Quote:
Originally Posted by Euronomus
I didn't care for the album myself, but I feel you're being a little harsh. The albums whole point is to be subversive by being an aesthetic nightmare. While no doubt it's more than a little self-indulgent, i wouldn't go as far as calling it pretentious, there is a well thought-out, very real purpose and design to it. Really what I'm trying to say is that as music to be listened to it's not very good, but as thought-provoking art that is designed to provoke a reaction-and succeeds, it is probably one of the greatest albums ever.
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I have no illusions that it wasn't the point, but there are far better examples of subversive art that, for one, subvert something (really, nihilism in 2012? not really the most cutting-edge political/artistic/philosophical statement). That's where I'm getting the pretentious label: it's so awfully executed and has been done to death in more sonically challenging ways (noise and early industrial, anyone?). The one concession I will make that I wasn't making before comes from a friend of mine who listened to the album on my insistence so I could know if it was just me. She found it pretty deplorable as well, but her opinion was softened by the fact that he used to be a pop artist in the most essentialist application of the term, so his use of his baroque pop stylings to create a more "serious" avant-rock piece now that's centered on decay is interesting in a, to use her words, "final installation" way. I can concur with that to an extent but stand by that it's probably never going to get another spin from me.