I don't know about you, but when I was a kid I used to dream about being in a band and making records. I imagined IΓÇÖd release as many as four albums per year. Too bad the music business won't let that sort of thing happen anymore. Something to do with "oversaturating" the market or some such Bounty-speak.
But, still, bands don't even seem to like making albums anymore. For example, take Weezer, the band Matt Sharp belongs to when heΓÇÖs not focusing on his "side project," the Rentals. Weezer has been so unproductive to this point that Sharp's side project has now caught up with his "regular gig" and made its second album. Oddly, the Rentals are the far more creative venture, using keyboards and a variety of moods, including some nice approximations of '60s psych-pop ("Say Goodbye Forever" and "Overlee"). They invited their friends to join in the fun, and Blur's Damon Albarn and Elastica's Donna Matthews are just two folks who stopped by to rock. Imagine getting that call. "You want to come over and play on our new album?" "No, that's OK. I've decided to push shopping carts around the mall parking lot instead." Yeah, right, maybe if you're in Guns N' Roses.
