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Sckxyss 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 05 2007
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 1319
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 Posted: November 18 2008 at 19:17 |
 Kotro wrote:
Lyrics are a good way of playing the vocal instrument. Other than that, they're pretty much useless in my view. |
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Tapfret
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
Joined: August 12 2007
Location: Bryant, Wa
Status: Offline
Points: 8581
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 18:48 |
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His another:
Other bands play
Manowar Kill!
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Alberto Muņoz
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 26 2006
Location: Mexico
Status: Offline
Points: 3577
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 18:12 |
Atavachron wrote:
Motorbreath, it's how I live my life,
I can't take it any other way
Motorbreath, the sound of living fast
It is going to take your breath away
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here's another:
The leather armies have prevailed
The Phantom Lord has never failed
Smoke is lifting from the ground
The rising volume metal sound
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Tapfret
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
Joined: August 12 2007
Location: Bryant, Wa
Status: Offline
Points: 8581
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 17:59 |
cacho wrote:
^"Then there are those vocalists that are outstanding but ruin the musical experience with their concepts." I suppose you're talking about Jon Anderson?
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I actually had a particular guy of Scandinavian lineage in mind, I was going to refrain from naming names and let others decide who is guilty in this case, as there are many. Your answer is certainly viable on some level.
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The Pessimist
Prog Reviewer
Joined: June 13 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 3834
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 17:56 |
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Interesting point, I think for me it depends entirely on the band. For example, bands like Tool, VDGG and Opeth who have very poetic lyrics, they are a very important contribution to the music. I always find myself looking up the lyrics for these bands and reading them whilst listening to the music. It gives a whole new depth to the songs.
However with bands like The Mars Volta, Meshuggah and The Flower Kings that have very stereotypical lyrics (or in TMV's lyrics, complete bullsh*t), I tend to ignore them because there is nothing to look for in them, making the content quite pointless. These kind of bands, with exception of TFK maybe, use the syllables as an instrument of their own, with complete disregard for what they actually mean. I know for a fact that TMV use this kind of lyrical composition.
Overall, you could say that lyrics aren't as important anymore. But look at Yes. The lyrics, no matter how deeply interpretted, let's face it, mean absolutely nothing. And that was the 70s.
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"Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value."
Arnold Schoenberg
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Atavachron
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: September 30 2006
Location: Pearland
Status: Offline
Points: 65244
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 17:54 |
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Motorbreath, it's how I live my life,
I can't take it any other way
Motorbreath, the sound of living fast
It is going to take your breath away
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The Quiet One
Prog Reviewer
Joined: January 16 2008
Location: Argentina
Status: Offline
Points: 15745
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 17:52 |
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^"Then there are those vocalists that are outstanding but ruin the musical experience with their concepts." I suppose you're talking about Jon Anderson?
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Tapfret
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin
Joined: August 12 2007
Location: Bryant, Wa
Status: Offline
Points: 8581
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 17:47 |
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I actually prefer instrumental music. There are very few truly solid vocalists out there, and no matter how important the words are to a concept, a really bad vocalist can destroy really good music. Then there are those vocalists that are outstanding but ruin the musical experience with their concepts.
Edited by Tapfret - November 18 2008 at 17:49
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King Crimson776
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 12 2007
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 2779
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 17:32 |
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Lyrics should compliment the music, not the other way around, that's my general view. So long as the lyrics go well with the music, it's all good. But of course there are some really epic lines now and then that I really get off on, but it's usually in the way that it compliments the music.
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NotAProghead
Special Collaborator
Errors & Omissions Team
Joined: October 22 2005
Location: Russia
Status: Offline
Points: 7851
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 16:55 |
If lyrics are in my native language (Russian) they are extremely important. If lyrics don't touch me, the music does not exist for me, no matter how good or bad it is.
In case of English I first listen to the music and vocals, if I find the sound interesting I often try to get into lyrics. Of course there are exceptions, for example, I don't think it's possible to appreciate John Lennon solo albums without understanding lyrics. My English is too poor to understand everything when I listen to the record. Lyrics sheet is often necessary.
In case of unfamiliar languages the voice is only one more instrument. Though deep in my soul I prefer to believe that if music is good lyrics are good too (even knowing that it is not necessarily so  ).
Edited by NotAProghead - November 18 2008 at 16:57
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Who are you and who am I to say we know the reason why... (D. Gilmour)
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Kotro
Prog Reviewer
Joined: August 16 2004
Location: Portugal
Status: Offline
Points: 2815
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 16:46 |
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Lyrics are a good way of playing the vocal instrument. Other than that, they're pretty much useless in my view.
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Bigger on the inside.
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Alberto Muņoz
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 26 2006
Location: Mexico
Status: Offline
Points: 3577
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 16:42 |
aapatsos wrote:
Lyrics are supposed to play a crucial part in prog music (not only) and several bands/artists pay too much attention in their concepts, in order to make their outputs more ''complete''.
As time goes by and more music is stored in hard drives rather than CDs, I get the feel that I don't pay too much attention on the lyrics. In the past, I used to be ''obsessed'' with the lyrics, notes etc on each CD.
Are we missing a huge point in prog music by neglecting the lyrics?
Do you get the same feel?
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I often see the lyrics, so that presents to me a wide spectrum of the band that i hear.
My most difficult issue with the lyrics is when they are sung in a language different of english, spanish or italian, i have to traslate the lyrics.
In non prog groups i usually go with the music and ignoring the lyrics like the case of some of extreme metal bands, some lyrics are unbearable, but the music is very good. 
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CPicard
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 03 2008
Location: Lā, sui monti.
Status: Offline
Points: 10841
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 16:20 |
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As I was kind of a metalhead when I was teenager, lyrics were very important to me. When black metal came on the scene, there was all these stories and/or rumours about nazi/racist bands in this movement. So, when hearing of a new band, I always tried to check the lyrics (and I'm really glad to have the web nowadays!).
If progressive rock doen't have to deal with this political stuff, I still consider lyrics as important: I feel sorry for musicians singing about elves, dragons, witches, fairies... after the age of 20. It can prevent me from buying some records.
But I'm also fed up with prog-rock bands dealing with the cliches of the genre. When I read to the lyrics of Jethro Tull, Genesis, King Crimson or VDGG, there's a depth, sometimes black humor, a bit of social and/or political commentary. And I feel that a lot of prog-rock avoid touchy subjects, just offering neutral and nonsense concept-albums about the life and death of a caniche or singing about the joy of making music and bringing happiness to people.
I don't say that prog bands should ALL sing about the proletarian revolution or bombing Iran (among others subjects), but I'm not sure prog-rock can go out of its ghetto if its participants persist to sing about the nice Springstime we had this year or their last break-up.
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infandous
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 23 2006
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 2447
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 15:47 |
Well, I will admit that I used to obsess over lyrics myself. I thought they were terribly important. Until I realized that most of them were not  Seriously, good lyrics are not easy to write, and I think a lot of bands put too much effort into something they simply are not good at (lyrics). I do agree that people who download everything and listen on shuffle on their iPods are often missing some great lyrical concepts. But I think that is true only a small percentage of the time. Over the years, I've become less and less concerned with the quality of lyrics in the music I enjoy. Most of what I love about Prog is the music anyway, not the lyrics. On the whole, Prog bands at least seem to put more thought into their lyrics than most pop writers do, but I find that can often hurt the music, by putting the words above the melody and ruining what could have been a sublime vocal melody. Besides, I'm starting to see something of an overkill in the Prog world of certain lyrical subjects and concept album topics. Too much repetition and similarity of subjects makes it hard to recognize truly great lyrics when they appear. Anyway, I doubt most of us on this site neglect lyrics, though I know there are a number of people here who prefer instrumental music. But I suspect they were never all that interested in the lyrics anyway. I have a friend who simply dislikes the human voice as an instrument. It ruins the music for him.. It all comes down to what moves you and works for you I guess.
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aapatsos
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: November 11 2005
Location: Manchester, UK
Status: Offline
Points: 9226
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Posted: November 18 2008 at 15:31 |
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Lyrics are supposed to play a crucial part in prog music (not only) and
several bands/artists pay too much attention in their concepts, in
order to make their outputs more ''complete''.
As time goes by and more music is stored in hard drives rather than CDs, I get the feel that I don't pay too much attention on the lyrics. In the past, I used to be ''obsessed'' with the lyrics, notes etc on each CD.
Are we missing a huge point in prog music by neglecting the lyrics?
Do you get the same feel?
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Have we lost the lyrics?
