robertsl@stolaf.UUCP (Laurence C. Roberts) (10/15/85)
> These are some lyrics by the person you are maligning: > > In Malta, catch a swallow > For all of the guilty to set them free > Wings fill the window, and they beat and bleed > They hold the sky on the other side > Of borderlines borderline feels like I'm gonna lose my mind 'cause you keep on pushin' our love over the borderline... (ok, so Madonna didn't write those herself, big deal.) Geez, Doug, I think the guy had more valid points than invalid ones. I really can't defend the Hounds of Love side of the record. Listen to those sooo repetitive drums on Deal with God, the Lauperesqe hiccoughs on HoL, etc. I am willing to bet that many of the people buying the record will listen to side 2 once and then shrug and flip it back, never to listen to anything but the hit singles. True, your argument about the rush of fans to buy the record catapulting it to number one is probably valid too. And the guy is wrong in saying that it isn't an enduring classic. However, it probably won't stay as high as Pink Floyd has. OK, so break it up, guys. The thing with HoL is that side one is composed of songs which are pop songs and no more, and side two is art songs (ok, I stretched the definition, but you know what I mean) and NOT pop songs. Formerly, KB's songs could be interpreted either way, but this time she chose to try another route, which makes some much more accesible, and some less accesible. It took me a while to figure out how to listen to this record in a way that made it work for me. So Doug, don't flame people just because they seem to have said something stupid. (hint, hint) -- Laurence Roberts ...ihnp4!stolaf!robertsl St. Olaf - built on a bluff and operated on the same priciple.
nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) (10/17/85)
> From: robertsl@stolaf.UUCP (Laurence C. Roberts) KB: >> In Malta, catch a swallow >> For all of the guilty to set them free >> Wings fill the window, and they beat and bleed >> They hold the sky on the other side >> Of borderlines MC: > borderline > feels like I'm gonna lose my mind > 'cause you keep on pushin' our love > over the borderline... Sure, Larry, no difference in quality there! > I really can't defend the Hounds of Love side of the record. I can! > Listen to those sooo repetitive drums on Deal with God, That's only one component of the song. And only some components of the drums are repetitive. There are components that are erratic and vary. The contrast between the rigid and the fluid -- it's wonderful. > the Lauperesqe hiccoughs on HoL, etc. I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean the background vocals? The ones that sound like hounds? Isn't KB allowed to have a sense of humor? Or do you really mean the wonderful vocals on "The Big Sky" that Cyndi Lauper wishes she could do? In any case, I don't think there's anything wrong with Lauper's voice. It's her music and lyrics that could use some work. > The thing with HoL is that side one is composed of songs which are pop > songs and no more, and side two is art songs (ok, I stretched the > definition, but you know what I mean) and NOT pop songs. The HoL side is composed of songs which are artistic pop songs and every bit as good as any "commercial" song by The Beatles or The Talking Heads or Peter Gabriel. They're not nearly as good as her noncommercial stuff, but something's got to pay for the record. Kate didn't compromise at all on "The Dreaming", and that probably didn't do such great things for her bank balance. And actually, only the first three songs on the HoL side are particularly commercial. Certainly "Mother Stands for Comfort" (one of the best songs on the album) bears little resemblance to anything that was ever commercial. And "Cloubusting" isn't very commercial either (though it is the new single.... Probably won't be much of a hit....). > Formerly, KB's songs could be interpreted either way, but this time she > chose to try another route, which makes some much more accesible, and > some less accesible. It took me a while to figure out how to listen to > this record in a way that made it work for me. Variety is the spice of life and all that, no? > So Doug, don't flame people just because they seem to have said > something stupid. (hint, hint) What else is the net for? "They look down at the ground, missing" Doug Alan nessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (or ARPA)