Dull

There really hasn't been too much to blog about. All my buddies here are via biking, and that activity has been sorely lacking. Its pretty easy to blow it off in the winter, too! Oh well.



So, a thing hit me on the way in, so I thought I'd write a quickie.



Music.



My love.



I think it is interesting to think about what has held up well over the years. I continue to follow music avidly, so for me there is constantly changing interests. This doesn't mean I leave everything behind. As a genre, the goth stuff of the college years hasn't held up as well. I still enjoy some of the more original bands, (think Bauhaus, Sisters) but as a whole...its overly serious. Rock and Roll holds up the best, I think. I believe this is because it never really changes. How different is pop idol loser Daughtry from Elvis? Or Jerry Lee? Not so much, really.



On the way in I was listening to one of my fave high school bands (and one of Eric Cartman's obsessions) Styx. Now there's a band. I think stuff like this falls into one of several categories; nostolgia, wow - what was I/the band thinking?, and holds up well. For me, Styx kind of fits all three.



At the core of it, they play rock. Into-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-lead break-bridge-chorus-etc. They were heavy keyboards so you get that in the intros and lead breaks. The songs hold up ok. Their image - a renaissance fair on stage - not as much. I'll give them a bit of a break on the clothing (Heart did it, too), because they're trying to stick out, but man is it silly. Musically, still fun for me.



But its the keyboards. What would Styx have been without Dennis DeYoung? He helped make them stand out, I think, but I think they would have held up better musically without his Arp noodling. That's what REALLY dates the music. As a kid, I liked the song Lady. It was kind of the Nirvana formula, except quiet/loud/quiet was always keyboard intro/loud/keyboard outtro. I still am ok with the song. But the later album The Grand Illusion, with the hit Come Sail Away, is what broke them. There is some great stuff on that album. I saw them on that tour here at the Mosque (I don't acknowledge PC renaming) and had a blast. I have a tape of that show where you can hear me screaming my girly scream the whole time.It was also my first real rock concert.

But I digress. The album is good. In listening to the better songs from it this AM, I realized it could have been better....without all the keyboard flourishes. I mean really. There's a song on it called Miss America. Strip off the stupid keyboard intro and you have a song with a fantastic riff. The keyboard break in the middle even works. It doesn't hurt that its followed by a guitar solo. Come Sail Away would work better without all the Moog noodling in the middle. Get on with it, fellas! (which is why my favorite band, the Ramones, got it sooooo right. They got on with it). You just don't need all of that, and its what dates the music and stops the movement.
While I now despise bands like ELP and Yes, they at least kept the music moving.

Which brings me to my closing...Dennis deYoung, and his faked accent, is satan.

You've now wasted your break time.
Go listen to some music and waste some more.