The Archive, Pt. 2

My 2010 Archive Project continues. Successfully, I'd say - I'm down to just over 5,500 songs still waiting for their first play since the Hard Drive Crash and Music Reinstall of '08, and, AND, equally if not more significant, I have only added 67 new songs to the library since the year began. Worth remarking upon since I've been known in the past to add that many in a day just to fill an afternoon.

Here are some observations I'd like to share today:

*Chris Daughtry is the 21st Century version of Bryan Adams. I make this comparison after playing through two Bryan Adams albums the other day. I was a big fan back in the 80s; bought all the albums, saw him live as few times, bought the concert shirts. I see Chris Daughtry -- spare me the whole "Daughtry isn't a guy, it's a band" nonsense -- as a guy who plays accessible rock music that has just enough guitar in it to pass for hard rock in its noisiest moments, but isn't above a maudlin ballad to see records. Also, these two guys don't so much write lyrics as take any number of dead-horse rock clichés, string them together with predictable rhymes and call them songs.

*Mid-to late 70s Billy Joel is almost offensively boring. Anything within 3 years of that "heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack-ack song just isn't necessary.

*The greatness of most music that you, I, or anyone sees as great has far less to do with actual greatness and much more to do with emotional imprinting. This is why favorite songs bring back such strong memories. I'd argue that in a lot of cases, people are enjoying the memory more than the song, or at least the combination of the two. Far too often the songs alone don't stand up to the test of time without the imprint.

*Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd and the Monsters could teach supposed guitar hero John Mayer a thing or three about how to play.

*Apparently I will download singles from pop artists I would never admit to liking if they have a great hook, usually constructed around a distinct drum beat and layered with strong melody.

*I'm a pretty big Hans Zimmer fan.

*Nobody is, was, or ever will be a better singer than Freddie Mercury. November 24, 1991 - the day the music REALLY died.

*There are songs that are so transcendent they can temporarily remove me from my life and highlight everything about it that's beautiful in the same moment.

I'll keep you posted on my progress....