One thing I don't like about certain bands in Rock/Metal

Riddle101

Is their apparent distain for fame and fortune. Now don't get me wrong, music is not about money or fame. It's art and should be appreciated. But let's be real here. If you're in a band and making music. Then fame and fortune is going to be a big part in that career depending on how good your band is. That should be understandable. Yet I've heard certain bands were uncomfortable with the success they garnered with their music, some examples of this would be Pearl Jam and Nirvana, or at least Curt Cobain anyway.

Surely they would have known before getting into music that this was going to happen, that making albums and selling them as well becoming pioneers of a genre would do this, so why did they get uncomfortable? Maybe they felt that their image might be tarnished with their sucess, because they've always spoken so highly about being in it for the music and not the money, so they felt it would look bad on them. Then again, most bands are like that aren't they?

I don't know, it just drives me crazy when I hear about a band that is uncomfortable with it's sucess, if that's the case then why even get into the business in the first place? and do they expect their bands to fail or something? I just think some bands came off a little whiny is all.

Wooden Jesus

I don't think its the recognition thats the problem but the pressure from the music industry to make music the way they want rather than what the musicians want. The pressure to release an album in a certain time frame, the freedom taken away from the music.

Also achieving fame and fortune is associated with "selling out" and a lot of rock and metal fans don't want to follow a band that is deemed to have sold out

nyarlothothep

With Kurt Cobain he had underlying problem to begin with, the fame and fortune end of it just added to it. Being analysed everyday by people has got to grate at some stage. However I'd take fame and fortune anyday and the disadvantages would be ok by me.

bnt

Then, after the success, comes the touring, which can drive some people mad. After Radiohead hit it big with OK Computer, they documented the subsequent tour in a film called Meeting People Is Easy. I would have gone mad under those conditions, and I'm not surprised at the anti-commercial direction they took after 1998. No matter how successful you are, you still have to get from gig to gig, wait around for hours, do repetitive interviews with morons, and generally get dragged from pillar to post. Is it any wonder that drink, drugs & debauchery look attractive?

nyarlothothep

On the other hand you get to travel the world, have thousands of fans adore you, get paid to play your own music, every job has its downside but its one of the best if you can get it.

Riddle101

Wooden Jesus wrote: »

I don't think its the recognition thats the problem but the pressure from the music industry to make music the way they want rather than what the musicians want. The pressure to release an album in a certain time frame, the freedom taken away from the music.

Also achieving fame and fortune is associated with "selling out" and a lot of rock and metal fans don't want to follow a band that is deemed to have sold out

Hmm, I suppose you have a point about pressure. But is the music industry really that much of a cruel mistress? you make it seem as if they're slaves working for a bad system.

Also I hate when people use that term selling out. It's almost as if Rock and Metal fans don't understand that it's them who make the bands the success they are. It's almost as if some fans are deluded in that way.

Undergod

Riddle101 wrote: »

Hmm, I suppose you have a point about pressure. But is the music industry really that much of a cruel mistress? you make it seem as if they're slaves working for a bad system.

Also I hate when people use that term selling out. It's almost as if Rock and Metal fans don't understand that it's them who make the bands the success they are. It's almost as if some fans are deluded in that way.

Once you're a band who is signed to a major label, there is HUGE pressure from the label to play in a style that they think will be marketable and sell well. Considering the huge financial investment it takes to make an album, it's not an entirely unreasonable position for the label to have, from a business point of view.

The whole issue of selling out is a complex one, but it's definitely something that happens. Musical development and pursuing new musical directions are entirely different to deciding to play music solely on the basis of its commercial viability.

LH Pathe

Riddle101 wrote: »

Is their apparent distain for fame and fortune. Now don't get me wrong, music is not about money or fame. It's art and should be appreciated. But let's be real here. If you're in a band and making music. Then fame and fortune is going to be a big part in that career depending on how good your band is. That should be understandable. Yet I've heard certain bands were uncomfortable with the success they garnered with their music, some examples of this would be Pearl Jam and Nirvana, or at least Curt Cobain anyway.

Surely they would have known before getting into music that this was going to happen, that making albums and selling them as well becoming pioneers of a genre would do this, so why did they get uncomfortable? Maybe they felt that their image might be tarnished with their sucess, because they've always spoken so highly about being in it for the music and not the money, so they felt it would look bad on them. Then again, most bands are like that aren't they?

I don't know, it just drives me crazy when I hear about a band that is uncomfortable with it's sucess, if that's the case then why even get into the business in the first place? and do they expect their bands to fail or something? I just think some bands came off a little whiny is all.

hold up man .. The main thing I like is the one thing you dislike?

maybe this business it resulted in was an unfortunate byproduct. how good you are dictates how famous you become? but whatever about cobain I suspect he eminated from the same thriving 80s underground that rarely found let alone expected "fame". and he certainly didn't expect to live forever but seriously what I dislike is a band that claims to not like the lofty position and financial blanket that has given them a platform to talk crap and release a one-off album "for free, man" .. get the f- out of music, then. or life in general. the "easy" way, if you're that tormented with it

but tbh I prefer rare collectibles. bit of a gold digger. an anorak. tend to shy away from mass produced jive that literally lands on everyone's lap regardless. prefer to hear something albeit occasionally, by myself, in my own time. does this generate hate? yes.