...
I’ve
dreamt of writing this article for 15 years.
I've
wanted to be a musician my whole life and since I wasn't a part of a
community of musicians growing up, I learned about music from lists
just like this one. My parents weren’t very into records and I
didn't have a group of friends that wanted to discuss music, so my
musical education was dedicated to reading lists and reviews of
albums on allmusic.com and rocklist.uk.
Just
like how everyone has a secret acceptance speech in case they win an
Academy Award, I spent many hours contemplating what I would say when
I was asked to weigh in from my lofty perch of experience.
I
imagined this would be a life affirming experience that would give a
sense of importance and legitimacy to my life's work.
Unfortunately,
as I write this, I realize that this won't really be the case for a
couple of reasons:
1.
No one really cares.
When
I was reading the Rolling Stone list of top 500 albums and carefully
studying every review, I was completely engrossed in the education I
was receiving. Unconsciously, when I was imagining myself putting
together a list like this, I was imagining a hoard of adoring fans
that would be lapping up my opinions just like I did from my heroes.
Unfortunately,
on the internet, opinions are more common than people wanting to hear
them. Anyone can read thousands of lists like this one from people
famous or obscure. Because of this, few people read these lists,
while many are creating them.
I
barely read my friend Chris Bollweg's list and we've been
friends for 8 years and bandmates for just as long. My chances of
anyone caring about these words are pretty slim.
2.
I feel like a magician revealing his tricks.
Trent
Reznor, Ludwig Beethoven, and Robert Johnson taught me about the
importance of mystery in music. Everyone loves music that seems like
it came direct from the ether. Just like a magician's audience, they
love talking about how the trick is done, but they're even more
pleased when they discover they can’t.
No
one wants to feel like they could have written their favorite song.
They want to feel like it was supernatural intervention that created
a work of perfect art.
I
think everyone who is into music has experienced being a fan of a
band or a song until they discover how derivative the music is. For
example, if I was 10 years old and wasn't familiar with the history
of popular music, I would be astounded by the quality of the One
Direction song "You Don't Know You're Beautiful." It's got
a great guitar riff, great idea for a song, great production, etc. If
they were the first group to come up with all those elements they
would be a band as great as The Beatles.
However,
the song is so obviously derivative, it causes anyone with even a
passing knowledge of popular music to roll their eyes when they hear
it.
I
remember the first time I heard “YDKYB”, I stopped in my tracks
and said to the person next to me, "...they're not really going
to just rip off the 'Louie Louie' riff like that are they?"
They
did.
I
mean seriously:
What
makes this exercise really scary is when it tarnishes your favorite
songs:
It’s
a common experience for 16-year boys across America to realize that
Led Zeppelin stole a lot of their lyrics from old blues songs.
Contempt soon follows.
I
have a degree in music from one of the best music schools in the
world (USC) and have devoted my life to studying great musicians and
I can tell you: there are no real magicians in music.
Everyone
from Mozart to Jimi Hendrix has a formula. I could take any musician
in history and play you four songs that influenced them and you would
say, "Oh. That's how they came up with that."
Fortunately
for Jimi and Wolfgang, the influences they were drawing from are
obscure enough that people don't know them. But One Direction isn’t
so lucky.
”Amateur
poets borrow; mature poets steal” -T. S. Elliot
My
point is, if I give the public the naked elements of my influences,
I'm hurting my chances of astounding people.
I've
been advised by many famous musicians (David Foster et al) and my
teachers to not even admit that magic doesn't take place. It hurts
the cause of all artists and hurts the public.
However,
I have an answer to each problem:
1.
I know at least Ivan (and my fantastic A+ brother, Mark) will read
this so it gives me some gratification to know my choices are
appreciated by at least two people.
2.
Since very few will read this I don't think there's much danger in
revealing my secrets. There are thousands of books explaining how
magic tricks work, but most people don't go to the effort to find the
answers even when they're curious, so I think I’ll be ok.
So
I shall continue.
Here's
my list:
1.
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile
My
concept of perfect music. I cried the hardest I have ever cried in my
life the first time I heard this album. For 6 years I would only
listen to this album once every three months because it was so
precious to me. It felt like going into the Holy of Holies in the
Tabernacle and I didn’t want to abuse the privilege.
It's
all in there. Perfect songwriting, perfect production, perfect
vocals, perfect overall concept of the album.
2.
Jon Foreman - Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall
When
I first heard this I cried for a different reason: Someone had done
what I had been dreaming for years of doing before me. Similar to
above. Absolute perfection.
3.
Nickel Creek - Why Should the Fire Die?
This
could have, and should have been the biggest album in the world. This
album should have impacted the culture as much as Adele's 21.
Unfortunately,
they had already been labeled as a "bluegrass" band by
their label, the public, and the music industry so this album never
reached the audience it deserved. As a bluegrass album it disappoints
as much as fans of Inglourious Basterds would be disappointed
by Shindler's List.
If
I had any power I would re-release this album today and watch it
conquer the world.
4.
Drive by Truckers - Decoration Day
(Standing in for Daniel's preferred choice, Deeper In)
An
astounding collection of songs perfectly performed. I have yet to
play a song from this album to someone and not have their jaw hit the
floor. Just one song from this album would be worth spending your
whole life creating.
5.
Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
It's
Pet Sounds. Come on. Everyone knows it’s the best.
The
production alone, or the songwriting alone would deserve a place on
this list. The combination of the two is amazing.
6.
Big L - Lifestylez Ov Da Poor & Dangerous
This
is the best rap album you haven't heard.
7.
Clara Ward - Meetin' Tonight
I
wish I could make people go bananas like she could. Perfect gospel
singing.
8.
George Strait - Complete Discography
My
all time favorite musician. I put this on here without a specific
album because they're all excellent. I can put all 32 albums on
shuffle and not skip a song until the playlist runs out. I think this
is the highest aspiration for a musician.
He’s
the person I'd most like to talk to from history. I’d rather have
15 minutes with him than any person living or dead.
9.
Rage Against the Machine - First three albums (Favorite Track: Know
your enemy)
The
same as George Strait: one long barrage of awesome.
Among
the most amazing things for me about Rage, is that no one really
followed them stylistically. They were extremely popular and "rap
rock" became a major style in music, but no band that I’m
aware of sounds anything close to them, even today. Very rare for
such a popular band.
10.
Taylor Swift - Fearless
If
you don't like this record it's probably because you think of it as a
country record or as a bubblegum record. Don't do that.
11.
The Wonder Years - The Upsides (Favorite Track: All my Friends are in
Bar Bands)
My
current all time favorite band. If I had a wish today, it would be to
open up for them on tour this fall. (Soupy, if you're reading this:
call me.)
12.
Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream
(Bizarrely, this song does not appear to be available in an album version in Youtube. So here it is live.)
A
magical experience. The best loud record ever recorded.
13.
Ry Cooder - Into the Purple Valley
Ry
Cooder is an astounding musician. I think he has the best ears in
music. We should be best friends.
14.
Minor Threat - Minor Threat
This
is on here not so much for the actual record (which is fantastic) but
for all that it represents. Nothing is quite like being 14 and
feeling like you're part of something bigger than yourself. Minor
threat gave me that.
15.
Great Big Sea - Turn
The
first band that was ever my favorite band. I still listen to these
songs and wonder why I've ever tried to learn about any other kind of
music. I should have just tried to make music exactly like this.
As
I get to the end of this, I'm realizing how many important albums I'm
leaving out (The Franco Corelli recording of Gounod's Faust, anything
by Charlie Parker, Jorge Ben's Afrobrazil) but I think this list
mostly represents who I really am, which for me was the goal of this
exercise.
Thank
you for reading this. I hope it has been enjoyable, and I hope that
someday an album by Daniel Newheiser will make your list and mine.
Thank
you,
Daniel
...
Dig on Daniel's own "All I'm Missing is You" and see you soon for more of whatever it is you people read this stuff for.
No comments:
Post a Comment