Song of the Moment: Sirens

[harmless]

I mean come on, no one is going to argue that a good song is a good song no matter who sings it, not considering how many great songs Jools Holland has ruined.

[Strat]

id love to see PJ do Rocket Man

[stip]

Didn't I say that the moment it leaked?

By jove, you did. Kudos.

This came on the random play list this morning, and my wife pointed out that it takes no effort at all to imagine Elton John's voice singing exactly this song, without any other necessary changes.

Now I can't not hear it.

is that a bad thing though?

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is an impossibly great album. Elton has definitely had amazing moments in his career. But here you have what could easily be an Elton John song with Ed redoing the vocal part, and people are eating it up on a message board that has exactly no Elton John threads in the OB section.

we went through this with MYM. How come people like that song who don't like the dead kennedys? this is a pretty uninteresting argument, I think. I thought we disposed of it then.


1. Eddie Vedder is singing it, which is pretty significant
2. Sometimes hearing a band you really love play something from a different genre/style might end up highlighting what could be attractive about that genre without requiring a full commitment to it.
3. There may be lots of little subtle tweaks that come from the way that particular band plays that type of song. Often it involves toning down some of the excess of that genre/style--the things that may put other people off to it.

[Heathen]

But I will still admit to thinking something like "Candle in the Wind" is a really good song. Because, you know, I'm not sixteen anymore.

Most stip posts of all-time by someone else than stip

[stip]

at 16 I would not have admitted that about candle in the wind. I would today

[stip]

just confirming bad music's theory

[harmless]

I'm not a fan of punk music. I'm a fan of PJ doing their impression of punk music. MYM is just as derivative of punk as Sirens may be of Elton John. So what's the difference? The only difference is that the naysayers of Sirens would rather hear punk than Elton John. I can honestly say I have no preference. If it's good, it's good.

[harmless]

It's very unlikely that Matt's pounding drum performance, Jeff's fretless bass, Mike's twelve-string performance, or Stone's lovely reverb-laden, sliding electric guitar, would be present in an Elton John song.

[McParadigm]

I think you're either diminishing the depth or validity of option B., or excluding an option C, which is "I like Pearl Jam because their musicianship and vocalist appeals to me more than any other band's."

Actually, that's part of what I was trying to reference with option B. "I like the sound of this band, the way Ed delivers a song, or whatever." "I like the music they make because they are Pearl Jam." The implication is: other people don't sound this way, so I like it when this band does things that, when other people do them, I won't like.

As I said, I'm firmly entrenched in option A. A song that wouldn't move me if Elton John was singing it isn't going to move me because it's Pearl Jam....and I kinda liked Mind Your Manners just as I kinda like the Dead Kennedys. Tom Waits has my favorite "sound" and the greatest emotional attachment of any artist I like by far, but his last record would have been "meh" if anybody else recorded it and it was "meh" when he recorded it, too.

[harmless]

But I will still admit to thinking something like "Candle in the Wind" is a really good song. Because, you know, I'm not sixteen anymore.

Most stip posts of all-time by someone else than stip

What do I win?

[Strat]

I think you're either diminishing the depth or validity of option B., or excluding an option C, which is "I like Pearl Jam because their musicianship and vocalist appeals to me more than any other band's."

Actually, that's part of what I was trying to reference with option B. "I like the sound of this band, the way Ed delivers a song, or whatever." "I like the music they make because they are Pearl Jam." The implication is: other people don't sound this way, so I like it when this band does things that, when other people do them, I won't like.

As I said, I'm firmly entrenched in option A. A song that wouldn't move me if Elton John was singing it isn't going to move me because it's Pearl Jam....and I kinda liked Mind Your Manners just as I kinda like the Dead Kennedys. Tom Waits has my favorite "sound" and the greatest emotional attachment of any artist I like by far, but his last record would have been "meh" if anybody else recorded it and it was "meh" when he recorded it, too.

But you can still listen to it and enjoy it, no?

Also, bad as me is totally Tom Waits Lite. Its almost like listening to a greatest hits compiled by record execs...

[McParadigm]

But you can still listen to it and enjoy it, no?

Also, bad as me is totally Tom Waits Lite. Its almost like listening to a greatest hits compiled by record execs...

There are like 4 really good songs, and a few others that I just tucked into Orphans. But something like Talking at the Same Time is not a song worth listening to just because Tom Waits is singing it, no.

[Strat]

But you can still listen to it and enjoy it, no?

Also, bad as me is totally Tom Waits Lite. Its almost like listening to a greatest hits compiled by record execs...

There are like 4 really good songs, and a few others that I just tucked into Orphans. But something like Talking at the Same Time is not a song worth listening to just because Tom Waits is singing it, no.

Really? You find no enjoyment in hearing Tom Waits sing?

[harmless]

I think you're either diminishing the depth or validity of option B., or excluding an option C, which is "I like Pearl Jam because their musicianship and vocalist appeals to me more than any other band's."

Actually, that's part of what I was trying to reference with option B. "I like the sound of this band, the way Ed delivers a song, or whatever." "I like the music they make because they are Pearl Jam." The implication is: other people don't sound this way, so I like it when this band does things that, when other people do them, I won't like.

As I said, I'm firmly entrenched in option A. A song that wouldn't move me if Elton John was singing it isn't going to move me because it's Pearl Jam....and I kinda liked Mind Your Manners just as I kinda like the Dead Kennedys. Tom Waits has my favorite "sound" and the greatest emotional attachment of any artist I like by far, but his last record would have been "meh" if anybody else recorded it and it was "meh" when he recorded it, too.

Fair enough, and I appreciate the clarification. Pearl Jam's musicianship, their sound (even apart from their songs) is what keeps me on board. Yeah, sometimes I dislike their songs, sometimes even flat-out hate them, but generally, if everything I'm hearing is played at the level I expect, I'll be happy with what I'm hearing. On the other side of the coin, I haven't idolised this band quite as much as I once did since Dave A. left, because drums are my instrument and his style was out of this world to me. The musicianship through that era was top notch. So too with the Jack Irons era, even though there was a lot to get used to and it took me a while. I've never fully got into Matt as a drummer, but even now, it does make me smile from ear to ear when I hear all of their talents being shown off. I don't really exclude any influences or sounds, as long as PJ can take them and make them into something I enjoy listening to.

[Heathen]

But I will still admit to thinking something like "Candle in the Wind" is a really good song. Because, you know, I'm not sixteen anymore.

Most stip posts of all-time by someone else than stip

What do I win?

the entire Amanda Palmer discography

[McParadigm]

But you can still listen to it and enjoy it, no?

Also, bad as me is totally Tom Waits Lite. Its almost like listening to a greatest hits compiled by record execs...

There are like 4 really good songs, and a few others that I just tucked into Orphans. But something like Talking at the Same Time is not a song worth listening to just because Tom Waits is singing it, no.

Really? You find no enjoyment in hearing Tom Waits sing?

Not a bad song, no. In fact, it kind of bums me out.

[Strat]

But you can still listen to it and enjoy it, no?

Also, bad as me is totally Tom Waits Lite. Its almost like listening to a greatest hits compiled by record execs...

There are like 4 really good songs, and a few others that I just tucked into Orphans. But something like Talking at the Same Time is not a song worth listening to just because Tom Waits is singing it, no.

Really? You find no enjoyment in hearing Tom Waits sing?

Not a bad song, no. In fact, it kind of bums me out.

Hmm, well then! Core differences are neat.

[harmless]

Janelle Monae's new album is one of my favourite albums of the year, and I don't even listen to R&B, motown or soul music. But I'm a sponge for good music, so when I hear it, if I enjoy it, that's it, I don't need an excuse.

[McParadigm]

Janelle Monae's new album is one of my favourite albums of the year, and I don't even listen to R&B, motown or soul music. But I'm a sponge for good music, so when I hear it, if I enjoy it, that's it, I don't need an excuse.

I've been investing a lot of my week in early 50's Grand Ol' Opry-type stuff. Hank Snow, Kitty Wells, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Johnny Horton....

[warehouse]

anyone else have an urge to listen to elton john now? i cant be the only one