Better Music Was In The Past

I personally like music from the late 60's, 70's, & 80's better than today's music. Some stuff today is alright, but I think for the most part the music industry has lost its touch. A lot of artists nowadays use autotuning. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but when you hear more autotune than voice, that's when it gets annoying. For example, the Black Eyed Peas music is pretty catchy, but they sound horrible live. And yes, despite what some people might think, the Super Bowl halftime show was a disaster. There are too many artists that have no talent whatsoever, like Willow Smith. I don't care if she whips her hair back and forth, the song is a jumble of autotune crap. American Idol has definitely helped in finding raw musical talent. Look at Carrie Underwood, she was just a poor farm girl before it, and now she's famous. I don't watch American Idol anymore, it's gotten too repetitive. The music from the 60's, 70's & 80's actually has talent. They had little to no autotuning in those days, so the true talent actually shined through. I do agree that some people back then didn't have the best voices, like Axl Rose. The degree of musical talent back then was definitely greater than it is now. Guitarists back then came up with amazing and diverse solos and riffs, but nowadays it seems as though artists use the same riffs over and over again. Of course, all if this is just my opinion, I want to know what you think.

Abbey Road: The Beatles' Greatest Album

Some people like The Beatles' earlier stuff, and some like their later stuff. When I was young, my dad always had Beatles songs playing, mainly from their earlier years. In fact, I have heard those songs so much over the years that I know pretty much every lyric to every song. It wasn't until a year or two ago that I started listening to the Beatles' song from their later years. By this I mean the songs from the album Revolver until Let It Be. I liked these songs better than the ones from their earlier albums. I'm not saying that their earlier songs were bad or anything, it's just I have more of an inclination toward their later stuff now. Their later songs are much more diverse. They definitely improved from their earlier days. Eastern Indian philosophy influenced George Harrison's songwriting a lot. He uses the sitar on a few songs. Some of  their music on the album Let It Be was sort of in the folk genre, but with a rock twist. By far, I think their greatest album is Abbey Road. Aside from the famous album cover (as shown above), they accomplished some of their best work in that album. George Harrison wrote the songs Something and Here Comes the Sun. Ringo Starr contributed Octopus's Garden. Some of the songs on that album are a bit weird, like Sun King and Polythene Pam, but overall, this album was composed of very good songs.

AC/DC Is Taking The Year Off

AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson says that despite what some people may think, touring the world for two years is hard work – and that’s why the band isn't making any plans for the future, yet. They are set to release a live DVD soon, but aside from that, Johnson says he is looking forward to taking the rest of the year off and doing something else he loves: driving classic cars at raceways. He also said that he is looking forward to the live release: "We shot it in Argentina at the end of the last tour in September. There were 300,000 people there and it was just wonderful. We had about twelve cameras there and a great sound crew, and we enjoyed it." Here's what he said about their year-long break: "After that we haven’t made any plans. We just want to have a rest. We’re pretty pooped: we were on the road for two years and we played in front of five million people. We deserve a rest, I think." It's kinda weird to think that rock stars like AC/DC would have another passion besides getting up in front of thousands of screaming fans to perform. But also, doing that for almost four decades could definitely start getting on your nerves.

The Beatles

If you haven't heard of The Beatles by now, then you must be from some other planet. These guys were one of the biggest, if not the biggest, influences in music history. They have more than 200 songs. Ya, that's right, more than 200! They started out as young lads in the Liverpool, England, area. They started on their long and winding road in 1962 with their first hit Love Me Do. Their songs continued to climb the UK charts, but England couldn't contain them. They ventured to America in February of 1964 and were greeted by a horde of fans. They gave their first television performance on The Ed Sullivan Show with an estimated 74 million viewers. They did intense touring in their early days, which was one reason they didn't tour at all in their later days as a band. They were made Members of the Order of the British Empire in June of 1965 by Queen Elizabeth II. The Beatles started getting into drugs in 1965, which heavily influenced their music. To me, this change was most evident from the album Rubber Soul to Revolver. Their music became even more diverse and complex over the years. Tension elevated between the four toward the end of the 1960's, but this was also when some of their best music was made, at least I think so. Their final two albums, Abbey Road and Let It Be, consisted of songs such as Get Back, Come Together, Let It Be, and Here Comes the Sun. The Beatles are the best-selling band in music history, had a total of twelve albums, and were inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
 

No Bieber Fever

I'm sure by now all of you have heard of this teen pop sensation Justin Bieber. Personally, I think his music is crap and a disgrace to the music industry. He started as a hit on YouTube and was apparently "found" by Usher. Thank God he was beat at the Grammys for new artist of the year by some no-name jazz artist. Hold on a minute, he's not even a new artist! I know a few Bieber fanatics and they will not let go of him! He has even been on a few CSI episodes (he ended that run by getting shot in the chest multiple times). I hate his music video for "Baby". He acts like a pimp in that video, it's so annoying. Oh, and another thing, HE SOUNDS LIKE A GIRL!!! I was at a talent show at my church the other night and this girl sang his song "Pray". It sounds so natural when a girl sings it, got knows how he can get that high. At least he is starting to get voice cracks, maybe that will do him some good. If I were Justin Bieber, I would take a few years off of singing so my voice can mature, and then MAYBE come back. I just might think about listening to him then.

Metallica

You've heard of Metallica, right? That heavy metal band from the 80's and 90’s? The one who did "Enter Sandman"? Ya, well don't fear, they're still around. They've made a huge comeback in the last two years with their latest album Death Magnetic from 2008, which went #1 in 32 countries and has sold more than 6.5 million copies worldwide. But life hasn’t always been this smooth for Metallica. On September 27, 1986, bassist Cliff Burton died because their tour bus crushed him when it flipped over and they were sleeping inside. On August 8, 1992, during a tour with Guns N' Roses, Metallica’s lead sing James Hetfield suffered second and third degree burns after accidentally walking into a 12-foot pyrotechnic flame. Even so, they have had many accomplishments: 9 studio albums, at least three #1 albums, about ten #1 songs, 9 Grammy awards, and were inducted into the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. They have even had a full symphony on two of their songs! They have been touring for the past two years to promote their album Death Magnetic and have done numerous shows with Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth; which are being called “The Big Four”. The future looks bright for Metallica, and who knows what they will make of it.