While emo-ing out tonight...

...I realized My Chemical Romance's "Disenchanted" (2006) sounds like a cross between Pink Floyd's "Goodbye Blue Sky" (1979) and Jann Arden's "Insensitive" (1994).







That's all.

The Audacity of Rock: Part 6

Using early cinema stylings for music videos.

I'll admit I love this one. The more theatrical a band can get, the better. And what's more theatrical than silent film?

"Tonight Tonight" by The Smashing Pumpkins

This video takes the basic plot from Melies' "A Trip to the Moon" (1902) and makes it a love story. Who knew the Smashing Pumpkins could make something more adorable?

Here's the original cinemagician Georges Melies at work in part 2 of "A Trip to the Moon":



And here's the fantastic video from the Smashing Pumpkins:

The Smashing Pumpkins |MTV Music

"Welcome to the Black Parade" by My Chemical Romance

This video borrows a lot from German Expressionism from its heavy black eye make-up (not just emo-liner) to its bleak gas masks and skeletons, not to mention the lonely hero at the end. Post-WWI was not a fun time. Anyway, while a lot of this movement performed in theatre, quite a few early silent films used some of the same techniques that showed internal emotion and turned it into symbolic set design and props in addition to exaggerated body movements.

Here's a super creepy scene from Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) complete with black eye make-up and stylized sets:



And here's MCR's video:

My Chemical Romance |MTV Music

Questions to ponder:
1. How much would you like to believe that rock bands actually research this stuff and knew a lot about early cinema and it wasn't just the people who work for them?
2. Would everything be better if it was done in an expressionist form? Why or why not?

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5 of The Audacity of Rock.

The Audacity of Rock: Part 3

Let's sing at a school pep assembly about angsty teenagers.

Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"

Apparently this is the song that kicked off the grunge scene. While that's debatable, let's talk high school. My gymnasium was definitely not this smoke filled or creepy. And there was a lot less long hair and a lot more Abercrombie and Hollister. I never really connected with this song (I'm a little young to really belong to this era), although being raised in the Northwest I admit I have a special place in my heart for Nirvana. Anyway, some genuine angst.

Nirvana |MTV Music

My Chemical Romance "Teenagers"

I dare anyone to say this isn't a brilliant rock song. Not only is it totally catchy, it's not dark enough for me to feel guilty about not agreeing with its sentiments. Also, it came out once I was already in college meaning I was a little too old to belong to this era of rock. This is just to say I never got into the teen angst thing. Anyway, the video features another pep assembly from hell, this time with gas masks.



So in the Battle of Teen Angst: Grunge vs. Emo, I think emo wins out mostly because it doesn't sound angsty so much as anthemic. And I love me some classic rock throwback.

Questions to Ponder:
1. What's the draw of creepy cheerleaders?
2. Is high school supposed to suck this much? Because I missed out.
3. Why were the only "alternative" bands that put out teen angst songs when I was in high school Good Charlotte or Linkin Park? And how lame were they?


Part 1 and Part 2 of The Audacity of Rock.