Quite often you’ll hear a band’s sound described as producing a combined effect greater than the sum of its separate parts This is usually a very sound and valid statement. I believe the office buzz word you are looking for here is “synergy”. Guns and Roses are a great example of a band’s synergy. I loved the hell out of classic G-N-R but I never ever wanted to listen to Slash’s Snake Pit or Izzy Stradlin and the JuJu Hounds….and I wasn’t alone. There was deep seeded logic for my disdain for these solo projects as
1) they were not good.
2) I’d always wonder what group efforts I was missing because of someone’s misguided solo work.
It would always come down to the relationship you had with the band. You almost felt as if you were cheating if you put your time, effort, and money behind their solo work. As a kid I can recall being crippled with fear thinking “Oh no, What if CC Deville’s solo album goes triple platinum!? We’ll never see Poison get back together!”. Young Del didn’t want to live in a world where Poison didn’t exist. Lucky for him CC Deville never did release a solo album. Instead he did lots and lots of cocaine. As i grew older and learned about relationship dynamics I realized that people need their alone time to grow and explore new facets of themselves. In the end it benefits everyone. No one more so then the members of The Strokes. I’ll gladly sign off on the end of the Strokes if that means I get awesome solo albums like “Phrazes for the Young”, “Yours to Keep”, & “Little Joy”. Left to his own devices on “Phrazes for the Young” Casablancas trades in his signature monotone garage rock strokes crooning sound in for a new monotone dance groove.
Baby steps.
Highlights: Left & Right in the Dark, 11th Dimension
I Love Jules, his poetic vision, the musical tangents in all his work. I get it. The pathwork, the maternal instinct behind the construct. The transformation.
I love the new album and it’s Hayden meets Cindi Lauper and they hole up smoking meth in the studio for 4 months straight vibe. I’m a little addicted to it, can’t seem to drive anywhere without it. The need to do something different like “little joy” is understandable, and I loved (enough to purchase) Albert’s “Yours To Keep” as well… but ultimately I am a confirmed Strokes fan and I’m ready for a new fucking Strokes album already.
Me and my friend were arguing concerning a problem similar to the current! Now I recognize that I was right. lol! Thanks for the information you post.