I kind of dig the saxophone on Aerosmith's Night in the Ruts album and Guns N' Roses' "Move to the City."
'60s and '70s R & B I can dig the saxophone.
I just can't see where this hate for 80s sax comes from
care to explain? lol
The music in general is much too clean and sterile. I like "dirty" and raw sounding saxophone. Of course I can't remember it but Elvis Costello had a good description about why eighties sax was "wrong." I'll have a look for it.
I just can't see where this hate for 80s sax comes from
care to explain? lol
The music in general is much too clean and sterile. I like "dirty" and raw sounding saxophone. Of course I can't remember it but Elvis Costello had a good description about why eighties sax was "wrong." I'll have a look for it.
The music in general is much too clean and sterile. I like "dirty" and raw sounding saxophone. Of course I can't remember it but Elvis Costello had a good description about why eighties sax was "wrong." I'll have a look for it.
Costello????
You don't like Cheap Trick or Elvis Costello? Granted, the quality of his recordings has varied greatly since the late eighties but from 1977-1986 he was golden. Other than 1983-1984 where he flirted with saxophones. Coincidence? I doubt it.
You don't like Cheap Trick or Elvis Costello? Granted, the quality of his recordings has varied greatly since the late eighties but from 1977-1986 he was golden. Other than 1983-1984 where he flirted with saxophones. Coincidence? I doubt it.
Sting kills Costello, anyday, anytime...
Sting has had a loooooong relationship with saxes. Coincidence?
You don't like Cheap Trick or Elvis Costello? Granted, the quality of his recordings has varied greatly since the late eighties but from 1977-1986 he was golden. Other than 1983-1984 where he flirted with saxophones. Coincidence? I doubt it.
Sting kills Costello, anyday, anytime...
Sting has had a loooooong relationship with saxes. Coincidence?
As a vocalist, sure, Sting is miles better than Costello. He's also a more talented musician. As a sngwriter Sting is a bit of a wanker.
I just can't see where this hate for 80s sax comes from
care to explain? lol
The music in general is much too clean and sterile. I like "dirty" and raw sounding saxophone. Of course I can't remember it but Elvis Costello had a good description about why eighties sax was "wrong." I'll have a look for it.
I'll try to be a little more specific. Now, I am far from knowledgable about the saxophone but the saxophone playing that I dig is the great jazz and R & B stuff from the '60s and '70s. It seemed like up until about the mid '70s most of the saxophone playing, even in pop music, was fairly jazzy and far from pedestrian. On a lot of the pop recordings of the eighties it seems very basic and amateurish. I don't get the feeling that a lot of the eighties guys were good players. Maybe that is not fair. It's probably better to say that they were asked to play the blandest thing possible so as not to offend the pop audiences. That's not much different from a lot of the guitar solos on eighties songs, particularly on the big pop hits, but I think the difference is that the guitar just fits in better with pop music than the saxophone does. I used the word "clean" before to describe the sound of eighties saxophone and I wish I could articulate what I mean better. Maybe soulless? It just doesn't have the feeling that the great saxophone playing of previous decades had.
As far as eighties/nineties R & B I would be curious to know what some people consider good examples of saxophone playing/solos.
I'll try to be a little more specific. Now, I am far from knowledgable about the saxophone but the saxophone playing that I dig is the great jazz and R & B stuff from the '60s and '70s. It seemed like up until about the mid '70s most of the saxophone playing, even in pop music, was fairly jazzy and far from pedestrian. On a lot of the pop recordings of the eighties it seems very basic and amateurish. I don't get the feeling that a lot of the eighties guys were good players. Maybe that is not fair. It's probably better to say that they were asked to play the blandest thing possible so as not to offend the pop audiences. That's not much different from a lot of the guitar solos on eighties songs, particularly on the big pop hits, but I think the difference is that the guitar just fits in better with pop music than the saxophone does. I used the word "clean" before to describe the sound of eighties saxophone and I wish I could articulate what I mean better. Maybe soulless? It just doesn't have the feeling that the great saxophone playing of previous decades had.
As far as eighties/nineties R & B I would be curious to know what some people consider good examples of saxophone playing/solos.
I think a lot of people hate 80s sax because of the Keny G cliché
80s sax reached its apex with the quiet-storm and adult/contemporary stuff. Sade and Bryan Ferry, for example. And let's not forget the early-80s new wave (and I mean new wave/new romantics, not the friggin' ska thing, lol), and as I've said, sophisti-pop ...
and many people hate 80s sax just as they hate 80s drums
I'll try to be a little more specific. Now, I am far from knowledgable about the saxophone but the saxophone playing that I dig is the great jazz and R & B stuff from the '60s and '70s. It seemed like up until about the mid '70s most of the saxophone playing, even in pop music, was fairly jazzy and far from pedestrian. On a lot of the pop recordings of the eighties it seems very basic and amateurish. I don't get the feeling that a lot of the eighties guys were good players. Maybe that is not fair. It's probably better to say that they were asked to play the blandest thing possible so as not to offend the pop audiences. That's not much different from a lot of the guitar solos on eighties songs, particularly on the big pop hits, but I think the difference is that the guitar just fits in better with pop music than the saxophone does. I used the word "clean" before to describe the sound of eighties saxophone and I wish I could articulate what I mean better. Maybe soulless? It just doesn't have the feeling that the great saxophone playing of previous decades had.
As far as eighties/nineties R & B I would be curious to know what some people consider good examples of saxophone playing/solos.
I think a lot of people hate 80s sax because of the Keny G cliché
80s sax reached its apex with the quiet-storm and adult/contemporary stuff. Sade and Bryan Ferry, for example. And let's not forget the early-80s new wave (and I mean new wave/new romantics, not the friggin' ska thing, lol), and as I've said, sophisti-pop ...
and many people hates 80s sax just as they hate 80s drums
I don't like Kenny G, but that is not the sax style that I hate. The 80's smooth jazz at least used a pure tone.
What I don't like is the Clarence Clemens style sax--although he is actually okay, it's just that style of dirty rock sax solo is what I think of as the 80's solo with the big high note and sunglasses
I'll try to be a little more specific. Now, I am far from knowledgable about the saxophone but the saxophone playing that I dig is the great jazz and R & B stuff from the '60s and '70s. It seemed like up until about the mid '70s most of the saxophone playing, even in pop music, was fairly jazzy and far from pedestrian. On a lot of the pop recordings of the eighties it seems very basic and amateurish. I don't get the feeling that a lot of the eighties guys were good players. Maybe that is not fair. It's probably better to say that they were asked to play the blandest thing possible so as not to offend the pop audiences. That's not much different from a lot of the guitar solos on eighties songs, particularly on the big pop hits, but I think the difference is that the guitar just fits in better with pop music than the saxophone does. I used the word "clean" before to describe the sound of eighties saxophone and I wish I could articulate what I mean better. Maybe soulless? It just doesn't have the feeling that the great saxophone playing of previous decades had.
As far as eighties/nineties R & B I would be curious to know what some people consider good examples of saxophone playing/solos.
I think a lot of people hate 80s sax because of the Keny G cliché
80s sax reached its apex with the quiet-storm and adult/contemporary stuff. Sade and Bryan Ferry, for example. And let's not forget the early-80s new wave (and I mean new wave/new romantics, not the friggin' ska thing, lol), and as I've said, sophisti-pop ...
and many people hate 80s sax just as they hate 80s drums
[Edited 9/30/11 11:35am]
Those are two genres that I absolutely loathe and when I think eighties saxophone that's what I most associate it with. I also hate the "adult contemporary" keyboard sound of the eighties (for example "Somewhere Out There." Prince used it on "I Love U in Me").
The sax in rock only worked if the song was in need of it, like most of the proto-rock "hoy hoy" records, where the sax was the norm in R&B. In later years, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Seger made good use of the sax in their rock records, and so did Foreigner, who always had sax in some of their records (rock tinged or not). There's some songs though that I felt could've done without the sax and honestly I don't think Gaga's songs needed it. It was nice for Clarence to help in giving Gaga the Springsteen flavor but it just don't gel to me. RIP Clarence either way. I think his best sax solo besides the Springsteen records was on "Freeway of Love".
I think a lot of people hate 80s sax because of the Keny G cliché
80s sax reached its apex with the quiet-storm and adult/contemporary stuff. Sade and Bryan Ferry, for example. And let's not forget the early-80s new wave (and I mean new wave/new romantics, not the friggin' ska thing, lol), and as I've said, sophisti-pop ...
and many people hate 80s sax just as they hate 80s drums
[Edited 9/30/11 11:35am]
Those are two genres that I absolutely loathe and when I think eighties saxophone that's what I most associate it with. I also hate the "adult contemporary" keyboard sound of the eighties (for example "Somewhere Out There." Prince used it on "I Love U in Me").
way too much late-70s new wave/power-pop, dude?? throw those albums away, they're damaging you
Those are two genres that I absolutely loathe and when I think eighties saxophone that's what I most associate it with. I also hate the "adult contemporary" keyboard sound of the eighties (for example "Somewhere Out There." Prince used it on "I Love U in Me").
way too much late-70s new wave/power-pop, dude?? throw those albums away, they're damaging you
If hating bland eighties adult contemporary music makes me damaged then I hope no one ever fixes me. That stuff can be ok in extremely small doses but I could never listen to it on a regular basis. It makes me a little sad to think that the great R & B music of the '60s and '70s was watered down so badly to the point where we got stuff like Anita Baker and James Ingram. Damn it, R & B is supposed to be soulful!
way too much late-70s new wave/power-pop, dude?? throw those albums away, they're damaging you
If hating bland eighties adult contemporary music makes me damaged then I hope no one ever fixes me. That stuff can be ok in extremely small doses but I could never listen to it on a regular basis. It makes me a little sad to think that the great R & B music of the '60s and '70s was watered down so badly to the point where we got stuff like Anita Baker and James Ingram. Damn it, R & B is supposed to be soulful!
there's a difference between Sade and friggin' Anita Baker, lol
way too much late-70s new wave/power-pop, dude?? throw those albums away, they're damaging you
If hating bland eighties adult contemporary music makes me damaged then I hope no one ever fixes me. That stuff can be ok in extremely small doses but I could never listen to it on a regular basis. It makes me a little sad to think that the great R & B music of the '60s and '70s was watered down so badly to the point where we got stuff like Anita Baker and James Ingram. Damn it, R & B is supposed to be soulful!
It is probably also worth noting that many instruments are not as prevelent as they once were. Sure, there are still a lot of rock bands that play guitars/bass/drums and sometimes keyboards but much of modern pop/R & B music is programmed and played on keyboards, there aren't a ton of young kids learning to play actual instruments and of the ones that are the saxophone is probably not at the top of the list.
If hating bland eighties adult contemporary music makes me damaged then I hope no one ever fixes me. That stuff can be ok in extremely small doses but I could never listen to it on a regular basis. It makes me a little sad to think that the great R & B music of the '60s and '70s was watered down so badly to the point where we got stuff like Anita Baker and James Ingram. Damn it, R & B is supposed to be soulful!
OUCH!
I would be much more ok with that other weak music if the good "raw" R & B had not completely disappeared. It's like what "alternative" music did to hard rock. Sure, I dig a lot of the '90s "alternative" bands but I don't want to listen to them exclusively. There was a huge void after the "hair" bands all died off and to this day it is still there. Isn't there room for all kinds of music?
It is probably also worth noting that many instruments are not as prevelent as they once were. Sure, there are still a lot of rock bands that play guitars/bass/drums and sometimes keyboards but much of modern pop/R & B music is programmed and played on keyboards, there aren't a ton of young kids learning to play actual instruments and of the ones that are the saxophone is probably not at the top of the list.
I think if anything most kids who play instruments would rather play guitar or bass or drums or keyboards/piano over anything else. And if that's too tough, they either do programming or turntables lol. Hence why there's so many more DJs than musicians.
If hating bland eighties adult contemporary music makes me damaged then I hope no one ever fixes me. That stuff can be ok in extremely small doses but I could never listen to it on a regular basis. It makes me a little sad to think that the great R & B music of the '60s and '70s was watered down so badly to the point where we got stuff like Anita Baker and James Ingram. Damn it, R & B is supposed to be soulful!
there's a difference between Sade and friggin' Anita Baker, lol
Not to me there isn't. It's all music to fall asleep to.
It is probably also worth noting that many instruments are not as prevelent as they once were. Sure, there are still a lot of rock bands that play guitars/bass/drums and sometimes keyboards but much of modern pop/R & B music is programmed and played on keyboards, there aren't a ton of young kids learning to play actual instruments and of the ones that are the saxophone is probably not at the top of the list.
good point
nowadays it's all synths/programming, and predictable/dull 2 guitars-bass-drums-questionable singer rock bands...
that's why bands using piano, strings, winds, etc. get all the rave reviews, even if they're not that good (Coldplay, Arcade Fire, etc)
It is probably also worth noting that many instruments are not as prevelent as they once were. Sure, there are still a lot of rock bands that play guitars/bass/drums and sometimes keyboards but much of modern pop/R & B music is programmed and played on keyboards, there aren't a ton of young kids learning to play actual instruments and of the ones that are the saxophone is probably not at the top of the list.
good point
nowadays it's all synths/programming, and predictable/dull 2 guitars-bass-drums-questionable singer rock bands...
that's why bands using piano, strings, winds, etc. get all the rave reviews, even if they're not that good (Coldplay, Arcade Fire, etc)
SOME of them actually do play good to me lol not necessarily Arcade Fire but I heard some stuff from Coldplay that was actually really good. Obviously doesn't compare to things from the past.
It is probably also worth noting that many instruments are not as prevelent as they once were. Sure, there are still a lot of rock bands that play guitars/bass/drums and sometimes keyboards but much of modern pop/R & B music is programmed and played on keyboards, there aren't a ton of young kids learning to play actual instruments and of the ones that are the saxophone is probably not at the top of the list.
good point
nowadays it's all synths/programming, and predictable/dull 2 guitars-bass-drums-questionable singer rock bands...
that's why bands using piano, strings, winds, etc. get all the rave reviews, even if they're not that good (Coldplay, Arcade Fire, etc)
Praise from Caesar is praise indeed.
Also, was that a subtle dig at Coldplay and Arcade Fire? If so I heartily approve.
nowadays it's all synths/programming, and predictable/dull 2 guitars-bass-drums-questionable singer rock bands...
that's why bands using piano, strings, winds, etc. get all the rave reviews, even if they're not that good (Coldplay, Arcade Fire, etc)
SOME of them actually do play good to me lol not necessarily Arcade Fire but I heard some stuff from Coldplay that was actually really good. Obviously doesn't compare to things from the past.
Sadly I initially bought into the Coldplay hype but by the time X & Y was released I had finally realised that they just were not that good.
SOME of them actually do play good to me lol not necessarily Arcade Fire but I heard some stuff from Coldplay that was actually really good. Obviously doesn't compare to things from the past.
Sadly I initially bought into the Coldplay hype but by the time X & Y was released I had finally realised that they just were not that good.
Sadly I initially bought into the Coldplay hype but by the time X & Y was released I had finally realised that they just were not that good.
agreed
but VivaLaVida was a clear improvement!
Viva la Vida, eh? Nope, I do not have it in me to listen to an album with such a silly title. Long live life would have been silly enough but those wankers had to use Spanish.
A trend that does make me sad is the relative absence of piano as a lead instrument. Who was the last guy to prominently feature piano in his music? Ben Folds?
If anyone says Alicia Keys they will soon be tasting the back of my hand. She poses next to pianos more than she plays them.
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