Time to Cash in the Chips
As I work at a modern rock station, I play a lot of new music. So, I pay attention to the upcoming album releases to see who is putting out new material soon, especially to know which of my favorite bands may be included in that. However, it seems that lately, there's a lot of old material getting put out. It seems like just about every successful band of the last few years is putting out a greatest hits album. Among the artists and bands who have just put one out or are about to include: Pink Floyd, Collective Soul, The Cure, Madonna, Green Day, Barenaked Ladies, Alice In Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, and so help me god, the Backstreet Boys.
I think it's pretty obvious what the reason is for putting one of these greatest hits collections out: cha-ching! It's a cash grab, their way of saying, "Hey, we're successful, you bought all our other albums, we know you'll buy this." The timing is great as well, since it comes right before the start of the Christmas shopping season. That is, unless of course, you're like me and believe that the Christmas shopping season has already started. There are already lights up on some of the trees in downtown Chambersburg!!! I'm sorry, I said it before and I will say it again, I can only take so much Christmas, especially when the temperature hits the lower 70s in early November like it did here today. Either you start the holiday season on Black Friday, like you're supposed to, or go ahead and start it early, but I will not give a rat's behind about Christmas anymore by December 1. Take it or leave it. But I digress...
Everyone's talking about the shifts in popular music that are taking place right now, especially since September 11. I read in Radio and Records (the industry bible, by the way) today that the major shifts are away from rap-metal and cheesy teen-pop. This would be evidenced by the number of Top 40 radio stations that are ditching all the Britney and the boy groups so they can say to everyone, "WE play all the popular music, that OTHER station only plays what little kids want to hear." Sadly, however, I gotta tell the industry "experts" that they're wrong on this one. If anything, the popularity of teen-pop has skyrocketed again since September 11, as young people now shun serious music like Staind and Incubus for the more frivolous stuff as a way of escaping the horrors of terrorism and war we now find ourselves surrounded by. Before 9-11, I was gloating about how relatively cheese-free the charts were, but now they're all back with a vengeance. The experts are right about rap-metal, however. The songs I consider among my favorites this year include lyrics making fun of the Limp Bizkit/Papa Roach crowd, like Ben Folds' "Rockin' the Suburbs" ("Mom and Dad, you made me so uptight/ I'm gonna cuss on the mic tonight/ Don't know how much I can take/ Girl give me something I can break") , and "Kick Some Ass" by Stroke 9 ("Anger is today's fashion/ So sing another song about bashing someone's head in".) Heck, even the rap-metal acts themselves are making fun of each other. Saliva's new song includes a verse that basically says, "Yeah, my parents were messed up too but you don't hear me complaining about them on every song like all of you other bands do."
Back to the renewed interest in teen-pop. I've got good news for you all: like the spirit of cooperation and bipartisanship that has already broken down in our government, this too cannot last. Which leads me back to the whole greatest hits thing. I've been going on for months about how we're due for the "next big thing", the sound and the artists that will define this decade. Some of the current artists may be conscious of that too, because I really see this glut of greatest hits albums as these acts cashing out, saying, "Let's get the money while the getting's good, before we become yesterday's news." However, it may already be too late, as is evidenced by the fact that the Backstreet Boys, "Hits, Volume 1" (that alone is hilarious, like there's going to BE a Volume 2) may get outsold in its first week by that freak show known as Michael Jackson. No disrespect to Michael; I mean, I think "Off the Wall" and "Thriller" are two of the best albums ever made, and that's from a devout Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam fan. However, it seems like every new album he puts out is just another excuse to talk about how weird he looks or how he may have molested kids or how he pals around with Liz Taylor and Marlon Brando. I DON'T CARE!!! Anyhoo, the point is that if BSB releases this album even 9 months ago, it sells at least a million its first week, but now it may not even break 300,000.
I'm not putting down the concept of a greatest hits album; I think it's great for the potential record buyer who has just discovered that particular band and doesn't want to fork over a lot of cash to buy all of their previous albums. It's a good way to stay relevant, anyway, in the case of Pink Floyd, Smashing Pumpkins, and Alice In Chains, all of whom have called it quits in recent years. In addition, it's better to see collections like these from artists who actually have enough hits to merit a greatest hits album. I've seen greatest hits packages come out in recent years from Til Tuesday, Squeeze, Men at Work, Violent Femmes, Samantha Fox, and countless other 80s acts who had only one or two real hits and at best one good album. Why anyone in good conscience would buy any of those is beyond me. Talk about a cash grab.
However, it may be that Green Day, Barenaked Ladies, Collective Soul, and countless others have felt the sea change that is starting to happen in the world of music and the new sound may already be making its presence known. The ladies are leading the charge: Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado, Michelle Branch, not quite "girls with guitars", or pianos in Ms. Keys' case, but REAL musicians, not plastic creations like Britney. The poor misguided soul is trying to redo "The Wall" now for heaven's sakes, as her new album is what Rolling Stone calls "a concept album about herself", like she has all this inner chaos that needs to be sorted out on tape for all to hear. To that, I say: whatever. See you in 10 years on "Behind the Music". Maybe then you can put out a greatest hits album.
I think it's pretty obvious what the reason is for putting one of these greatest hits collections out: cha-ching! It's a cash grab, their way of saying, "Hey, we're successful, you bought all our other albums, we know you'll buy this." The timing is great as well, since it comes right before the start of the Christmas shopping season. That is, unless of course, you're like me and believe that the Christmas shopping season has already started. There are already lights up on some of the trees in downtown Chambersburg!!! I'm sorry, I said it before and I will say it again, I can only take so much Christmas, especially when the temperature hits the lower 70s in early November like it did here today. Either you start the holiday season on Black Friday, like you're supposed to, or go ahead and start it early, but I will not give a rat's behind about Christmas anymore by December 1. Take it or leave it. But I digress...
Everyone's talking about the shifts in popular music that are taking place right now, especially since September 11. I read in Radio and Records (the industry bible, by the way) today that the major shifts are away from rap-metal and cheesy teen-pop. This would be evidenced by the number of Top 40 radio stations that are ditching all the Britney and the boy groups so they can say to everyone, "WE play all the popular music, that OTHER station only plays what little kids want to hear." Sadly, however, I gotta tell the industry "experts" that they're wrong on this one. If anything, the popularity of teen-pop has skyrocketed again since September 11, as young people now shun serious music like Staind and Incubus for the more frivolous stuff as a way of escaping the horrors of terrorism and war we now find ourselves surrounded by. Before 9-11, I was gloating about how relatively cheese-free the charts were, but now they're all back with a vengeance. The experts are right about rap-metal, however. The songs I consider among my favorites this year include lyrics making fun of the Limp Bizkit/Papa Roach crowd, like Ben Folds' "Rockin' the Suburbs" ("Mom and Dad, you made me so uptight/ I'm gonna cuss on the mic tonight/ Don't know how much I can take/ Girl give me something I can break") , and "Kick Some Ass" by Stroke 9 ("Anger is today's fashion/ So sing another song about bashing someone's head in".) Heck, even the rap-metal acts themselves are making fun of each other. Saliva's new song includes a verse that basically says, "Yeah, my parents were messed up too but you don't hear me complaining about them on every song like all of you other bands do."
Back to the renewed interest in teen-pop. I've got good news for you all: like the spirit of cooperation and bipartisanship that has already broken down in our government, this too cannot last. Which leads me back to the whole greatest hits thing. I've been going on for months about how we're due for the "next big thing", the sound and the artists that will define this decade. Some of the current artists may be conscious of that too, because I really see this glut of greatest hits albums as these acts cashing out, saying, "Let's get the money while the getting's good, before we become yesterday's news." However, it may already be too late, as is evidenced by the fact that the Backstreet Boys, "Hits, Volume 1" (that alone is hilarious, like there's going to BE a Volume 2) may get outsold in its first week by that freak show known as Michael Jackson. No disrespect to Michael; I mean, I think "Off the Wall" and "Thriller" are two of the best albums ever made, and that's from a devout Led Zeppelin and Pearl Jam fan. However, it seems like every new album he puts out is just another excuse to talk about how weird he looks or how he may have molested kids or how he pals around with Liz Taylor and Marlon Brando. I DON'T CARE!!! Anyhoo, the point is that if BSB releases this album even 9 months ago, it sells at least a million its first week, but now it may not even break 300,000.
I'm not putting down the concept of a greatest hits album; I think it's great for the potential record buyer who has just discovered that particular band and doesn't want to fork over a lot of cash to buy all of their previous albums. It's a good way to stay relevant, anyway, in the case of Pink Floyd, Smashing Pumpkins, and Alice In Chains, all of whom have called it quits in recent years. In addition, it's better to see collections like these from artists who actually have enough hits to merit a greatest hits album. I've seen greatest hits packages come out in recent years from Til Tuesday, Squeeze, Men at Work, Violent Femmes, Samantha Fox, and countless other 80s acts who had only one or two real hits and at best one good album. Why anyone in good conscience would buy any of those is beyond me. Talk about a cash grab.
However, it may be that Green Day, Barenaked Ladies, Collective Soul, and countless others have felt the sea change that is starting to happen in the world of music and the new sound may already be making its presence known. The ladies are leading the charge: Alicia Keys, Nelly Furtado, Michelle Branch, not quite "girls with guitars", or pianos in Ms. Keys' case, but REAL musicians, not plastic creations like Britney. The poor misguided soul is trying to redo "The Wall" now for heaven's sakes, as her new album is what Rolling Stone calls "a concept album about herself", like she has all this inner chaos that needs to be sorted out on tape for all to hear. To that, I say: whatever. See you in 10 years on "Behind the Music". Maybe then you can put out a greatest hits album.
Labels: music
posted by Dave | 11:22 PM
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