> Oh I agree. I wanna like Bruce - in fact I did for a while in the
> mid-70s after the first two albums came out. But it didn't wear well
> on me - too anthemic and repetitive. He's an admirable guy in many
> ways.
Yeah, that was the cut-off for lotsa people. If the admittedly limited pool of themes/characters/motifs since then don't move you, I'd imagine he'd be insufferable, world's tightest bar band or no.
Also there's an almost operatic dimension to the whole thing - melodrama, high-flown concepts, symbol-laden conventions. And, like I thought after seeing my first opera last year, "Wow - imagine how exciting this would be if I could actually get into it."
> But I'd rather listen to John Cougar Mellencamp, if you're
> talking working class authenticity.
Yeah, but working class music must be devoid of class consciousness, if it's to be to be 100% authentically American. Which precludes introspection, irony, self-awareness, and analysis of objective self-interest. Hence heavy metal.
Except when it comes to authenticity fetishism, anybody who has Britney Spears on his iPod is just a dabbler.
-- Best regards,
DMC mailto:dclark at ptd.net