The unessentials

Have you ever hated a song so much it made your teeth hurt? Pretty solid question, considering the musical offerings we've had to suffer through over the years. Forget the obvious picks like Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears or The Backstreet Boys (thankfully,none of which I own). Of late, I have been rediscovering my cd collection. I have found myslef listening, to what I thought at the time, was music more than worthy of my time. I came across some tunes that should be hung out to dry for all time. My first observation was the debut album by Third Eye Blind. Most of us will recall their break out track - "Semi-Charmed Life", which I have to admit, was pretty catchy and the lyrics very telling. The songs "How's it gonna be" and "The Background" are extremely haunting and tell the story perfectly of what can happen after a relationship turns sour. It's the rest of the album that defies explanation...you've never heard anything quite so objectionable! Which brings me to the very worst pick of all time, Dishwalla's "Pet your friends". This album is curdled milk to the extreme. I purchased this, without listening to it in the store first, which was an obvious mistake. Not only does this album make your teeth hurt, it might even make your ears bleed! Now I'll share a little of my own thoughts mixed with that of my Saturday Friend...we agree to a degree that ColdPlay have gone on to make a third album that, well, sounds exactly like the first two. I read somewhere that the lead singer of Snow Patrol (one the best new bands around) was asked to express himself about what they, as a band, had planned for the coming year. He replied in a very sweet way: "A new album, but I am terrified about it. It has to be good because I want people to realize that the last one wasn't a fluke". This is precisely how I feel about ColdPlay. They created a first cd which was brilliant (I'd be inclined to call this a fluke), filled with wonderfully tragic lyrics and a piano sound that stays with you long after the cd is over. That is, until they sold out the track "Yellow" to the media. This hit the airwaves like a smack upside the head...tuning into ABC for some primetime tv viewing became gut wrenching, as you knew the song was going to ring out during the stations promotional breaks. At that point, respect for them was lost and it was ruled that they were in a constant state of replay.