US vs. UK

Just looking back over the Uncut's Greatest Debut Album thread and I was struck by the fact that neither "Definitely Maybe" by Oasis or the Stone Roses debut made the RS Top 500 of all time list. Now both of those albums would turn up in pretty much any list of top albums if UK writers or audiences were voting - heck both of those have actually won polls in the recent past as greatest album of all time.

I'm a huge fan of both records they're among my fave records ever - but clearly there's a whole audience of American music fans who would consider both these records negligible at best.

The UK press at least seems to be receptive to stuff we might consider just as distinctly American as Oasis and Stone Roses are British or at least they consider it before dismissing it. Love or hate the Arctic Monkeys there was clearly a portion of the US critical press and audience that didn't even bother with the record - a sort of "it's a British thing" shrug.

Just trying to put my finger on why that is exactly - are we less passionate or committed or just more cynical? I'm thinking it has something to do with the esteem in which we hold the Beatles in the US or something.......I know there are cultural differences but still there seems like there has to be more to it than that, I can't quite put my finger on it.

A subject at the doctoral thesis level!

One factor that comes to mind:
Our media outlets function much differently.

One example of that>
Their charts move much faster. It's not common in the UK for a song to hold a #1 spot for more than 1 week. In the US, songs can chart for a year at at time. Hundreds more songs are Top 40 in the UK in a given period and their exposure to variety is, I've heard it claimed, 5 times what ours is here. Obviously, that's what sells there. For American ears, the corporations latch onto one thing and then beat it to the ground. The idea in the UK is "it didn't stick with 'em, move along then". In the US: "If we just get a hundred more airings in a hundred more markets, these kids will buy the ticket".
Have you ever noticed how a song that's been around 'forever' finally gets the attention of the teen market?It's just not that way with UK youth. Maybe US listeners have been market-trained this way?

other thoughts/
I also notice, in the US, teens are very worried about being the same as the other kids; they want to think they're doing the same as kids all over the nation. In the UK, there's much more of a cultural bias to be up on the latest in, say, NME. But only musically, which is funny, because elsewhere the Brits are very concerned about social norms in areas where American teens want to stand out.

RS, having a history, is going to champion albums that it championed throughout its history. UK mags will heavily champion the current generation.

Then there's the size of the markets. Any UK band that really wants a career has to break America to survive. Most US bands approach touring Europe as a novelty/vacation. Oasis were an unusual anomaly in that they are as big as the Stones and U2 everywhere but the US (but that's a different subject) so they don't fit these models. Stone Roses were an alternative, small-time phenom in the US, not chart toppers.

Mathematically, it's just more likely for a Brit to hear what's big in the US than vice-versa.

One thing I'd like to know more about. In the US, it's generally frowned upon to follow music after the age of 30 or marriage, whichever comes first (and more so in the US outside of New England). Is it the same in the UK? My impression in Europe was that music is much more life-long in their cultures.



Post Edited (10-10-06 17:36)

"Any UK band that really wants a career has to break America to survive".

Besides Oasis, I can think of Status Quo, Paul Weller/Jam and even Sir Cliff Richard as UK acts that had have long careers without really "breaking" the USA in a consistent manner.

Another factor that Paganizer didn't mention is geography, i.e. the relatively small size of the U.K. as compared to the U.S., so it's easier for a U.K. act to get a "buzz" rather than the U.S. where you have to slog around the country to get any notice, although that factor may change w/the Internet.

brazil

The UK seems to absorb, shape, and throw it back at America.

America used to be a rotten spoiled kids paradise.

But all the kids are poor now. They can't afford instruments.

Result?

Computer music.

See your dentist for more pharmacueticals.

America is still a "rotten spoiled kid's paradise". Instead of buying instruments, they just play computer games or hang out at MySpace 24/7. There are so many lesure options for kids these days compared to the garage days of the 1960s.

Quote

Instead of buying instruments, they just play computer games or hang out at MySpace 24/7.

Nonetheless there are hundreds of more bands than 30 years ago. The amount of new music available just within 500 miles of any location is staggering.