Another thing: I feel like the tone of this article and comments are kind of like "he never had much success after this" but according to Spotify numbers, he has quite a few songs from other albums that have plays in the 5 and 6 million. Perhaps here in the USA he didn't do amazing, but I think he still has decent clout in the UK, even today.
While not the masterpiece this is, I will definitely go to bat for "One Plus One Is One" too. I followed his career for quite a while, actually, and I think the thing that actually killed his career was that at a certain point he was very open about trying to make "hits", which was around the time he made "Born In The UK", which is really quite a bland album.
But I think his work from Bewilderbeast, Fed The Fish, and One Plus One is all great stuff. A better three album run than a lot of bands accomplish.
I don't understand why some bands, I get bored with and want them to change their sound, yet others I am perfectly content with them to remain the same on each album.
The Innocence Mission tends to land in the latter category for me.
There is a small part of me that does enjoy song released connected to movies. All this is missing is a music video consisting of them performing the song in some weird location with scenes from the film interspersed between.
You know, like Will Smith.
100% agree! "Coffee in the Pot" is a very odd tune to have in the middle of this entire thing, and I found I started skipping it when I first listened, but now it works as a little breathe of fresh air between some of the more epic stuff.
Also, I have been forever curious if there are parts 1, 2, and 3 to "Tales of Endurance", or if they added the "Parts 4, 5, and 6" for flavor. Great way to begin an album that was a new sound for them.
Their album "Road To Rouen" is a lost classic. I feel like few people cared much about it, but it is stellar songwriting with loads of depth. It's very different than all their other albums, focusing more on acoustic stuff, but is incredibly melodic and great. Certainly a slow burner, but it shines beautifully. I highly recommend everyone listen to it at least once.
I feel like Frankie Cosmos' sound lands into that weird undefined category of bands where they don't really change up their sound, but I never get sick of it. Others I put into that category: The Mountain Goats, Elliott Smith (sorta), John K Samson/The Weakerthans, and I'm sure a couple more that I can't think of right now.
There are certainly different ways of handling it, but I mean, he did literally tell them their phone was going to be thrown if they tried to take a selfie during the show. He's certainly a man of ethics.
I read his book, and he is certainly not concerned in it with coming off good. The entire book is basically him chronicling how drugs, alcohol, and fame corrupted every part of his life in the 2000s. He talks about a lot of shitty things he's done, but since getting sober a decade ago, I think he's very much tried to make up for it. All his music proceeds go to animal rights stuff too, and he has done a lot of charity concerts too, from what I understand.
He certainly should have checked with other people who are in the book, but he's trying, even if failing still at times. I think he has a lot of good intentions, but also has experienced a lot of trauma (a lot of it being self-inflicted). He's a struggling human like everyone else, but being that his failures are very public, it's easy to group up on him.
I'm not justifying anything he's done, but just saying, people are quick to lose their empathy in his regard.
I get that Moby is easy to make fun of, but the book is a pretty good representation of a rock star unknowingly sliding into debauchery and lovelessness. He's fairly self-aware in it too, which I don't think comes across in the snippets in articles like this one.
I wonder if covering Coldplay is going to become a thing that a lot of younger bands start doing in the next few years, given the timing and influence of their earlier albums, and that they take on a different cultural context in some way.
Probably not, but maybe?
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