Stoney

Yes, well... Stella, let me ask you a question: why did you buy the CD of Marco Carta instead of one of the Slint? Why didn’t you buy Berlin by Lou Reed instead? Maybe because you don’t even know who he is? So perhaps it’s because you understand very little about music that you support Marco Carta? Am I free to think that those who have a palate accustomed to a certain level of music cringe at Marco Carta? Then again, not understanding a thing about music is certainly not a crime, for heaven's sake... listen to this CD, for heaven's sake; I, for example, understand nothing about painting or sculpture; being ignorant in a certain field is human, we can’t be erudite about everything. But let’s not talk about the "quality" of this subject because otherwise we give him a dimension he doesn’t deserve.

Arroscia, we are in a free and democratic country, you can listen to whatever the hell you want, but don’t come telling me that this subject isn’t a worthless product tailored for horny teenage girls, or else you’ll be the one looking like you don’t understand a thing. You can listen to him if you find it enjoyable, you can say he’s good at singing (if you believe that...), you can even buy the CD, but the discussion about his artistic mediocrity remains, just like the one about the music industry that continues to promote musically useless models. Take care.

Then that AIC are liked by a lot of metalheads is what you say... on metal sites, I've heard more negative than positive comments about them. Alongside phrases like the aforementioned "it's metal done poorly" and "the distortion isn't badass," I've also heard the evergreen "Cantrell isn't as technical as... (random metal guitarist's name)" and even "if it weren't for grunge, made by unable people, sweeping thrash off the charts, who knows what evolution metal would have reached in the '90s" (the last one, truly apocalyptic, still appears in my nightmares, I assure you...). What can I say, maybe I know them all, maybe I go to confront them, but the fact is that coincidentally, the elements capable of birthing such idiocies are all over there... Why is that?

I'll have my stupid metalhead friends, but you guys aren't exactly lacking in stupidity either. When I said that there's no palm muting on AIC, I meant that Cantrell's playing style isn't the same as James Hetfield's (Sure, there might be some palm muting in Them Bones, but it definitely isn’t the same as Master of Puppets, right?)... When I play Them Bones, I go much lighter compared to when I play any Metallica song, I don't know about you. Well, I thought I was stating the obvious instead everyone had to nitpick.

The fact is that the metalheads I played it for don’t like it. Many of them commented, “this is poorly made metal.” What sets AIC apart from various Metallica, Guns'n'roses, etc., is that their songs don’t hit you straight in the face; instead, they create an empty, caustic, and anguished atmosphere that makes the piece anything but straightforward. Just listen to the sound, which, however you want to put it, is not “metal” at all, and the way the guitar is played (total absence of palm muting and a decidedly lighter dynamic). If you analyze Facelift, and perhaps even Dirt, from the perspective of someone used to classic heavy metal, there’s an underlying dissatisfaction, as if the piece never fully arrives, as if the core of the matter is missing, and it’s precisely this, in my opinion, that distances AIC from the heavy philosophy, even though it is undoubtedly their starting point.

Facelift is NOT a metal album because it lacks the crushing, powerful riff, there’s no immediate impact typical of heavy metal; rather, this is meticulously and skillfully avoided, masked behind other details that nonetheless strike the listener first. Why do you say it’s a metal album?

I quote pixies77, in the end we said the same thing. Well, in my example of hopeless people I forgot the metalheads, how could I? Thank you for reminding me.

"Fans who will happily spend 15 €, will melt in front of the obvious and fill the forums with k and shortened words." I don’t know who wrote that, but I applaud them. "Filling the forums with k" is fantastic; I’ll sell that idea right away. However, a word of advice: don’t let it get under your skin just because Marco Carta exists; after all, it’s well-known that the world is full of idiots—just look around, even just among the reviews here on Debaser, to realize it. You can’t expect the world to listen only to "good" music, just as you can’t expect everyone to read books, appreciate painting and sculpture, etc. Those who are curious enough to search will come to know the true masterpieces of art; those who are not curious won’t, plain and simple. Honestly, I’m not worried about the "girl fresh out of her period" who swoons over Marco Carta; in fact, it seems normal to me that a 12-year-old girl falls under the easy charm of the model proposed by TV and newspapers, as it won’t last long: as she grows, her tastes and interests will change, and therefore Marco Carta himself will fall into disgrace. What worries me much more are the people who listen to Baustelle, Caparezza, Afterhours, Negramaro, Ligabue, or Vasco, believing they are listening to great singers, great lyricists, great quality music, who, when they talk, use that typical prosopopoeia of the cultured niche listener who "knows," as opposed to all the others who don’t know and don’t understand. Those are the ones who are truly hopeless, and for them, I feel a bit of sorrow.

"Never, as in Tool, is there such an emphasis on a true atmosphere alongside the music, as if it were important to understand the feelings expressed in the song." Can you explain this sentence to me? I'm going round in circles trying to understand it...

"After two albums of good ska"? GOOD ska? Since when is ska good?