Only two required listening this week, so I shall start with those.
Prince's "When Dove's Cry" is a strange little tune. The text analysis revealed many points that I might not have caught or even realized without it, since I am not familiar with this tune. To read the all the vocals are from the same person, many run through varying levels of digital effects, was quite astounding! So many timbres and vocal qualities! This would make for an interesting experiment when working with students and their compositions. This would need to be done at a higher educational level perhaps, but it would be interesting to see what the result would be with students attempting both the melody and a predetermined number of backing vocal lines. The other thing that struck me was the absence of the bass line, which did not seem so obvious until I read about it in the text. It indeed created a very open sound, unlike what appears to be an evolution of sorts going in the other direction over the years.
Then unto Nirvana, a song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" I have heard many times. I have always been drawn to a number of the guitar and vocal hooks, like the "Hello, hello" line and the open guitar strings being played at the beginning. I think I always liked this because of it was a nice crossover of pop music construction with heavy metal sound. As a teenager, this was an angry song that I loved to rock out to, without it being quite suck an "evil" sound that much of the heavy metal of the day was producing.
I went on to listen to "Walk This Way" mainly because I love Aerosmith and do not ever remember this song with Run-D.M.C. I liked some of the early hi-hop/rap that was emerging, but did not listen to it often. This was great! I could envision myself getting really into this song had I been exposed to it as a kid, with both its lyrical context and the overall sound. I can easily see (or hear as the case may be) why this song gained such popularity. I almost feel like I missed out not hearing this when it came out. Maybe its because lacking cable growing up, I did not have MTV. I'm not bitter or anything...
Next was "Like a Virgin." I was left unimpressed, as I am whenever I hear this song. I get that it was innovative for the day, but her voice sounds so unrefined to me, as does the musical arrangement. This seems to be a prime example of marketing techniques and the age of video helping an artist overcome lack of talent.
"Sweet Dreams" took me back, for though it was not my favorite at the time, it was another song that one could not help but know. Reading about the less than ideal conditions in which it was recorded seems to emphasize the trend in American pop of an artist or group coming from obscurity, producing something new, either because of circumstance or by choice, and being "discovered" and heralded as something so unique, when the artists were usually not quite so sophisticated, or went to great lengths to make the lack thereof be overlooked.
I found trouble identifying "Jump" by Van Halen as a heavy metal tune, even to this day. I find it more appropriate to label it as a heavy metal artist that experimented with another genre. It was successful, there is no questioning that, but this to me is not heavy metal, if for the same reason as so many other songs tend to get classified into their respective genres; instrumental timbre. I enjoy this song, and appreciate what it did to further vernacular music, but it's not heavy metal when the synth is such a prominent element of the song.
My main impression of "night of the Living Baseheads" encompasses a few different viewpoints that I was not expecting. I found that I did not get such a bad "vibe" from this style of music as I did when I originally listened to it, proving the time honored tradition of new music being repulsive to the mainstream until much later. I also was intrigued by the message that it portrayed.
The thing I found most interesting was Snoop Dog's proclamation of arrival in "What's My Name?" It's interesting because of the amount of recycled themes and sound he used made that a most boastful claim, in addition to his (and the song's) reception.
"Holiday in Cambodia" was only unique in my mind (and ears) in that it helped to show the progression from punk rock to hardcore punk rock. Though it was a song I was not familiar with, the sound did not surprise.
Finally "Doo Wop (that Thing)" did in fact provide a nice alternative to the negativity of most hip-hop and rap of the era, and I can easily see how the feminist empowerment of Lauryn Hill could have reached many a young woman at the time. It's sound was not all that much different from other hip-hop to my ears, but that might come in time as I try to familiarize myself with more in order to be learned enough to teach aspect of it.
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