What creates them for fans when they still release music?
If you read the previous post you would know I recently went to see Biffy Clyro, again! This was a huge 45,000 audience gig a Finsbury Park. This was part of the promotion tour for their 10th album Futique, yes their 10th album, an album that spawned the singles ‘A Little Love’, ‘Hunting Season’, ‘True Believer’ and ‘Goodbye’, all tracks I couldn’t wait to hear live. It’s a great album that I listen to regularly as much as the other 9, they just keep bringing out album and singles I want to listen to and keep listening to. That got me thinking!
So what am I writing about?
A “heritage act” refers to a veteran band that has transitioned from creating culturally relevant new music to touring primarily on the strength of their classic back catalogue. The label implies an artist who is iconic, has a legacy spanning several decades, and whose live shows draw heavily on nostalgia. So basically you go to hear the old tunes far more than the new, even if they are still recording. Think ‘The Rolling Stones’ or ‘The Who’.
I would rnever refer to Biffy as a heritage act, I would though as a veteran band as they formed in 1995, 31 years ago but ‘to me’ they stay culturally relevant. They keep writing music that’s is as uplifting as it is heart wrenching, as heavy as it is gentle, they never disappoint, and when they announce a tour I’m not just thinking I want to hear ‘Machines’ or ‘Biblical’ or ‘Bubbles’ I want the new songs just as much. There’s nostalgia but there’s so much more. Biffy Clyro is just the catalyst for my thoughts, ground zero, this applies to numerous bands for numerous people.
Can that be said for many bands that have been around a while? Moving away from the fact that I’m a relentless Biffy fan, my music appreciation is as varied as they come. There are some big acts out there still releasing that i’ve been a huge fan of for years but just can’t deliver albums that connect with me anymore? My love of these bands hasn’t wavered and when new music lands I want to be taken on a journey, I want to be floored by what’s new but find myself just listening, then knowing if I buy the record it will just sit there unplayed. I’ll still grab tickets with the same frenzy but it’s just for the older tracks and even leave the gig with a selection of older tracks I wish they had played instead of the new, they for me have become ‘heritage acts’. I know this is subjective and personal opinion and I overthink why as my love for these bands as I’ve said remains, but?
The “difficult second album syndrome” is real and has been mentioned by numerous bands over the years. Debut albums are usually a collection of an artist’s best material gathered and curated, tried and tested over many years. The second album must be written and recorded during the whirlwind of sudden fame and can make or break, then there is the third! But i don think its just that, weaker music?
Bands that go in a different direction, a great example is ‘Songs of Faith and Devotion’ coming after ‘Violator’ for ‘Depeche Mode’, I personally loved it and have seen musicians such as Gary Numan cite it as restoring his faith in music, yet I remember die hard fans I knew turning away from the band, losong interest, and although I loved the ‘Ultra’ album that came next, the albums since have never connected as well as those earlier albums especially from ‘Black Celebration’. I’d still climb over you in a fevered manner to get tickets. So its it like being punch drunk with albums that dont connect for a variety of reasons?
The mighty Foos, still a huge fan but since ‘Waisting Light’, not including ‘Sonic Highways’ as not a pure Foo Fighters album I just don’t find myself listening to the last 4 albums, but if they come to town I’m as close front barrier as I can get. Even Oasis which holds a major part of my musical journey, it’s always ‘Definitely Maybe’ or ‘What’s the Story Morning Glory’ not ‘Heathen Chemistry’ or ‘Don’t Believe the Truth’ these are still listenable obviously, it’s ‘Oasis’ but the nostalgia trap is there, maybe those first songs just burned too bright? Saying that Liams solo stuff is great and i’ll never stop listening to Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds, maybe those transitions are what was needed and ‘if’ or ‘when’ we get new ‘Oasis’ music it will be ‘i’m sure’ a reawakening!
Then there is REM, there’s not an album that does not speak to me in some way, ‘Murmer’ sounds as good as the ‘Green’ album or ‘Out of Time’ or ‘Reveal’ yet these songs over the years are linked to dear memories, the nostalgia of the early albums never outweighed the new releases? Songs burned bright but never outshone what was to come?
I don’t want bands like the Foos to stop writing new music, I still want them to grab me again or has my brain hardwired itself now against that possibility? Is there just so much new music that i’m spoilt for choice and I’m just finding new sounds and styles that inspire me more? Has my attention span got shorter? How or why does one ‘veteran’ band keep me constantly enthralled yet another just loses its way in my head. What makes them, to me, become a heritage act?
Now I know there are many out there, I know them, not all of them obviously that will disagree with the bands i’ve mentioned above and there are other bands the same is true for. My playlists change daily and I do get flavours of the week with choice, in the same way I get locked into playing one bands vinyl for a while ignoring the hundreds of others on the shelves for months. Biffy, and other bands not just Biffy as they are not the protagonist in this overthink just got me thinking about how after 10 albums I’m already wanting number 11 yet other bands with similar sized back catalogues i’ve followed for as long lose me after album 3 or 4?
“Difficult second album syndrome” exist for fans as well, maybe if it doesn’t connect it can be forgiven in hope of the third, maybe the second does connect but the third does not and in turn can be forgiven, you can do the ongoing math. If there is a two album lull does that derail ongoing appreciation or a least park it for a while requiring a lighting strike of a record to get it moving again? More of the same music, consistency can be great but at the same time consistency can do the opposite, Blur came back with the ‘Ballad of Darren’ which I’m sad to say has been collecting dust even though I liked it yet Graham Coxons new album is sublime and I don’t think Gorrilaz will ever put a foot wrong with me. Maybe I’m just rambling/writing and overthinking as i’m fickle? Maybe I should have done this as a podcast episode and made it a discussion?
To sum up it is what makes you like, love a band and stay a fan, even a die-hard fan but just stay locked in for the early music yet lose appreciation for the new, making them a heritage act for yourself but maybe not others?
