DISQUS

Popdose: Letter from the Editor: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Kind of Like the Fray

  • DwDunphy · 8 months ago
    I'll give you a pass, my friend, but "How To Save A Life" is still an awful excuse for a pop song.
  • Old_Davy · 8 months ago
    Sorry Jeff, but I can't be so forgiving. Your article is great and I get what you're saying, but the music. Oh, the music...

    I didn't mind "Cable Car (Over My Head)" since I snagged it as a free itunes download, and when I found the album for cheap at a used shop, I picked it up. If it isn't the absolute worst album I purchased in 2008, it comes damn close.

    I listened to the tracks you posted, and I don't hear any improvement. Sorry Jeff, I think you struck out on this one. And I actually LIKE Mike + The Mechanics. Maybe the emotional tie-in to the wedding is the wavelength-enhancing cotton in your ear canals.
  • jefito · 8 months ago
    I'm not holding up the Fray as any kind of standard for anything -- just saying I can understand why they're able to sell records to a Top 40 audience. But comparing them unfavorably to Mike + the Mechanics is more than a little silly, I think.
  • Jefito · 8 months ago
    I mean, you can't seriously be arguing that anything the Fray has done is worse than "The Living Years"...can you?
  • Old_Davy · 8 months ago
    I totally agree that there is a place for pop fluff (which is why I name-checked M+tM), but does it have to be so...bland? It's like Five For Fighting*. The music is totally generic and interchangeable. At least faceless bands of the 70's and 80's had their own personalities (Journey, Foreigner, Toto, Survivor, Night Ranger - well, maybe not those last two).

    I don't know, maybe it's because I actually sat through the entire "How To Save A Life" album and thought I got ripped off even though I only paid $3 for it.

    *Or, as my friend likes to refers to them, "Five for Bitch-Slapping".
  • Jamie Lyon · 8 months ago
    You know, as a 40-something parent of a Disney-channel addicted child, I have to admit that the other day I turned to my wife and said that I thought Demi Lovato is probably the most talented singer they have ever had and probably could have made it without the Disney Channel. Kudos to Jeff for having the 'nads to say so. As for The Fray, I agree, they're like Coldplay without all that annoying originality!
  • jasonhare · 8 months ago
    Another fantastic article, and "It’s pop by numbers, for people who can’t count higher than three" may be the best descriptive phrase I've ever read in my life.
  • David_E · 8 months ago
    (Huddles in corner with collected works of Asia and Kansas, sniffing defensively.)
  • Malchus · 8 months ago
    First, it's great to have you back writing weekly articles, Mr. Giles. The reason we all went back to Jefito blog each and every day was because of your writing.

    Second, fantastic article. As a man who, ahem, actually likes certain Bryan Adams songs, I can totally appreciate where you're coming from.
  • Eric S. · 8 months ago
    This is why I like Popdose, you get the music critics without the music snobs. Everybody has guilty pleasures, but not everybody has the courage to admit them.
  • Hanan · 8 months ago
    haha I have nothing to say...
    except that Elvis Costello rocks.
  • terje · 8 months ago
    This is a great article, Jeff. It's so interesting to discuss this stuff on a meta level - the art of rock criticism must surely be a dream case for any sociologist.

    I've never even heard the Fray (yes, I have a very selective attention range and I don't listen to the radio) and I haven't played the audio clips, but I inserted my own supposedly embarrassing comfort music favorites and the article made perfect sense ("does he ever listen to anything but embarrassing comfort music," they asked, astounded)
  • dslifton · 3 months ago
    I needed to read this again after re-reading your Wagner piece.
  • jefito · 3 months ago
    I guess they do sort of tie in together, don't they?