Steven Wilson - "Why I'm Making Pop Music Now"

SteveG wrote: altaeria wrote: I'm not sure which is more played out :  hearing people get angry because a musician tried to write a catchy tune ;   or hearing about civil unrest somewhere in the Middle East.    Yes. War, politics, taxes and prog gone pop. The four incendiary topics.

D\

And religion. Where would we be without this.. oh that and the joy and unity of sports along with parochialism.

FWIW I thought he had a brilliant pop tune with Strange As It Seems. Very memorable.

This new number is a nice Beatle-esque ELO derivative number that has a tune in a fast rhythm but kind of lacks the all important hook which Jeff Lynne never forgot. In a way it's a kind of psych pop number but needs a clear chorus to bring it together. The pop tune is it's own art form and needs to be done right. Pop fans will ignore it in favour of what music that can be seen (image is paramount). In this the promotion of the teen pop idol will be dependent upon the record company. 

In a world where music is rented from poor to non paying streaming services and hardly ever purchased this may be a mistake. This may be much worse than the last P Tree album. He took his eye off both the ball and it's trajectory and made a lesser prog album. However, it was not a deal breaker. His core audience would turn up and did for later albums.

But a tour of this sort of nearly good pop might be asking a bit much. I wonder what the B side is like?

So where does he sit now? Does he have the lyrical intensity of Waters? Melodic sense of Lynne? Guitar extraordinaire of Jeff Beck? The band complete stance of Rush? The ability to challenge the pre-eminince of Justin Bieber, Kanye West et al and win the esteem of the true authority on all matters musically important, the valued opinion of Simon Cowell?

I wonder what pal Fripp thinks of all this as he tries action to radically unseat the hold of the monkey mind which seems to be where SW heads his new direction.

Meantime I really recommend Beethoven Sonatas if you want some nifty keyboard skills... or Chopin for those who like new music.

uduwudu wrote: SteveG wrote: altaeria wrote: I'm not sure which is more played out :  hearing people get angry because a musician tried to write a catchy tune ;   or hearing about civil unrest somewhere in the Middle East.    Yes. War, politics, taxes and prog gone pop. The four incendiary topics. D\ And religion. Where would we be without this.. oh that and the joy and unity of sports along with parochialism. FWIW I thought he had a brilliant pop tune with Strange As It Seems. Very memorable. This new number is a nice Beatle-esque ELO derivative number that has a tune in a fast rhythm but kind of lacks the all important hook which Jeff Lynne never forgot. In a way it's a kind of psych pop number but needs a clear chorus to bring it together. The pop tune is it's own art form and needs to be done right. Pop fans will ignore it in favour of what music that can be seen (image is paramount). In this the promotion of the teen pop idol will be dependent upon the record company.  In a world where music is rented from poor to non paying streaming services and hardly ever purchased this may be a mistake. This may be much worse than the last P Tree album. He took his eye off both the ball and it's trajectory and made a lesser prog album. However, it was not a deal breaker. His core audience would turn up and did for later albums. But a tour of this sort of nearly good pop might be asking a bit much. I wonder what the B side is like? So where does he sit now? Does he have the lyrical intensity of Waters? Melodic sense of Lynne? Guitar extraordinaire of Jeff Beck? The band complete stance of Rush? The ability to challenge the pre-eminince of Justin Bieber, Kanye West et al and win the esteem of the true authority on all matters musically important, the valued opinion of Simon Cowell? I wonder what pal Fripp thinks of all this as he tries action to radically unseat the hold of the monkey mind which seems to be where SW heads his new direction. Meantime I really recommend Beethoven Sonatas if you want some nifty keyboard skills... or Chopin for those who like new music.

Yes, it does a have an ELO Beatlle-ly vibe to it but lacks that certain something that would make it a pop hit. I believe it's because the pop artists just do pop songs better. They always had the catchy hooks, the backing vocals with the oohs and aahs, and the super slick production to the songs. I just listened to an ABBA song on my car radio a few minutes ago that was so saccharine sweet that it made my teeth hurt, but I can appreciate why the song was a pop hit. This group, along with a thousand others of their time, just did it better. It was all they knew how to do, IMHO.

^From time to time, (not often) ABBA would turn up something non pop such as a track called Intermezzo. As a kid I once over heard my nearest and dearest female relatives bemoaning it. Instrumental, weird stuff. Hullo, I thought. C'est moi! They wanted catchy pop. My sympathies. Meanwhile I interrupted my consumption of Uriah Heep to check it out. Think a kind of ELP lite (where is anyone going to find another Carl Palmer even at long notice)... My sister had all the records so I got to hear everything. Some god awful things like Fernanduh. But also Eagle a fabulous piece of chilly prog lyricism. Eve a mini conceptual suite. There's some gold in them hills. Mike Oldfield covered Arrival (it was kind of made for his style). But they had top writers and a superb band.

Most good pop and pop rock songs have choruses that really bring the song together and SW missed this mark. You'd think a Beatles fan would have picked up on this idea,; Jeff Lynne did. Not sure I want to hear more.

Funny really, it's all about good writing. He missed the mark all over th place with The non Incident (the prg failure) and at a pop tune also missed the mark. The two styles need different elements but they both need focus and this they both lacked.

Still his P Tree career is stuffed with gems so much that if he were a '70s act people would revere him.

Yup, that's a big deal to Mr. Fripp. That all artists own their own music and not the record companies. That's why, I believe, he remastered Melanie's albums, as she sued her former record label in order to claim ownership of her album masters and won. 

altaeria wrote: I'm not sure which is more played out :  hearing people get angry because a musician tried to write a catchy tune ;   or hearing about civil unrest somewhere in the Middle East.

Yeah - I'm with the pop-hating and snob elitists - P.H.A.S.E  - what an acronym - IM IN!

Well to stay on topic - we have heard an SW pop song. Doesn't seem to be electrifying the community.

Now, how about a 60 minute album of this?

His new CD is sh*te, that is the party line of P.H.A.S.E. you are either with us or against us!

Jeffro wrote: While it's an interesting choice for him, it's not really that surprising. He is extremely prolific and restless. Seems logical for him to explore new genres. On the other hand, if he heads into Country or Hip Hop then he will have gone completely round the bend

heheh

Edited by Slartibartfast - July 20 2017 at 16:12