The Retro Kat
Jul 30th, 2003, 08:33 PM
I decided to right a comparative essay on Jam Bands Vs. Modern Punk, I'd like feedback...It's long.
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Jam Bands versus Modern Punk
In this era, music has become a necessity of all ages, especially during adolescence. But many of these adolescents are being driven in to what is popular and what is catchy, these genres are not always good. One of these examples is punk. Punk is a “rebellious” type of music in the ears of who listen to them. But in actuality, it has become quite popular, even though the music lacks talent, strives for being catchy, and sells out to set trends. Jam bands, however, have tremendous talent and care about the music. “What is a jam band?” you might ask. According to www.jambands.com, jam bands share, “a collective penchant for improvisation, a commitment to songcraft and a propensity to cross genre boundaries, drawing from a range of traditions including blues, bluegrass, funk, jazz, rock, psychedelia and even techno. In addition, the jam bands of today are unified by the nimble ears of their receptive listeners.” The jam bands are constantly trying to make themselves and their music better. This particular topic has been chosen by the author to show that in modern society, jam bands should be more highly considered, listened to, and supported than punk bands because jam bands have better music.
In modern society, punk music is popular and sets trends. Unfortunately, music seems to be judged by how often it shows up on MTV or VH1 and how good it looks, not how good the music is. In public places you can see teens and young adults dress wearing the new age styles punk sets in music video. Teens also often wear shirts with the names of more popular punk bands, such as “New Found Glory” or “Blink 182.” Yet, it is very rarely one will see a teen with a “moe.” or “Galactic” shirt on.
The levels of difficulty these two genres have consist of huge gaps. The punk bands often have repetitive chords and often the same chords can be found in different songs with different lyrics. The music seems to be “thrown” together with little thought. There is very rarely a solo of any instrument, usually the only instruments are electric guitar, bass, and drums, in punk bands. On the other hand, jam bands consist mostly of non-repetitive chords. Jam bands constantly perform long, difficult, melodic solos, or “jams,” as referred to by fans. There are many different instruments included in jam music, including, saxophones, bongos, horns, banjos, mandolins, etc. All of these instruments solo at one point. The music is thought out and blends together. It all seems arduous to perform, but they seem to pull it off with ease.
In most cases, the songs which punk bands perform are ballads, or “power ballads,” as their fans call them, and are about love and past girlfriends. These songs strive for being catchy, but aren’t necessarily good at all. The song “Better off Dead,” by New Found Glory, is about a girlfriend leaving the singer. The song “What’s my Age Again?” by Blink 182 is about a guy who gets dumped because he isn’t mature. In this genre, this is what most of the songs consist of. The songs that jam bands perform are about (if they have words) good times, making fun of things, smoking marijuana, and getting drunk. They are basically about good times and are not repetitive. The song, “New York City,” by moe. is about having good times bar hopping and such in New York. The song, “Barfly,” by The Disco Biscuits is about how a guy loves drinking and going to bars. Ekoostik Hookah’s song, “GoodTime,” is about having good times in general.
Punk may be popular and sets trends, but that does not mean it makes good music, for the most part, it is lacking. The instrumentation is not at all difficult, and is quite repetitive. There are only a few chords to each song, and the songs are repetitive. The music isn’t at all hard to play, a beginning guitarist, bassist, or drummer can pick up on it fairly quickly. Jam bands however, are almost completely opposite. They strive for heartfelt music that consists of the instruments doing solos to prove worthiness on the scale of difficult music. Jam bands should be more considered than punk, because, where punk lacks, jam bands excel, the music is much more difficult, harder, and greater than modern punk bands are. In almost every aspect, jam bands are better. Consider jam bands over punk bands, because people should know and listen to good music that uplifts and is great, rather than what’s on the radio or on MTV.
_____________
Jam Bands versus Modern Punk
In this era, music has become a necessity of all ages, especially during adolescence. But many of these adolescents are being driven in to what is popular and what is catchy, these genres are not always good. One of these examples is punk. Punk is a “rebellious” type of music in the ears of who listen to them. But in actuality, it has become quite popular, even though the music lacks talent, strives for being catchy, and sells out to set trends. Jam bands, however, have tremendous talent and care about the music. “What is a jam band?” you might ask. According to www.jambands.com, jam bands share, “a collective penchant for improvisation, a commitment to songcraft and a propensity to cross genre boundaries, drawing from a range of traditions including blues, bluegrass, funk, jazz, rock, psychedelia and even techno. In addition, the jam bands of today are unified by the nimble ears of their receptive listeners.” The jam bands are constantly trying to make themselves and their music better. This particular topic has been chosen by the author to show that in modern society, jam bands should be more highly considered, listened to, and supported than punk bands because jam bands have better music.
In modern society, punk music is popular and sets trends. Unfortunately, music seems to be judged by how often it shows up on MTV or VH1 and how good it looks, not how good the music is. In public places you can see teens and young adults dress wearing the new age styles punk sets in music video. Teens also often wear shirts with the names of more popular punk bands, such as “New Found Glory” or “Blink 182.” Yet, it is very rarely one will see a teen with a “moe.” or “Galactic” shirt on.
The levels of difficulty these two genres have consist of huge gaps. The punk bands often have repetitive chords and often the same chords can be found in different songs with different lyrics. The music seems to be “thrown” together with little thought. There is very rarely a solo of any instrument, usually the only instruments are electric guitar, bass, and drums, in punk bands. On the other hand, jam bands consist mostly of non-repetitive chords. Jam bands constantly perform long, difficult, melodic solos, or “jams,” as referred to by fans. There are many different instruments included in jam music, including, saxophones, bongos, horns, banjos, mandolins, etc. All of these instruments solo at one point. The music is thought out and blends together. It all seems arduous to perform, but they seem to pull it off with ease.
In most cases, the songs which punk bands perform are ballads, or “power ballads,” as their fans call them, and are about love and past girlfriends. These songs strive for being catchy, but aren’t necessarily good at all. The song “Better off Dead,” by New Found Glory, is about a girlfriend leaving the singer. The song “What’s my Age Again?” by Blink 182 is about a guy who gets dumped because he isn’t mature. In this genre, this is what most of the songs consist of. The songs that jam bands perform are about (if they have words) good times, making fun of things, smoking marijuana, and getting drunk. They are basically about good times and are not repetitive. The song, “New York City,” by moe. is about having good times bar hopping and such in New York. The song, “Barfly,” by The Disco Biscuits is about how a guy loves drinking and going to bars. Ekoostik Hookah’s song, “GoodTime,” is about having good times in general.
Punk may be popular and sets trends, but that does not mean it makes good music, for the most part, it is lacking. The instrumentation is not at all difficult, and is quite repetitive. There are only a few chords to each song, and the songs are repetitive. The music isn’t at all hard to play, a beginning guitarist, bassist, or drummer can pick up on it fairly quickly. Jam bands however, are almost completely opposite. They strive for heartfelt music that consists of the instruments doing solos to prove worthiness on the scale of difficult music. Jam bands should be more considered than punk, because, where punk lacks, jam bands excel, the music is much more difficult, harder, and greater than modern punk bands are. In almost every aspect, jam bands are better. Consider jam bands over punk bands, because people should know and listen to good music that uplifts and is great, rather than what’s on the radio or on MTV.