Post by Pex On Fire- on Aug 29, 2008 13:20:14 GMT
Firstly. calm your pants and have a read before you jump down my throat. You might actually agree by the end of this post. 
On another forum, completely unrelated to music funnily enough, the following post was made in a thread talking about music artist that sell out. Something Kings Of Leon have been accused of for the last year or so. They we're talking about rap and hip hop artists (ugh
) but there was a line which caught my attention. Which I think relates to KOL.
On a somewhat more serious note, I do agree with Frketson that the term "sellout" is relative -- as in, everybody has a different take on what actions are consistent with an artist or a band selling out.
I personally think it has just as much to do with the artist's image, persona and reputation as it does with the music he or she is creating in the first place. There's a point where an artist simply decides to ditch the personality quirk or drop whatever front they had been putting up for years, all for the sake of appearing more accessible (and therefore, acceptable) in the eyes of the average customer. Certain musicians have always remained the same; whether or not they were truly what they were on camera, we might never know. But for better or worse, they stayed pretty close to their roots.
That line sums it up for me.
For years they were the Kings of Cool with their off beat style, big hair, tight jeans and totally different sound. It's what turned my head and I'm sure it's what turned your head.
I think with them it was alot more easy to believe this was them rather than a persona they had created because they came from a very different and almost mythical background to the rest of us. It wasn't like a band like Razorlight, where you feel the whole image of white jeans ect is so calculated.
The big hair and beards then disappeared and are more chic look came about for ASH and the hair was straightend, the jeans got tighter and the Dior came out and they're popularity grew.
Then came BOTT. Calebs, Matt and Jared's hair was short, the band adopted an all black look that had them look like they had the same stylist for the first time and the musical style became alot more "commercial" or "accessible" and a Number 1 album was the result.
I remember a couple of interviews when Caleb had hinted about the band's image being more of a persona than a reality when he said when asked, what the secret to their success was, something along the lines of "having a storey, being different, partying hard and sleeping with as many models as you can" (it was something to that effect, and obviously before he settled down with his girlfriend....) then there was another interview when he was asked what they like most about being at home and he said "just being able to but some normal pants on and go down to the supermarket, we would get funny looks if we wore these where we came from". That for me made what they wear sound like a stage costume.
So what we have now is Caleb ditching the skinny jeans, with short hair and "not afraid of people hearing my lyrics, so I can sing properly now".
My conclusion? Are they selling out? No.
They are just relaxing more and able to be themselves and be more real.
On another forum, completely unrelated to music funnily enough, the following post was made in a thread talking about music artist that sell out. Something Kings Of Leon have been accused of for the last year or so. They we're talking about rap and hip hop artists (ugh
) but there was a line which caught my attention. Which I think relates to KOL.On a somewhat more serious note, I do agree with Frketson that the term "sellout" is relative -- as in, everybody has a different take on what actions are consistent with an artist or a band selling out.
I personally think it has just as much to do with the artist's image, persona and reputation as it does with the music he or she is creating in the first place. There's a point where an artist simply decides to ditch the personality quirk or drop whatever front they had been putting up for years, all for the sake of appearing more accessible (and therefore, acceptable) in the eyes of the average customer. Certain musicians have always remained the same; whether or not they were truly what they were on camera, we might never know. But for better or worse, they stayed pretty close to their roots.
That line sums it up for me.
For years they were the Kings of Cool with their off beat style, big hair, tight jeans and totally different sound. It's what turned my head and I'm sure it's what turned your head.
I think with them it was alot more easy to believe this was them rather than a persona they had created because they came from a very different and almost mythical background to the rest of us. It wasn't like a band like Razorlight, where you feel the whole image of white jeans ect is so calculated.
The big hair and beards then disappeared and are more chic look came about for ASH and the hair was straightend, the jeans got tighter and the Dior came out and they're popularity grew.
Then came BOTT. Calebs, Matt and Jared's hair was short, the band adopted an all black look that had them look like they had the same stylist for the first time and the musical style became alot more "commercial" or "accessible" and a Number 1 album was the result.
I remember a couple of interviews when Caleb had hinted about the band's image being more of a persona than a reality when he said when asked, what the secret to their success was, something along the lines of "having a storey, being different, partying hard and sleeping with as many models as you can" (it was something to that effect, and obviously before he settled down with his girlfriend....) then there was another interview when he was asked what they like most about being at home and he said "just being able to but some normal pants on and go down to the supermarket, we would get funny looks if we wore these where we came from". That for me made what they wear sound like a stage costume.
So what we have now is Caleb ditching the skinny jeans, with short hair and "not afraid of people hearing my lyrics, so I can sing properly now".
My conclusion? Are they selling out? No.
They are just relaxing more and able to be themselves and be more real.
*karma* 
