The type that listens with the body or with the head
I think there is an indicator in music as to whether one is the type that listens with the body or with the head.
The type of music that is listened to with the body is music that emphasizes groove.
It is music that is pleasant to listen to without thinking too hard.
The type of music that is listened to with the head is music that requires a lot of thought, repeated trial and error, and an attitude of trying to find some new flavor.
It is music that emphasizes originality and unexpectedness rather than groove.
I think it can be used as a kind of indicator
For example, “Sodom” is “body” and “Coroner” is “head.”
Early “Death” is the “body” and late “Death” is the “head.”
“The Blue Hearts” are the “body” and “Uchoten” is the “head.”
The examples I have just given are extreme, but there are many bands in the world, and they cannot always be categorized into one or the other.
However, I think it can be used as a kind of indicator of which band has a stronger tendency to be one or the other.
It is not a matter of which is better, and it comes down to personal preference.
Work that has miraculously achieved such a precarious balance
However, I think that albums that are generally considered masterpieces have a very good balance between the two.
They are oriented toward originality and unexpectedness, and contain new flavors, but they do not lose their groove or catchy part.
I think that a masterpiece is a work that has miraculously achieved such a precarious balance.
The following is a list of albums that are considered masterpieces by the public and which I also love.
All of them have a perfect balance of the above.
Reign in Blood / Slayer
Rust in Peace / Megadeth
Chaos A.D. / Sepultura
Vulgar Display of Power / Pantera
World Downfall / Terrorizer
Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses / Brutal Truth
AISSLE / Uchoten
I believe that the word “body” is aptly translated as “entertainment” and the word “head” is aptly translated as “art.”
In other words, the above works are truly terrific masterpieces that have not lost their artistic value while being devoted to entertainment.
December 15,2010 Freakz
(Postscript)
“Dream Theater” is coming to Japan in April.
I got a ticket.
I am very much looking forward to it, and their fifth album “Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory” is also a masterpiece.
It is a miraculous work of entertainment and art.
I like it better than “Image and Words”.
March 1,2023 Freakz
