From: MHB@MITVMA.BITNET (Michael H. Bloom)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Subject: Slainte Mhath
Date: 15 Oct 92 15:44:52 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU

From:         "OUT,
              OUT - YOU'LL NOT FEEL THE FALL-OUT..." <OLIVOTTO@ITNCISCA.BITNET>
Subject:      Christian Heavy Metal: what's the point?

>         From what I read, what is usually called Christian Heavy Metal (with
> countless variations, from Christian Thrash to Christian Speed Metal, etc.)
> is pretty popular in the States. On this side of the ocean, and I speak about
> Italy in particular, there is nothing like that... heavy metal hasn't been so
> far (and I guess it won't be, for a long time at least) a style of music which
> anyone could stick to the word "Christian".

I've heard Christian music in any number of styles. I once heard a radio show
that was all contemporary Christian music, in a number of divergent styles,
actually sounding rather schizoid going from the twee folk-rock sound that I
remember as Christian music to hard rock to polyester disco soul to something
that might have done credit to Fleetwood Mac. I suspect there are people in
positions of power in various church groups who finance this stuff as a kind
of marketing maneuver, some kind of outreach toward the youth of America, and
they may even be right about it, maybe it works!

Of course, as a gig it would probably rank slightly above wedding music on the
creativity and self-respect scale-- unless of course you buy in to the belief
system yourself. (Bach apparently managed to always attend the same church as
his patron of the moment.)

As for the propriety of Christianized metal, my thesis about metal in general
is that it's all about power. There are very few true Satanists in the field,
but kids like the trappings because it's a symbol of power (even if it's only
the power to piss off your parents and/or Tipper Gore). The way to reach these
kids is to convince them that God has heavier artillery than Mephistopheles,
so you concoct metal versions of "Onward Christian Soldiers" and sell them to
gullible youth...

There used to be a real Christian metal band called Stryper. Were they any good
and are they still around? I know they used to record for Enigma Metal Blade,
so they undoubtedly got somewhat swamped with everybody else on Enigma when it
failed... Dero, do you know anything?

From:         Ken Koester <MAINT2@ERS.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: A survivor from Warsaw

> The context, though, was that it's easier to remember a numeric designation
> when there are fewer numbers to remember.  *Not* that one composer was better
> than another.  I didn't quote text because I was damned if I was going to
> hit the delete line key a hundred and elventy times!  :-)

I spoke in haste, but I do think there's some reasonableness to the notion that
if it really was a top ten piece, you'd remember its number! Regarding your
delete key, you need a better editor! What kinda system you working on anyway?

From:         "OUT,
              OUT - YOU'LL NOT FEEL THE FALL-OUT..." <OLIVOTTO@ITNCISCA.BITNET>
Subject:      Marillion in the prog-rock niche

>         Bob asks how us all "progressive" fans (quotes are mandatory!) feel
> about Marillion.
>         Hmm... I have mixed feelings... :)

Mine aren't that mixed. I think their music is not only derivative, but it's
derivative in the plainest possible ways. They cop the arpeggios and (some of)
the flourishes, but not the really interesting rhythm shifts (consider how the
basic riff of "Watcher of the Skies" modulates, or all the weird breaks in "The
Battle of Epping Forest") or truly bizarre chord changes ("The Return of the
Giant Hogweed," the introduction to "Watcher," all their good stuff!). I've
written imitation-Genesis tunes-- in theory I've got one coming out on a local
compilation intended to showcase the studio where I recorded it (and as usual
I wish the performance was better)-- more interesting, if I do say so myself,
than Marillion's compositions.

>         Also, I definitely like Fish as a writer. His lyrics are usually much
> better than anything the three survivors of Genesis have been able to put
> together in years. _Misplaced Childhood_ and _Clutching At Straws_ were his
> best lyrical attemps, probably.

I can certainly agree with this, especially _Straws_. Marco has mentioned in
another context the sizes of the balls of some of the songwriters he likes :-)
I think the attempt to stare a substance abuse problem in the face, without
lapsing into currently fashionable judgmentalism, shows respectable gonads.

> 2) the fact they actually filled in the hole which Genesis had left.

Certainly that's why I tried to like them better. I miss good Genesis. Writing
my own stuff, however, was a better way to fill the gap. A friend of mine tells
me that Robert Godfrey of the Enid was quite scathing about Marillion when he
found out they got a contract; not that he didn't think they were good, but
that he was convinced that recording for EMI would ruin whatever potential
they had. (Of course, he carries a big grudge against EMI himself.)

From:         Paul Hosken <RMCB@DLRVM.BITNET>
Subject:      Re: VINYL Records

>   Here in Europe the Allman Bros. CDs were rereleased about 3 months ago
> as digitally remastered and at almost half their normal price!

I'm jealous. One feature of England's record industry that never really caught
on in the USA was budget-priced LP's; things like live albums, which have low
production costs, or introductory records by "new" groups (Virgin priced the
third album by the newly-signed Faust for 55p; best 55p I ever spent!), etc.
The closest the US ever came was the budget classical label tradition, of which
Nonesuch was probably the foremost example-- and when they fired Teresa Sterne,
they also got rid of the idea of budget pricing and marked all their catalog up
to prevailing prices. Did wonders for their bottom line that quarter, and then
sales dropped off dramatically. And then there went all the experimental stuff
and the Explorer series where many Americans heard their first world music.

Now a lot of labels' back catalog is available for what they call mid-price,
but for a CD that's still $10 retail, or twice what I paid for the original LP.

From:         "alt.wasted.time" <TIFFANYDE@URVAX.BITNET>
Subject:      Tonight Show

> 20 minutes I got home and flipped on the T.V.  There on Leno was a pretty
> decent acoustic guitar.  I was fairly impressed.  But then, it seemed I'd
> heard it before.  Indeed, I was watching Ottmar Liebert whose latest
> album I had been given as a gift a while ago (and whose album did not
> impress me).  So, I guess I'll have to give the album another listen.

Liebert used to work around here-- had an early "alternative" band called
Red ten years ago. I don't think he's terribly interesting, nor do I think
his guitar technique is anything to write home about.

From:         MMORSE@YORKVM1.BITNET
Subject:      Re: Classical Music Poll - part III

> "But there just weren't a lot of opera votes.."
> If Carmen & Boheme were the top of the small heap, I can see why. It's
> a pity how many people don't realize that the operatic stage bore
> most of the crowning glories of European music between 1600 & 1900..
> but the inflated reputation of a couple of potboilers is in part to
> blame.

I dunno, I've run into this attitude a lot, including from several of my
favorite critics, that composing an opera is what separates the men from
the boys. I find the special problems of writing for classically-trained
voices impede the flow of the music. I bought Messiaen's opera _Saint
Francis d'Assise_ on an expensive import 4-CD boxed set, and haven't been
able to make my way through it yet; it's just not a compelling work. (The
fact that it was recorded live and you can hear the audience cough and
squirm doesn't help, of course.) I like Penderecki's vocal music, and the
work of Harry Partch, but I can't think of any other examples: Varese's
vocal music is weak (although I don't think any of it is pieces that he
himself considered finished), Stravinsky's drives me up the wall (except
for _Les Noces_, which is the inspiration for Orff's _Carmina Burana_,
and much better IMHO), and the Vienna school's vocal music exaggerates
everything about their conception that's flakey.

Some day, nevertheless, I hope to write an oratorio myself. We had a local
corrupt politician videotaped accepting a bribe, and asking for even more
money. I'd like to get ahold of the transcript of that video and set it to
music. Should be as big as _Nixon in China_.