Taxman

Have you ever though how important diversity is when it comes to music? It seems like nowadays many bands take something from their idols and then just copy it. And that's all. For example, Led Zeppelin, while they were hard rock/blues band, were also heavily influenced by British Folk among the other things. But when someone says that Zeppelin is his idol, he usually takes only that hard rock thing from them.
And Stones. The myth of Stones Formula is a lie. There's more to the picture than meets the eye. They played country, pop, even reggae, disco and early rock n roll, blues and also of course riff-based rock.
And Beatles, can anybody even define their sound? It changed between every album. And if a band is able to make one record that includes piano pop, psychedelic music, Motown- pastiche, baroque pop, a song for children, an Indian tune, and then straight guitar rock, ain't that pretty diverse? Nearly everyone of those songs on Revolver sound different

But nowadays every have to have their own sound. People think that band have not found their style yet if they have more than one sound. People want to categorize them "You are punk rock band, if you record a ballad, you are a sell-out" or "What they think they are? They are just a pop band. They're completely inadequate to do anything like that" and so on.
But that is a shame. A big shame.

You see, most of the great bands were so diverse because every member had different musical background. But nowadays, if five GNR fans decided to found a band, they'd probably end up to sounds just like Guns and Roses- of course, that's what they want.
If you have even a slightly different music taste, it is hard to join a band with people who have different taste. This is just completely stupendous. How can you ever create anything new then??

So this is why, even if I don't like something new and exciting experience someone has come up with, I always respect even an unsuccessful experiment more than someone who does five same-sounding albums in a row. yep, I'm thinking about you, Noel Gallagher.
So everytime a band is called a sell-out or something because they have changed, I get pretty annoyed.

I don't mean that taking influences from others is wrong, no, no. Just he sure you are influenced by more than just one band. It is all right to love The Ramones (everyone should do so) but it is not allright to sound just like them.
No one can say that Ramones were not exactly diverse band. But they invented a new perfect sound. Now if they had just copied their sounds completely they would not be so good (I'd still like them because I love melodies, but I wouldn't respect them then.)

What I'm trying to say? don't know. I'm just sitting on a bus and getting bored. But maybe my point was that try to be original and it is not that you should actually invent anything. Usually it is enough just to make a new mix, ya know.
That is what I'm trying to do. When I write my little songs, I always try to tackle a new style. Just because I'm you don't do that, soon you have a formula that you cannot **** with. So everyone should **** with formula ( to misquote Mike Love)

Also I'd like to tell what I've been listening lately.
I have made an acquaintance with classic prog that I used to dislike but I'm not doing it anymore. Also I have fell in love with folk music, especially British/irish folk. A little history-nerd inside of me makes me wanna listen to those folk melodies...
Also I rediscovered my longtime love, fifties rock n roll and rockabilly. I know that my tastes may sound odd, but I can not help it.
Still one of the biggest genres I'm not familiar with is metal. Someday I should make an acquaintance with it, too. Just if it includes melodies. I'm a big sucker for melodies.