New Singers

So there tends to be a lot of shifting around with lead singers in the repertoire of bands I hold close to the beater. It has happened so much that the initial shock is all but nullified now, since I do believe I've seen some rather drastic changes made in the past few years. Of the lot, Chiodos is one of the more prominent examples. Craig Owens, in my opinion, slaughtered what it meant to be a member of Chiodos. Perhaps it was his nature that did this, or perhaps it was an unattributable draft of fate. Regardless, most people that listen/listened to Chiodos over the years (and I'll be quite frank - that demographic is/was a LOT of teenage girls) only knew the likes of Craig Owens. They associated him as the very face of the band, which isn't too far fetched of a connotation. I mean, as an avid listener of music, the only part of the music I can really partake in (if I choose) is with the lyrics. Well, I suppose you could memorize the guitar portions or any other instrumental aspect, and try to mimic that with your voice or hitting/tapping random shit (of which I esteem a particular Joe Hill for doing), but that's a rarity to pull off without external revulsion. Thus, I, and anybody who listens to music, would very likely make a first impression of a band from their singer.

But you know those people who tend to abstractly listen to music, and generally care for the music BECAUSE they know the words to the songs? Fairweather listeners, who don't take an extra few to let the meanings of the words actually sink in? I'm not saying anything bad about those people. Shit, I'm a culprit in my youth. I go back to the birth of my interest in music: 90's radio rock/alternative, and really pay attention to the words, and I'm often very happy I didn't take the time to indulge in the meanings. For if I did, with the kind of mind I do now, my musical interest could've been a stray bullet without anything but gravity to stop it. I could've hated half the music I now adore because of nostalgia, but that is probably just my writer's mindset seeping in.

But seriously, I think half of what it means to like a band is to actually engage yourself in learning more about them, what they play, why they play it, and how it's represented. You can take that in any form, with mine being partly the lyrical representation, partly the memorial value the band holds. But if you don't look at a band in any way other than a catchy tune that you can sing to, it seems like a little bit of the music's value is lost. HOWEVER, I entirely admit that in the past, and even now, I'm sure there a couple examples where I'm guilty beyond all measures. And since there's so much discrepancy to the quality of music in regards to good sound versus good meaning and mainstream, money-making infatuation versus underground, independent vigor, all hopes of finding distinction are purely lost. It's a big circle-jerk of genre battles. Quite obviously, as the/my answer has already been restated thousands of times: music is just what you make it.

Swinging back to my point of this? There are just a fuck ton of bands that have had a change of face over the years that it's entirely interesting to compare what they were "originally" to their new breed, especially with their writing. Chiodos, Dance Gavin Dance, The Human Abstract, Sky Eats Airplane, Hot Hot Heat, Blessthefall, Escape the Fate, Haste the Day, Saosin, Emarosa, From First to Last...they've all done it.

Go listen to Chiodos' new singer/material. It's not that bad at all (well, that all depends on your musical tastes.)