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Originally Posted by kid cue
...was Beaucoup Fish really a big deal when it was released?
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It was. The buzz was palpable. I'm also pretty sure that it was a successful record!
Quote:
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Originally Posted by kid cue
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also, i don't understand this constant need to emphasize that the article is full of 'just' the author's opinions. one minute people are saying this makes the article useless, the next minute it's that he's trying too hard to make his opinions sound definitive, when they should clearly just be his opinions. it's like you're trying to find a reason to discount the value of criticism or something.
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That's our opinion and we're entitled to it!
He raised points worth discussing, and that's a significant value of critiquing. Another value is what i was alluding to in my post above: If UW are doing something wrong, the real fans will let them know right here. Sherburne seems to feel their career has been a mixed bag, but his argument runs out of steam because he doesn't substantiate with facts other than quoting sales figures as a measure of musical worth and "proof" of a fall from grace. Naming tracks that work or don't isn't a compelling argument. Tell us
why!
If i can quote him freely, tell me how this is constructive:
"
In retrospect, though, Dubnobass begins to look something like an accident: a band-in-transition nailing the sweet spot purely by chance." - but that's all he has to say on this. Purely his opinion, unsupported.
"Second Toughest feels more like a cut-and-paste job, a collage of pieces that don't really have anything to do with one another. "Confusion the Waitress" is the only track that retains the restraint of the earlier album" - but he just praised Dubno for being better than the sum of its parts and drawing on various genres. And since when is the mark of a successful album whether the songs relate with one another? To me, STITI sounds very restrained and taught, but i'd have to give you a lot of words on why to explain. Sherburne doesn't, so i let his statement drop.
"...the album's big singles — "Push Upstairs," "King of Snake," "Moaner" — clang uncomfortably, exercises in strident excess" - what's unconfortable? The drumm pattern? The lyrics? The melody? What's excessive?
"Reduced to facilitating the indefinite buildup of adrenaline and the unbridled release of serotonin, the group ends up flailing in its very pursuit of transcendence" - unless he was in Underworld, this statement has no weight because he cannot possibly know what their intent or situation was.
"At Underworld's worst, it seems to be aping the noxious monotony of the burgeoning progressive house scene — piled-up snare rolls and endless ascents, the music in lockstep with the crowd's drug experience" -- blahhhh. Sez him, obviously not into that scene! Even playing Born Slippy to a festival audience off their ass on whatever, UW has never constructed a song like he claims.
Now, in fairness, when discussing AHDO, at least he mentions musical elements:
"The swirling keyboards, conga and standup bass of "Twist" shows that Hyde and Smith still remember how to create a space of sonic possibility, as overdriven guitar and increasingly frantic Latin percussion turn a somber meditation into a smoldering workout. "Trim" is a fetching little fusion of blues guitar and 808"
but even there, it's couched in broad terms, comparisons, name dropping and buzz adjectives that so often pass as being well educated and "getting it" in music reviews.
So yeah, a nice lil discussion-generator, but not without some coaxing from around these parts!