Despite its name, popular music as a genre is widely disregarded as a less artistic form of musical expression. In contrast to soulful jazz, technical baroque or dramatic rock, pop songs are seen as mass-produced, indistinguishable from one another and lacking any sort of personal touch. Musician and music journalist Neil Tennant summarizes these thoughts perfectly: \u201cIn the music business, people hate pop-music\u201d (Eddy 261). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Historically, however, loathing the current trend in music is extremely common. Early critics hated the Beatles, deeming them \u201cappallingly unmusical\u201d as well as \u201ccrude, and gimmicky (Schneider).\u201d It seems as if the old powers of the music industry are unable to accept the new wave of music, deeming it inherently incorrect due to its deviation from the old standard. This is why seeing Elton John, a giant in the music industry, with hit songs such as \u201cYour Song\u201d and \u201cRocket Man\u201d, embrace the new generation of pop is such a pleasing phenomenon to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Elton John, knighted by the Queen of England in 1998, was mostly active during the 1970s, his music was still geared towards pop and rock genres. His use of the piano in pop music was revolutionary, and his showmanship and personal style has served as inspiration for decades. In 2021, Elton John released a new collaboration album, The Lockdown Sessions<\/em>. Created during the pandemic, the artist released 17 new songs, co-written and\/or co-performed by a large variety of artists; Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, Lil Nas X, Dua Lipa and Nicki Minaj are all guests in the album, among others (Dolan). Some of the records are closer to Elton John\u2019s own musical style, while others are experimental in their techno sound. While not included in the album, Elton John has also been featured in one of Lady Gaga\u2019s songs from the Dawn of Chromatica<\/em> album, \u201cSine from Above.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n These new collaborations have been quite controversial, as they are unexpected and have strayed from Elton John\u2019s usual sound. However, his experimentation with modern sounds and endorsement of up-and-coming artists is admirable. Music didn\u2019t stop being good after the 90s; rather, it is an evolving artform meant to represent the era in which it is being produced. While everyone has their preference as to which music style they enjoy most, it is unfair to interpret newer sounds as lesser than simply because of one\u2019s unfamiliarity with them. Older musicians evolving alongside the music industry, choosing to blend their own style with newer trends, might ruffle some people\u2019s feathers, but Sir Elton John, in doing this, might inspire other artists to contribute to our collective cultural tapestry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bibliography: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dolan, Jon. \u201cOnly Elton John Could Have This Much Fun Making a Quarantine Album.\u201d Rolling Stone<\/em>, Rolling Stone, 22 Oct. 2021, https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-album-reviews\/elton-john-the-lockdown-sessions-1243680\/. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Eddy, Chuck. Rock and Roll Always Forgets: A Quarter Century of Music Criticism<\/em>. Duke University Press, 2011 <\/p>\n\n\n\n Schneider, Cary. \u201cWhat the Critics Wrote about the Beatles in 1964.\u201d Los Angeles Times<\/em>, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2014, https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/la-oe-beatles-quotes-20140209-story.html. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Despite its name, popular music as a genre is widely disregarded as a less artistic form of musical expression. In contrast to soulful…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative-arts","category-popular-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":328,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions\/328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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