This Is No Laughing Matter

Today I’m setting out to write about two things: the weather, and music. I probably will end up completely off topic as usual (well, I guess it’s not really “off topic,” as I never have a defined topic to write about). I guess I’ll hit up weather first since I have a lot less to say, and it’s really not that complex of an issue, unlike the music part, which could take me several hours to actually think out and then put into words.

Basically this: rain sucks. I’m tired of the non-stop day after day rain around here. I don’t know where it all came from, but it never used to rain like this. It just never ever stops. I can barely stand it anymore. I mean, I know its supposed to rain like this in Hawaii and Seattle and London, but this is Albany, New York (well, actually right now it’s Troy, New York, but it doesn’t make any difference, it’s still the Capital Region), the frigging capital of the best state in the world. It shouldn’t be raining like this. The weather really needs to chill out.

See, I’m a novice driver. I’ve only practiced this particular ritual for about a month now (excluding the “learning phase” where I had to drive with a parent, because that wasn’t really driving. It’s true what they say: you don’t actually learn how to drive until after you get your license), and I haven’t encountered all of the various types of situations that might possibly arise. I’ve driven in rain and I’ve driven at night, but last night was the first time that both of them attacked me full force at the same time. Driving in heavy rain at night is nothing short of scary. Lights are ineffectual, the roads are wet and slippery, and there are still maniacs insisting on driving 90 mph. It appalls me to see just how many people have death wishes (especially bicyclists, who are easily the most suicidal people on earth). Suffice it to say, I can’t wait until it starts snowing. I love the good old northeast.

I suppose I can easily transition from driving into music. But first, let me start off by saying that “musical sophistication” is a really ambiguous and ultimately stupid pair of words. I know of certain people who claim to be enlightened about “musical sophistication,” but since such people consider Tool to be sophisticated, they pretty much have no idea what they are talking about. Let me start off by saying that I would much, much rather listen to someone with a “whiny” voice than someone with a demonically possessed voice. The reason this whole issue arises is mainly because I am growing increasingly fond of My Chemical Romance as a whole experience, not just one good album. I started listening to “Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge,” and let me say I was basically hooked instantly. The stuff on that CD is nothing short of amazing. But where did all this come from? I found out about their earlier CD, “I Brought You My Bullets, You Brought Me Your Love,” but I was pretty satisfied with what I already had so I didn’t bother to check it out, and besides, I was told by a music guru of sorts (that would be Billy) that it wasn’t anywhere near as good. That was enough for me.

Well, the story doesn’t end there. Just recently I was watching an interview with MCR about their new CD, “The Black Parade,” which comes out in October. One of the things Gerard (the lead singer, for you unenlightened who don’t know) said was that with each album, they advanced far more than most other bands. In other words, the way one band grows over the course of four or five albums, MCR grows over the course of just two. Well, I thought, that’s interesting and maybe true, because after listening to “Welcome to the Black Parade” (one of the songs on the new album), I can tell you that they have changed a lot. So I went back in time and started listening to the first CD with a bit more enthusiasm. By this time I was already hooked on “Headfirst for Halos,” which in my opinion is their best song to date, so I had a small experience with the CD already, but nothing really in depth. So I started listening to the older music more and more. At first glance, it’s nothing more than “garage band” music; relatively boring, musically immature and undeveloped, and otherwise just not very good. This is simply not true. After listening to newer, more developed music, it seems that the older stuff is of a lesser quality, but in actuality it’s only different, not better or worse. It’s also really good driving music. In addition to “Headfirst for Halos,” great songs from this CD include “Skylines and Turnstiles” and “Demolition Lovers.” I still haven’t come to fully appreciate everything on the CD, but I’m getting there.

To say that MCR is not “musically sophisticated” (Mr. Juergens…) is simply absurd. The vast differences and developments between individual songs on a CD, let alone entire albums, is enough to show an intense level of sophistication. There are bands that make music that, for the most part, sounds all the same, but each and every MCR song is a drastically different experience. This is to say that no two songs are even remotely alike. In a lot of cases, the end of a single song can be surprising just based on expectations created at the beginning. One song that comes to mind here is “Cemetery Drive,” which at the beginning seems kind of weird and boring but gradually becomes an awesome song. To my mind, the ability to create such varying music shows infinitely more sophistication than “clever” lyrics about California sinking into the Pacific Ocean. That’s what I call genocidal sadism.

I don’t even want to talk about the “emo” issue. There’s just too bloody (pardon the pun) much to say. Let me say this though: while Wikipedia lists MCR as one of the purportedly emo bands, it first says: “Correctly or not, emo has often been used to describe such bands as…” Please, everyone, take not of the words “correctly or not.” That means Wikipedia does not state as a fact that any band is emo, and therefore anyone who whips out the “if Wikipedia says it, it must be true” hasn’t really read the article. Furthermore, the Wikipedia article on MCR lists them as “alternative rock.” Please, if you’d like a word on musical sophistication and its relation to MCR, read the first paragraph of the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Chemical_Romance. It’s good stuff.

On that note (since this is running really long and basically lacks any form of humor), I think I’ll leave off. Besides, I have big (huge) important things to do, like Calculus.

The End