Artitudes

In the World of Pop, It's Shape Up or Sell Out

Every week in "Heard Here," we at the Oberlin Review attempt to inform our readership as to the new music currently available. We try to review a wide variety of music, from local campus bands to top 40 hits to independent-label artists to, finally, the has-beens. You know who I'm talking about - last week we reviewed Elton John's abomination, the soundtrack to The Road to El Dorado. We've also reviewed recent catastrophes from Metallica, Steely Dan and others. And yet they don't seem to get it.

Every week we have a wide selection of new albums to review from musicians who haven't done anything close to worthwhile in at least a decade, but somehow they keep on coming. It's really quite amazing. I might respect Billy Joel if he had stopped after Storm Front, and I can even start to understand why some people like River of Dreams.

But instead of leaving well enough alone and calling it quits while he still had some integrity, he goes and makes the horrific 2000 Years-Millennium Concert. When you release two greatest hits albums in one year (as Billy did in 1997), you should realize that you're a spent force. But three years later, he's still churning out the crap.

Genesis used to be a good band - many years before any of us were born. But how many people know that Peter Gabriel, the genius behind So, is the former lead singer of Genesis; how many people would recognize Genesis without Phil Collins, a has-been from the beginning, at the helm? Even Collins left the band after 1991's We Can't Dance (not an unmitigated disaster, admittedly, but it didn't blaze any new ground, either) - since then, the band has punished us with a weak Collins-less 1997 effort, Calling All Stations - and three live albums, a greatest-hits album and a four-CD "Archives" box set. Obviously, that isn't enough, so in less than two weeks they will release another two-CD album.

It really is a shame that so many of the great classic rockers have kept going so far past their prime, a shame that Rod Stewart is now remembered as a cheesy has-been who was dumped by his supermodel wife (true also of Billy Joel) rather than the genius behind Every Picture Tells a Story. Try as I might, though, I can't remove that taint. The problem is that people in this country are too comfortable.

Economic success breeds complacency in many ways, not the least in terms of musical buying habits. People trust what they have done in the past, and trust what they are told, rather than exploring new avenues. Look at the precedents: good rock originally flourished in the '50s, during the Red Scare years; then again in the late '60s with the uncertainty of the Vietnam War and the cultural changes of the Baby Boomers; with the economic collapse of the late '70s, punk flourished; and when America was afraid of losing ground to Asia, grunge was briefly popular. Otherwise, precedent and habit rule all.

So when interest rates are low, you're more likely to buy the latest Rolling Stones live album than actually think about what you're buying [note: I love the Stones. But Jesus, enough already; Keith Richards' face looks like it has been decaying for years. And yes, I know that is a cheap shot, but it had to be done].

It's not that all old-school rockers are has-beens - it just seems that they are the only ones who sell albums. A wonderful case in point -Mark Knopfler, former lead singer of Dire Straits. Knopfler over the years while in Dire Straits did fabulous work on the soundtracks of, among other films, Local Hero and The Princess Bride. His 1996 release Goldenheart was one of the most original rock efforts in years, drawing influences from zydeco and traditional Celtic music while maintaining Knopfler's always-brilliant guitar-playing-but I doubt more than a handful of people on this campus know of its existence, let alone could name a single song from the album.

So what is the solution to this problem? How can the music scene become enlightened? Sadly, the prognosis is not good. There are plenty of good bands out there, I will certainly grant that. They just don't sell records at anywhere near a fraction of the pace of Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock's soulless metalcore or the mindless pop of *NSync, Christina Aguilera and a dozen others. And for most of the bands, that's fine. They have their integrity, loyal if small followings and get to make a pretty good living while living the rock'n'roll dream (sans radio play, perhaps).

But it isn't fine for me, damnit. I want better for myself, I want better for my friends, I want better for this country, I want better for this world. I'm not content to sit back and watch talentless jailbait like Mandy Moore sell millions of albums while nobody's heard of Ween.

But what am I going to do about it? How can I best harness my enormous and sweeping powers as Arts Editor for the Oberlin Review to better the American and world popular music scene?

Shit, I don't know. I'm just some pissed-off college student running a fever and his mouth. What legitimate power do I have, and why should you listen to me? I'll tell you why: I'm right. You know I'm right, so right that it almost hurts. And if you've got a soul, you're just as pissed off as I am. So support small labels, fuck Best Buy's bestseller rack and if you want to sing out, by God, sing out.