To be fair, I can still dig nu-metal nowadays. You know, a genre which has been considered pathetic about everywhere. I can sometimes dig it, because on certain occasion, I can find it entertaining too, despite it not being overcomplex magnificient shit with utter poetic lyrics. It's not. But it's fun. So, excuse me for not feeling anything when some sweet pop is getting bashed for stuff which is basically true. Because, yes, I believe it usually will take less effort to make a basic structured song than some weird shit. At least when it comes to arrangements. I ain't saying pop is bad, or pop is lazy, or pop blabla. All I am saying is that, obectively, yes, it's a genre which might be easier to approach as a songwriter. Might be. Not always is.
Those confinements present challenges of their own, which is why, when it's done well, it's lauded. Especially now as the overall pop market is more saturated than ever
For me pop songs is all about the replay value idea. What separates an arguably good pop song and bad one is it's repeat value regardless of how simple the lyrics are . That's why making an accessible replay-worthy song in an over saturated market requires a lot of ideas and it's often a hit or miss because when I make pop songs I usually aim higher in the charts than other artists from different genres. That's why I consider successful pop artists geniuses in their own way because they can create something that resonates with a lot of people without even having a lot of technicality or talent as opposed to artists who make music for the sake of it. So , there is a risk in pop music ? Yes , a lot actually because pop music is for masses and if it doesn't meet this goal then it's a failure.
I think we can agree that in every type of genre - and sub-genre - there's good and bad music being made. Pop or whatever else. I just feel most of the stuff on the radio are similar and bland to me. Sure pop isn't a genre I like the most or actively search out compared to other genres, that doesn't mean I don't dig pop music, there's some that I really enjoy listening to. Someone said before that OML will have at least something for every fan across different album eras, so I'm willing to take that point into consideration.
I think parts of the metal genre has an attached rebellious lifestyle, that they listen to "good music" because it is made to be inaccessible and difficult to listen to, basically the antithesis to pop. Of course, within the genre a lot of the music actually sounds very similar and follows the same styles, rhythms, structure, and lyrical content; but the lifestyle doesn't really need to acknowledge those realities.
LP needs to fire their marketing team... truly cant understand why they didnt lead with TTM and Invisible instead of Heavy and BS Also the band doesnt owe people anything. They made music, you liked it, they became famous. They weren't handed anything on a silver platter. They switch their styles, you don't like it? It's ok, move on.
I really hate this argument some fans make. Yes, the band doesn't owe anybody anything but that's not the point! The point is that fans have a right to feel upset and express it if they are not happy with the band's sound. How is it so hard to understand?
And that's not the point either. Of course fans have a a right to express if they are not happy with the band's sound, if they are polite about it. It's just the way that some people express it is condescending and insulting, asking the band to make music they don't want to do just because they 'owe' it to the fans.
Your statement would hold a lot more merit if people weren't so damn condescending of people who like their older sound. I'm not an expert but I'd imagine that someone on a website saying they think a song sucks is going to have little to no effect on the band. They will continue to make music they like, as they should; and, fans will continue to say what they want about said music, as they can.
I just put together a quick Spotify playlist for anyone who's gonna say this kind of thing, to see if it helps change any minds.
That's true to a certain extent, although I think it's more to do with channel promotion and distribution, rather than metal music or other genres of music. Most (mainstream) radio stations play pop music, with the occasional few different genres that don't get as much airplay. Sure there are a few channels that are dedicated to genres like jazz or country, but those channels/stations are dominated by the rest of the other stations that are playing pop music, or rather more accurately popular music. If rock/metal music did get as much airplay as pop music, there might be less debates/fights between genres. If you really believe in the phrase(which Mike has worn that t-shirt) 'genre is dead', it's more of a battle of mainstream vs. indie. I'm sure there are pop music fans out there that don't like the pop music played on radio stations or have a condescending attitude with anything that is popular. I think this is just another tiring trope considering I listen to both mainstream(otherwise how would I be here?) and indie music, so that's just my 2 cents. The band knows that those singles are the most controversial ones and doesn't represent the album well, but they did it to attract the most attention to their new album, regardless of reception. Do know Mike and Brad have dived into the marketing/business world so they know what they are doing for their promotion and marketing.
Personally, I don't turn to terrestrial radio to recommend me things - with platforms like SoundCloud and Spotify (complete w/ recommendation engines) combined with the rise of smartphones and such, I'm basically able to find things for myself and hear them as often as I want to. I've seen some artists that I follow go all the way from being independent, underground names to global household-name superstars, so whether or not something is on the radio is generally pretty irrelevant when it comes to how much I like a song - like chart positions, it's fleeting and things can change at the drop of a hat. Radio playlists and charts tell us what's resonating with the general public; this can show and/or dictate trends in top-tier mainstream pop (and beyond), which is of interest to me as a fan of artists within that sphere.
I think this is the first of the 4 songs that I buy into the "lyrics were super important this time" thing. Great rhymes, and really effective phrasing. It's not overly complicated but it says a lot. I think Heavy is pretty good lyrically too, but this is on another level. That being said, if the band hadn't said it (a million times), I might not have thought about the lyrics being super impressive at all. But, having pointed them out, I like the lyrics in this song a lot. Can't wait to hear the demo version of this song that the outro (probably) derives from. It's such a nice sound, and a fresh one to the LP world.