Ask 411 Music 06.22.09: Hanson, Artists Go Solo, and More Nickelback Controversy
Posted by Joshua George on 06.22.2009
The top 5 songs that make Joshua want to dance around like an idiot! Plus, can you truly judge Hanson from "Mmmbop"? What is it with artists going solo? And a very strong opinion on Nickelback! It's all in the latest edition of Ask 411 Music!
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Here come the... Ask 411 Music Reader Questions
From Chris Jacobs,
In regards to your Nickelback thing last week, < a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4258547" target="_blank">here's a column I found in 2007. You can listen to this moron talk. He put out other songs that are artists copying themselves, they sound nothing alike, how can anyone buy this? Or do I not hear it properly and he is right? What is your/readers/staff members opinions because I personally feel this guy is the fake.
Thanks for writing in to Ask 411 Music. Here's the thing, and it really just kinda ties in to what I said last week... it sounds like the bass guitarist from Nickelback is saying EXACTLY what I was saying last week, so I feel good knowing that my philosophy wasn't too far off. Basically, in the column that you link us to here, he says that they have a distinct style and unfortunately sometimes that means that things are going to sound the same. He states that he's sorry if fans feel ripped off, but the songs they're putting out have "hit quality" and that's the way things go sometimes. This is completely a fact. If you have a distinct sound, you have no real choice but for most of your shit to sound the same. If Nickelback tried to branch out to different sounds at this point, the few people that still follow them (and to be honest, I don't mind 'em because I take them for what they're worth), would abandon ship in a heartbeat. Remember what happened when Panic! At the Disco changed their sound on their Sophomore album? They lost a large number of their fans from the first album.
Basically, the guy in this column is an alright guy with an opinion, but he's not the sharpest crayon in the box. I wouldn't necessarily say that he's a fake, but he doesn't really have all of his facts right. First off, you don't wanna fuck with a musicologist. Musicologists are people that know WAY too much about music, the inside and the out. A musicologist can listen to two songs and give you a detailed analysis of the chord structure, melodic arcs, thematic developments, etc. If a musicologist says they're similar but they're not the same by any means, then they're not the same. Sure, any song in the rock world right now could match up with another song. It's all about chord structures and if you don't know a WHOLE lot about the inner-workings of music, every song with the same chord structure will sound the same to you.
So when it comes down to it -- are Nickelback's songs the same? No. Does this guy have a little bit of merit in his column? Yes. In the grand scheme of things, is this guy going to sway anyone that wasn't initially going to decide not to like Nickelback on their own? No. Thanks for the question!
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From ladyjo80,
What exactly makes someone a "solo" artist compared to a band leader. Amy Lee is the only one with a contract for WindUp Records. She owns the band and the name, and hires and fires the guys. The album required and used minimal input from the guys. One could say that The Open Door was a solo album. The guys are pretty much nothing more than session players. Kelly Clarkson is a solo artist, yet she collaborates with others on all her songs. Billy Corgan wrote all music and lyrics for The Smashing Pumpkins, yet they were always thought of as a band. Amy Lee IS Evanescence. An Amy Lee solo career would be basically what we have now on The Open Door. Except, Evanescence is a brand - and that is what she is selling and using to make her money.
What's up ladyjo80? Welcome to Ask 411 Music! This is a very interesting question as you're absolutely right considering that people usually only think of the front man. I mean, there really is no difference between someone being a "solo artist" vs. a band front-man. The only difference that I can think of is that you don't have the other people that folks know. For example. Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis "going solo" would simply mean that he would be doing the same thing he's doing now only with session players instead of having other people in the band that people know. I mean, if you talk about RHCP, you know who "Flea" is. If you talk about Matchbox 20 you know Rob Thomas but you don't really know anyone else.
Sometimes contributional efforts are what determine if it's a solo act with a band back-up or an actual "band". Sometimes the guitarists are the major song-writers, or the drummer is a major lyrics person, or whatever. In the event the front-man writes all the music AND lyrics, then I honestly consider it more of a solo act anyway. At that point, it's how the front-man portrays the band that will make that decision. Rob Thomas never called himself Rob Thomas and Matchbox 20, or Rob Thomas and the Boys, or anything like that. He just went by Matchbox 20 along with everyone else in the band. Billy Corgan is a great example. He let the BAND name get out and rather than trying to hog all the credit, just let the band take the fame. That's probably the difference right there, ego. If the lead singer wants more fame for themselves, or wants to prove that it's not their band that makes them good, they'll go solo. If they're content with being co-famous, then they'll likely continue to be known as the band name. Thanks for writing!
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A while back when Mitch was doing this column, he got some flak from an avid Hanson fan and I would like to visit that e-mail from 2007 which he was nice enough to forward to me for use if I saw fit -- I see fit :)
From Veronica Howell,
I usually really enjoy the columns/articles on 411mania but was unpleasantly surprised by some of the hate thrown at one of my favorite bands--Hanson (yes, that's right they still have a fan base and a loyal one at that). Before you judge, take some time to do some research and maybe even give their more recent music a chance (remember they were REALLY young when Mmmbop came out...). In fact, you would find that 3 years ago Hanson had the biggest independent release of all time with their album Underneath. Furthermore, they had a single called Penny and Me hit the Billboard Top 200 chart at #2. Their new album, "The Walk," is incredible and does not even slightly resemble what you think this band would sound like. They are talented musicians and songwriters that have produced another fantastic album that sounds amazing. I have recently attended 2 of the preview shows that Hanson had for their soon-to-be-released album and both were completely sold out and they sold out very quickly (in fact, with more research you would have found out that Hanson sold out all 4 of their preview shows, with some people going so far as to sleep in tents just to get a good spot at the concert). The one show I attended in Allentown sold out in 3 days and more tickets had to be released to keep up with the demand (this show was actually overbooked and almost did not take place because their were TOO MANY loyal fans there). You are welcome to your own opinions (and I have no doubt you'll have something to say about this "crazy" Hanson fan who wrote you this long e-mail...) but in the name of being a critic, please try to give some things a chance. Hanson may no longer be mainstream and ridiculously over-played, but do not write off a band that is talented and would probably shock you if you heard some of their newer stuff simply because you have not heard their name for a while.
First of all, welcome to Ask 411 Music and secondly, I'm sorry it took 2 years for us to get you in the column. This is something that I wanted to sound off on with you because I think too many people don't pay attention to good music. Many people dismiss Hanson based entirely on "Mmmbop" without taking time to see how they've progressed. I'd like to state for the record that I'm part of Hanson's fanbase and if you wanna flame me in the comments for it, then feel free. But here are the facts: Hanson is probably one of the more creative bands out there (they write their own lyrics and some of their own music as well), Hanson has a sound that is distinct, but not all sounding the same and they've come a LONG FUCKING WAY from "Mmmbop". If you don't believe me, simply check out the following:
While the video for this is about as cheesy as it can be, the music has come a very long way from their Freshman album, and you can't ignore that fact. They definitely still have a very large fan base as Veronica suggested, selling out shows everywhere they go and having to get more tickets released for about 40% of their shows, which is pretty good when you're over-selling 40% of your shows. Basically, she's right in that all of you haters owe it to yourself to give the stuff a listen before you start slamming it. The other thing is that you can't talk shit if you don't like that genre of music. That's like me talking shit about a country music star -- It's well known that I'm not a big country music fan, so any shit-talking that I do against a country music star is basically pointless because I just don't like the music. So be smart -- don't talk shit about this band before you give them another chance after "Mmmbop". Even the second album is infinitely better than the first. Listen before you judge folks!
I'm getting more and more reader questions, so don't be left out! Let's get some more questions from you, the readers. I like to have reader mail and things to post, so all you have to do is SEND YOUR QUESTIONS IN NOW!
It's time for...
Joshua's Top 5
Let's do a little opposite from last week. Here's my top 5 songs that get me pumped up and wanting to dance around like an idiot!
5. Eminem has always been around for me to nod my head to, and just bounce around with. This brings Eminem feat. Dr. Dre - "Old Times Sake" in at #5:
4. This song has been on a mix CD in my car for over a year and will never leave. It's DJ Khaled feat. T-Pain, Young Jeezy, Ludacris, Busta Rhymes, Big Boi, Lil Wayne, Birdman, Fat Joe, and Rick Ross - "I'm So Hood Remix" in at #4:
3. For some reason I can really get behind this song. It's Tech N9ne feat. Krizz Kaliko and Kutt Calhoun - "Ghetto Love" coming in strong at #3:
2. This song makes me flail around like that idiot at the dance that has no idea what he's doing and I'm confident you will too. I love listening to Rehab - "Bump" at #2:
1. Perhaps my favorite song right now is Black Eyed Peas - "Boom Boom Pow". This song is the highlight of my day when I hear it! Start dancing bitches!
What makes you get up and wanna move? Let me know what your top 5 is in the comments section. Also, if you want me to listen to something feel free to hit us up with a youtube link either at my e-mail address, or in the comments section!
Would you like me to reply to your e-mail in the column? Do you have a rant on a certain music related topic that you'd like to share? All you have to do is Send your shit to me NOW!
Who wants to hear something new???
Things You Should Hear
Let's get in some good shit that everyone needs to hear!
1. Parliament has always put out great music. Check out "P-Funk" but only if you wantsta get funked up:
2. I figure we should be nice and provide something for the girls out there looking for a good girlie song and I never thought I'd put her on here, but here's a decent song by Miley Cyrus called "7 Things":
3. Time to trip back with Styx - "Renegade":
4. While we're taking flashbacks, we can even include Human League - "Don't You Want Me?":
5. One more rewind where we hear Lipps Inc. - "Funkytown":
6. Finally, we'll get in a little comedy with some Weird Al - "Polka Power":
If you'd like me to post your band or a band that you particularly love, all you have to do is Send me the YouTube link NOW! I'd like to start including some of your personal bands clips, or other bands that you think people should be hearing.
So who wants to get pimped? If you have a website that your band hosts, or something that you think the general public would enjoy checking out, please send me a link and a SHORT description and I may include it in the pimping section of next week's column!
Make sure you check out my reviews. You can see my profile with my blog and all of my reviews/columns here.
Also I'm a co-host and co-founder of a professional wrestling podcast. My friend and I have been running this show and our website for a little over three years now, and we'd love to have more listeners and since I get my own column now, I feel good about pimping it out. If you want to listen to the most recent show, you can usually find it (along with the most recent news which we get from a variety of other sites MOST NOTABLY the amazing 411Mania Wrestling News Section) at www.pinfallrecall.com. If you'd like to spend your days on our forums talking about how this Extreme Rules PPV is basically a repackaged One Night Stand, like all of us, you can do that on The Pinfall Recall Forums.
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Posted By: Mikel (Guest) on June 21, 2009 at 11:35 PM
The thing with Hanson happens to a lot of bands . They have one big hit and that band is known for that song only. If you say Saigon Kick to someone ,they most likely start thinking of the song ,Love is on the way. While fans of the band know they have tons of great songs,which they write and perform themselves.
Also Warrant got stuck with that too. Warrant is stuck with being the Cherry Pie band. If you have never heard that album ,it is a great hard rock album. The title track is the worst song on the album.
on another subject . i watched the polka power video . In the song Al covers the song ghetto superstar. Did anyone else realize they took the song Islands in the stream by Kenny rogers and Dolly parton and just changed the lyrics= Islands in the stream that is what we are ,changed into ghetto superstar that is what you are
Posted By: Guest#9629 (Guest) on June 22, 2009 at 01:11 AM
Hanson's last album was awesome. They're co-headlining on a tour with HelloGoodbye later this year, ahead of their new album release next Spring.
Posted By: Spike (Guest) on June 23, 2009 at 05:21 AM
