Achtung Bubba
Refugee
BUBBA'S RANTS & RAVES #3 - MJ AND COLDPLAY
Relating to you all my problems with Michael Jackson would take far too long. At this point, I believe it suffices to say this: if Michael Jackson's talent was in any way proportional to his ego, he would be the greatest artist in the history of mankind.
As it is, he's released "You Rock My World", a woefully mediocre single from his forthcoming new album, Invincible.
As an aside, his album titles have become delusional assertions that stray further and further from the realm of reality: "I'm bad! Not only that, I'm dangerous! And, hey, now I'm invicible, too! Really!"
In conjunction with the single's release -- and that television special, the first tribute in my memory devoted to someone who's still alive and supposedly relevant --Jackson's released what most people would call a music video. In the parlance of the self-proclaimed "King of Pop", he's released a "Short Film".
Elton John's called the video "disgusting", and I don't think he goes far enough.
First, the video seems to copy almost every major video in Michael Jackson's long career. He has guest stars, including Chris Tucker and Marlon Brando, not unlike having Magic Johnson and Eddie Murphy in "Remember the Time". He's wearing the light socks with his dark suit, just like "Billy Jean" and most of his earlier videos. There's the fedora covering most of his face, a la "Smooth Criminal". Jackson acts tough and gets in a gang fight, just like "Bad". And there's the dramatic pauses and film credits first seen in "Thriller".
Worse than that, the use of the cliches is heavy handed, obvious, and ineffective. The guest stars are there to attract publicity about the video, but they add next to nothing to the video -- unlike, say, Walken in "Weapon of Choice". The light socks seem like a vain attempt to hold onto youth while the hat seems to serve no other purpose than hide the fact that Jackson has become a walking warning of the dangers of plastic surgery. Finally, the "tough guy" act and dramatic fight come off as trying far too hard; rather than build tension, they do little more than break the monotony of the song itself.
As another aside, the overuse of completely halting a song within a video is intolerable. The first few showings of Weezer's "Buddy Holly" did it, but the effect was so jarring that it was removed. Now, Britney's "Oops" video (and the radio version of the single!) cut in with that tripe about the diamond on the Titanic. Sugar Ray's latest video cuts in for no apparent reason, as does Alien Ant Farm's "Smooth Criminal" -- which, while I'm on the subject, was only funny the first fifty times. Finally, I can't recall a single Jennifer Lopez video that wasn't so long and boring that it did not interrupt itself with a dance routine to the remix of the same song.
Overlaying videos with sound effects can be effective -- at least to a degree, as in the airplanes in "Beautiful Day" and the barrage of television in "Even Better Than the Real Thing". And pausing a song is not necessarily bad; Billy Joel's "River of Dreams" works better because of the tension in the pause before the last chorus. But randomly cutting a song is needless. It's enraging to see some one essentially press the "pause" button just because he fe-
<dramatic pause with some overacting or trite dance routine>
-els like it.
And as a final criticism, the "Short Film" also stars Michael Madsen. Who the hell is this guy? What character does he play in the video? And why is he even mentioned? Not to sound completely obtuse, but I looked him up on Yahoo, found three fansites, and still couldn't answer any of the above questions.
And, concluding my rant on Michael Jackson, I have to add that he's had three indisputably great songs: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", "Rock With You", and "The Way You Make Me Feel". Not coincidentally, these songs are songs first and vehicles for Michael Jackson second. The concern is on the groove, and it shows.
Now, on to Coldplay, my choice for the best new band in the last few years. Their latest video -- see it now while MTV is actually playing it -- is for "Trouble", and it is as great as "You Rock My World" is average.
It is, first of all, so original that it is hard to even describe. Try to imagine a snowglobe world where everything was a cubical container holding flat images of the object in question. There are layers upon layers, snowflakes, trees, dandelion "fluff". The effects clearly involved the use of a computer, but the impression is very low-tech. It's a use of technology to create beautiful art that could have never been made before.
Beyond that, the song is simply beautiful (and quite a way to follow "Yellow" in the progression of their album Parachutes): "ice notes" reminiscent of the piano on U2's "October"; the response from an electric guitar; a simple, acoustic guitar in the background; an ethereal slide guitar toward the end; frail, heartbroken vocals; and lovely, melancholy lyrics:
I never meant to cause you trouble,
I never meant to do you wrong,
Well if I ever caused you trouble
Then, no, I never meant to do you harm
I naturally admit a great deal of personal bias for this song: it's the first song my love and I slow-danced to -- just her and me in the quiet of my computer lab. So, technically, this is probably "our song", and I hope the rest of the world sees the beauty in it.
(Correction: "Sparks" was the first song we slow-danced too. Both are very beatiful; I was just thinking of the wrong song.)
And if I ever make an album of "blue music", as Bono puts it, I'll be sure to include the following songs:
"Promenade" - U2
"Your Blue Room" - The Passengers
"Just My Imagination" - The Temptations
"Fields of Gold" - Sting
"Enter From the East" - Jewel
...and Coldplay's "Trouble".
Achtung Bubba
PREVIOUS ARTICLES OF BUBBA'S RANTS AND RAVES:
#1 - Britney and Jewel
#2 - Stevie Nicks and Garbage
[This message has been edited by Achtung Bubba (edited 10-19-2001).]
Relating to you all my problems with Michael Jackson would take far too long. At this point, I believe it suffices to say this: if Michael Jackson's talent was in any way proportional to his ego, he would be the greatest artist in the history of mankind.
As it is, he's released "You Rock My World", a woefully mediocre single from his forthcoming new album, Invincible.
As an aside, his album titles have become delusional assertions that stray further and further from the realm of reality: "I'm bad! Not only that, I'm dangerous! And, hey, now I'm invicible, too! Really!"
In conjunction with the single's release -- and that television special, the first tribute in my memory devoted to someone who's still alive and supposedly relevant --Jackson's released what most people would call a music video. In the parlance of the self-proclaimed "King of Pop", he's released a "Short Film".
Elton John's called the video "disgusting", and I don't think he goes far enough.
First, the video seems to copy almost every major video in Michael Jackson's long career. He has guest stars, including Chris Tucker and Marlon Brando, not unlike having Magic Johnson and Eddie Murphy in "Remember the Time". He's wearing the light socks with his dark suit, just like "Billy Jean" and most of his earlier videos. There's the fedora covering most of his face, a la "Smooth Criminal". Jackson acts tough and gets in a gang fight, just like "Bad". And there's the dramatic pauses and film credits first seen in "Thriller".
Worse than that, the use of the cliches is heavy handed, obvious, and ineffective. The guest stars are there to attract publicity about the video, but they add next to nothing to the video -- unlike, say, Walken in "Weapon of Choice". The light socks seem like a vain attempt to hold onto youth while the hat seems to serve no other purpose than hide the fact that Jackson has become a walking warning of the dangers of plastic surgery. Finally, the "tough guy" act and dramatic fight come off as trying far too hard; rather than build tension, they do little more than break the monotony of the song itself.
As another aside, the overuse of completely halting a song within a video is intolerable. The first few showings of Weezer's "Buddy Holly" did it, but the effect was so jarring that it was removed. Now, Britney's "Oops" video (and the radio version of the single!) cut in with that tripe about the diamond on the Titanic. Sugar Ray's latest video cuts in for no apparent reason, as does Alien Ant Farm's "Smooth Criminal" -- which, while I'm on the subject, was only funny the first fifty times. Finally, I can't recall a single Jennifer Lopez video that wasn't so long and boring that it did not interrupt itself with a dance routine to the remix of the same song.
Overlaying videos with sound effects can be effective -- at least to a degree, as in the airplanes in "Beautiful Day" and the barrage of television in "Even Better Than the Real Thing". And pausing a song is not necessarily bad; Billy Joel's "River of Dreams" works better because of the tension in the pause before the last chorus. But randomly cutting a song is needless. It's enraging to see some one essentially press the "pause" button just because he fe-
<dramatic pause with some overacting or trite dance routine>
-els like it.
And as a final criticism, the "Short Film" also stars Michael Madsen. Who the hell is this guy? What character does he play in the video? And why is he even mentioned? Not to sound completely obtuse, but I looked him up on Yahoo, found three fansites, and still couldn't answer any of the above questions.
And, concluding my rant on Michael Jackson, I have to add that he's had three indisputably great songs: "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough", "Rock With You", and "The Way You Make Me Feel". Not coincidentally, these songs are songs first and vehicles for Michael Jackson second. The concern is on the groove, and it shows.
Now, on to Coldplay, my choice for the best new band in the last few years. Their latest video -- see it now while MTV is actually playing it -- is for "Trouble", and it is as great as "You Rock My World" is average.
It is, first of all, so original that it is hard to even describe. Try to imagine a snowglobe world where everything was a cubical container holding flat images of the object in question. There are layers upon layers, snowflakes, trees, dandelion "fluff". The effects clearly involved the use of a computer, but the impression is very low-tech. It's a use of technology to create beautiful art that could have never been made before.
Beyond that, the song is simply beautiful (and quite a way to follow "Yellow" in the progression of their album Parachutes): "ice notes" reminiscent of the piano on U2's "October"; the response from an electric guitar; a simple, acoustic guitar in the background; an ethereal slide guitar toward the end; frail, heartbroken vocals; and lovely, melancholy lyrics:
I never meant to cause you trouble,
I never meant to do you wrong,
Well if I ever caused you trouble
Then, no, I never meant to do you harm
I naturally admit a great deal of personal bias for this song: it's the first song my love and I slow-danced to -- just her and me in the quiet of my computer lab. So, technically, this is probably "our song", and I hope the rest of the world sees the beauty in it.
(Correction: "Sparks" was the first song we slow-danced too. Both are very beatiful; I was just thinking of the wrong song.)
And if I ever make an album of "blue music", as Bono puts it, I'll be sure to include the following songs:
"Promenade" - U2
"Your Blue Room" - The Passengers
"Just My Imagination" - The Temptations
"Fields of Gold" - Sting
"Enter From the East" - Jewel
...and Coldplay's "Trouble".
Achtung Bubba
PREVIOUS ARTICLES OF BUBBA'S RANTS AND RAVES:
#1 - Britney and Jewel
#2 - Stevie Nicks and Garbage
[This message has been edited by Achtung Bubba (edited 10-19-2001).]
