Where did all the happy (and for that matter, GOOD) music go???

The BBQ Pit
1

Lately the songs I hear all seem so damn ANGRY! This metal/rap thing (e.g. Korn, Limp Bizkit, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000, etc) is driving me nuts! Rage Against the Machine I can listen to because their music is actually about something other than baseless anger. They’re trying to fight injustices, and I applaud them for that.

But hell, where did all the happy rock tunes go? I almost wish I was born 30 years earlier so I could have spent my youth jamming to Jethro Tull, the Beatles, the Guess Who, and Queen (one of the very, very few good bands that emerged in the 70’s).

On the other hand, I don’t wish that, because I’d be 50 now. Also, I’d of had to live through the disco era. It’s bad enough seeing “Saturday Night Fever” written in my baby book as the top album of my birthyear. I couldn’t imagine being a few years older and having to listen to that tripe.

Maybe music would get good again if the use of LSD and mushrooms made a comeback. Too much of the music today seems tailor-made for speedfreaks. Even if you hate drugs, you have to admit that the LSD-inspired tunes of the 60’s were the high point of rock music. Sgt Pepper still rates as the top rock album of all time on most critics’ lists.

Call me a neo-hippie if you want, but this is how I feel. (for the record, I don’t wear tie-dye, I work full time, have short hair, and haven’t used LSD in almost a year and a half. Also I bathe regularly.)

2

Also, I’d like to point out that there ARE still a couple of bands around that make happy music. Smash Mouth and Ben Folds Five come to mind. But still, it’s nowhere near what it was like 30 years ago.

3

Ummmm, call me kookie, but I seem to remember a lot of angry songs from the past thirty years.

Songs against war, the government, and materialism were popular back then, especially in the 60’s.

The difference is, that nowadays the trend is to have the tone and pace of the music match the anger of the lyrics.

You say “cheesy” like that’s a BAD thing.

4

  1. Jethro Tull was hardly a “happy” band. Anything but.

  2. Not only is “Sgt. Pepper” not the best rock album of all time, it isn’t even the best Beatles album. “Abbey Road,” “Revolver” and “Rubber Soul” are all better, by some margin.

  3. If all you hear is what’s on the radio, you’re missing out on some good music. Genre-wise, it doesn’t sound like you’d necessarily like what I like (although I certainly love the Beatles and the Who), but look for an album called “Mike Viola and the Cnady Butchers.” Viola provided the vocals for the song, “That Thing You Do!” from the movie of the same name, but his own work is a lot closer to that of a latter-day Elvis Costello, and it’s a damned good album.

  4. Disco never went away. What do you think they’re playing in all the clubs these days, masquerading as “techno”?

5

Phil, I’ve gotta thank you for cluing me into the full name of the Candy Butchers. I’ve been looking for a CD by them since I heard “Till You Die” on the Zero Effect soundtrack! The lyrics sure ain’t happy but the music sure is. Great irony. (I’m off to the record store to look under “V”!)

puffington, You need to find a store that lets you “listen before you buy”. Never limit your options to the tastes of your local DJs. My three “feel good” picks from the last couple of years: Chris Isaak: Baja Sessions, Van Dyke Parks & Brian Wilson: Orange Crate Art, Blue Hawaiians: Savage Night.

6

Not every song, but a hell of a lot of them were. Examples?

Living in the Past - “Happy and I’m smiling, walk a mile to drink your water. You know I love to love you and above you there’s no other.” Sounds happy to me.

Yeah they did have a lot of sad songs, but few of them were straight-out angry.

And I said “the Guess Who” (“No Sugar Tonight,” “Share the Land,” etc) not the Who, though they’re good too. I guess the classic rock station burned me out on them too much.

The problem as I see it, upon further reflection, is that there are thousands and thousands of bands and the radio stations play, oh, about 10 of them. For those that were alive back then, was it like this in the '60’s ? Or is it a more recent thing, considering that one or two huge corporations own virtually every radio station in America now?

Maybe it has something to do with the musical tastes of the masses happening to coincide with my tastes back then, but not today. I’m sure there’s still good music around, but it’s just so damn hard to find.

For anyone who likes the bands I mentioned, I’d appreciate suggestions for some good bands today that have the same flavor.

Oh, and good point, Phil, about the techno :slight_smile:

7

And like I said in the Rage Against the Machine example, these songs were actually ABOUT something. They had something to be pissed off about! I’d be hard pressed to find out exactly what Korn is angry about.

8

And also, back then, they could SING the songs and not SCREAM them. That also has a lot to do with it. (Geez, I’m starting to sound like my parents)

9

I know the feeling. I’m 29 and I was having this very same conversation with my fiance today. I was saying things like, “They call this music? This isn’t music!” and as soon as they came out of my mouth, I pictured myself morphing into my mother. It was horrifying.

Although this is the pit, I agree with you. I think these artists (to use the term VERY loosely) are doing what they are doing for shock value. It doesn’t seem like there is any substance to the lyrics–just a bunch of angry words thrown together with some angry-sounding guitar riffs in the background.

I don’t want to turn this into a “Music causes teen violence thread” and maybe one doesn’t have to do with the other, BUT you have to admit that the fucked up kids might be listening to these lyrics and thinking that it’s okay to hurt other people because that’s what some of the songs are about. I am in no way saying that Marilyn Manson, etc. will make ANY kid go berzerk, but kids that “aren’t wired properly” may take these lyrics to heart.

Look at some of the school shootings. The news reports always reference these groups as the type of music they listen to.

I’m sorry this was so long, I just had to vent. Now, I’ll go sit in my rocking chair while I knit and listen to my old Duran Duran records.

And that’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.

10

Duran Duran? As in “View to a Kill”?

If I wanted smoke blown up my ass, I’d be at home with a pack of cigarettes and a short length of hose.

11

puffington,

Don’t worry…be happy.

12

Rage Against the Machine has something to be pissed off about? Aren’t they on Capitol Records? What the hell do they have to be pissed off about? I mean if they are raging so hard against this “machine” why don’t they release records themselves? I think a review I read about them hit the nail on the head: “Top 40 Political Angst”.

13

Mmmmmm…Jethro Tullllllll
Still one of my very favorite bands. :slight_smile:

–
Teeming Millions: http://fathom.org/teemingmillions
“Meat flaps, yellow!” - DrainBead, naked co-ed Twister chat
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com

14

Bands suggestions:
Marillion
Fish
Finneus Gauge
The Flower Kings
Boud Deun
Dixie Dregs
Spock’s Beard
Echolyn
Kamelot
Porcupine Tree

Most of these are in the Yes, King Crimson, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Jethro Tull vein. You should be able to find most of these at Media Play or other big chains.

15

Agreed. Their most popular song ‘Aqualung’ is hardly a nice happy day in the park.

16

I tend to think Jimmy’s Chicken Shack is pretty good for what ails you.

Well, shut my mouth. It’s also illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling.

17

Try Blink 182 as well (not really ‘happy go lucky’ as much as ‘snide and tongue in cheek’, but if you think Jethro Tull was generally happy, then Blink 182 will work for you).

There is no way to write this without ivoking snide comment, so I’ll just state it outright:

Bare Naked Ladies also tend to be happy and upbeat.

I can’t wait to see the responses to that one.

JMCJ

Die, Prentiss, Die! You will never have a more glorious opportunity!

18

You are a bunch of spineless, whining lovers of the drab and mundane! Angry music is inevitably the best music. Happy music is uninspired crap suitable for nothing but elevators and the elderly! You want angry - look no further than the old Master Ludwig van!

I will open fire into a large, lunchtime crowd now!

Hell is Other People.

19

I would have to agree with Sake- music that is , as Puffington put it, “happy (and for that matter, GOOD)” music tends to be uninspired mush meant to waste time and lull the listener into a 3 year sleep.

Personally,from what I see, I believe Blink 182, SmashMouth, and most of the other above mentioned bands (of recent years) are just complete mockeries of what ‘band’ used to mean, pealing to the 12 and 13 year-olds trying to get one catchy, yet HIGHLY annoying tune out so they can make their money, and go home.

Let me explain this way: Songs are inspired by emotions, intense emotions. Anger, along with Guilt, Hatred, Depression, and Sadness are the the most intense emotions. Happiness MAY be intense, given the situation, but it does not need an outlet such as the others. With the above mentioned emotions, creativity, a small part of your soul, and true meaning pour into whatever you do, resulting in the most moving meaning you could hope to accomplish, regardless of whether the message is bad or good.
I am in a band, I write songs…this is what I have discovered.

One mention on the school shootings: It isn’t the music, it isnt the dress,OK? I am a perfect example of this. I wear a black trenchcoat, steel toed black boots, dark colors on a daily basis, and I have long black hair. I listen to Metallica, Rammstein, KMFDM, among others. Manson? No, I dislike him. But it is not as if I were going to lose control and kill everyone around me.
(Sorry, but I am tired of hearing about this, it saddens me to see people blame OBJECTS and MUSIC rather than the parental/spiritual guidance, or lack of it.)

./^_/^\

< o | o >
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…\U/

Wolf of Were has spoken…

20

Wolf of Where?: It’s good to see a cultured, refined mind with the finest in musical tastes amongst these hoards of dreary, lotus-eaters.

I am also a black boot-wearin’, long-haired sporten’, rooten’ tooten’, apostrophe-usin’, doom freak! What kind of music do ya play and on what instrument?

Violent music HAS made me a more violent person. It should be banned. I should be locked up again. Wait, no, scratch all of that.

Hell is Other People.