Fun Stuff > BAND

Cool Mainstream

<< < (10/35) > >>

Hairy Joe Bob:
the best rendition of that song is in the Rattle & Hum movie when they perform it at the time of the second Bloody Sunday and Bono gets really emotional. It's great.

saturnine1979:
I think it's absolutely hilarious that most of you refer to The Arcade Fire as mainstream. Despite the fact they have been featured in Rolling Stone and various other mainstream medias, if you ask 95% of America if they've heard of the Arcade Fire, you're bound to get a resounding "No".

I think the original poster's intention was focused more on artists that are truly mainstream, like Eminem, Avril Lavigne, John Mayer, etc.

Obviously, among the indie community, The Arcade Fire are notorious. You'd be a fool for not knowing about them, regardless of your like or dislike for the band. It's easy to lose sight of how far steeped you are an indie culture when you constantly surround yourself by it.

Ask a "mainstream" friend if they've heard of half the bands you think are insanely popular in the indie scene and I'll bet they give you a nice, blank stare.

That said, one of my favorite bands of all time is the Smashing Pumpkins.

sp2:
Arcade Fire is playing arenas and are on MTV.  I'd consider that mainstream, yeah?

MysteriumTremendum:

--- Quote from: Everest ---I hate the whole mainstream/not mainstream idea, I must say. There's hardly any telling if there's any line, if there's any line to begin with. Everything's music, there's good and there's bad, and that's all I need. In fact, I'm way more uncomfortable with bands desperately trying not to be mainstream, than bands that don't care either way, and just make music.
--- End quote ---

Words to live by.

And I love Snow Patrol, seen them three times now and enjoyed every single concert...best was when they were supported by Keane, that was great!

saturnine1979:
I've seen two of their videos on MTVU (MTV University)...

And as far as I'm aware, they're still playing theatres and clubs. I know they're opening a few dates for U2, but that's the only arena I see on their tour list.

My point is, despite all the attention they seem to be getting, that doesn't necessarily ingrain them into the public conciousness the same way that a Britney Spears or even a Michelle Branch is written into mainstream knowledge. Being mainstream isn't simply being covered in a news box in a music magazine or being featured on MTV2; it's having the words to your radio hits known by the general public or having your album prominently displayed at Wal-Mart.

In that sense, I'd consider Modest Mouse marginally mainstream (as far as their popularity goes) because I know tons of people that aren't necessarily into music that are familiar with "Float On".

But that also brings up another point. I don't think that simply being popular makes an artist mainstream; that word should also be defined by a musical style. In my opinion, masintream music is bland and unoriginal, based on tried and true formulae that easily catches a large audience. Modest Mouse happened to strike a lucky (or unlucky, depending on your view) hit with "Float On". I don't think they were necessarily aiming for mainstream success, but they sure found it.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page