So Rick Beato did another listen to the Top 10 songs on Spotify‡. Pop songs. Of the 10, he liked 3, and this was one of them. It has a quite complex chord progression and even changes key at the end of the song.
He said there were sections that reminded him of Earth, Wind & Fire. I wasn't sure at first, but then I never really listened to EWF, unless they were on the radio. The only song I would have recognized by them would have been "September," and that song has a horn section that is front and center. But after some research I would say this song is very similar to "Can't Hide Love." The vocal chorus, the chord progressions are similar. The lyric video of today's song does harken to its 1970s inspiration with the use of an LP record on a turntable.
That said, I'm not sure that I like this song. I don't hate it, the way I hate most Pop Music today, it just isn't my cup of tea, though I can appreciate that it is a well-constructed song, that has good performances and great production. And I think anything that can be done to encourage actual songwriting in Popular Music is a good thing. Some of the songs in that Top 10 list are childish in their structure.
This is "Leave The Door Open (Live)" by Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic.
‡ You can find Rick Beato's video at this link. It is entertaining.
yikes. It manages to combine the worst of modern rap (mumble rap) with the florid excesses of the late 70s. IMHO. And it's written in urban pidgin.
ReplyDeleteLove Rick Beato. There is a 'been there done that' to him that can't be denied. It's always funny to read the comments where someone tries to 'correct' him on something he witnessed first hand. Or when someone thinks he's lying or an internet poseur. There was one recently where the commenter claimed he couldn't be learning the chords and playing the parts as quickly as shown in the vid, and Rick clapped back that he'd produced 100s of metal songs, and had to play 1000s of guitar parts to fix mistakes or errors. Freaking people have no idea what's involved in making records.
You might find some interesting bands in this compilation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6niFit62ss Best of Power Metal //afm records. There were several I opened in new windows to check out further. Most of them could be improved with a strong female vocalist :-) There might be one, or two that I'm humming today, or half singing the hook...
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I agree with everything you said.
DeleteBut...
The excesses of the late 1970s are SO much better than 99.9 percent of the drek that is out there today....
And I will check out that YT playlist... it looks interesting.
DeleteHere's the link just to make it easier.