Sonic Youth Gossip - Musicians' Last Albums

Sonic Youth Gossip (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/index.php)

- Non-Sonic Sounds (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/forumdisplay.php?f=4)

- - Musicians' Last Albums (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/showthread.php?t=32922)

Musicians' Last Albums

I was listening to Damageplan's New Found Power album tonight, and as much as I love that album, it always depresses me toward the end, primarily because I know it's the last new music the world will ever hear from Dimebag Darrell.

I feel the same way when hearing Nirvana's "You Know You're Right"...

Does it ever make you feel really sad to hear the last music recorded by a dead musician? Do you try and read stuff into the lyrics, making it seem like he/she knew they would die soon and were either consciously or unconsciously expressing it in their writing?

*gets the obvious out of the way*
Joy Division

^Oh yeah, didn't think of that one...

i wish the minutemen could have made their triple album that has half live half studio.
i feel that three way tie (for last) was not the place to stop

I have noticed a lot of "last albums" by bands (even ones where a member isn't about to die soon) are usually thick with... something. Some weird atmosphere that resonates over the whole recording, that isn't present on their other recordings. Listen to "Ice Cream for Crow" by Captain Beefheart, for example. His last album is, arguably, the harshest thing he ever did, and it's particularly mean-spirited at times, like he was stuck in somebody's frownland.

Quote:

Originally Posted by demonrail666

My sentiments exactly!

Quote:

Originally Posted by swa(y)

well, w/ kurt theres a lot to read into. the dude made it VERY obvious that suicide was something that ran through his mind, even if he tried to talk about it/etc as if he was joking.

w/ someone like dime..no way. that dude didnt know he was going to die...he was just recording music for a new album and that was that. theres absolutely nothing to look into. sad, yes...but thats all there is. thankfully there is a lot of material out there for the dimebag fans.

ian...i wasnt around in what...79? nut looking into the sort of person he was, i cant imagine his suicide having been all that shocking. he seemed to be quite a complex individual.

i like what courtney says about kurts suicide...that if he woulda have stuck around long enough to hear frances talk he never would have shot himself. i dont know if thats true or not, and really theres no way she could know either....but im sure it could have possibly of made that decision a bit more difficult.

id say nirvana though.....i think they would have broke up...but ive always been really curious about what they would have done..or what kurt would have done....not nec. on thier next album...but several albums down the road. i can speculate, and ive done that quite a bit, but its pointless.

the older i get the more i try and accept things for what they are. kurt killed himself, sad. dime's life was taken by someone else...sadder...it happens. things can be learned, but theres really not much paranormal about it. there are no real secrets. i wish j wouldnt have thrown so much of his writing in the trash...but then again....maybe, MAYBE, he wouldnt have if he knew how things would turn out. but then again, whos to say that? if he didnt want anyone reading it while he was alive, whose to say he would after he died....

t can be quite weird...thinking about such things.

just...take shit for what it is.

Well, with Kurt there are admittedly some things that just don't add up, but listening to "You Know You're Right" can cause some doubts as to whether or not he DIDN'T kill himself. Honestly, by this point the whole thing's been gone over so many times now, I think we should just accept that the only two people who will ever know what really happened that fateful April night in 1994 are Kurt himself and God.

With Dime, listening to this song can't help but make me wonder...

when i first put on a new copy of mercury revs see you on the other side, i realised then that girlfren was the last true mercury rev song ive heard.... 15 years on and the arguement still stands.... come back to us shady!!!!

same feeling when the pixies broke up...that feeling has been tarnished somewhat by the reunuion tours and the whole dragging it out for the kidz thing... i mean really, dont do any more new songs..... give it up before you become a parody of yourselves...ie, frank black is still calling him frank black right, not black francis??? anyhoo..you get my drift...

also on the subject...

I like to say every album I make is going to be the "last". There's a few reasons for this. One is to keep things interesting. Another is to keep any collaborators on their toes. The real main reason is that I think about suicide 24/7, feelings that have only amplified in recent times. Still, it motivates me to keep trying to make decent music. I want my last album to actually represent something. Can you imagine if I'd done something completely worthless and then I died? That'd be sad.