Music: Then & Now

It's raining cats & dogs over here in Northern Jersey, leaving many confined to their houses in hopes of not getting wet. For me this means a day of music, movies, internet, etc. Too bad they aren't giving anything interesting on TV. So I take my iPod and find a video i uploaded to it: Janet's American Music Award performance from January. From there I searched the guide for something on TV and came across Madonna's, Truth Or Dare. I HAD to tune in! And after watching it got me thinking: this is very "Gaga" of today! - Why isn't music the way it used to be?

In Truth Or Dare, there is this one scene where Madonna is having a conversation with then amiga, Sandra Bernhard about her life and mentions how she's in love with Antonio Banderas. From there it goes into scene where she's at an event that is hosted by a friend and Antonio is there. Something abou tthis whole scene just made me think, "Lady GaGa". Maybe its the bold, dark eyebrows; maybe its the platinum blonde hair; maybe its the "I'll say or do what the fuck I want" attitude. It all got me thinking about how wack the music industry is today, how tours are so over produced and that's what our high-priced ticket money really pays for, and how some artists don't give the dedication they used to or should. Back in the day it seemed like recording artists (regardless of genre) were more hungry than they are today. In the pre-2000's it was about being all over the place, and now its more about getting a hit and trying to make a career out of it. The last of whoring your music to the world that I've seen as of late would have to be Gaga. FYI: this is a good kind of whoring.

I want back the days when artists were on stage sweating their lives away from dehydration and giving it their all (harsh, I know). Today its all about skin, hits, and zero longevity. And I love a big production just like the next person, but sometimes the simple things are much more entertaining. For example, Lady GaGa's, "Alejandro" video: I think her and her team have gotten so caught up on trying to one-up on her videos, that they failed with "Alejandro". The video is beautiful when she's in the underwear dancing with the dancers. The rest of the video is unnecessary and filler material. Less is more. Same thing with Christina Aguilera's, "Not Myself Tonight". I know I said I liked the video - I do. Christina just went a little too far with the visuals - there was WAY too much going on. Too many scenes, too many looks, too much for one to take in (just like the album BIONIC). Less is MORE!

What I'd like to see are lots of videos, huge tours [YES!] with themes that are to the point and not all over the place [I didn't pay for a ticket to come to a concert to think...I came to jam], albums that have amazing production and are fully thought out and carry a concept throughout [must be cohesive from beginning to end...fillers may suck, but some "fillers" are better than the singles], and to feel like the artist is still hungry like it's their first time doing it everytime [many have gotten to comfortable].

Anyone that takes the time to actually read this post will probably be bored with it, but I did it for myself. Just to get what was in my head, out of my head. I'm sorry if it left you tired and over me - I blog some of the time because Wil seems a little uninterested in most of my music thoughts at times..haha. But I hope those that did like it, get something from it. Maybe we can make this into some sort of conversational thing. Comment, please!