Tens of millions of people were given U2’s new album for free a couple of weeks ago, and nobody really cared.
The publicity stunt, coordinated with Apple to accompany the announcement of their new iPhone models, netted the band a reported $100 million but simultaneously revealed that they are no longer the “greatest rock band in the world.”
In fact, the massive gifting of their new album, Songs of Innocence, prompted enough bafflement to inspire a hilarious ‘Who is U2?’ Tumblr.
I wrote about Lana Del Rey’s new album, Ultraviolence, about a month ago, and in that post I declared that I finally understood her appeal.
I’ve listened to the album many times since and my admiration has only deepened. It’s definitely music for a certain mood, but it’s a mood I gravitate toward — you guessed it… melancholy.
I’ve been listening to Miranda Lambert’s new album, the terrific Platinum, a lot the past couple of months.
Then the other day I decided to fire up her previous album, Four the Record, which is equally terrific. A couple of years back, it was the brand-new collection that dominated my car stereo. But now it’s been pushed aside, like a first wife whose husband left her for a 25 year-old.
Led Zeppelin is one of those bands, like Pink Floyd, that we’re expected to outgrow.
Every teenage boy has a Led Zeppelin phase, right? But how many listen to the band as adults?
Or maybe I’m just generalizing based on my own experience. I know I gobbled up all of the Zeppelin albums in high school and college but haven’t listened to one of them all the way through since.
‘Footdown’ is the fifth track on Michael Penn’s fourth album, 2000’s MP4: Days Since a Lost Time Accident. And it marks the very moment when he went from one of my favorite artists to an afterthought.
That’s a lot to hang on one song, I know.
Penn’s first three albums were brilliant. 1989’s March was a glistening pop debut, featuring his only true hit (‘No Myth’) and nine other songs even better than that one. In ’92, he avoided the sophomore slump with Free-For-All, an even deeper and more rewarding record. And ’97’s Resigned continued the winning streak.
