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Thread: Tom Petty Calls Out Contemporary Country Music

  1. #26
    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    Ah, and there you go- pop country has fallen prey to the same production techniques found in Disney Channel Tweener-Pop and Contemporary Christian music- extreme brick-wall limiting of everything, appalling abuse of Auto-Tune and the like. It's no surprise that those sounds would infiltrate the country scene, since there's always been a branch of country that appeals to people that, frankly, don't actually like music. It's just another branch offshoot of pop.
    We have a restaurant chain here in Canada called "Boston Pizza" which plays a terrible satellite station which has a mix of new pop and country, plus the occasional older pop (not usually anything too good at all but sometimes a relief) and there is so much reason for someone to complain about it. Oddly enough, one of the new country-sounding songs (I have no idea who the female singer is) is a complete rip off of the chorus of "Eye in the Sky" from Alan Parsons Project and as a result is actually not all that bad of a song even if it's totally unoriginal. We live in an age of total corporate control of music (when it comes to the mainstream)

    Most if not all of it is intolerably bad. Who was it that mentioned Nickelback and new Country being pretty much the same and attracting the same fans? That's right, they are the same uncreative garbage although the vocals are worse in Nickelback. Back in the 1980s it would have been unimaginable to me that music this mechanical and bland would be what popular music would become. And the 1980s weren't even that great! But at least there were real bands, real writers, real musicians out there being signed to major labels---even bands that I disliked at the time like New Order seem good to me compared to today's stuff. The 1970s of course were incredible for the most part, but I think we all know that.

  2. #27
    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ken Baird View Post
    Oddly enough, one of the new country-sounding songs (I have no idea who the female singer is) is a complete rip off of the chorus of "Eye in the Sky" from Alan Parsons Project and as a result is actually not all that bad of a song even if it's totally unoriginal. We live in an age of total corporate control of music (when it comes to the mainstream)
    Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now."

    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

  3. #28
    Member Jerjo's Avatar
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    I like Tom Petty but that's beside the point.

    While I despise the genre, I've been around country music most of my life. You can't escape it out here in the sticks. And if the young whippersnappers in the genre are complaining at being called out, that's too fucking bad. Their product is a homogenized, market-focused, and drained of meaning as any dance pop or boy band music. It's a very corporate product, aimed with precision not at rural America but at the suburbs. That's where the real money is. Every note, every vocal, and every lyric is pre-planned and there is not even an attempt at authenticity.

    Yeah, the real thing still exists but it's been pushed to the margins even farther than rock has. The major labels have zero interest in anything truly rebellious or contentious, they want something they can control and that is the music Tom is taking aim at. Nashville has always had problems with this, ever since the days of Billy Sherrill and countrypolitan. And country music always goes for money over authenticity. No wonder Johnny Cash did so much drugs. There was the Neo Trad movement in the 80s but that got buried once the producers got control again.

    Ah, and there you go- pop country has fallen prey to the same production techniques found in Disney Channel Tweener-Pop and Contemporary Christian music- extreme brick-wall limiting of everything, appalling abuse of Auto-Tune and the like. It's no surprise that those sounds would infiltrate the country scene, since there's always been a branch of country that appeals to people that, frankly, don't actually like music. It's just another branch offshoot of pop.
    Exactly. It's music to be played in the background by people that want something familiar to listen to. The songwriters go for the topics that suburban moms will relate to. There will always be carefully programmed anthems to bad boy behavior, drinkin' and gettin' rowdy but it's about as real as a hair metal power ballad. And its multitudes of fans have no clue they're being conned.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  4. #29
    Progga mogrooves's Avatar
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    Petty would likely dig these guys:

    Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes

  5. #30
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    Just like the majority of hair metal was simply bad pop music with a distorted guitar and a douchebag attitude, the majority of modern country is bad pop music with a twang and a pair of cowboy boots.

    When Nirvana exploded, many genres of music (rock, blues, jazz) moved away from the generic, sterile sound of the late 80s/early 90s. But not country.

  6. #31
    Member No Pride's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    Ah, and there you go- pop country has fallen prey to the same production techniques found in Disney Channel Tweener-Pop and Contemporary Christian music- extreme brick-wall limiting of everything, appalling abuse of Auto-Tune and the like. It's no surprise that those sounds would infiltrate the country scene, since there's always been a branch of country that appeals to people that, frankly, don't actually like music. It's just another branch offshoot of pop.
    I agree with what you're saying (and what Petty was saying), but...

    At least today's country music still uses real musical instruments played by humans and even has instrumental solos. For that reason alone, I'd rather listen to the contemporary country radio station than the contemporary pop station any day of the week.

    But don't worry, I don't actually listen to either unless I'm forced to at a restaurant or a retail store.

  7. #32
    All Things Must Pass spellbound's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cuz
    When Nirvana exploded
    Didja get any on you?
    We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
    It won't be visible through the air
    And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973

  8. #33
    Member Brian Griffin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    Ah, and there you go- pop country has fallen prey to the same production techniques found in Disney Channel Tweener-Pop and Contemporary Christian music- extreme brick-wall limiting of everything, appalling abuse of Auto-Tune and the like. It's no surprise that those sounds would infiltrate the country scene, since there's always been a branch of country that appeals to people that, frankly, don't actually like music. It's just another branch offshoot of pop.
    I have no idea how you got this from my post - can't say that I've ever pulled up a country .wav to see if it was brickwalled

    My complaint is that unlike the NRPS, Byrds, Burrito Brothers, Marshall Tucker, these come lately's can't play worth a shit

    In addition to that, moronic lyrics and failed attempts at humor

    BG
    "When Yes appeared on stage, it was like, the gods appearing from the heavens, deigning to play in front of the people."

  9. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Bails View Post
    Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now."

    Ah yes, that's the one, thanks! Especially true at 2:40 for the chorus. Now, since I'm on this kind of topic, who did that pop song from about 9 years ago that lifted the piano and chords from the beginning of Marillion's Lavender almost note for note? It was called "Beautiful" I think and it was somebody big. That was another major ripoff.

  10. #35
    facetious maximus Yves's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by spellbound View Post
    Didja get any on you?
    For sure! there was karma fallout for miles around!
    "Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."

    -Cozy 3:16-

  11. #36
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Griffin View Post
    I have no idea how you got this from my post
    From you talking about "your girls" liking it- I have no idea how old they are but it put me in the mind of my young daughter who likes Demi Lovato and that kind of stuff; I'm saying nowadays little country girls like Taylor Swifty are basically the same thing in different clothes. It's the same marketing. As for country having "real instruments"... well, here and there, but don't be too sure I'm still talking about the processed pop country of course.

  12. #37
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerjo View Post
    While I despise the genre, I've been around country music most of my life. You can't escape it out here in the sticks. And if the young whippersnappers in the genre are complaining at being called out, that's too fucking bad. Their product is a homogenized, market-focused, and drained of meaning as any dance pop or boy band music. It's a very corporate product, aimed with precision not at rural America but at the suburbs. That's where the real money is. Every note, every vocal, and every lyric is pre-planned and there is not even an attempt at authenticity.

    Exactly. It's music to be played in the background by people that want something familiar to listen to. The songwriters go for the topics that suburban moms will relate to. There will always be carefully programmed anthems to bad boy behavior, drinkin' and gettin' rowdy but it's about as real as a hair metal power ballad. And its multitudes of fans have no clue they're being conned.
    +1

    I couldn't have said that better and its the same where I live, too.......

    The first hint of the Nashville "Burger King" System of all smoke and mirrors should have been when K.D. Lang, who vocally is Patsy Cline reincarnated and whose music was honest, was rejected by the Nashville industry in the late 80s/early 90s while Country caricature acts were being signed left and right......and that was twenty years ago.........

  13. #38
    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by klothos View Post
    +1

    I couldn't have said that better and its the same where I live, too.......

    The first hint of the Nashville "Burger King" System of all smoke and mirrors should have been when K.D. Lang, who vocally is Patsy Cline reincarnated and whose music was honest, was rejected by the Nashville industry in the late 80s/early 90s while Country caricature acts were being signed left and right......and that was twenty years ago.........
    K.D. Lang is a lesbian. She has no shot at becoming a popular country artist, regardless of how good her music is.
    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

  14. #39
    Member Jerjo's Avatar
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    But she was rejected well before she was out. Of course, anyone with a penny's worth of gaydar could figure it out but even so, she wasn't some little cutie that could be packaged and already had an independent streak. Still, no one before or since could channel Patsy Cline the way K.D. could and the genre is all the power for losing her.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  15. #40
    Yeah, it's not so much k.d. is a lesbian, it's that she looks like a lesbian. Country music is insanely image driven.

  16. #41
    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    Yeah, it's not so much k.d. is a lesbian, it's that she looks like a lesbian. Country music is insanely image driven.

    Well, yeah. She wasn't going to get anywhere with her look, and once she came out, she lost any chance at widespread appeal in Country.

    Whatever - their loss.
    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

  17. #42
    Member Vic2012's Avatar
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    What amazes me is the young people I meet who love the shit. I'm talking 18, 20 year old kids from Miami who grew up on hip-hop and latin pop shit, and they love this pop country crap. I had this young kid ask me if I liked "country music" and I said ...... No! Without hesitation. And he looked at me like I had 3 heads .

    Good grief I HATE country. I don't like bluegrass either.

  18. #43
    Member Joe F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vic2012 View Post
    Good grief I HATE country. I don't like bluegrass either.
    Just play "Children of the Sea" again and all will be right in the world.

  19. #44
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    I don't know anything about old or new country, but it doesn't surprise me the new stuff is intolerable. All the new pop
    stuff is crap, so why not put out shit in another genre as well. College radio is still excellent around here, thankfully.
    I do enjoy bluegrass on occasion, used to listen to it some in my college days and see some of it live.
    I'm surprised they don't have commercials on the albums themselves now, as the "music" is so packaged and sterile.
    It's so much about business and so little about creativity. I feel lucky to have had all the great music that was produced
    in the 60s and early 70s growing up. I still consider new fusion and jazz to be good, though I know some folks think fusion's heyday is over as well.
    is long over as well. Of course, these genres are not mainstream and never will be.

  20. #45
    Member Jerjo's Avatar
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    I don't have college radio. Just lots of country and a bad "classic rock" station. But we do have a NPR music station that plays a mix of Americana/roots/indie/blues/jazz etc. Monday through Friday. The DJ with the longest shift will even throw in a little Zeppelin to toughen things up a little. It keeps my sanity, I'll tell ya.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

  21. #46
    Oh No! Bass Solo! klothos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    Yeah, it's not so much k.d. is a lesbian, it's that she looks like a lesbian. Country music is insanely image driven.
    In which you are just re-emphasising the point: its not about the music or the honesty of the music. Willie Nelson wasn't pretty either but he wrote some great songs that were indeed country and he was accepted as a "star" when the look didn't supercede talent and honesty. Fast forward to 2013, and Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" is an auto-tuned digitally programmed Boy Band pop song somehow disguised as country with a few steel-guitar samples: This makes it country how exactly? Colt Ford's "Cricket On A Line" is a few edits and a key change away from being Ton-Loc's rap classic "Wild Thing". This is country how? Hypothetically, if Nashville is going Politically Correct and rap music can now be country, why wouldn't a lesbian like KD Lang (who does traditional country) be allowed back in their good graces? As someone pointed out: the look. Colt Ford may be doing a disguised 80s/90s rap song but he looks like a good ol' American non-Brokeback redneck, so he's in.

    Jerjo made two excellent points:

    "Their product is a homogenized, market-focused, and drained of meaning as any dance pop or boy band music. It's a very corporate product, aimed with precision not at rural America but at the suburbs. That's where the real money is. Every note, every vocal, and every lyric is pre-planned and there is not even an attempt at authenticity."

    and

    "It's music to be played in the background by people that want something familiar to listen to. The songwriters go for the topics that suburban moms will relate to. There will always be carefully programmed anthems to bad boy behavior, drinkin' and gettin' rowdy but it's about as real as a hair metal power ballad. And its multitudes of fans have no clue they're being conned."

    Now, I am all for evolution of any style of music and I understand that "crossover" is a strong selling point but at what point does a country song stop being country? I guess we just need to keep an eye on Hank Williams' Sr. grave and see if he's rolling over in it
    Last edited by klothos; 09-21-2013 at 03:20 AM.

  22. #47
    Member Vic2012's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Joe F. View Post
    Just play "Children of the Sea" again and all will be right in the world.


    But seriously (if that's possible), it's like a whole new genre popped up. Like I said previously, I'm really surprised at the number of youngsters I meet who like this stuff. I'm talking about urban people with urban attitudes. Yeah okay, it's refreshing that they're at least hearing some melodic music rather than (c)Rap/hiphop for a change. To be honest, as much as I don't care for country music in general (I mean all types of country music from the last 100 years, or whatever) it is good to see that in mainstream, pop music today this music has given hiphop and today's horrible representation of "R&B" a run for their money.

    On a side note, I'm kind of on a Yes kick at the moment. Last night I played The Yes Album for the first time in many years. Never quite understood why they put "The Clap" (a live performance) as the second track on the first side. Now, I think Steve Howe is brilliant on that track. I can listen to stuff like that sparingly. I can listen to country guitar pickin' as long as it's mixed in with other genres.

  23. #48
    Tom Petty can just take out the word "Country". This is a music problem in general. I see a whole lotta foks who need to get real or gtfo.

  24. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rickenbacker View Post
    Devil's advocate question - would you say 'traditional' country started to die (ie: transition to crossover pop as we know it now) as far back as the late 60s?
    No, not even close, I would say not until the early 80s. I was listening to loads of American country as a kid on RTÉ and BBC and it wasn't until the late 70s-early 80 that crossover singles by country artists started to become common. And it wasn't until the early 90s that new country and alt country became common. But trad country has always survived and still does.

  25. #50
    Great points already made in this thread, but Tom Petty is about 20 years late. My folks listened to things like Hank Sr., Waylon, Willie, and Cash when I was growing up. I still enjoy a lot of that material. Then Garth Brooks came along, and Nashville figured out how to package country like rock and pop and market it accordingly. A few good acts still slip through to the mainstream, as they do in rock and pop, but overall what passes for popular country music is just corporate, soulless top 40 pap with fiddles and steel guitars.

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