As you can tell by these comments, I’m no great fan of these
types of programs. I do not think that
these programs are contests. Rather it
is nothing more than another method that the recording industry uses as a means
to select new talent by testing prospective acts on the public. Alternatively, it might be a mechanism
whereby record companies seek to launch a preordained act by running the “contest”
and having the audience validate their selection, as it were.
The key to understanding this issue is the roles of the
judges. Why are they there? Ideally, if
these were true talent quests, and the winner is truly decided by the public,
why are the judges needed to do anything
other than thin the initial numbers of applicants down to a manageable number? My suspicion is that they’re there to “guide”
the audience towards certain acts.
Obviously, one way is through their assessments of the singers’ performances. The other is via the devices available to
them to ensure the singer’s continued participation. On Idol, it’s through the initial selection
process right through to the final selection of, I think 16, singers. Failing that, why else would a couple of
spots be left open for judges to exercise a wildcard and get someone in?
On The Voice, the way the “mentors” “guide” the singers to
the desired outcome is much more subtle.
First is the fabled “blind auditions” in which they seek to convince you
that they are making a selection on talent alone. With the teams assembled, the mentors really
go to work. The “battle rounds” is a
great technique to thin the initial number by half; remember it is the mentors
who make all the decisions at this point.
My guess is that their pre-ordained one is protected by a) who they are paired
against, so that b) the mentor can justify their victory, whilst c) eliminating
a lot of the serious competition by paring them against each other thus
ensuring the public will never have a chance to vote for them. And this year, there was the “innovation” of “the
save” by mentors, presumably designed to ensure their man got though. Of course, I could be wrong about all of this
but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m correct.
But it is very important to understand here that I’m not
condemning the industry for what I think they might possibly be up to. Rather, I see this as just a new technique to
do something they’ve always done; that is, launch a new, usually unknown pre-packaged
singer on the public, only this way, they can claim to lay the credit on the
audience itself. As a marketing technique
it’s absolutely brilliant. Whether it produces anything of musical merit is
debatable, but then again, similar thoughts could be made of the acts they
would have foistered without the audience’s “participation” anyway.
None of this, of course, mattered when it came to today’s
listening matter. Initially, I thought I’d
purge myself by going for something on the heavier side:
(# 444) Led Zeppelin –
Physical Graffiti (1975)
Originally a double vinyl
album that the band has wisely preserved as a double CD, this might very well
by this band’s finest release. The first
disc is practically flawless, as good a record of hard rock as ever been
released. Custard Pie/The Rover/In My
Time Of Dying/Houses Of The Holy/Kashmir.
Has there ever been a better sequenced set of numbers? Indeed it’s a sequence that has actually been
enhanced with the transition to CD. It’s
an ever increasing, sustained build in tension and power that cumulates in the
majesty and power of Kashmir, a track that that is increasingly being
recognised as their finest effort and a significant marker in the development
towards what was to become known as world music. The second disc then takes their power and
spreads it in a number of intriguing directions including the instrumental
Bron-Yr-Aur, the descriptive Boogie With Stu and the acoustic Black Country Woman.
But after playing this, I'd thought I would seek out other albums known for their sprawling nature comprising tracks in all manner of styles seemingly without a guiding principle or theme and totally without regard for the careful marketing campaigns of record companies. In other words, the type of hard to handle acts that would never emerge from the bosom of a TV reality show.
(# 445) The Beatles –
The Beatles (a.k.a The White Album) (1968)
I don’t know if I have a favourite Beatles album, however,
this is the one I play the most. A 30
track double album, it is crammed full of some of their most well-known, audacious
and controversial works, all seemingly scattered around the track listing
without any thought to sequencing. The
sheer scale of this album makes it had to describe but here goes; it contains the instantly recognisable Back In
The U.S.S.R., Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da,
Blackbird and Birthday. It’s home to Lennon’s most tender tune Julia, McCartney’s
most convincing rocker Helter Skelter, Ringo’s best Beatles tune Don’t Pass Me
By and George Harrison’s masterpiece, While My Guitar Gently Weeps. Humour comes from Glass Onion, Sexy Sadie,
Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except For me And My Monkey and Why Don’t We
Do It In The Road? And then there is the
sound collage Revolution 9 which actually holds up as an intriguing experiment for
about the first four minutes before outstaying its welcome.(# 446) Fleetwood Mac – Tusk (1979)
This was the long awaited follow up to Rumours and was
released to much head scratching. Yet,
after all these years, the album sounds increasingly conventional. Indeed so much of the album is a testament
to the songwriting abilities of the three key writers in the band. The album is bookended by two marvellous
Christine McVie ballads, the sublime Over & Over and Never Forget. Think About Me is nice up tempo track and Never
Make Me Cry is a plaintive ballad.
Stevie Nicks contributes the hit single Sara, the dramatic Sisters Of
The Moon and the enigmatic Storms. But
the album really belongs to crazed tracks of Lindsey Buckingham including The
Ledge, Not That Funny, I Know I’m Not Wrong, Walk A Thin Line and the title
track complete with marching band.
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