How Music Today Has Become Un- Unique by Various | Teen Ink

How Music Today Has Become Un- Unique by Various

September 14, 2010
By Got_Interest GOLD, Arnold, Maryland
Got_Interest GOLD, Arnold, Maryland
17 articles 8 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Box falls out of sky, man falls out of box, man eats fish custard, and look at you- you&#039;re just sitting there.&quot;<br /> -Matt Smith as The Doctor


Alright, there has been one thing that has really been bothering me lately. That "thing" is the variety of music, or rather, the lack of it. It seems that any and all variety in music has seemed to disapear. It used to be that, just by listening to the type of music, and who is singing, and the instrumentals, you could easily tell which band it came from, because they all actually sounded DIFFERENT. For instance, if you heard the song, "Bicycle" back in the 70-80's period, you could probably tell that it was from Queen because of the unique group dynamics, the unique guitar sound (one of the band members BUILT his own guitars, thus giving the music a unique sound) and the unique vocalists, who COULD ACTUALLY SING (Freddy Mercury was AMAZING back in the day, he once sang a classical piece I beleive, and people were astounded at how good he was)You really could tell the difference between bands, because bands back then worked hard to make their band stand out, and amaze people. Bands back then actually tried to bring out new songs, that weren't actually like all their previous songs. Look at the Beatles, for instance. They wrote over 100 songs- and yet they all managed to be unique,and have a different sound. There was no way you could mistake, say, "Paperback Writer" with say, "Penny Lane" or, "Eleanore Rigby" with, say, "Hey Jude". I think that, subconciously, people still feel the need for unique-ness and individuality in music, because, geuss what? PEOPLE ARE STILL LISTENING TO QUEEN AND THE BEATLES, which is something you don't really get with modern artists. When was the last time we heard someone humming "SOS" or "Hold On" by the Jonas Brothers. When was the last time we listened to Raven Symone? Bands back then produced good music- and people are catching on. I mean, come on, ABBA got their music turned into a musical, and later a movie- "Mamma Mia" years after they broke up. You know what, I don't see "Bad Romance the Musical" showing up on Broadway any time soon. Remember when Glee sang "Somebody to Love"? That song was originally written, and sang by none other than Queen (Trust me, I have it on my I-Pod)! Another un-unique thing that I have been noticing in music today is the difference between certain genre. It used to be that you could tell for certain which genre bands/songs were. If it was Jazz, you could tell it wasn't Blues, and vice versa. If it was Pop, you could tell it wasn't Rock and vise versa. If it was Hard Rock, you could tell it wasn't Metal. There was a difference. These days, some people can't tell if what Justin Beiber is "singing" is R&B or Rap, especially because he is doing song feats with rappers (personally, I thought he was supposed to be R&B!) At times, I get confused as to why Ke$ha is a rapper when her music sounds so, so...Techno! In conlusion- music has gone down the drain. It has lost most of it's unique-ness, and has replaced it by "the same old thing" I beleive it is our job, as both listeners, and perhaps artists ourselves, to both bring something new to the table, and DEMAND something new. Tell Taylor Swift to sing about something else in life other than fairy tale love. Yell, "Hey Beibs, try singing about what it is like to be YOU rather than singing about love!" Listeners, stop settling for the same old junk your favorite bands are giving you, demand something unique, something better, and if they ask you to give them some suggestions, tell them, "Try listening to The Beatles!" ;)


The author's comments:
I hope that this peice inspires people to want better music, and to look for some actual variety. NOTE: Why don't you write down some unique, interesting modern bands that you think are putting something unique out, and then say why they are unique in your comments below. Ex:
Owl City; one guy who writes songs about something other than love, and never has anything impure, implicit, or explicit. ;)

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This article has 4 comments.


on Nov. 23 2010 at 5:34 pm
Got_Interest GOLD, Arnold, Maryland
17 articles 8 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Box falls out of sky, man falls out of box, man eats fish custard, and look at you- you&#039;re just sitting there.&quot;<br /> -Matt Smith as The Doctor

Okay, now I'm listening to Lemon Demon, and you are totally right about them, they have a song for EVERYTHING. Got a birdhouse? Lemon Demon. Selling lemonade? Lemon Demon. Have dead Sea Monkeys? Lemon Demon.

on Nov. 23 2010 at 5:21 pm
Got_Interest GOLD, Arnold, Maryland
17 articles 8 photos 19 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Box falls out of sky, man falls out of box, man eats fish custard, and look at you- you&#039;re just sitting there.&quot;<br /> -Matt Smith as The Doctor

Hey thanks, I checked out Modest Mouse, and yes, I agree they are very different and weird, but in a good way, while Im writin this, I'm actually listening to one of their songs, but I would definatly  recommend this band to people who like 90's rock, as well as modern rock and alternative

on Nov. 20 2010 at 5:31 pm
TheWanderingMoo SILVER, Oberrieden, Other
8 articles 0 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Leave the cat alone, for what has the cat done to you that you should so afflict it with tape?\&quot;<br /> -Ian Frazier

sorry, I forgot why they are unique.  Iron & Wine is modern folk music done by one man.

MGMT has a classic stoner sound

Monsters of Folk is modern folk with introspective lyrics

The Decemberists have profound political lyrics (very liberal, be warned)

Cake has a variety of sounds in their different songs and views the current music industry with disdain

Modest Mouse experiments with different sounds that can be made with modern technology and juxtaposes their instrumentals and vocals frequently

Lemon Demon sings about the mundane in humorous ways

The Shins are a relaxing, chill indie band

Thriving Ivory has a lot of electric guitar, piano, and mournful lyrics

Bright Eyes ranges from modern folk to indie to electronic. lyrics tend to focus on addiction and depression


on Nov. 20 2010 at 5:27 pm
TheWanderingMoo SILVER, Oberrieden, Other
8 articles 0 photos 20 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Leave the cat alone, for what has the cat done to you that you should so afflict it with tape?\&quot;<br /> -Ian Frazier

I am not a fan of Owl City, sorry.  Some unique bands I hope you enjoy:

 

Iron & Wine

MGMT

Monsters of Folk

The Decemberists

Cake

Modest Mouse

Lemon Demon

The Shins

Thriving Ivory

Bright Eyes