You Say You Want a Revolution?

Why is it that we wait for a new CD from newer bands for several years and when it finally comes it sounds just like the album before it. Yet when lets say The Beatles released a CD it only took a year for it to come out, there are only one year intervals between genius albums such as "Rubber Soul," "Revolver," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "The White Album," "Abbey Road," and "Let it Be." With Pink Floyd there was only one year between "Atom Heart Mother," "Meddle," "Obscured by Clouds," "Dark Side of the Moon" and two year until we received "Wish You Were Here." Yes the list may begin to get redundant but is there any better way to get my point across, all of these albums were stunning, the were unique and had different sounds which displayed true evolution wishing to expand and tug on the current boundries of music. Now, it takes me around three years to hear a new CD from my favorite bands, and is there a decent explanation for why it takes so long and why I'm not receiving an incredibly brilliant album with all that time between records?

Now I can't explain why it takes so long for new CD's to be released but I do have a theory on why music has become dull and bland and pretty redundant and unoriginal. The reason I believe music has changed so dramatically from the 60's and 70's is because people have changed. People no longer cary the same mind set as they did back then. I of course was not around during the golden age of music but I do believe I know enough about society in those days to make a pretty fair judgement.

In the 60's and 70's people were looking for more than what was just in front of them, people felt they were able to cross the realms of what they could see, feel and touch. People often used drugs to try to seperate them from the grips of reality. Like drugs, music was trying to do the same. The comparison I am trying to create is music is like drugs, the way they have evolved through the ages and what they are like now. Currently drugs have been used for different reason opposed to how they were used in the 60's and 70's. Now drugs are used for that quick fix, being used just for social purposes, somewhat like alcohol. People are just looking for that great but short lived sensation, they aren't looking to "expand" their minds and to try to explore different territories.

Music has become prefabricated, the equation of what the sound will be is known before recording starts, the sound bands are now trying to create is what's popular at the time. Bands don't wish to try new and different things because that isn't what the people want. Music and artists now and days are not the ones to blame for this, the ones to blame is our current society. Everyone wants that fun sing along three minute hit, sort of like how drugs are used now, just that short but fun moment in time. They don't want something that they will actually have to wrap their mind around, they just want that fun and short moment.

As we all know there are small underground bands which are trying to explore new and different territories but it's not so easy doing that when being unable to sign with record labels who can give them the tools to do as they wish. By not signing with a label we can never truly hear what so many bands really want to accomplish, creating music is expensive especially music which is very unique (well not necessarily but a quality recording proccess is expensive none the less.)

Music will be unable to change unless our society changes, until people want something interesting and grand we will never be able to hear what true music lovers wish to hear.