I'm getting a chance to see things from the other side of the fan base for the first time....please allow me to explain.
For the better part of the last 25 years....I have usually been on the leading edge of most musical trends. I usually catch the buzz LONG before it becomes the standard.....by the time it gets popular, I'm usually sick of it....complain that the artist "sold out"...and have moved on to something else.
As an example....I'm from the Seattle area....I remember when Nirvana was a bar band.....by the time they exploded, it was old hat to me, and I was trying to figure out why people in Los Angeles were wearing flannel when its 100 degrees outside....(we've always worn it cause its convienent.....too cold for a t-shirt, too warm for a jacket). Same thing with Soundgarden....I was a BIG fan of their first couple of albums......the rest of the world caught up with Badmotorfinger, and I thought that album sucked. Jane's Addiction...same thing. Metallica was another one. I was the only Metallica fan in my high school in 1984......when they hit the big time in 1991 with "Enter Sandman" I had one reaction.....
W.......T..........F.......?????
As I've grown older (I've always been a bit of a "metalhead")...I expanded my tastes to all forms of music. I even learned to admit that there was good and bad in almost every form of music.....(except country...lol)....even pop music had some people that were doing some new and interesting things with the genre....they just weren't as popular....you really have to dig.
One example of this (and some might argue that it's a stretch to call him pop....but its just "well done, interesting" pop) is Matthew Sweet. Even though is songs are very simple...there is a charm to them. Even "Blue Sky Over Mars" has some really cool stuff going on if you take the time to listen to it.
This is the part where I get to Liz.
One day...I'm listening to the radio (something I NEVER do anymore...but it was my wife's car and she had left it on) and I hear "Why Can't I?" on the radio. Now.....I usually hate this kindof stuff, but this one just attracted my attention as being a really cool pop song along the same lines as a female Matthew Sweet. I didn't even know who it was....I had to find out later that it was Liz Phair (who I had *heard* about, but never checked out) and that the song was two years old. (like I said....I tend to listen to "word of mouth" stuff and ignore anything that comes out of a radio)
I go to the library and get this CD.....and I'm hooked. I LOVED every song on the album. It was *kinda* like some of the female artists out there....but ALOT sexier and edgier.
When I logged on here....and discovered to my horror that this time *I* was the one who had jumped on the bandwagon too late.....I had an epiphany and had to laugh inwardly at myself.
I still say that "Liz Phair" is an *extremely* strong, solid, sexy, edgy pop album.....I'm just coming at it without the perspective of her previous work....but maybe now that just gives me some homework to do....
......I think I'll start by trying to give a new listen and fresh perspective to Badmotorfinger and Metallica's Black Album.....
) And there is no greater turn ON than someone who is very comfortable.......doesn't *HAVE* to be overt....but also isn't afraid to go there. I like that. 