411Music Fact Or Fiction 2.21.08: Week 46
Posted by Dan Haggerty on 02.21.2008
411’s John Nagel and Matt Reno return to the virtual studio to face off on your music news: Should Amy Winehouse have won five Grammys? What’s up with Mariah Carey’s new album title? Would you dedicate an entire game of Guitar Hero to Aerosmith? Is rap alive and well thanks to Flo Rida? All this and more, plus Johnny Cash checks in as your Video Fact or Fiction this week!
And we're back! It's the mid-week show to get you through to Friday night happy-hour. But don't let a little thing like the date stop you. Feel free to crack open a cold one anyway and enjoy. It's happy-hour somewhere in the world, right? Welcome to the 411Music Fact or Fiction, the show that keeps pushing the limits and challenging the status quo. We have a great column for you today, as we bring back two great staples of the virtual studio here in the music zone; they are no strangers to this column, both reviewers of the CDs you will be buying tomorrow (or maybe not!), the incomparable John Nagel and Matt Reno !
As for me, I'm your host and it's my job to ask the questions, moderate the whole party, and keep score… Even though the score does nothing to justify the final payoff. That's right, the score doesn't earn a damn thing… Just like Heather Mills.
Hey… Just being topical for our U.K. friends. After all, we get Britney and they're stuck with "She-who-better-have-swallowed-often-to-get-that-much-money".
I'd like to see them say that on VH1.
Let's just move along before I get in anymore trouble...
Round 1!
Will I give up my Grammys?
No No No…
1. Amy Winehouse's drug problems should have prevented her from winning her five Grammys. It sends the wrong message.
John Nagle: Fiction.: Look, I didn't like Back to Black, but an artist's personal life should have no bearing on what awards they win. Would you take away the Beatles' Album of the Year award for Sgt. Pepper because they were taking LSD and smoking pot? If she killed someone it would be a different story. Besides, it's not like anyone cares about the Grammys anyway.
Matt Reno: Fiction: You hate to see people seemingly rewarded for being screw-ups, but we have to keep in mind that she was rewarded for her music. The Grammys aren't a good citizenship award – there's no "Artist Who Smoked the Least Crack" category. They are supposed to be given out for artistic merit alone. Granted, that doesn't always happen, but ideally it's the music and nothing else that should be honored at this ceremony.
Score :1 for 1
2. Mariah Carey is making a mistake by titling her new album E=MC2.
John Nagle: Fact. Is she really calling her new album that? Are you fucking with me Dan? Is Mariah Carey seriously naming her new album after the Theory of Relativity? Oh wait, I get it now. This is going to be Mariah Carey's long awaited foray into progressive rock! It'll have long masturbatory guitar solos, and songs about elves and mindcrimes and 20th century schizoid men! I applaud Mariah Carey for using such an intellectual reference, but I wonder how many of her fans will pick it up.
Matt Reno: Fiction So apparently, Mariah Carey times herself equals energy. Well, I'll be damned. She can name her album whatever she wants, even something faux-clever like this. As long as it's well marketed with strong singles, it will sell, especially after the success of her last album.
Score :1 for 2
3. If you owned the Guitar Hero franchise, Aerosmith would be the first band you would dedicate an entire game to.
John Nagle: Fiction.. Aerosmith is a great guitar band without question, but I think of them in terms of riff rather than solo. Since Guitar Hero is all about pulling off technically challenging solos, I think a band like Van Halen would be a better choice. You could even include stuff from the first two David Lee Roth solo albums since noted guitar god Steve Vai plays on them.
Matt Reno: Fact. Van Halen would definitely be right up there, but I'm a bigger Aerosmith fan, so I'd give it to them. Even those who think Van Halen should be first wouldn't necessarily cry foul about an all-Aerosmith game. The only more obvious choice would be Jimi Hendrix, but I think Aerosmith's songs lend themselves more to the group fun that this game is designed for.
Intermission Score :1 for 3
"Some sweat hog mama with a face like a gent
Said my get up and go musta got up & went.
You got good news but you're a real good liar
Cause backstage lover set your pants on fire."
SWITCH!
And don't forget to check out the completely awesome new Music Hall of Fame!
Round 2!
She turned around
and gave that big booty a slap
She hit the flo (she hit the flo)
Next thing u kno
Shawty got low low low low low low low low
4. Flo Rida's stay at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 demonstrates rap is still a power in the mainstream music scene.
Matt Reno: Fact I don't even know who Flo Rida is (the mom from the Brady Bunch maybe?). I saw fact because rap will always have a place in the Hot 100. Even though it's in a slump right now, there are still tons of kids who will buy hip hop no matter how bad or cliché it gets. Unfortunately, they're not necessarily buying the stuff that deserves to be heard.
John Nagle: Fact.. For the record Matt, Florida is the mom on Good Times. Know your ‘70s television! Anyway, I'd go as far to say that rap is the only true power in mainstream pop music. Most of the people in this country regard music as nothing more than the disposable soundtrack to a night of clubbing, and that's what mainstream rap has been reduced to.
Score :2 for 4
5. Stone Temple Pilots will shake out one reunion run then dissolve.
Matt Reno: Fact. Ahh, STP: my very first concert experience. One reunion tour will be more than anyone expected, so we should be happy for that. I can't imagine much more. I mean, they're planning this while the lead singer is in rehab. But I'm confident that they can pull it together long enough to deliver some ‘90s nostalgia before Scott hits the vein candy again.
John Nagle: Fact. It's amazing how many chances Weiland keeps getting. I think going back to STP is a step backwards for him, but this will probably have a successful theater run before it self-destructs under the weight of opiate addiction. The real question is: Why do people continue to trust Scott Weiland?
Score :3 for 5
Back by popular demand! – The Fact or Fiction video question!
6. Most cover songs never live up to the original, but Johnny Cash took "Hurt " by Nine Inch Nails and turned it into a masterpiece:
Matt Reno: Fact. There've been very few instances where cover songs become masterpieces. No matter how talented an artist is, sometimes you just can't live up to the original because you don't have the same passion as they person who wrote the song. That's why "Hurt" is so amazing. Its original version is a passionate expression of pain from a tortured soul. How could anyone match that? Well, leave it to the Man in Black. Cash transformed a song about a young man's pain into a song of an old man's pain as he looks back at his life and the loved ones he's outlived. It's hard to say which is better because, despite having the same lyrics, they are very different songs. But yes, Cash's version, like Nine Inch Nails' before it, is a masterpiece.
John Nagle: Fact. Matt basically summed it up. The original version of "Hurt" was a masterpiece, but whenever I hear that song I think of Cash. I don't think there's ever been a more evocative interpretation of lyrics. Cash's version of "Hurt" showed a post-Beatles world that a great interpreter still has a place in pop music.
Final Score: 100% Fact
And that brings us to the end of another exciting addition of 411Music Fact or Fiction. I'd like to thank Matt Reno and John Nagle for their help this week and their great answers. I'd also like to thank you, the reader for stopping in and making us part of your day. Finally, I want to thank all of the 70's housewives from TV who have long, masturbatory guitar solos and hit the vein-candy to try and win the Grammy for "Smoking the least crack" – They make the news that makes this column so much damn fun. I'm out of here, we'll see you in the The Mosh Pit on Friday and we'll see you back here is seven.
