What's the Commotion?
by Dustball

Being a music lover, it's been disheartening to me that I haven't liked any artists that have come out in the past 3 years. Sure I've been buying new albums. I picked up No Doubt's new one Return of Saturn right when it came out, but I already liked them; it wasn't like I was taking a big gamble. In fact I've probably bought 50-75 CDs in the past year, but nothing "new."

My biggest problem has been my "3 Song Rule." Since I've had a CD collection, going on 12 years and 350 albums, I've never bought an album without hearing and liking at least three songs on that album first. While the rule ensures that I'll have lasting CDs that I won't want to sell off, it also makes it hard to get into new music without listening to the radio for three months first.

I finally had reason to break that rule.

I bought the new Fastball album The Harsh Light of Day on the strength of only one song, "You're An Ocean." I heard it on Conan O'Brian about a week before the album was released, and it's probably the best pop song to come out in a long time. It just blew me away that a band who's first major hit "The Way" didn't impress me much at all could come up with such a rich sounding upbeat feel-good hit.

The impressive use of the piano as the rhythm and lead makes the song. The lyrics aren't too intellectual, but it's got the great pop feel. A friend said that it sounds like a mixture between the Beatles, Billy Joel, and the Lemonheads. I've been thinking of the album as a whole as kind of like The Wallflowers without the "1 2 3 Marlenas" crap. It's definitely worth the $14 I plunked down.

Another point this hammers home to me is the overwhelming benefit that record labels can get by allowing their copywritten material to be traded or copied on the Internet. Only by being exposed to the song will people want to spend their money. With more and more music lovers turning to the web for news and information on their favorite bands, it behooves bands and labels to release free MP3s as they release radio singles. My friends and I send MP3s of artists we like to each other all the time, and it only makes me want to support these artists by buying their CDs. The only reason I bought The Jayhawks' Smile is because a friend had sent me MP3s to listen to from it.

So go pick up The Harsh Light of Day if only to make yourself feel better. Besides, I'm posting an MP3 of the single up here, so you have to go buy the album to prove my point.

Download "You're An Ocean" (3.01 Mb)

-Dustball

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