These critics are getting to me!

Tusk57 · #1 05-06-2003, 09:29 AM

Something that has been eating away at me for a few weeks is this mantra that the music critics keep harping on concerning the length of a CD. Why is it that they can't appreciate a band who actually tries to fill up a whole CD with music? They continue to think that it must only have 12 or 13 songs. That makes no sense to me. I think the more for my money, the better. It's not like Fleetwood Mac puts out an album every six months either. We are lucky to get one every six years! I say bravo to FM! Okay, so some of the songs are not exactly my cup of tea. I don't really expect to love all 18. However, if they had cut it down to 12, how would I know if they would have left off the ones I like? No one knows!....and therein lies the problem. The songs they leave off may never see the light of day. Give them all to me and let me do the weeding. Is that too much to ask? I was really looking forward to a double CD. Now I'm left wondering what I might be missing out on. I tells you....I can't sleep at night!!!!

strandinthewind · #2 05-06-2003, 09:48 AM

I know what you mean. I, too, get a little offended by this ctritique and think it shows that the critics are somewhat lazy. But, that is the nature of the beast as they say.

Rainman · #3 05-06-2003, 10:16 AM

Yeah, so far I've failed to understand this gripe. It's ironic that when a band gives the public more for its money, they get slammed.

And isn't this what the programming features and skip buttons are for? I mean, we have all this technology that allows us to play only the songs we like, in exactly the order we like. What's the friggin' beef? It's not like the old days (which believe me, I'm easily old enough to recall), when you put on an LP and had to listen to the whole thing. Yeah, you could get up and move the needle, but if you were stoned out of your gourd, lying on the sofa with headphones, it was a pain in the ass. Not so today.

Man, I often think if I'd had these features back then, Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti would have been a lot more enjoyable after a few joints!

So I say to all these whiney critics, KWITCHERBITCHIN!!

Cheers, all.

jeffles · #4 05-06-2003, 10:18 AM

I agree with your post. The CD being too long is not a valid argument. None of the critics complained that Dylan's Blond on Blond or London Calling by the Clash were too long. Now, granted, those were classics. But I don't think there are any bad songs on the album either, there are some that I could live without. If you don't like a song, move on.
Most of the reviews I've read harp on the overall length, failing to mention more than 2 or 3 songs by title. Let 'em talk about LB's exquisite guitar playing or something.

Livia · #5 05-06-2003, 10:46 AM

I get especially annoyed w/ the critics who can't even read the liner notes properly and count - i.e., "there are 11 songs by Lindsey and 7 by Stevie...."

Miranda · #6 05-06-2003, 10:52 AM

I think this critique is coming from reviewers who are looking at the cd from an older concept album view. In the days of vinyl you had to make eveything fit together and make careful use of tracks and the list order to go over big with critics and in sales. You only had 20 mins on a side to get good music on the LP so it was not wise to just fill it up with anything. That's one of the reasons Rumours set a sales record when it was released and critics loved it. It fit a concept of the love/angst soap opera, and had a lot of singles. With singles selling for 50 cents and albums 6-10 bucks, people expected nearly every song on an LP to be worthy of a single or to fit the album "concept" to make it worth spending a lot of money on it. SYW does not fit into any concept. If anything it is very disjointed becasue of the different styles of Stevie and Lindsey. Without Chris's songs to tie everything together and make the general public and lazy critics hear those familiar FM sounds, the reviews are going to keep hacking away at the notion that some stuff is too far out in left field and should have been left off the cd.

Rainman · #7 05-06-2003, 11:02 AM

Quote:

the reviews are going to keep hacking away at the notion that some stuff is too far out in left field and should have been left off the cd.

And I wonder, Miranda, why people have such difficulty with material that's "far out in left field"?

Over and over I here the gripe that this album isn't like the old Fleetwood Mac. Well, who the %$#@ cares? They broke out and did something new. Something refreshing. Yet they still maintained some of that wonderful breezy sound.

Too many critics are still waiting for another Rumours. Well, it ain't gonna happen. That was then. This is now. Different era. Different people. Different sound.

And thank God for that. Who the %!#@ wants to relive 1977?

Wayne2 · #8 05-06-2003, 02:00 PM

Maybe because all 18 songs aren't great. (or good for that matter)

Word of the day..."Filler"

Johnny Stew · #9 05-06-2003, 03:22 PM

For me, even Fleetwood Mac's "filler" is better than 97% of the tripe being sold these days... so I guess I luck out!

Anyway, the critics are just grumbling because 18 tracks means they have to do more work than they prefer.
God knows I'd love a job where I could just sit on my bum all day, coming up with "witty" remarks to dismiss someone's art.

Rainman · #10 05-06-2003, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Maybe because all 18 songs aren't great. (or good for that matter)

I don't think anyone has said they like every song. I don't. My point is this: yes, some of the songs are "out there" or indulgent and/or hard to listen to. But none of them (IMHO) shows any lack of creativity, musical talent, innovation or energy.

So if FM puts 18 songs on the CD because they want to get their work out there, that's their privilege as artists. If someone doesn't like a song, they can skip over it. But I don't see the point in whining because there are more songs than the typical CD.

Reading this board, it's clear that everyone has their own favorites on SYW. So I don't think there are any songs on here that no one likes.

markolas · #11 05-06-2003, 07:03 PM

Quote:

I don't think anyone has said they like every song. I don't. My point is this: yes, some of the songs are "out there" or indulgent and/or hard to listen to. But none of them (IMHO) shows any lack of creativity, musical talent, innovation or energy.

I like every song.

And I certainly don't find any of them hard to listen to, or "indulgent" (whatever that means).

dougb · #12 05-06-2003, 07:05 PM

hey Wayne2 why dont you go to the store and buy a greatest hits cd and stay the hell out of this forum.

Rainman · #13 05-06-2003, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by markolas
I like every song.

And I certainly don't find any of them hard to listen to, or "indulgent" (whatever that means).

You know, I go through phases with this CD. Some days Silver Girl sounds okay, other days I can't stand it. I have a few others that way, too.

As for "indulgent," what I mean is that there are guitar solos and other effects where Lindsey is just indulging his creative muse (as he did on Tusk). And it's also indulgent to put 18 songs on a CD. But so what? That's how it should be IMHO, rather than trying to please everyone and creating something safe.

I've read reviews where the critic hate these elements. But I think they make this offering edgy and original.

F**k 'em.

markolas · #14 05-06-2003, 08:13 PM

Quote:

As for "indulgent," what I mean is that there are guitar solos and other effects where Lindsey is just indulging his creative muse (as he did on Tusk).

What else should he be doing?

I've heard this term bandied about with regard to a lot of musicians and their albums, and I just don't understand. Isn't "indulging your creative muse" what art is supposed to be about? And why do certain critics feel the need to use belligerent labels like "indulgent"?

Quote:

You know, I go through phases with this CD. Some days Silver Girl sounds okay, other days I can't stand it. I have a few others that way, too.

There are certainly songs that I like more than others. But, I can't honestly say that there's any song that I just plain can't stand. And I really don't get how someone could say that any song on the CD is filler.

Janet · #15 05-06-2003, 11:58 PM

We all don't have to LOVE every song in this album...because most of us are biased, we will love it. Those who remain subjective will maybe not love every song. I know I don't like the first song, SYW, Silver Girl, Bleed to Love Her and STYHA ( the latter because they are OLD) so whatever.
But Im a huge fan, I LOVE FM and I will tell everyone to buy the album.

It does make me mad too, actually, that FM gave us the music for our money but critics have a problem with that. They sold a album for 10 dollars with 18 songs...thats pretty awesome of FM> KUDOS to them!