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| re: Jim Interview | |
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Markus 01:10 am UTC 03/08/07 |
| In reply to: | Jim Interview - Jacqueline 05:31 pm UTC 03/06/07 |
| What an ODD interview! Markus. > > http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/artslife/story.html?id=d26b477d-3528-4d94-bcc6-dfb0a25ca7cd&k=63823 > > Arcade Loaf: Montreal's most operatic indie band is > constantly being compared to Springsteen, but they're much > closer to The Boss' more theatrical contemporary > > Mike Doherty > National Post > > > Tuesday, March 06, 2007 > > > > CREDIT: Olivier Laban-Mattei, AFP, Getty Images > The Arcade Fire's Win Bulter is finding the epic drama of > his band's new album being likened to Bruce Springsteen at > his most anthemic, but could the quasi-religious fervour > of much of the disc be directed at a Paradise closer to > ... > > Judging by the number of times he has been name checked in > the music press in recent months, you would think Bruce > Springsteen was the most important rocker on the planet. > From mega-sellers (The Killers) to critical darlings (The > Hold Steady), a raft of young artists is said to have been > inspired by The Boss. They've either named albums after > his (like Badly Drawn Boy's Born in the U.K.), used > elements of his aesthetic or both. > > But for all the Jersey rocker's influence, these bands and > many more reach beyond Springsteen's marriage of > blue-collar grit with fist-pumping anthems. Between Brooce > and today's indie rockers, a large and unexpected presence > looms: that of Meat Loaf. > > Starting with 1977's Bat Out of Hell, the stage veteran, > along with composer Jim Steinman, popularized a brand of > apocalyptic, theatrical rock that is making a comeback, > from Muse's universe- spanning epics to The Flaming Lips' > cosmic existentialism to the dark, cinematic glam of > Kasabian. Startling as it may seem, a striking comparison > can be made between Meat Loaf's critically reviled debut > and The Arcade Fire's brand-new Neon Bible, now receiving > hosannas from congregations of zealous music writers. The > similarities begin, fittingly, with The Boss. > > "When I saw Springsteen at the Bottom Line in New York," > recalls Steinman, "I was blown away. I remember saying to > Meat Loaf, 'God, he's doing what I?m doing!' " > > On 1975's Born to Run, which ends with the 10-minute > Jungleland, Springsteen showcased a theatrical > presentation of Americana, which he then more or less > abandoned. Springsteen's label boss, Clive Davis, rejected > Steinman's songs as being too bizarre, but he and Meat > Loaf soldiered on. With help from producer Todd Rundgren > and Springsteen's own pianist and drummer, they took > operatic rock to absurd heights with Bat Out of Hell > (which has since sold around 40 million copies) only to > outdo themselves with1993's immensely overblown Bat Out of > Hell 2. > > Steinman, reached at his Connecticut home yesterday at > 2:15 a.m. (like bats, he's nocturnal), may have written > hits for the likes of Bonnie Tyler and Air Supply, but > he's also a Wagnerian at heart who likes to challenge his > audience. His modus operandi is not just to throw the > kitchen sink into his work, but also to chuck the pipes in > after it, set it on fire and then add strings. > > You can hear elements of Bat's orchestral grandeur on Neon > Bible. The New York Times' claim that "the Arcade Fire has > managed to avoid any gestures toward the operatic" is > belied by the album's opening song: Black Mirror sounds > like the Rolling Stones' Brown Sugar as re-imagined by the > Phantom of the Opera, underpinned by a menacing low > rumble. You can't get much more Sturm und Drang than > this. > > Steinman cites "extreme passion, or fever" as a necessary > element in good rock music, and the Arcade Fire's lead > singer, Win Butler sings with a dramatic fervour that > recalls Meat Loaf's desperate romanticism. Butler's lyrics > are shot through with end-of-the-world apocalyptic > imagery: "World War III, when are you coming for me?", he > warbles on the eerie Windowsill. > > Steinman's oeuvre looks ahead to a quasi-Biblical rock 'n' > roll apocalypse: "I find heaven and hell, light and dark, > to be eternally exciting conflicts," he says. "From the > time I was a little kid, I loved religion for its > accessories. I used to go to St. Patrick's cathedral [in > New York] just to hear the music and liturgies." > > Most of Neon Bible was recorded in churches outside of > Montreal; what with its shivering strings, big reverb and > 500-pipe church organ, the album is as gothic as the > lettering on Bat Out of Hell's cover. All the same, the > Arcade Fire are hardly reverent: On Saturday Night Live > last month, Butler shattered an acoustic guitar. > > The guitar-smashing Pete Townshend was himself an > influence on Steinman: "I had never seen violence so > beautifully portrayed," he says of seeing The Who for the > first time. "There's a great fun in destroying things and > tearing them down, and it's also politically the essence > of rock 'n' roll." > > Significantly, the Arcade Fire, together with bands like > The Hold Steady and even The Killers, are apt to write in > character, or about events outside themselves. "If I was > teaching songwriting," says Steinman, "I would say: 'Stop > looking inward.' I can't imagine Wagner sat down and said, > 'Let me start a four-part epic cycle about my personal > life buying female underwear.' He had a much different > mission." > > Wagner wrote about the twilight of the gods; Meat Loaf > sings about "killers on the bloodshot streets," and Win > Butler sings about falling bombs --it's all very dire, but > it works only if you can enjoy the music viscerally. Hence > the exhilarating rhythms and sweeping arrangements that > accompany both Meat Loaf's finding paradise by the > dashboard light and Win Butler's ode to going where No > Cars Go. > > Canadian musicians (aside from Celine Dion and Rush) have > mostly shied away from the grandiose. Nonetheless, Bat Out > of Hell first reached platinum status here, and Meat Loaf > has claimed, "More people in Canada owned Bat Out of Hell > than owned snowshoes" (which is not really that many, but > you get the idea). > > If Neon Bible's hugely uplifting closer, My Body is a > Cage, with vocals by a choir of fallen angels, crashing > drums that could set a whole army marching and, of course, > the pipe organ to end all pipe organs, is any indication, > the Arcade Fire could give Steinman a run for his money. > > As for the songwriter, he played little part in this > year's Bat Out of Hell "threequel," The Monster is Loose, > but fear not: He's writing new songs for a musical version > of the first two albums, to premiere in London in 2008, > complete with 3-D animation. Steinman likens it to a > musical version of last year's apocalyptic film Children > of Men. > > "The first review of Bat Out of Hell said I'm way over the > top," he recalls. "But how are you going to see the other > side if you don't go over the top?" > | |
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