Poisoned By Success

14Sep08

one of the saddest things in the music world is watching a great, young band, full of potential fade into irrelevancy. i’ve seen this happen to so many bands over the years. and it breaks my fucking heart.

it happens like this: i’ll see a show or hear an album and immediately know they’re destined for great things. but when they finally hit the mainstream, their lyrics pander to the masses. their music, watered down and overtly poppy. and it breaks my fucking heart.

i don’t know. maybe i’m a purist or an idealist or just fucking naive when it comes to art and music. but i can’t stand stand to see great artists, compromise their work simply to make money or gain exposure. i understand capitalism and that musicians need to eat too, but something about compromising art just doesn’t sit well with me. as a writer i’ve written pieces solely for a paycheck, but NEVER have i written something i don’t truly believe in or that questioned my integrity as a writer.

the point of compromise usually occurs soon after a band is met with their first taste of commercial success. a little known band makes a record thats somehow recognized by the public and immediately decides it needs to cater to their new found audience. fuck the fans that supported them in the underground. fuck the fans who went to shows and bought the old albums. fuck making the music they love. fuck integrity. fuck you.

and it breaks my fucking heart. stabbing westward is a perfect example of what i’m talking about.

stabbing westward

when ungod came out, i was excited. an intelligent, industrial band in the vein of nine inch nails that pushed boundaries musically and lyrically. ungod was an album full of pain and aggression. unabashedly emotional without falling into the whiny loser category. it begged for a follow-up release, you just knew would surpass their debut.

[sidenote: by whiny loser category, i mean retarded, one-trick-pony lyricists, who can’t write a decent song to save their fucking life. so to make up for their obvious lack of creativity and emotional depth, they drone on and on about how fucked up their life is and how every woman in their life has irreparably damaged them or how awful their alcoholic father treated them. their lyrics look like “poetry” an ugly, asymmetrically coiffed, emo kid, who gets picked on in high school would write. for our purposes, i shall call this the aaron lewis syndrome, what an asshole…]

stabbing westward’s second album wither, blister, burn and peel did not disappoint. within the first 30 seconds of the opening track, i don’t believe, stabbing westward drew you into their world of sorrow. their sophomore effort also marked their first commercial success. wither, blister, burn and peel was certified gold and saw two singles, what do i have to do? and shame, make the billboard hot 100 charts. perfectly balanced, comprised of both ballads and anthems, with lyrics that could stand alone, i thought this was the best they could get. they had peaked. but with an album like this, that was ok. it was a shame more people didn’t know about them.

1998’s darkest days, exceeded even my lofty expectations. a concept album that chronicled the emotional stages of a break up. it was made up of four acts.

act 1–sabotaging a relationship.

act 2–lust, hope and longing.

act 3–hitting bottom.

act 4–recovery and self respect.

you felt like you were right there for it all. drunk, hungover, angry, near tears. it took you through the entire emotional spectrum. while lead singer, christopher hall dangerously flirted with the aaron lewis syndrome on darkest days, it was musically superior to their previous releases in many ways. songs like haunting me, sometimes it hurts (both written by drummer andy kubiszewski) and waking up beside you, make darkest days one of my favorite albums to this day.

their single, save yourself, earned significant radio play as well as some time on MTV (before MTV abandoned videos completely). however, darkest days did not enjoy the same commercial success as wither, blister, burn and peel.

three long years passed before they released a follow up to the classic (in my opinion) darkest days. reeling from the perceived failure of their past album, the band changed labels and marketed the fuck out of their upcoming release. in addition to heavy marketing, the band decided to compromise change their heavy, industrial style in an effort to expand their fan base.

stabbing westward’s fourth and final self-titled album was released in 2001 with much hype. and though managing to maintain some sort of lyrical consistency, hall finally fell victim to the dreaded aaron lewis syndrome. instead of communicating a profound emotional journey, like their first three albums, he just sounded like a bitch. gone was their raw, industrial sound. drum machines, synths and angry bass lines were replaced by acoustic guitars and elementary string arrangements. fucking standard three chord pop progressions.

stabbing westward broke up shortly after their fourth release. and no one cared. the sacrificed their art to sell records and it didn’t even work. they faded away without ever realizing the potential their first three albums promised. and it broke my fucking heart.

some other artists that were poisoned by success

finger eleven

best album – greyest of blue skies (2000)

turning point – the single one thing of their 2003 self-titled album, became a hit. and they became pussies.

shit they put out now – paralyzer, the first single of them vs. you vs me

korn

best album – korn (1994)

turning point – 1998’s follow the leader spawned 2 singles and brought them heavy MTV air time. they evolved into a brand name for nu-metal. accessible rock stars, a way for normal kids to get into the scary world of metal.

shit they put out now – anything after issues is generally garbage.

limp bizkit

best album – three dollar bill, yall$ (1997)

turning point – out of all the great tracks on their debut album, the shitty george michael cover, faith, that was more of a joke than anything else, got a fuckload of radio and MTV airtime. so they ran with it and eventually became a parody of themselves.

shit they put out now – anything after their debut

50 cent

best album – not counting early mixtapes, get rich or die tryin (2003), is his best work. superior production and solid lyrics. a borderline great album.

turning point – get rich or die tryin (2003). the second 50 tasted success, like the rest of his generation of MCs, he devolved into a hit maker catering to suburban white kids with total disregard to the true essence of hip hop.

shit they put out now – fuck 50. he’s a disgrace to hip hop as an art form.