The Defense Rests
Thursday, January 19th, 2006Recently, my friend Paul at Long Shrift wrote about tribute albums. You know, where one or more musicians collaborate to produce an album full of someone else's music that sounds somewhat similar to the original. It's an amusing concept. Occasionally, you'll hear some good stuff, but usually it's just so-so. Nothing could have prepared me, though, for the absolute horror that is...bluegrass Metallica.
Once I pried myself off the floor, I listened to another sample and was struck by the bluegrassy-ness of it all. I mean, here I was listening to a Metallica song, yet you'd never know unless you were familiar with Metallica. And that reminded me of The Argument of my teen years, over my musical genre of choice - heavy metal.
The Argument started primarily with my father, although there were others amongst my schoolmates, friends, etc. who would make The Argument.
"How can you listen to that [optionally: crap]? It all sounds the same!"
Which is a rather silly argument, due in no small part to the fact that it's true.
Of course all heavy metal sounds the same. Every particular genre of music sound the same. Any given music fan, regardless of their music of choice, can instantly identify what radio station you've just put on - be it classical, jazz, pop, rock, rap, or reggae. Why? Because they all sound the same (with the possible exception of Bob Dylan - that man has a voice all his own. And by "voice", I mean "the sound a rabies-infected alien cat makes") in their own peculiar way.
A classical music fan can quickly notice the difference between Bach and Mozart. A country music fan can quickly tell you Dolly Parton from Shania Twain. A rap fan can easily distinguish the subtle differences between Snoop Dogg and Run DMC. And no self-respecting heavy metal fan would mistake Slaughter for Megadeth. Because we're familiar with the nuances of our favorite styles.
I know this is the part where I usually discard the subject with a sarcastic closing line, but I'm too busy for that today. I'm trying to figure out the difference between Pat Metheny and my garbage disposal.
Once I pried myself off the floor, I listened to another sample and was struck by the bluegrassy-ness of it all. I mean, here I was listening to a Metallica song, yet you'd never know unless you were familiar with Metallica. And that reminded me of The Argument of my teen years, over my musical genre of choice - heavy metal.
The Argument started primarily with my father, although there were others amongst my schoolmates, friends, etc. who would make The Argument.
"How can you listen to that [optionally: crap]? It all sounds the same!"
Which is a rather silly argument, due in no small part to the fact that it's true.
Of course all heavy metal sounds the same. Every particular genre of music sound the same. Any given music fan, regardless of their music of choice, can instantly identify what radio station you've just put on - be it classical, jazz, pop, rock, rap, or reggae. Why? Because they all sound the same (with the possible exception of Bob Dylan - that man has a voice all his own. And by "voice", I mean "the sound a rabies-infected alien cat makes") in their own peculiar way.
A classical music fan can quickly notice the difference between Bach and Mozart. A country music fan can quickly tell you Dolly Parton from Shania Twain. A rap fan can easily distinguish the subtle differences between Snoop Dogg and Run DMC. And no self-respecting heavy metal fan would mistake Slaughter for Megadeth. Because we're familiar with the nuances of our favorite styles.
I know this is the part where I usually discard the subject with a sarcastic closing line, but I'm too busy for that today. I'm trying to figure out the difference between Pat Metheny and my garbage disposal.
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