter-garrett.jpg

Music to crack Dio jokes to

Black Sabbath are an institution. I recently interviewed white rapper Necro, he said "Tony Iommi is solely responsible for the entire metal genre". Big call. After not putting out a new studio album since 1995's Forbidden (wasn't it a good idea to get Ice T involved in that?), the band's Ronnie James Dio line-up is getting back together to release The Devil You Know.

The first single from the album, Bible Black has been travelling around the internet and giving the haters something to hate on, and the rest of us something to look forward to. But when a band released their most popular music in the late 70s and early 80s, arguably the glory days of the music industry, will releasing an album now net them enough cash. The record industry has gone to hell. So has the economy. Castles and antique mega-mansions can't be cheap to maintain. Maybe the classic band can approach take a fresh approach to marketing the band. The money's not in music, it's in endorsement. Just look at Snoop Dogg. Getting hip with the new millennium, Ronnie James Dio should create some cash flow with the following endorsements.


RONNIE JAMES DEO

Vanquish the demons in your underarms. Allure the attention of a fair maiden. It's Ronnie James Deo! A fragrant elixir crafted from the cauldrons of wise witches. You'll never have to feel Paranoid about your body odour every again.

D(I)OS

In a long bygone era, both computers and people needed DOS. They would rack their brains trying to figure out exact command prompts to run programs. Now, DOS is a rarely remembered footnote in the history of computing. So from a marketing standpoint it's genius. Both the Disk Operating System and Dio are old and have generally been forgotten about. Together they could recapture silicone valley and make a truckload of money in the process.

DIOCIDE

Legendary death metal band Deicide have never reached the popular acclaim of Sabbath. Maybe that's because they release songs like 'Fuck Your God' or vocalist Glenn Benton proudly displays an inverted cross that he burnt into his forehead, either way the band could use Dio's squeaky clean image to crack the mainstream metal market and for his troubles, RJD could receive adequate compensation.

When Dio came to prominence, the music industry treated rock stars like gods and gave them truckloads of cash. With an entrepreneurial spirit, Dio and the Black Sabbath dudes could once again have trucks full of currency pull up to the moats of their castles.

Music for the uncomplicated smile in all of us

Music to listen to when justifying a bender

Is it just me, or is there a growing trend of female singers acting like complete trash and earning a lot of money for it? Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and now the darling Lady Sovereign have all graced our radios with their sordid lyrics and quite frankly, I am so over it.

Lady Sovereign drinks spirits and smokes people’s home-grown. She also might burp in your face and her nose jiggles when she spits. How do I know all this? Because the sweetheart puts it in her lyrics, and wow, hear her roar.

Now I am no sexist; I am a young woman. I live in a young woman’s world and its ok most of the time. However for some reason whenever I tell people I don’t shave under my arms, I don’t get the same reaction that Lady Sovereign does, which appears to be a shitload of coin.

So this is what ‘attitude’ has come to be. Forget politics, human rights and the environment. Lyrics about boyfriends who suck in bed and body hair will get you enough of the shock factor. Enough of the shock factor, that is, to make several stints in rehab acceptable. Even Amy Millan, the sometimes singer of Stars frequents the stage with the just-been-raped look. So who told these girls that trashy was cool? Furthermore, who the hell honestly indulges in this shit?

Oh wait, every teenage girl of the western world.

The unfortunate fact is that these jail-pending, under-fed, drugged-up young women are rich and famous and look like they have a lot of fun. No wonder they’re lives are studied through a microscope. They sell the image as well as the magazines, looking more and more attractive to the average young woman. And no wonder, word on the street is that drugs and booze are fun. Who hasn’t been to a dress up party where there is an Amy Winehouse look-a-like? Teenage girls don’t even need a reason to swear, but these ‘artists’ are writing everything they need to know to become complete embarrassments.

It does need to be mentioned, however, that as a self confessed young woman I am also sick of the ‘experts’ talking about how fragile we all are. Body image and sexual respect were issues bludgeoned into me through my schooling. I completely understand a girl’s desire to laugh at the seriousness of it all and show the man some attitude. We are, against all speculation, a lot tougher than people give us credit for. But this is not attitude. This is the raw desire in every woman to be a complete headcase. Imagine a snarling lion ripping everything in sight to shreds including man, child, and especially woman. Then hoping to be called pretty. That ultimate confusion is the closest resemblance I can think of to the inner cravings of a teenage girl. And this is the closest resemblance I can think of to these so called musicians. But this confusion in a grown woman isn't helping anything, and it certainly isn't the right, or real attitude.

Real attitude seems to be coming from the other side of the globe (I’d like to say hemisphere but alas, geography disrupts my fluency yet again) in the U.S. I speak of Peaches. What a legend. Who else gets naked on stage? Well Lady GaGa maintains she did it once but she can rot in hell for all I’m concerned; she is possibly the worst musician ever. But I digress. Peaches is the first woman artist in my life time to have that much grunt and I adore her for it. Fuck the Pain Away has to be one of my all time favourite songs.

The difference is that while Peaches looks like a complete psycho she pulls through with the goods in terms of her musical prowess. I don’t doubt that somewhere along the line Amy Winehouse had talent. I faintly remember her version of the Zuton’s Valerie being quite good. But that talent seems to have been suffocated by (pick your poison) and not even her messed up antics are interesting anymore. I heard she’s losing money now, finally.

I suppose the moral of the story is take enough drugs and booze to keep people snap happy while maintain enough musical integrity to salvage a half-decent musical career. Have enough attitude to acquire admiration, while not talk about the mindless crap that everyone thinks but doesn’t say- there are reasons for that. My vote goes to Peaches, who appears to have succeeded the fine balance. So remember girls, everything in moderation.