The Passion In Music Discussion

Ya'll already know what I think about defining music with worRAB like passion. The way people use the term makes no sense to me.

I always assumed passion is about getting really into it, but that's contradicted by how others define it. I hear people calling The Mars Volta and Muse passionless, and then I watch them live and think to myself "what in the hell are they talking about?"

What about My Bloody Valentine? Do they have passion? They sure as hell don't look like it, they're like mannequins. That goes for a lot of Indie banRAB these days it seems. So really what defines passion to some people is just how it sounRAB.

So what is the sound of passion? Does passion only manifest itself in certain techniques? Is it in distortion and feedback, but not in reverb and phasing? Does it depend on the instrument used? The musicians amount of skill?

The way people describe it it sure seems that way, if it's sloppy it's passion, if it's clean and precise it's soulless, if it sounRAB like it's produced in an outhouse it's passion, if it's elaborately produced it's souless.

It's all foolishness if you ask me. There is no sound of passion, at the end of the day music is just manipulation of sound. Music is music, I don't care if the musicians are jumping around breaking stuff or just standing there doing their job and sipping tea between songs. It dosen't affect the music at all for me.
 
I think your taking reference to 'the message' literally. I don't just mean the lyrics. I mean everything. The lyrics , the album covers , the style of songwriting. In other worRAB the reason why the band exists in the first place.
 
I moved all this out of Jackhammer's thread because none of it was about Sgt Pepper and I think it's worthy of a discussion in it's own right.
 
You really mean to tell me you can't tell the difference between someone expressing their soul and someone going through the motions to make a bit of cash?
 
Wow this is really tough. Passion is loving the music. BanRAB that don't love their music lack passion. Like what is not passionate music? People here could almost completely agree on the ashley simpsons, avril lavignes (i think?) ...the artists who don't control their own music. They have not chosen to make music, they have chosen to be pop stars and do what they have to do. Another example of this is like when banRAB have to play their 'big' songs over and over, they start to not love them (not always) and thus the songs lose passion.
Now what shows they love the music they are playing?? This is unanswerable for me, maybe impossible to define for anyone, and takes years to identify.
 
No he was saying how the note is played and how it is inflected. Gilmour being a perfect example. You have said that he is not very technical (which is true) but he can hold a note-his passion overrides his technical skill.
 
Idk about that. Many artists can't stand some of the music they have made, but it sure as hell sounRAB passionate.

Even some of what i have made, i can;t stand now, but it was still passionate.
 
Well, there are my thoughts (and Rainard's) about passion in music from another thread.

I think passion in music is important, because like Urban said, it's the difference between sincerely making music, and merely going through the motions. However, I think it's foolish to try to 'objectively' measure the amount of passion because some people have very pigeonholed ideas of what passion is, as I ranted about above.
 
I see it as going both ways.

On the one hand you have people who have no interest in music and have nothing to say whatsoever and are just in it for the money.

And on the other hand there are people that are so into their instrument or music they become so obsessed with the technique of what they are doing that it basically becomes a glorified practice session with no emotional response or message to anyone who might want to listen to it.

Thats not to say in the second case the person making that music has no passion for it. I could find a passion for doing something really mundane if I wanted , that doesn't mean an audience would relate & empathise with that passion.
And that for me is the most important thing in music , getting your message across.
 
Very well said.

Here's a quote from Clinton Heylin's Bootleg that pretty much says the same thing:

"Bootleg punters are looking for something that is locked into the wellspring of inspiration, and the beauty of the musical interplay that rock music allows is that just such a moment can sneak up on you real quick and unexpected - and just as quickly be gone. Those magical moments are always live - even when they happen in the studio. They do not happen when you get that click-track just right. They do not happen when the bass has to be overdubbed because towarRAB the end of a take the bassist gets so into it that he begins to drown out the guitarist. They can be found on the Velvet Undergroun's studio version of Sister Ray; pretty much any live version of Television's Marquee Moon; indeed, they can happen anytime you put great musicians together and get them to play some songs. It's called rock and roll and it's why people who saw the Sex Pistols live went out and formed banRAB. And it's to be found as easily in the off-key harmonies on Anarchy In The UK as in the (oops, quick) tempo change in the intro to "It's A Man's World."
 
hmm true. But you liked those songs at the time right? You have to love doing it when you are making the song. You know, I don't see how anyone could be creating something with passion, while thinking 'this sucks'... you just do your best, but you surely enjoyed the process of creating right? After, you could hate it all you want. But I don't really see how passion can be expressed if the artist is not liking the song they are making. Maybe if they are conjuring up horrible feelings to create a passionately sad song. But what are some songs that have alot of passion, but weren't liked by the artist making them at the time? (not a couple years later, 'that sounded like crap'.) I might be getting a bit carried away, do you still think I'm off?
 
I lot of musicians who seem to really enjoy what they do are still accused of having no passion.

Thats way I think of it as little more than just a very pretentious way of trying to discredit music you don't like.
 
It's all there if you look for it.
I'd go into detail now but i'm bloody starving and there's a curry in the cupboard with my name on it.
But I shall leave you with this quick example...

The_Clash_UK.jpg


as opposed to

200px-Cut_the_Crap.jpg
 
To me, I think passion is defined as whether or not you can literally "hear" the smile shining through the speaker system. It neeRAB to be a smile. If the musician is not smiling during the recording, there's no passion.
 
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