Musicians: Should they be whipped or gently nurtured?

[babycart]

The Beatles released 12 lps and a couple of eps in roughly eight years. In the same time, Oasis made five, most of which were shit.
Obviously much of that was because people couldn´t get enough of the Beatles, and they started out in an era when pop hadn´t crossed over to rock and AOR. They must have signed contracts guaranteeing a certain rate of product as well.
But it seems that in the 70s an album a year was pretty standard, even for artier groups such as Soft Machine, whereas over the last couple of decades artists seem to get given much longer to hone and polish their artistic statements.


Do creative artists work better under the whip, with deadlines and contractual penalties, or are they better off left to their own devices? I´m beginning to suspect the former is the case.

[ginghamkitchen]

It's worse now because they all know they've probably got forty or fifty year careers ahead of them. Oasis are apparently about to reform, having split up, what, about six weeks ago? Musicians need poking with sticks to churn stuff out - there's too much focus on spending years putting together a magnum opus instead of just concentrating on the everyday business of banging out tunes. If The Beatles had gone at the current rate, they would have released 'Abbey Road' in 1986 and it would have a load of syndrums and Pino Palladino bass lines on it.

Cue tiresomely predictable Beatle hater comments about how that would have been better.

[Xann]

My personal experience is that bands with tighter budgets and deadlines made better albums.

Given too long to make an album, listening to tracks again and again knocks objectivity. People get bored and tweak unnecessarily.

Though it also depends on the individuals involved I think.

[alanmck]

...Pino Palladino bass lines on it.

now that, I'd like to hear...

[ginghamkitchen]

[Paul-K]

the tighter the deadlines and the less equipment to mess about with makes people get the best with what they have got. Take Hendrix for example. 3 albums in 2 years under Chas Chandler, though he left half way though the second year. then after that he just doodled in the studio.
i think musicians need to be prodded, but then after 3 years left alone for a bit.

[jb stanislas]

I think if you give them contractual obligations and deadlines to make a certain number of lp's, you end up with records composed entirely of white noise like Metal Machine Music.

[ginghamkitchen]

I think if you give them contractual obligations and deadlines to make a certain number of lp's, you end up with records composed entirely of white noise like Metal Machine Music.

That happened ONCE.

[babycart]

I think if you give them contractual obligations and deadlines to make a certain number of lp's, you end up with records composed entirely of white noise like Metal Machine Music.

Or endless noodly funk jams by prince. or an entire series of library records.

It´s interesting though. Presumably in 1973 not many people in the music press thought "Oh Christ, not another Soft Machine lp, that´s the second this year", but they´d be seen as a psychedelic sausage factory by today´s standards

[Paul-K]

Its interesting what got released as contractural obligations. it just wouldnt happen now unless it was on private labels or online.
imagine a Katy Perry jam album? or a Coldplay jam album...

[eine]

Savagely whipped and then gently stroked and then savagely whipped and then firmly held and whispered to. It's the English way.

[medlar]

Let's ask the might Quo, who cannily managed to make the same album over and over again, thereby sustaining a long and successful career.

[ginghamkitchen]

I like the fact that Quo, fifty years in, have recently made their first feature film.

Bula Quo

Looks good.

[medlar]

Francis Rossi said, "Making the film in Fiji was a fantastic experience and we couldn't help but be inspired by our surroundings. We had no plans to write an album as well as filming our parts for the movie, it just happened."

[Sie Vulture]

Thanks GK for posting my favourite Alan Partridge clip.