Thoughts on The Rainbow of Musical Genres
How many songwriters these days write music that has no real “defnition” as to genre, style or where it belongs…yet, they are beautifully written songs.
As a music lover, I see all types of songs as though they are like the colors glowing in a rainbow that is forever creating new variations of the themes….like endless possibilities we find with music.
When Bob Dylan sang “Tangled Up in Blue” he was still in the Folk genre but was crossing over to more rock rhythms with some Americana or Roots moods in there too…or maybe I just wanted to hear it that way.
Blood on the Tracks cd
“Tangled Up in Blue” from “Blood on the Tracks” album is one of the clearest examples of Dylan’s attempts to write “multi-dimensional” songs which defied a fixed notion of time and space.”
“Dylan was influenced by his recent study of painting and the Cubist school of artists, who sought to incorporate multiple perspectives within a single plane of view.” (from Wikipedia)
Today songwriters are not as eager to claim one genre or style as their only “sound” as in times past. When a new record by Aerosmith came out, you knew what to expect – until “Walk This Way” which then brought the band into a new generation’s view that served the band well as being able to move with the times.
Bands like Linkin Park have taken huge leaps of faith that fans will remain loyal and satisfied when releasing new music that is a far distant cousin to earlier recordings.
“Linkin Park is an American rock band from Agoura Hills, California. Formed in 1996, the band rose to international fame with their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which was certified Diamond by the RIAA in 2005 and multi-platinum in several other countries.”
Linkin Park
“Having adapted the nu metal and rap metal genres to a radio-friendly yet densely-layered style in Hybrid Theory and Meteora, the band explored other genres in their next studio album, Minutes to Midnight, which was released in 2007. The album topped the Billboard charts and had the third best debut week of any album that year. The band has collaborated with several other artists, most notably with rapper Jay-Z in their mashup EP Collision Course, and many others included on Reanimation. The band’s most recent studio album, A Thousand Suns, was released on September 14, 2010. Linkin Park has sold over 50 million albums worldwide and has won two Grammy Awards” from Wikipedia
This new Linkin Park album, “A Thousand Suns”, is not at all like the first albums we heard back in 1996-2005 in Phoenix, AZ at packed shows at outdoor venues but I really like the latest music’s freshness, bold artistic arrangements and solid musicianship.
“A Thousand Suns” is Linkin Park’s third consecutive studio album to debut at No. 1 Europe-wide, and will need four straight weeks there to match the achievement of both 2007′s “Minutes To Midnight” and 2003′s “Meteora.” The band’s 2000 debut “Hybrid Theory” debuted at No. 90 in early 2001, but went on to reach No. 3 some eight months later, and turned multi-platinum in several European markets.” (Billboard.com Sept. 24, 2010)
schwag anyone?
Maybe I’m disenchanted lately with the stream of indie artists I’m hearing these days who ask their fans to pay for their albums but can’t seem to pay anyone else to help promote the music once it’s released or the major labels releasing processed music that doesn’t resonate in the music player very long.
Different genres are a list a mile long it seems. Look at your latest record collection and what’s the styles? I bet you’ve got a little bit of everything piled high.
Like the expanse of a rainbow, see the beauty revealed in the spectrum of various colors of sounds your canvas of music genres allows…which in reality opens you up to endless possibilities.
tk
9 24 2010
My soul remembers a day, seemingly not far away, when my wife, two sons & I, were taken @ the presence of a rainbow’s tail touching down on the earth. It occured just out side our door & as rainbows have always done for me, this one would leave an indelible mark of rememberance, likened to a feeling of new birth. We neatly, but quickly slipped on our mud boots from on the porch, & together… ran into the field past our 3 ponds, to stand in the rainbow’s light. There, in an array of brilliant color, for 1/2 a minute, we laughed, josseled, & sang from inside the window of nature’s soul. I then promptly slipped from the prism & took a picture of my family as they stood posing proudly in the gentle, warming ~mist~ of that rainbowed prism shimmering with sunlight. Seeing the sun from that place on the ground with my young family before me, in that light allowed me to truly see into everlasting.
Now the 4 of us, are in fact, in given moments, instances… & times, each & all, Lepruchauns’… And if you ever have chance to see any of my family, especially myself, strolling ’bout in the wee hour twilight, you just might catch a glimpes of some small mischeivous sprite, dancing & prancing about playing “Musical Gold” , dare I say!
This truthful tale happened outside our “very country” home in the Mendocino County hills of Pt. Arena CA. where for 3.5yrs, we lived on 600 acres of grazing land. Our house was .75mi from the sea with a Jurassic Park view & a 35mi panoramic land/coastal frontage of the Pacific .
Not Malibu… just purely… StoryBook…
“Love what’cha do” for music Toni! VWM