View Single Post
Old 06-15-2018, 10:48 AM   #39
Shadaloo
Apocalyptic Poster
 
Shadaloo's Avatar
 
Location: up on the cross you go little fella
Posts: 2,676
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by johncg View Post
I’ve noticed this too. I think what made it work back then is that James and Darcy were ridiculously cool, and Billy was working with producers who very savvy....and even though he still had that tendency to be unsuffeably out of touch, the rough edges of his aesthetic were rounded out by the people around him. Kind of like how McCartney’s over the top whismy was balanced out by Lennon. Unfortunately the way SP is set up now, there’s never gonna be anyone to reign him in again. Just look at the cover art for Solara. Holy shit.

As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that the setting and people around an artist are almost more important than the actual artist. Billy may have played every note but music is about conception, ideas, culture, presentation....without people to help him out with that part, Billy has nothing but weird song titles and nickelbell esque cover art. It makes sense really. He gets his news from infowars and watches professional wrestling. What a “fucking poof.”
The band as a whole had a cool factor about it but I don't think I ever looked at a single one of them individually and thought I would have found one of them interesting without the others around. James always looked stylish but half of his songs were embarrassing and he couldn't carry a tune with his voice. D'Arcy was a competent bassist, but not especially gifted. Bill was an insufferable dick. But the three of them had great stage presence and played off each other really well. The band was way way more than the sum of its parts, and they were lucky to have some of the best producers of the time backing them up. All of that together meant that your average fan - who it should really be said was in all likelihood in their formative years and willing to idolize musicians - could overlook any of the stupid aspects which were always, always there.

Seriously, it's been two decades and people still argue about what the Pisces cover is. If we were presented with that today we'd probably all call it a lazy piece of shit choice for album artwork.

Compare then to now. You have the second strongest personality in the band and the only one capable of reining Billy in now excised from the lineup, unable or unwilling to participate depending on who you want to believe, his now-much-more-subdued co-writer's contributions minimized and mixed down to the point of inaudibility, a producer known for being hands-off at the helm, Billy's narcissistic tendencies grown worse, his songwriting abilities diminished, become uninspired, his singing style altered drastically, his band now run cynically as a brand and marketed heavily before most any other concerns, and most importantly, an aged fanbase that's now much more informed and subsequently more critical of the choices their preferred artists make. There've been two decades for the diehards to really learn that the figurehead of the group is legitimately mentally deranged and have formed a hate-boner for the guy.

The band just isn't what it once was, we're not who we once were, and even if half of the above faults were rectified honestly there'd still be a contingent of people who shit on the output no matter what its form, just as there'll be people who applaud it.

 
Shadaloo is offline