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This interview is 15 years old, but perhaps what was said then i even truer now.
This interview is 15 years old, but perhaps what was said then i even truer now.
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Bryan R. Tyler
TalkBass: Usurping My Practice Time Since 2002
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- May 3, 2002
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- Reviewer: Bass Player Magazine
It’s nice that he found enough time between playing 400 notes per second to make a “the damn kids these days” rant 
He sounds like that in every interview. I particularly like his comments about the "glorification of no-talents". Miles Davis (
The kids today are the dumbest, laziest generation ever, and they're going to be the end of civilization as we know it - just like every generation before them.It’s nice that he found enough time between playing 400 notes per second to make a “the damn kids these days” rant
Ah, one of the most passionate interviews he has given. That one is often cited.
It is so easy to take Al D to task for his strong feelings, his unwavering high standards, and his willingness to say what he thinks in interviews. He is a whipping boy on many fora. Of course, so much of the time people focus on his choices in clothes, for cover art, or the "million notes" cliches.
I have followed him since RTF and have seen him a number of times. I admire his conviction, his standards, and especially, the brilliance of his compositions. Does he have an ego? Sure! Was he proud of his good looks? Yup. But dang, when a guy produces what he has done, I am behind him 100%. I wish I had 10% of his skills.
It is so easy to take Al D to task for his strong feelings, his unwavering high standards, and his willingness to say what he thinks in interviews. He is a whipping boy on many fora. Of course, so much of the time people focus on his choices in clothes, for cover art, or the "million notes" cliches.
I have followed him since RTF and have seen him a number of times. I admire his conviction, his standards, and especially, the brilliance of his compositions. Does he have an ego? Sure! Was he proud of his good looks? Yup. But dang, when a guy produces what he has done, I am behind him 100%. I wish I had 10% of his skills.
He makes some good points.
Today it's all about Mcsongs on Mcmedia by Mcartists whose songs are written by Mcpanderers.
It's all about the money. As it pretty well always is commercially.
So if people like crap-burgers then you sell them crap-burgers.
Today it's all about Mcsongs on Mcmedia by Mcartists whose songs are written by Mcpanderers.
It's all about the money. As it pretty well always is commercially.
So if people like crap-burgers then you sell them crap-burgers.
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Naturally, it is tempting to throw the newer generation under the bus and there is a large amount of evidence that the majority of popular music panders to the lowest common denominator. But that dynamic has existed for a very long time. I looked down on the bubblegum music being played in the early 1970's when I was focused on progressive rock, jazz, ethnic music, and classical. Radio has always preferred to go for the big audiences and that means that we end up with very ordinary and derivative music. I think there always will be this dynamic.
So is it getting worse these last few decades? That is the real question. I kinda think it is. At least our meaty, meaningful music had labels behind them in the 70's. We could buy the stuff quite easily. It is getting harder in some ways (easier in others...like using the Web).
At the end of the day, I do generally want to yell at all those kids on my lawn.
So is it getting worse these last few decades? That is the real question. I kinda think it is. At least our meaty, meaningful music had labels behind them in the 70's. We could buy the stuff quite easily. It is getting harder in some ways (easier in others...like using the Web).
At the end of the day, I do generally want to yell at all those kids on my lawn.
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They had a reunion, but it didn't last long because of a rift between Chick and Al again.
Trying to think of the title or melody of a single Al Dimeola song. Nope. I got nothing. Trying to picture what he looks like. Still nothing.
You got that right. There's no "staying power" in music anymore. Today's hit will be forgotten by summer time. You don't have songs--let alone albums--get released that stay on the charts for months or even years. 'Dark Side Of The Moon' comes to mind--it stayed on the charts for 741 weeks....and that's only one obvious example.
But you're cherry picking a top album from a timespan of decades and comparing it against a snapshot of today. There were a ton of sh-tty albums back then too, they've just been forgotten.
"Money" was the only charting single from the album and it stayed on the top 100 for four months, according to the charts from 1973.
Weekly Top 40
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The man paid his dues and doesn't like the direction of todays youngsters. I cant say I blame him. Todays music (commercial music, pop, counyry, hip hop, rock, requires less brain cells than the generation before it. I had to put in ear plugs during the NCAA Football National Championship to make sure I didn't lose any brain cells from the crap I heard. It is a shame what some people consider talent or entertainment.
Music is following the same trend as manufacturing in general: it doesn't need to be durable (or enduring), it simply needs to be appealing/functional enough that people will buy it. The music buffet offered by record labels used to be much larger and considerably more varied. Over the past couple of decades that buffet has been reduced to a fraction of its former self, with fast (and cheap) food being the order of the day.
True---but like I said, that was just the most obvious example---and yes, there's always been garbage that gets churned out by music companies. But it just seems to me that generic, cookie-cutter crap with a two week shelf life has become the standard and accepted norm.
Don't get me wrong, I know there is great original music (of all genre's) being produced today, it's just a shame that a lot of it never gets any airtime.
Same as it ever was. To quote Sturgeon's Law, 90% of everything is crap. That includes music, and from all periods of history.
People always think music has declined since their youth, but the reality is, most of the good stuff has always been on the fringes. If you're young and immersed in current music, you're going to find it. If you're older, and especially if your primary exposure to new music is from old people media lile radio and TV, you'll miss most of it.
There may be an argument that it's more difficult than ever to get something original past a major label, but guess who makes those decisions. That's right, old people, not kids. That's one reason those labels become less and less relevant to young musicians every year.
