The first batch of music reviews of 526 comeback

After the release of the glorious debut album "Near Fame", the media attention was expected, after all, the band's nearly five-month road tour had already created a buzz, and Hugo, as the band's lead singer, relied on "Schindler's List" to become the hottest topic at the end of 1993.

From this point of view, the band's debut album was naturally the focus of attention, as evidenced by the fact that the band chose to make their official debut at an independent record store in Berkeley, Protea Music, which attracted more than 30 reporters to the scene to report on it.

But after the release of the album "Almost Famous", it caused a volcanic eruption-like media reaction, which no one expected, and the hundreds of reports and the rhythm of the discussion on the radio program three times a day almost made the hot Cheng Cheng of "Almost Famous" album "force" the violent reaction of the Jews caused by "Schindler's List" in the recent period, which can definitely be said to be an unpredictable situation.

It has to be traced back to the first music reviews that "almost became famous".

After the release of "Almost Famous" on Thursday, due to the super high attention, two music reviews appeared at the same time on Friday. Two reviews from two magazines, "Rotation" and "A1terive. press)”。

Both magazines can be said to be the pioneer magazines of alternative music, and "Rotation" has now become the most representative 'sexual' magazine in independent music, and its sales can even compete with "Rolling Stone"; Founded in Ohio in 1985, Alternative Choice is a hardcore rock magazine that includes a large number of underground bands in the genre of alternative rock, pop-punk, and metalcore, and each issue is based on interviews, photos, and works of underground bands.

The main subscriber group of "Alternative Choice" is loyal rock lovers, which is more professional and niche than "Rotation", and the music category that "Rotation" focuses on also includes different music genres such as hip-hop, reggae, and country, so although they all focus on independent music, alternative music, and underground music, the subscription groups of the two are 'intertwined' and different.

These two magazines, both founded in 1985, have been huge competitors since their inception. "Alternative Choice" has a higher reputation among hardcore rock fans, its sales are mainly concentrated on the West Coast, and the East Coast market is very low; "Rotation" is not as authoritative as "Alternative Choice" in the field of rock and roll, but it focuses on a wider range of music genres, and has also become an idol publication in the independent music industry, and its insistence on alternative music is also different from the conservative and popular of "Rolling Stone", which makes the magazine irreplaceable for loyal music fans

Obviously, the two magazines are direct competitors in their own right, but at the moment the "alternative option" is still limited to the West Coast and rock fanatics, and the "rotation" market has blossomed throughout North America, and even some pop music lovers, as long as they are interested in independent music, will pay attention to this magazine.

This time, the first reviews of "near fame" sparked a rivalry between "spin" and "alternative options", and it is clear that the two magazines have very different views on the album.

The music critic Vincent Brooke (vi) who used the words "dislike" or "hate" to describe "alternative choices" Brooke's attitude towards the album "almost famous" was not enough, and he chose the adjective "hate" and added three overlapping adverbs "ten" to the adjective.

"I hate this album, I hate this album very, very, very much!" This is the first sentence of Vincent's music review for "almost fame", which seems shocking.

"When the grunge represented by Nirvana went into the mainstream, all bands began to imitate it, which gradually lost the vitality of rock music, and the revival of rock and roll seemed to have come to an end again. In such a situation, people are eager to seek new breakthroughs, and only by breaking the shackles of the style that Nirvana now stands for can rock continue to develop.

It's a fact.

But that doesn't mean that a band can be 'messed up', because random music woven with guitar strings is not rock and roll, it can be country, because random music played with keyboards is not rock, it may be blues, because forming a whole band is not rock, it can be pop. The reason why rock is called rock is that rock has an inspiring 'spirit' connotation, rich in the 'spirit' and 'shot' of the entire era, and at the same time has an unforgettable 'exciting' melody and unforgettable moving lyrics! Not all music can be rock, because rock is rock, irreplaceable rock!

Can a band be called a rock band if it doesn't have a technical solo guitar playing, no complicated arrangements, or even a distinct personal style? No, of course not! So can the songs played by this band still be called rock? Absolutely not!

The album 'Almost Fame', which is glorious to death, is like this.

With the addition of a scornful keyboardist, the band's style was stripped of the flamboyance and heaviness of metal rock to a circus-like simplicity and comical, and the gripping guitar strings mixed with tender keyboard notes turned into a Disneyland clown wandering around with balloons—ridiculous, boring.

This is the only mistake the band can be forgiven, but the 'Near Famous' album is much more than that. The album has several songs that can become classics, 'Don't be upset about the past. look。 ba。 Anger), 'Second Chance (SEG), etc., but these songs are all woven into a joke by a 'second-rate actor'.

'Don't Worry About the Past' simplifies melodies and turns them into vulgar pop tracks that rely solely on guitars and keys, 'Second Chance' relegated stave-filled hard rock style to the ignorant and uninteresting noise of street performers, and 'Nothing' has a strong British style that is played only with monotonous guitar strings, making it look like a down-and-out balding old man on Broadway who will never qualify for a stage show......

These songs all have the potential to be 'colorful' songs, 'Don't worry about the past' if you can replace the cheap keyboard notes with guitar and bass, 'Second Chance' if you can add guitar to add momentum to the chorus, and 'Nothing' if you can make the melody more complex and gorgeous...... These songs will suddenly be refreshed and become 'colorful' rock songs. But......

Glory to Death was obviously trying to distinguish themselves from Nirvana's style, but their attempts were so bad that they separated themselves from rock 'n' roll, and now Glory to Death is neither hard rock nor metal rock, even if they are called alternative rock, but it doesn't change the fact that they have lost their rock soul.

Even if the album has the only song that can be called rock 'lithium', which is the band's closest to rock and roll for four minutes and fifteen seconds, this song has the gorgeousness and rage of metal rock, but also has a deep and extensive ideological 'essence', and also has the band's attempt at a new music genre, which can be called a breath of fresh air in the rock field where Nirvana dominates the world.

But the song won't save the whole album, and it won't save the band.

Hugo Lancaster, the lead singer who created a song of glory to death, but his job is an actor, which is even more ridiculous than a tiger jumping into the circle of fire, he completely insulted rock and roll, and made rock full of 'sex' and thoughts a product of the assembly line of popular commerce, not worth mentioning!

Under Hugo's creation, the album was completely reduced to pop music, they abandoned their beliefs in order to please the listener, and most of the tracks on the album sought the approval of the listener with a concise and clear arrangement, and the arrangement of the songs in 'Almost Famous' was completely a children's song compared to the cumbersome and flashy grunge arrangement, which can undoubtedly attract the attention of more listeners.

Maybe those vulgar young people who don't know anything about rock and roll will buy the album and listen to it when they see the word 'rock', and the easy-to-understand melody is very flattering, which can make their music go viral quickly, and even win them more audiences who don't know much about rock and roll.

But they can't deceive us, they can't deceive themselves, the music they produce is not rock at all, it can only be said that they have sold their souls to commercial pop!

When technology is no longer important, an open and concise structure will only extinguish the 'essence' of rock 'roll'; when ideas are no longer important, the shouts that are close to the masses and close to life will only be reduced to nonsense of moaning and moaning without disease; when the arrangement is no longer important, the easy-to-understand and catchy melody will only make rock 'and roll gradually assimilate' into a melody without 'sex', and it can't even be called music!

It's a disaster! I don't want to use a sacred word like 'rock' to describe a band that can't find its place at all, because it's an insult to rock.

Roaring, aggressive, masculine, boisterous metallic, flashy and dazzling arrangements interspersed with hearty guitar playing, that's the true essence of rock 'n' roll. But all of this is lost in the body of the glorious unto death. The glorious and self-proclaimed new style of music, but the humiliation and rage of the whole rock music, which is regarded as a classic by those media, is simply an act of depravity, and perhaps, rock and roll is really going to die again.

So, I hate this album, and I hate this band even more!"

Vincent simply criticized "almost famous" to the fullest, and hated glory to death, and this extreme critical attitude also represents the consistent strong and sharp attitude of "alternative choice" music criticism; But this is countered by a very different view of the magazine "Rotation".

(To be continued, if you like this work, you are welcome to come to Kazakhstan to read, and vote for the work to recommend the monthly pass.) Your support is the biggest motivation for me to continue creating