6.18.2007

Hold Steady Frontman Fronts On Dead Frontman




I've always found The Doors to be the best example of "accessible edginess" also know as "non-edginess". Their music hit me, even at an early age, as indulgent, mediocre and pseudo-intellectual, much like Oliver Stone's movie about them(and all his other movies). And really, what was their contribution to rock history? To pave the way for Lenny Kravitz and a bunch of other so-so musicians who look good in giant belt buckles?

Brooklyn Vegan points to this article from The Guardian asking musicians to call Bullshit on a "classic" album. Makes for a good read, though I think the wise ones chose dead musicians. Craig Finn of The Hold Steady chose The Doors L.A Woman but particularly seems to go after the man in the leather pants. It makes sense seeing as how Craig is the polar opposite of the lizard king in every imaginable way. It's also nice how the other musicians used words like "attitudinising" and "unreconstructed" to detract, my man just calls Jimmy a "drunk asshole". Full piece below:

"The Doors LA Woman
Nominated by Craig Finn of the Hold Steady

In America when you're growing up, you're subjected to the Doors as soon as you start going to parties and smoking weed. People think of Jim Morrison as a brilliant rock'n'roll poet, but to me it's unlistenable. The music meanders, and Morrison was more like a drunk asshole than an intelligent poet. The worst of the worst is the last song, Riders on the Storm: "There's a killer on the road/ His brain is squirming like a toad" - that's surely the worst line in rock'n'roll history. He gave the green light to generations of pseuds. A lot of people told him he was a genius, so he started to believe it. The Velvets did nihilism and darkness so much better - they were so much more understated; what they did had subtlety, whereas the Doors had little or none: they were a caricature of "the dark side". I actually like Los Angeles, but the Doors represent the city at its most fat, bloated and excessive. Morrison's death does give rock some mythic kudos, but that doesn't make me want to listen to the music. In fact, if it comes on the radio, I change the station."

1 comment:

alicetaylor said...

I love all the posts, I really enjoyed, I would like more information about this, because it is very nice., Thanks for sharing.

http://lennyfacetext.com