The Charismatic Voice - Virtual Insanity

 

I don't have any real opinions on Jamiroquai one way or the other but it's a nice trip back to the late 90's.

Oh, I do have one opinion, actually. It's amazing to me how all the elements of this video came together perfectly. You don't just have the concept but the "slipperiness" of the floor is combined with a great dancer who can make it amazing. And they didn't just combine the concept and the dancing and say "we'll improvise" - this is meticulously planned and choreographed. And how are we going to hide the edits? It's just in time for early CGI. Everything just comes together perfectly to make a hit video.

The Charismatic Voice - No Rain

 

There is a thing that seems to happen often where a band will put an unusual "outlier" song on their album and that will be the big hit that everyone likes. People buying the album for that song, may be disappointed that the rest of the album is so different. And the band may feel the pressure of success and be forced to change their entire sound to satisfy expectations.

Such is the case with Blind Melon's eponymous album. "No Rain" is a complete outlier: rather than Country-tinged hippy rock, the album is mainly is bluesy, hard-ish rock, somewhat reminiscent of Led Zeppelin. Seriously. With the benefit of this hindsight, listen again to the vocals of "No Rain" and you will hear the Robert Plant in there.

I don't say that "No Rain" is one of the greatest songs of all-time but the music video for "No Rain" is one of the greatest music videos of all-time. So simple, so effective, so affecting.

The Charismatic Voice - Faithfully

 

It's a little Journey, come on.

While this is one of my favorite Journey songs (perhaps #2), I really hate the music video. It's part of a genre of music videos from the late 80s and early 90s about the dreariness of touring which was so repetitive as to become monotonous. Sitting on the tour bus, getting on and off of planes, occasional black and white footage, roadies hauling equipment - oh being a rock star is drudgery - isn't living the dream a nightmare?

I haven't been able to define the genre sufficiently because I never gave it a name and didn't collect enough examples. Motley Crue "Home Sweet Home" and Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead or Alive" both flirt with the genre but don't ultimately succumb to it. The genre-defining examples I had were Journey "Faithfully" and Genesis "Throwing It All Away." I think there are a million examples out there but I needed to do more research and never got around to it.

Oh, and I think my thoughts are independent here but just in case, the Beyond Yacht Rock Podcast has an episode that defines the genre "This Was Supposed to be Fun" which is songs about the difficulties of touring. But they're talking about a type of song and I was thinking of a type of music video.

The Charismatic Voice - What a Fool Believes

 

An opera singer hearing Michael McDonald for the first time. Nice.

Watch the precision here. She zeroes in on both the "bounce" and the smoothness. The Yacht Rock genre is defined by two characteristics: 1) Smoothness and 2) The Doobie Bounce (with some exceptions). Not surprisingly, "What a Fool Believes" is the only song to achieve a perfect 100 on the Yachtski Scale.

Of course she also asks: if Michael McDonald was a smoothie, what kind of smoothie would he be? So there's that.

Her "Happy Songs that are Actually Sad" genre suggestion is eerily similar to a genre I've been thinking about for a while. Maybe I'll write more about that some day. I think the two things are different enough that it could still be valid.

The Charismatic Voice - The Hook

 

Weird bit of synchronicity here, I was just thinking of "The Hook" by Blues Traveler recently.

I don't remember Paul Shaffer being in this video.

It's such a great, perhaps a perfect pop melody. It would be the perfect pop song except for the lyrics. Writing lyrics to say that lyrics don't matter is a waste of time. Hate that.

The harmonica brings me back though.

The Charismatic Voice - On My Own

 

Is this my favorite Les Miserables song? I don't know, stop bothering me. I'm not crying, you're crying!

The Charismatic Voice - Heart

 

How about a little Heart?

What about me, vocal coach, did I have heart?

The Charismatic Voice - Chicago

 

I'm a big fan of "25 or 6 to 4." Although she doesn't harp on it, for me it's the bass line.

If you'd like to see my shallow dive on Chicago, see this post.

And speaking of the bass, here's a fun fact for your next barbecue or otherwise social engagement...

Three classic rock songs with the same chord progression:

1) Chicago - 25 or 6 to 4

2) Green Day - Brain Stew

3) Led Zeppelin - Babe I'm Gonna Leave You

Eh? Eh? Where else are you going to get that? Granted, I don't have other examples to make this a running thing. Still, pretty interesting, I think. Who did it best?

The Darkness Reacts to The Charismatic Voice Reacts to The Darkness

 

I was wondering what happened to The Darkness. They seemed primed to take over the world in 2003 and then I never heard anything from them again.

The lead singer, Justin Hawkins, had a drug problem and left the band, but they've re-united many times and made a number of albums since then. Now Justin is a youtuber, hence this video. I like him but, being an aspiring youtuber, all his video titles are the worst kind of clickbait garbage, it makes it hard for me to explore anything. Oh well, I'll probably have a moment of weakness at some point.

The Charismatic Voice - Stevie Ray Vaughn

 

Uh, I'll have what she's having.

The Charismatic Voice - Don't Give Up

 

I consider "So" (the album on which "Don't Give Up" appears) to be one of the few truly perfect albums. It mixes avante garde experimentation with pop music to a degree which few albums reach and is completely successful at both. It constantly goes for the weird, the strange, the unexpected and yet each choice seems to work. It's very rare that an album takes so many risks but it's 1 in a 1000 or 1 in 10,000 that also gets every experiment to succeed - one after another.

The music video also takes a risk, and I don't like it. The music video, as the kids say, is "cringe." But no matter, it's the music that counts.

I wonder if this song had any influence from "It's a Wonderful Life." They are both about despair, both involve the Depression, both involve contemplating suicide on a bridge (potentially) and the lyric "Don't give up 'cause you have friends" is eerily similar "No man is a failure who has friends."

The Charismatic Voice - More Than a Feeling

 

Another video in the "delightful" category.

The first time I heard "More Than a Feeling" I was probably in my mid-teens and it changed me, man. It was instantly a favorite.

The Charismatic Voice - Since I've Been Loving You

 

Are you ready to start your 30 minute Zeppelin journey of emotion?

And here is where I insert the unnecessary critique. I think it's a disservice that her first exposure of Led Zeppelin's music is the live versions rather than the studio versions. The jazz-like riffing and mutation hangs on the previous knowledge of the song's original form. It's a bit like seeing a parody of a movie without seeing what it is mocking (not to say that Led Zeppelin live is a parody). But... she really seems to enjoy them so... as long as she's happy...

The Charismatic Voice - Barracuda

 

Charismatic Voice - Interstate Love Song

 

The Charismatic Voice reacts to "Interstate Love Song" by Stone Temple Pilots. I never knew the backstory to this song nor do I recall ever seeing that beginning to the music video. 

Charlie Chaplin is not involved in any way.

If you're unfamiliar, TCV is a former Opera singer who now does these kind of youtube videos. She's done a series of Grunge songs and her fondness for the genre has been one of the pleasant surprises of the channel.

The Charismatic Voice - Kashmir

 

If you're not familiar with The Charismatic Voice, the official story is that it's a youtube channel where a vocal coach technically analyzes the vocals of various singers. The viewers are watching to learn more about the art of singing. That's the official story. In actuality, viewers are watching because she may be the most expressive person in history and every other person in the world is a lifeless robot by comparison.

I look upon the rash of youtubers watching/listening to classic pop culture "for the first time" with complete suspicion. The Charismatic Voice supposedly grew up listening to classical music and so she's never heard "Kashmir" (or Jethro Tull, or Rush, etc). Is it a scam? Is she faking? Is she on drugs? You decide for yourself, I choose to believe she's simply one of God's most wonderful creations.