GEN
Active topics
  1. Originally posted by dstankie:[..]


    Exactly. Hence the frustration. Lots of older people continue to make great art. Why can't one of the greatest bands of all time? What's stopping them from going for it?
    This truly is one of life's great mysteries!

    Why bands can't produce solid work beyond their late 30s.

    I have a theory, its not so much the bands material that fails to sell.

    Rock n Roll has always been considered a young man's game.

    Image is also everything , the majority that would purchase or stream or Watch ( YT ) are younger and they don't want to see bands that are their dads age.

    Life also changes when bands become popular, they have wealth, relationships - inspo in most songs comes from broken hearts .... that's not relatable when you have been married for 45 years and you are in a presumably happy one.

    Behind the scenes record labels, R&R, managers etc make everything much easier. You couldn't really pump out songs relating to the grift, the struggle of nights playing in dives to 2 men and a dog.

    Artistically, assuming you have released numerous albums as a band by this stage you have said everything you wanted to say.
  2. I fully agree with EdgeMedia72. They have given us plenty of fantastic music over the years. At this point they achieved everything a human being can, professionally and personally.


  4. I see it differently. Every stage of life provides new source material for an artist to put into words for the first time; starting with teenage angst and going all the way through to confronting mortality. In the last 20 years Bono has addressed topics like death of his father, his kids growing up into adults and his brush with death; all of which were new themes. While they may not resonate with a younger audience, they speak to where I’m at.

    I think Springsteen’s Letter To You is a good example of having something new to say even after decades of writing. No 20 or 30 year old could ever have written “One Minute Your Here” or “Last Man Standing” or “I’ll See You In My Dreams”.
  5. Originally posted by Sydney_MIke:[..]


    I see it differently. Every stage of life provides new source material for an artist to put into words for the first time; starting with teenage angst and going all the way through to confronting mortality. In the last 20 years Bono has addressed topics like death of his father, his kids growing up into adults and his brush with death; all of which were new themes. While they may not resonate with a younger audience, they speak to where I’m at.

    I think Springsteen’s Letter To You is a good example of having something new to say even after decades of writing. No 20 or 30 year old could ever have written “One Minute Your Here” or “Last Man Standing” or “I’ll See You In My Dreams”.
    I disagree to some degree . You don't need to be old to have to deal with mortality. Half of the band lost their mothers when teenagers, they lost Greg Carroll when young men... All of us have stories similar to this... If not, you're lucky.
    Yes, when you are an old successful artist mortality is probably the only thing left to address, but we got that with SOE...
  6. Originally posted by Sydney_MIke:[..]


    I see it differently. Every stage of life provides new source material for an artist to put into words for the first time; starting with teenage angst and going all the way through to confronting mortality. In the last 20 years Bono has addressed topics like death of his father, his kids growing up into adults and his brush with death; all of which were new themes. While they may not resonate with a younger audience, they speak to where I’m at.

    I think Springsteen’s Letter To You is a good example of having something new to say even after decades of writing. No 20 or 30 year old could ever have written “One Minute Your Here” or “Last Man Standing” or “I’ll See You In My Dreams”.
    I agree, Bowie's Blackstar (but also even The Next Day to some extent) is another obvious example of that. A very powerful meditation on death and his legacy.

    As for Letter To You, it does actually include a few songs written back in the 1970s, but this contrast between songs written a long time ago and new songs makes this album all the more interesting. Also, the way Springsteen weaved the new songs into his current tour setlist and used them to create a narrative about death, aging and the passage of time has been very moving.
  10. Thats the only version of the song I find listening. At least they do something interesting with the song. Makes me wish we got the French disco version or whatever they were calling it.
  12. I wouldn't have thought Bono was like that 😫