I really enjoyed this week's songs because they showed how the Who evolved into the next (no pun intended) decade. After an album like "Tommy, I can only imagine the pressure to deliver a follow up and "Who's Next", while also being very different. The first song on the album, Baba O'Riley, with its wild synths and stadium drums, is widely different from the guitar driven Who of the 60s. Having grown up with Elton John, I felt that the more relaxed feel of this album reminded me more of Elton and less of the Beach Boys and the Beatles. The Who were growing up and their style was evolving. The minimalistic pieces this week definitely influenced "Who's Next". "A Rainbow in Curved Air" especially featured parts that sounded almost identical to "Baba O'Riley". I personally like when bands change their style and evolve with the time, so I really appreciated seeing a glimpse of the Who's progression past the 60s into the "Beatle-less" 70s. -Ben
Who’s Next, is a very different album from Tommy and The Who’s preceding albums. Their use of synthesizers in “Baba O’Riley” completely changes the vibe of their music, showing another side of the band’s creativity. In addition to the album, I also enjoyed listening to both Terry Riley’s “A Rainbow in Curved Air” and David Bowie’s “10 Weeping Wall,” as they were both similar to some of the songs in Who’s Next. These two song’s use of synthesizers and other noises paired with minimalist themes makes them really unique pieces that were fun to listen to. “Come Out” by Steve Reich could also be considered a minimalist song, but it could not be more different from the other minimalist songs we listened to. With the exception of the first two lines, the song just repeated one line for almost thirteen minutes straight. It started off slow and then began to increase pace, and the words even overlapped with each other. By the end, it sounded like an echo which faded out as the song ended. - Kate Latham
This week's songs were definitely very interesting. Who's Next was strange in a cool way, because it definitely sounded very much like The Who that we've gotten to know thus far, but it sounded as though they were instantly catapulted into a new era. The new use of the synthesizer was especially interesting and important in making the album feel as though it was from a more recent era than their past work. In terms of the way the album reflected the minimalist movement, I felt that the album was somewhat conflicted in that sense. Some songs like "Baba O'Riley" seemed pretty minimalistic, especially in the parts where it was either just synthesizer or only synthesizer and vocals. But, some of the other songs seemed, for lack of a better word, a bit too complex to really be considered minimalist. In terms of other pop songs of the era, and the other songs they had put out thus far, this album was certainly far more minimalist. But, in terms of true minimalism, it doesn't really fit those characteristics. It was definitely really interesting listening to the true minimalist songs. I thought "A Rainbow in Curved Air" and "10 Weeping Wall" were very soothing to listen to. They had a sort of cool ephemeral vibe to them. On the other hand, although I can appreciate "Come Out", I honestly had to stop listening to it after about 8 minutes because it started making me feel like I was going crazy. Overall, the music for this week was an interesting next step in the progression of music we've been studying thus far.
I just want to start by saying that I have probably heard Baba O Riley about a million times in my life and it took me until this class (20 years later) to learn that the song was named after real people; Meher Baba and Terry Riley. After listening to A Rainbow in the Curved Air by Terry Riley, I can totally see why Pete Townsend would want to honor him in the title of Baba O Riley. The repeated synth in Baba O Riley shows a clear resemblance to that of Terry Riley’s song. I think minimalist music has a futuristic sound to it and I know the story of Lifehouse was supposed to take place in a futuristic post-apocalyptic wasteland so the sound is very fitting. I agree with what someone else said earlier about Baba O Riley having the most minimalist feeling out of all the songs on the album. I think that the rest of the songs may edge too far into pop and rock to be considered minimalist. This is especially true if you are comparing Who’s Next to true works of minimalism like Steve Reich’s Come Out, which may I add, felt like I was slowly losing my sanity. Overall, I would say that you can hear the inspiration and influence of minimalist music in Who’s Next, but I would not be the first to claim that it is a minimalist album by any stretch of the imagination.
This week’s music was really interesting to listen to, especially in the context of how impactful minimalist influences were on the development of pop music through the 60s-70s and onward, and with how The Who was able to implement some elements of minimalism, like the use of synthesizers, to evolve their music. I liked how the songs on Who’s Next sounded familiar and like The Who, but also had some new elements that gave their music a somewhat smoother and more modern feel. For instance, in “Baba O’Riley,” the synthesizers played a major part in the song, adding noises that were reminiscent of the more dreamy and futuristic sounds in Terry Riley’s “A Rainbow in Curved Air.” In general, many songs on this album, like “Behind Blue Eyes,” relied on much lighter instrumentation which is quite a minimal virtue than was present in some of the band’s earlier work, but there were still some songs like “Baby Don’t You Do It” or “Bargain,” which included some of the heavier and more instrumentally complex elements from their earlier works, though to a somewhat lesser degree. A simple concept of repeating and layering a string of words to the point where it becomes harmonic and musical to the listener's ear in Steve Reich’s “Come Out” creates something subtle for the listener to notice and consume. Meanwhile, in the context of pop and The Who, these ideas of less being more and the inclusion of something new and fresh constitute some new opportunities to add onto the existing complexities in their music, while still retaining their own sound in a way that expands the possibilities for artists to come.
The first thing I immediately noted about a lot of the songs on Who’s Next is that a lot of them employ a lot more piano than their previous records and songs. Particularly “This Song Is Over” and “Getting In Tune” threw me off to the point where I forgot I was listening to The Who for a moment; I got a lot of Elton John vibes from those two songs.
On the topic of the introduction of synthesizers to The Who’s music, I definitely think having synth opens a lot of doors for the kinds of music they could make. It gives an interesting futuristic sound, and that mixed with their iconic power guitar and drums makes a very unique sound. The synth reminds me a lot of chiptune, the kind of synth music used in arcade games and stuff (upon further research this was also developed around the 70s so that’s pretty cool that it seems to be a prevailing musical technique of the time).
As for minimalism, other than maybe “Baba O’Riley,” I didn’t feel like any of the songs on this record were particularly minimalist. I do hear minimalist elements in many of the songs, such as the synth in the background of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” which rotates around the same chord the whole time, as well as iconically in “Baba O’Riley” which connects to the types of sounds in Terry Riley's “A Rainbow In Curved Air.” However I don’t particularly think I’d call this record, nor any particular song, “minimalist.” I think The Who’s affinity to heavy power guitar and guitar solos prevents them from being truly minimalist the way that David Bowie’s “10 Weeping Wall” and “A Rainbow In Curved Air” are. Though I do think their use of minimalist elements and adoption of synthesizers makes this album super unique and genuinely a pleasure to listen to! It reminds me a lot of the 80s music that is the successor this era, which I really like. I could definitely see myself listening to this album on my own time.
The first few tracks really capture that minimalism style, with subtly changing tracks and parts that are slowly added. I thought it was faithful to the movement, and while not the entire album really followed it, I think it would've been boring to have an entirely minimalist album. I will say that even some of the songs like "The Song Is Over" have some minimalist influence, but mostly follows a regular pop format. The future songs have some of this too.
I definitely see the inspiration The Who had on artists like Bowie later on. This album is simpler than the previous mini opera, with more synth notes and a more laid back progression. For example, "The Song is Over" begins with a beautiful piano solo, something that I don't remember standing out on Tommy. The synth in front of "Baba O'Riley" is iconic and of course stood out as well as a new taste of originality. The Bowie song we looked at in comparison is dark and mysterious, but it carries the same sort of synth vibe as Who's Next.
I knew I recognized "Baba O'Riley"! I had definitely heard that song before but never knew it was by The Who. As others have been saying, you hear a great evolution between Tommy and Who's Next. I think this album had more of the classic 70's rock sound. The way they utilized their instruments were more uniform this time around. Although not a rock song, I wanted to point out: when the piano comes in at the beginning of "Baba O'Riley" it is the same as the beginning piano sound in "Best Song Ever" by One Direction. I'm sure, because One Direction is also from the UK, they were influenced by The Who when orchestrating their Pop song, showing the impact The Who still carried decades later.
The new use of synths in "Baba O'Riley" (one of my favorite Who songs) shows how different this album is from others. The focus is on the synth as opposed to the guitar like usual. It allows for the creation of loops that can make up the majority of the song. Minimalist songs have, by nature repetitive drones and loops. While not all the songs are really minimalist there are definitely minimalist themes in all the songs we listened to. In terms of pop, minimalism has been somewhat preserved. Drones and loops are still rather popular. I think you can definitely see the influence of minimalism in modern rap, so it is interesting to see it in rock. This use of the synth is similar to techno pop as well. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this weeks songs and trying to pick out the minimalist influence in each of them. -Julia Alanis
I really liked this week's songs. Baba O'Riley is my favorite The Who song, and a big part of that is because of the synthesizers and the whole background that the song creates. I loved Tommy, but something about the synthesizer sound on this album is irresistible to me. I also like repetitive loops on songs a lot. I think it is really cool that The Who was able to completely reinvent their sound like this in such a short amount of time, and I don't think that is something a lot of artists can say they do today. - Violet Bretz
Pete Townsend’s use of synthesizers on Who’s Next allow for different emotions to be more easily elicited by audiences, since the instrument is so unlike other instruments that they have generally used in the past. The synthesizers create a constant overarching beat to follow that one can trace throughout an individual song, and this stability helps ground the other instruments. If you ignore the vocals in “Baba O’Riley” you can hear the constant beat throughout that never stops. I feel like some of the main points of minimalism are captured in Who’s Next through their dependence on more simplistic-sounding beats and repetition of these beats, but the vocals add a level of complexity that seems unlike minimalism to me. I think some of the core tenets of minimalism exist in Who’s Next, but there is a level of complexity added with the vocals that take away from its ability to be minimalistic, in my opinion. “Baba O’Riley” is such a captivating song. From the starting note, I feel pulled into hearing the story that is sure to unfold in the next few minutes. There are not many lyrics, but they are meaningful, and they also work to engage listeners. The use of the synthesizer creates a feeling that other songs by The Who had yet to capture. I think this song, although very much musically-sound and strong, is almost more raw, at least in terms of its lyrics, than a lot of previous songs by The Who. The meaning conveyed by the words are complex, but the lyrics themselves are fairly simple, making the song seem very raw, but at the same time polished with more uncommon musical instruments being played. I really always enjoy hearing “Baba O’Riley.” This album definitely has a different sound than previous albums by The Who!
Personally, I feel like this is my favorite Who album. I think that there is a common conception (sometimes regular conception sometimes mis-) that a band's debut will almost always be their magnum opus but I would venture to say that this album went on to become the Who's. I think that the production quality of this album is much higher and while I often lean into more lo-fi production techniques when producing and listening to music, I think that it is easier to appreciate the music of the Who in particular through a higher-fidelity lens. Additionally, I think that sometimes it is difficult to discern your own influences, however, when reflecting over this album, it is clear that the synthesizer part in Baba O'Reilly has factored into some of my tastes as far as arpeggiated synth in my own music as well as in the music that I prefer to listen to. As far as minimalism is concerned, I don't really feel as though this album displays a whole lot of it. I may just not be very perceptive which is entirely possible but it wasn't something I totally picked up on. Completely off topic but in some places, vocally, I feel like Daltry kind of sounds like Springsteen hahah. This was not something I really picked up in any other albums.
Omg I didn't think anyone else would agree but I just saw Charlie heard Springsteen in Daltry's voice too! How weird is that? I wonder if they were aware of that...
Fun fact about this album cover, I met the photographer of it! I went to one of his lectures at Los Angeles Community College and he talked all about the legendary album covers he shot in his time. He talked about this cover's connection to 2001 A Space Odyssey and how they found the concrete pylon on accident while they were on the road. It was a freeway under construction and the guys needed a place to pee. It was a really awesome experience to listen to this guy and I got to meet him at the end!
In terms of the music of this album, its not my favorite. I can totally appreciate it for what it is but its not my favorite type of rock music. I would have to say my favorite song on the album is Behind Blue Eyes because of its sweet personal beginning, but then it goes crazy and Daltry starts doing something with his voice that I don't particularly love. Even though i'm not a huge Who fan, i'm really glad I took this class and exposed myself to their musical evolution.
My bad, I listened to these songs a bit late! Ran into a quick schedule conflict, but I'm glad I came around to it wow.
This was a pretty awesome album, I think this was an album I hadn't listened to at all with the exception of Baba O'Riley. I think compared to Tommy, this rock opera theme they have going on is a lot more simple, I guess also considering that there are way less songs on this album. I feel like that's pretty symbolic of the whole minimalist movement in and of itself, the idea that they were able to create something kind of opposite to what they had done previously in the sense that it was more condensed. Similarly, I think the use of the synth was a great way to capture the minimalist feel. There's a lot you could do with a synthesizer in terms of harmony and music, it adds a lot of complexity while being a single instrument. You can kind of hear that in the way The Who mimicked "A Rainbow in Curved Air" with the synth. Overall, this was an interesting transition to listen to from Tommy, and I think this opened up a lot of opportunities for The Who to incorporate more abstract ideas in their music with the use of technology, while still remaining true to their original style.
Who's Next's new dive into synthesizers ignites a futuristic sound to the album, which feels appropriate as it re-sparked a new sound for a successful future for the Who after Tommy; some research I did discussed the way the Who had begun to drift from their audience after Tommy as their original audience grew up and the mod movement began to quiet. One of their most well-known, popular songs, Baba O'Riley, emerged from this album, despite their music usually having a different sound. This created the opportunity to recruit new fans that enjoyed the futuristic, minimalist-influenced take on their latest album and then introduce those fans to the other albums and sounds of the Who. I do feel that some elements of minimalist music are preserved in their pop music, as many songs use a repeated synthesizer-made sound to keep a more static tempo and create a sense of unity and focus within most if not all of the song. I personally enjoyed "Going Mobile," because it included synthesizer sounds that transitioned easily into the Who's more traditional rock guitar riffs and while I enjoyed the tempo and lyrics, I found it to be one of the most fascinating mixes of their previous well-known music success and sound into the new minimalist inspired, synthesizer sounds.
I really enjoyed this week's songs because they showed how the Who evolved into the next (no pun intended) decade. After an album like "Tommy, I can only imagine the pressure to deliver a follow up and "Who's Next", while also being very different. The first song on the album, Baba O'Riley, with its wild synths and stadium drums, is widely different from the guitar driven Who of the 60s. Having grown up with Elton John, I felt that the more relaxed feel of this album reminded me more of Elton and less of the Beach Boys and the Beatles. The Who were growing up and their style was evolving. The minimalistic pieces this week definitely influenced "Who's Next". "A Rainbow in Curved Air" especially featured parts that sounded almost identical to "Baba O'Riley". I personally like when bands change their style and evolve with the time, so I really appreciated seeing a glimpse of the Who's progression past the 60s into the "Beatle-less" 70s.
ReplyDelete-Ben
Who’s Next, is a very different album from Tommy and The Who’s preceding albums. Their use of synthesizers in “Baba O’Riley” completely changes the vibe of their music, showing another side of the band’s creativity. In addition to the album, I also enjoyed listening to both Terry Riley’s “A Rainbow in Curved Air” and David Bowie’s “10 Weeping Wall,” as they were both similar to some of the songs in Who’s Next. These two song’s use of synthesizers and other noises paired with minimalist themes makes them really unique pieces that were fun to listen to. “Come Out” by Steve Reich could also be considered a minimalist song, but it could not be more different from the other minimalist songs we listened to. With the exception of the first two lines, the song just repeated one line for almost thirteen minutes straight. It started off slow and then began to increase pace, and the words even overlapped with each other. By the end, it sounded like an echo which faded out as the song ended.
ReplyDelete- Kate Latham
This week's songs were definitely very interesting. Who's Next was strange in a cool way, because it definitely sounded very much like The Who that we've gotten to know thus far, but it sounded as though they were instantly catapulted into a new era. The new use of the synthesizer was especially interesting and important in making the album feel as though it was from a more recent era than their past work. In terms of the way the album reflected the minimalist movement, I felt that the album was somewhat conflicted in that sense. Some songs like "Baba O'Riley" seemed pretty minimalistic, especially in the parts where it was either just synthesizer or only synthesizer and vocals. But, some of the other songs seemed, for lack of a better word, a bit too complex to really be considered minimalist. In terms of other pop songs of the era, and the other songs they had put out thus far, this album was certainly far more minimalist. But, in terms of true minimalism, it doesn't really fit those characteristics. It was definitely really interesting listening to the true minimalist songs. I thought "A Rainbow in Curved Air" and "10 Weeping Wall" were very soothing to listen to. They had a sort of cool ephemeral vibe to them. On the other hand, although I can appreciate "Come Out", I honestly had to stop listening to it after about 8 minutes because it started making me feel like I was going crazy. Overall, the music for this week was an interesting next step in the progression of music we've been studying thus far.
ReplyDelete^ Preston Patam
DeleteI just want to start by saying that I have probably heard Baba O Riley about a million times in my life and it took me until this class (20 years later) to learn that the song was named after real people; Meher Baba and Terry Riley. After listening to A Rainbow in the Curved Air by Terry Riley, I can totally see why Pete Townsend would want to honor him in the title of Baba O Riley. The repeated synth in Baba O Riley shows a clear resemblance to that of Terry Riley’s song. I think minimalist music has a futuristic sound to it and I know the story of Lifehouse was supposed to take place in a futuristic post-apocalyptic wasteland so the sound is very fitting. I agree with what someone else said earlier about Baba O Riley having the most minimalist feeling out of all the songs on the album. I think that the rest of the songs may edge too far into pop and rock to be considered minimalist. This is especially true if you are comparing Who’s Next to true works of minimalism like Steve Reich’s Come Out, which may I add, felt like I was slowly losing my sanity. Overall, I would say that you can hear the inspiration and influence of minimalist music in Who’s Next, but I would not be the first to claim that it is a minimalist album by any stretch of the imagination.
ReplyDeleteThis week’s music was really interesting to listen to, especially in the context of how impactful minimalist influences were on the development of pop music through the 60s-70s and onward, and with how The Who was able to implement some elements of minimalism, like the use of synthesizers, to evolve their music. I liked how the songs on Who’s Next sounded familiar and like The Who, but also had some new elements that gave their music a somewhat smoother and more modern feel. For instance, in “Baba O’Riley,” the synthesizers played a major part in the song, adding noises that were reminiscent of the more dreamy and futuristic sounds in Terry Riley’s “A Rainbow in Curved Air.” In general, many songs on this album, like “Behind Blue Eyes,” relied on much lighter instrumentation which is quite a minimal virtue than was present in some of the band’s earlier work, but there were still some songs like “Baby Don’t You Do It” or “Bargain,” which included some of the heavier and more instrumentally complex elements from their earlier works, though to a somewhat lesser degree. A simple concept of repeating and layering a string of words to the point where it becomes harmonic and musical to the listener's ear in Steve Reich’s “Come Out” creates something subtle for the listener to notice and consume. Meanwhile, in the context of pop and The Who, these ideas of less being more and the inclusion of something new and fresh constitute some new opportunities to add onto the existing complexities in their music, while still retaining their own sound in a way that expands the possibilities for artists to come.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I immediately noted about a lot of the songs on Who’s Next is that a lot of them employ a lot more piano than their previous records and songs. Particularly “This Song Is Over” and “Getting In Tune” threw me off to the point where I forgot I was listening to The Who for a moment; I got a lot of Elton John vibes from those two songs.
ReplyDeleteOn the topic of the introduction of synthesizers to The Who’s music, I definitely think having synth opens a lot of doors for the kinds of music they could make. It gives an interesting futuristic sound, and that mixed with their iconic power guitar and drums makes a very unique sound. The synth reminds me a lot of chiptune, the kind of synth music used in arcade games and stuff (upon further research this was also developed around the 70s so that’s pretty cool that it seems to be a prevailing musical technique of the time).
As for minimalism, other than maybe “Baba O’Riley,” I didn’t feel like any of the songs on this record were particularly minimalist. I do hear minimalist elements in many of the songs, such as the synth in the background of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” which rotates around the same chord the whole time, as well as iconically in “Baba O’Riley” which connects to the types of sounds in Terry Riley's “A Rainbow In Curved Air.” However I don’t particularly think I’d call this record, nor any particular song, “minimalist.” I think The Who’s affinity to heavy power guitar and guitar solos prevents them from being truly minimalist the way that David Bowie’s “10 Weeping Wall” and “A Rainbow In Curved Air” are. Though I do think their use of minimalist elements and adoption of synthesizers makes this album super unique and genuinely a pleasure to listen to! It reminds me a lot of the 80s music that is the successor this era, which I really like. I could definitely see myself listening to this album on my own time.
-Sara Lim
The first few tracks really capture that minimalism style, with subtly changing tracks and parts that are slowly added. I thought it was faithful to the movement, and while not the entire album really followed it, I think it would've been boring to have an entirely minimalist album. I will say that even some of the songs like "The Song Is Over" have some minimalist influence, but mostly follows a regular pop format. The future songs have some of this too.
ReplyDeleteI definitely see the inspiration The Who had on artists like Bowie later on. This album is simpler than the previous mini opera, with more synth notes and a more laid back progression. For example, "The Song is Over" begins with a beautiful piano solo, something that I don't remember standing out on Tommy. The synth in front of "Baba O'Riley" is iconic and of course stood out as well as a new taste of originality. The Bowie song we looked at in comparison is dark and mysterious, but it carries the same sort of synth vibe as Who's Next.
ReplyDeleteI knew I recognized "Baba O'Riley"! I had definitely heard that song before but never knew it was by The Who. As others have been saying, you hear a great evolution between Tommy and Who's Next. I think this album had more of the classic 70's rock sound. The way they utilized their instruments were more uniform this time around. Although not a rock song, I wanted to point out: when the piano comes in at the beginning of "Baba O'Riley" it is the same as the beginning piano sound in "Best Song Ever" by One Direction. I'm sure, because One Direction is also from the UK, they were influenced by The Who when orchestrating their Pop song, showing the impact The Who still carried decades later.
ReplyDeleteThe new use of synths in "Baba O'Riley" (one of my favorite Who songs) shows how different this album is from others. The focus is on the synth as opposed to the guitar like usual. It allows for the creation of loops that can make up the majority of the song. Minimalist songs have, by nature repetitive drones and loops. While not all the songs are really minimalist there are definitely minimalist themes in all the songs we listened to. In terms of pop, minimalism has been somewhat preserved. Drones and loops are still rather popular. I think you can definitely see the influence of minimalism in modern rap, so it is interesting to see it in rock. This use of the synth is similar to techno pop as well. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this weeks songs and trying to pick out the minimalist influence in each of them.
ReplyDelete-Julia Alanis
I really liked this week's songs. Baba O'Riley is my favorite The Who song, and a big part of that is because of the synthesizers and the whole background that the song creates. I loved Tommy, but something about the synthesizer sound on this album is irresistible to me. I also like repetitive loops on songs a lot. I think it is really cool that The Who was able to completely reinvent their sound like this in such a short amount of time, and I don't think that is something a lot of artists can say they do today.
ReplyDelete- Violet Bretz
Pete Townsend’s use of synthesizers on Who’s Next allow for different emotions to be more easily elicited by audiences, since the instrument is so unlike other instruments that they have generally used in the past. The synthesizers create a constant overarching beat to follow that one can trace throughout an individual song, and this stability helps ground the other instruments. If you ignore the vocals in “Baba O’Riley” you can hear the constant beat throughout that never stops. I feel like some of the main points of minimalism are captured in Who’s Next through their dependence on more simplistic-sounding beats and repetition of these beats, but the vocals add a level of complexity that seems unlike minimalism to me. I think some of the core tenets of minimalism exist in Who’s Next, but there is a level of complexity added with the vocals that take away from its ability to be minimalistic, in my opinion. “Baba O’Riley” is such a captivating song. From the starting note, I feel pulled into hearing the story that is sure to unfold in the next few minutes. There are not many lyrics, but they are meaningful, and they also work to engage listeners. The use of the synthesizer creates a feeling that other songs by The Who had yet to capture. I think this song, although very much musically-sound and strong, is almost more raw, at least in terms of its lyrics, than a lot of previous songs by The Who. The meaning conveyed by the words are complex, but the lyrics themselves are fairly simple, making the song seem very raw, but at the same time polished with more uncommon musical instruments being played. I really always enjoy hearing “Baba O’Riley.” This album definitely has a different sound than previous albums by The Who!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
Personally, I feel like this is my favorite Who album. I think that there is a common conception (sometimes regular conception sometimes mis-) that a band's debut will almost always be their magnum opus but I would venture to say that this album went on to become the Who's. I think that the production quality of this album is much higher and while I often lean into more lo-fi production techniques when producing and listening to music, I think that it is easier to appreciate the music of the Who in particular through a higher-fidelity lens. Additionally, I think that sometimes it is difficult to discern your own influences, however, when reflecting over this album, it is clear that the synthesizer part in Baba O'Reilly has factored into some of my tastes as far as arpeggiated synth in my own music as well as in the music that I prefer to listen to.
ReplyDeleteAs far as minimalism is concerned, I don't really feel as though this album displays a whole lot of it. I may just not be very perceptive which is entirely possible but it wasn't something I totally picked up on.
Completely off topic but in some places, vocally, I feel like Daltry kind of sounds like Springsteen hahah. This was not something I really picked up in any other albums.
- charlie :^)
DeleteOmg I didn't think anyone else would agree but I just saw Charlie heard Springsteen in Daltry's voice too! How weird is that? I wonder if they were aware of that...
ReplyDeleteFun fact about this album cover, I met the photographer of it! I went to one of his lectures at Los Angeles Community College and he talked all about the legendary album covers he shot in his time. He talked about this cover's connection to 2001 A Space Odyssey and how they found the concrete pylon on accident while they were on the road. It was a freeway under construction and the guys needed a place to pee. It was a really awesome experience to listen to this guy and I got to meet him at the end!
In terms of the music of this album, its not my favorite. I can totally appreciate it for what it is but its not my favorite type of rock music. I would have to say my favorite song on the album is Behind Blue Eyes because of its sweet personal beginning, but then it goes crazy and Daltry starts doing something with his voice that I don't particularly love. Even though i'm not a huge Who fan, i'm really glad I took this class and exposed myself to their musical evolution.
My bad, I listened to these songs a bit late! Ran into a quick schedule conflict, but I'm glad I came around to it wow.
ReplyDeleteThis was a pretty awesome album, I think this was an album I hadn't listened to at all with the exception of Baba O'Riley. I think compared to Tommy, this rock opera theme they have going on is a lot more simple, I guess also considering that there are way less songs on this album. I feel like that's pretty symbolic of the whole minimalist movement in and of itself, the idea that they were able to create something kind of opposite to what they had done previously in the sense that it was more condensed.
Similarly, I think the use of the synth was a great way to capture the minimalist feel. There's a lot you could do with a synthesizer in terms of harmony and music, it adds a lot of complexity while being a single instrument. You can kind of hear that in the way The Who mimicked "A Rainbow in Curved Air" with the synth. Overall, this was an interesting transition to listen to from Tommy, and I think this opened up a lot of opportunities for The Who to incorporate more abstract ideas in their music with the use of technology, while still remaining true to their original style.
Who's Next's new dive into synthesizers ignites a futuristic sound to the album, which feels appropriate as it re-sparked a new sound for a successful future for the Who after Tommy; some research I did discussed the way the Who had begun to drift from their audience after Tommy as their original audience grew up and the mod movement began to quiet. One of their most well-known, popular songs, Baba O'Riley, emerged from this album, despite their music usually having a different sound. This created the opportunity to recruit new fans that enjoyed the futuristic, minimalist-influenced take on their latest album and then introduce those fans to the other albums and sounds of the Who. I do feel that some elements of minimalist music are preserved in their pop music, as many songs use a repeated synthesizer-made sound to keep a more static tempo and create a sense of unity and focus within most if not all of the song. I personally enjoyed "Going Mobile," because it included synthesizer sounds that transitioned easily into the Who's more traditional rock guitar riffs and while I enjoyed the tempo and lyrics, I found it to be one of the most fascinating mixes of their previous well-known music success and sound into the new minimalist inspired, synthesizer sounds.
ReplyDelete