Now, I love the Beatles. I have since I was a kid. And, I love mashups - I think they're the new pop art. When Danger Mouse laid Jay-Z's rhymes from the Black Album over rhythms from the Beatles' White Album, I was all over it.
There are some things, however, that I do not like. I do not like that Jay-Z/Linkin Park faux mash-up "Numb/Encore." It was bad enough that they got a television special, but then they had to take this wretched "song" to Live 8, and then to the Grammys. I also do not like what is being done with the Beatles' legacy. John and George sadly passed before their time, and Ringo, well, he's doing his Ringo thing. That leaves Paul to carry the entire legacy on his shoulders - at our expense. Maybe he fears his own old age, but McCartney has been seen popping up at every awards show, benefit concert and half-time extravaganza often awkwardly paired up with younger artists, playing old Beatles' tunes like it's open mic night at the local dive. Last night at the Grammy's, Paul took this way too far.
Halfway through the "Numb/Encore" performance, Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington began crooning "Yesterday" in his too-squeaky-to-be-a-hard rocker voice. Then, he was joined by ... surprise! surprise! Paul McCartney (the man has no shame). Chester and Paul harmonized - with one singing terribly off-key, while Jay-Z added some "uh"s and some "yeahs" and maybe even some "uh huhs." It was - to be honest - the worst thing I have ever seen/heard in my entire life. Thank god I did not see this until it was on the internet - I do not know how I would have reacted had it been a total surprise.
At least Paul picked the worst Beatles' song ever to massacre. I just hope this does not signify the death of the mash-up.
4 comments:
I sometimes wonder why Paul thinks that he needs to do this ?
RETIRE NOW PAUL....PLEASE
Maybe he said, "If Sting can do it. Why can't I?"
I don't mind mashups UNLESS...and a very big unless...it's a remake of one on the artist's previously released songs.
Go ahead and join forces to create a new song, but leave the originals the hell alone!!! Samples are bad enough..I nearly puked when I witnessed Jimmy Page playing the Kashmir guitar loop for that Puff Daddy imbecile..but leave the lyrics alone. Are these people really tapped out of all originality?
While I think there are a lot of gimmicky mash-ups out there, the truly creative ones perfectly mesh songs that seem like polar opposites. While I despise Linkin Park, I truly despise the Jay-Z/Linkin Park mash-up because there is no creativity if you can simply re-record your vocals to change the tune.
Ha. Forget about that Puff Daddy/Jimmy Paige collabo. That was shit.
Post a Comment