New Ashlee Simpson album

[Guest Fishyswa]

Yes the music BUSINESS is about making money.

 

MUSIC, what drives that BUSINESS, is about envoking emotion through sound. Has nothing to do with money. When listening to it you should try not to hear the ca-chings.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Kinda ruins Dark Side of the Moon though

[Nighthawk 0]

Pop is the exception. To fully appreciate it, I'm of the opinion that you should recognize that it exists primarily to sell itself, and not for the purpose of artistic expression. It's possible to do both (Madonna comes to mind), but as we were talking about Ashlee Simpson, that doesn't apply.

This is all secondary to the simple decision of whether or not you want to listen to it, of course, but I think it's appropriate to consider how well crafted and carefully presented something is. We all remember certain commercials from years ago, even if we never bought what they were selling. Pop's the same way.

[Guest Fishyswa]

"Pop is the exception. To fully appreciate it, I'm of the opinion that you should recognize that it exists primarily to sell itself, and not for the purpose of artistic expression. It's possible to do both (Madonna comes to mind), but as we were talking about Ashlee Simpson, that doesn't apply."

 

But that's only a result of music as a whole becoming a product, something to sell. You can't say this is a certain type of music birthed from the push to sell music. Pop just means popular, it can't be used to describe a genre. Repetition exists in other genre's, bubbly lyrics exist in other genre's, using an image to sell exists in other genre's. It's a problem with music as a whole not just another form of music.

 

"This is all secondary to the simple decision of whether or not you want to listen to it, of course, but I think it's appropriate to consider how well crafted and carefully presented something is."

 

Sure, but when what's being presented is irrelevant to the music, especially in the case of simpson, why is it neccesary? To further explore the artist? The artist who doesn't even write the music they sell? Put someone like that in a setting where talent is neccesary to win people over and you have the Orange Bowl. They'll only appeal to a certain demo for a certain amount of time if they don't have a respectable level of talent.

 

"We all remember certain commercials from years ago, even if we never bought what they were selling. Pop's the same way."

 

But that's an industry thing, not an art thing. If music is still considered art, than we have to look at it all equally. Saying it's allowed to have less artistic merit because it's made to sell is just excusing the commercialization of music.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Fishyswa's not gonna win this one.

[Special K 0]

Who buys pop albums, though? There's got to be a very specific age group that pretty much controls the music industry. Any record store you go to will have their 25 cent bins packed chock-full of Simpson, Spears, N'Sync and Backstreet, along with other luminaries like Limp Bizkit and Creed. You never see GOOD albums that sold a shit-ton, like say, Thriller, or any of the good 90's grunge, or good rap albums in these bins.

This would suggest that people buy these albums for one song, end up not liking the album most likely because only two songs have any effort put into them, then sell them back. And they don't learn from the experience. Do they do this over and over?

 

Of course I've known 20 year old girls who do this too.

[Guest Fishyswa]

It explains why "artists" are so afraid of downloading and file-sharing. It's makes the music even more disposable.

[Slayer 0]

I think it's appropriate to consider how well crafted and carefully presented something is.

By that token, Ashlee fails miserably

[CanadianChick 0]

Who buys pop albums, though? There's got to be a very specific age group that pretty much controls the music industry. Any record store you go to will have their 25 cent bins packed chock-full of Simpson, Spears, N'Sync and Backstreet, along with other luminaries like Limp Bizkit and Creed. You never see GOOD albums that sold a shit-ton, like say, Thriller, or any of the good 90's grunge, or good rap albums in these bins.

This would suggest that people buy these albums for one song, end up not liking the album most likely because only two songs have any effort put into them, then sell them back. And they don't learn from the experience. Do they do this over and over?

 

Of course I've known 20 year old girls who do this too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It's because the albums sold so well, that the music store bought a bunch of copies of them. After the trend is over though, no one is going to buy past popular trends, hence why it goes in the 25 cent bin. A good 90's grudge or any of your examples above had a timelessness to them, so they are snapped up at any oppertunity to get them. Britney Spear's second record though? Well, it was cool and popular at the time, but that appeal was worn off. The record store probably just has left over copied because of the high demand for them at the time they were popular.

[The Czech Republic 0]

Record store I used to frequent, couldn't clear out its Lindsay Lohan albums no matter how hard it tried.

[Dr. Zaius 0]

I can't argue with you, except I liked Ashlee's first album fine. I don't know why, but yeah,

 

And Prince? Dude, fuck you. Prince can sing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I cannot think of one Prince song where he actually sings. He talks to music, but holds the words long enough so that people think he's singing. Prince is exceptionally creative and talented musician, but his vocal style is just lazy. The closest I've ever heard him come to singing was the screaming fit he has at the end of "Little Red Corvette".

[Nighthawk 0]

Ok, you're just wrong

 

As for whar the other people said... ok, so Britney records sold for whatever,

 

Ah, fuck this, I'll do it later... I'm tired right now.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

I can't argue with you, except I liked Ashlee's first album fine. I don't know why, but yeah,

 

And Prince? Dude, fuck you. Prince can sing.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

I cannot think of one Prince song where he actually sings. He talks to music, but holds the words long enough so that people think he's singing. Prince is exceptionally creative and talented musician, but his vocal style is just lazy. The closest I've ever heard him come to singing was the screaming fit he has at the end of "Little Red Corvette".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I actually have no idea what you're talking about. I mean, first of all, he's singing. If what Prince does vocally isn't singing, then no one but torch song and r&b singers who go up and down scales on one breath "sing." But anyway, "Adore," "Sister," "When U Were Mine," "Sometimes It Snows in April," "Kiss," "Take Me With U," "The Beautiful Ones," "Sign o' the Times," "The Cross"--there's a small list of Prince songs that sound the most like the "singing" you seem to be looking for.

[Black Lushus 0]

dude, Prince kicks ass, get the fuck outta here with that nonsense..."doesn't sing"? are you nuts?

[Nighthawk 0]

You should try listening to failed pop acts from like 40 years ago. Which is difficult, cause they aren't going to be reissued. Generally just find one record store that carries that stuff, and buy it there. It's wild.

Like all the fake Beatles, girls that sing about deserving to be hit, and this chap:

 

Screaming Lord Sutch. He claims to have started the long hair thing.

[Nighthawk 0]

I still can't get over this Prince thing. Have you heard the songs Ed mentioned (which are far from the only examples)? Not only can he sing, he can sing well. The range on the dude is outta sight.

 

I know what you're refering to with the talking comment, he does do that sometimes.

[Slayer 0]

Prince can sing

 

Whether he can spell or not is another matter

[Matt Young 0]

[Slayer 0]

...and?

[Special K 0]

Is that supposed to be extraordinarily hot or something? I'm not feeling it.

[Sideburnious 0]

Blonde hair should be a no go for her.

 

 

And Prince is the fucking man.

[Special K 0]

I mean, she's really not that pretty. I know tons of people who are prettier than her. They can probably sing better as well.

[Sideburnious 0]

Yes, but can they have a spontaneous "Hoe-Down" better than her?

[The Kid 0]

Whoa butterface...

[2GOLD 0]

Ashlee has good sized breasts and they look nice and bouncy on the cover of the CD.

There, I said something good about her.

[AndrewTS 0]

A local K-mart had an assload of the CDs for $5.99 in a huge display.

[2GOLD 0]

A local K-mart had an assload of the CDs for $5.99 in a huge display.

 

Yeah, here the Walmart is actually selling more Scott Stapp solo albums than her album. Looks like her 15 minutes is running out.

 

One thing I will say about pop music, it's more fickle than any of the others. In Pop you could put out a really good album but if your image has faded even a touch, it won't sell. That's not the case here, just saying.

[JangoFett4Hire 0]

Ashlee Simpson is the Delores O'Riordan of this generation.

[Renegade 0]

Whoa butterface...

That would imply she has a good body, which she doesnt.