Thursday, August 03, 2006

How Can We Miss You . . .

If you won't stay away?

I realize the lure of an easy buck is a hard one to avoid, but why must another dinosaur rock act come back for yet another tortured album where they turn themselves into a big joke?

Take the Rolling Stones -- the Stones circa 1965? Hell yes! The Stones circa 2005? No thanks. They stink now. Their shows aren't interesting, their albums suck, and basically they leech more money out of their few remaining true believers and those gullible enough to buy into the "hype".

So of course, the Eagles see this and think "why not us?" Jesus. Just retire. Keep popping out the occasional solo album. Act like you've grown professionally and personally since your band last split up; you know, after the last "farewell" tour. Keep some self-respect. I say these things as a longtime Eagles fan; one who would prefer not seeing one of his favorite old bands turn into a punchline.

"We decided we better get some new product out, some new songs. We could rest on our laurels and play our catalog forever, but we're not a nostalgia band," said Joe Walsh. Really? This from a guy in a band that hasn't put out any signifigant new material in 17 years? You know, Joe, I would respect you more if you just came out and said it: we want to get paid. Saying it's for the fans or all about the music is disingenuous at best.

But in the end, fans will line up to buy the album, realize it stinks, and clamor for the Eagles to play the old stuff on tour; meanwhile, the Eagles keep playing somnambulant concerts while counting the cash from the new album. Nice work if you can find it.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting...one of my favorite musicians is a 96 year old blues man...I'm glad he's allowed the joy of making his music.

Brian said...

It's a different situation. Somehow, I doubt your 96-year-old blues man is making sub-par crap albums that are solely designed to make him loads o'cash. In fact, I think it's fantastic he still plays for the joy of it.

But if you read the rest of Joe Walsh's quote (which I didn't add), he's referring to the Eagles' music as "product." Strangely enough, I doubt your blues man thinks of his music that way.

Perhaps I wasn't too clear in my post, and if that's the case, I apologize, because I fired it off in a hurry this morning.

So here's a suggestion anonymous, next time you want to hop up on your high horse and make a snide comment, how about you put your name with the quote, or do you just prefer hiding behind the your keyboard?

Gordon D said...

I try to look at reunions on their own terms - for example:

*The Replacements got together to record two tunes for a greatest hits compilation. That's OK - no promise of tour/records/etc

*The Eagles - charged over $100/ticket for past tours, refer to songs as "product" - maybe not so good.

But hey, that's just me.

Brian said...

I totally agree with you Gordon. Even if the 'Mats toured, I'd probably go - because 1) it would be entertaining, 2) they're not going to tour 40 more times.