Brian Wilson and the musical geniuses of our time: are there worthy innovators?
Kyiv • UNN
Are there musical geniuses of Brian Wilson's caliber today? Modern performers may not be as groundbreaking as in the 60s, but innovation has shifted to the cultural peripheries.
The latest contenders for the title of musical genius are usually considered Michael Jackson and Prince, who died relatively young. However, there is an opinion that modern performers in pop music, against the background of the dominance of purely technical innovations, did not become pioneers of new forms, as it was in the 60s.
UNN reports with reference to The Guardian.
Details
Do musical geniuses like The Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson appear today? Are the latest musical discoveries comparable to those found by Wilson's colleagues - the great musicians of the 60s and 70s, such as Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney, and so on?
The author of The Guardian material asks this question - Brian Wilson was a musical genius and - "Are there any left?".
Reference
Brian Wilson, founder of the Beach Boys, died at the age of 82. John Cale, Mick Fleetwood, Elton John, as well as Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney considered Wilson a musical genius.
He is widely recognized as an epochal figure in orchestral pop music, surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop), and in the formation of the Californian sound.
It should be noted that the band The Beach Boys, founded in Hawthorne, California, in 1961, achieved worldwide success: 37 of its songs entered the top 40.
The band was and is popular enough - more than 100 million records have been sold at various times.
Today the world mourns a genius
Context
So by general recognition, Brian Wilson was a genius.
Wilson gradually gained such a commendable reputation.
Artistic heritage largely depends on the longevity of mass popularity, and the fact that the Beach Boys opus Pet Sounds remains one of the most famous and beloved records of all time almost 60 years after its release is sufficient proof of his incredible talent.
Since the mid-60s (from the 1966 PR campaign), the rhetoric "Brian Wilson is a genius" has successfully spread in the British music press.
It quickly took root, "especially among the British public." This became a consensus.
But who else, and especially in the following decades?
Are we just imagining that musical geniuses are anointed retroactively because we don't have any more of them?, - the author of the material asks.
There is an opinion that it is now extremely difficult to argue that any of the artists of the last 30 years have reached the level of Wilson. As well as Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Joni Mitchell and David Bowie.
The newest contenders for the title of musical genius are usually considered Michael Jackson and Prince, who died relatively young. Soon the very idea of a living legend will be a thing of the past.
After the golden decade of rock music, is it no longer "the time of geniuses"? Key explanation
In pop music, which honors the new, genius is synonymous with innovation.
Obviously, it is no coincidence that all our unique and innovative musical minds belonged to one generation, starting work in the 1970s - at the latest, when all the new sounds of drums, guitars and keyboards, as well as the most resonant, memorable melodies, were available for use.
Before them was virgin territory, and the "Beach Boys" even had the opportunity to sonically codify California, one of the most culturally significant places on the planet.
I think I just wasn't made for these times
But, importantly - it is quite obvious that musical progress did not stop suddenly half a century ago.
There is still unheard music to be created - and it is being created all the time.
General fusion music, formal variations and experimental production techniques are not limitless, but they are certainly not exhausted, and some have even merged into era-defining movements.
This is proven by such 21st century genres as grime, trap and hyperpop and others
At the same time, it should be noted that musical ingenuity remains on the cultural peripheries.
And if innovation is approaching the spirit of the times, it is a leisurely journey
Grime began its development a whole decade after its creation thanks to Skepta and Stormzy. Similarly, hyperpop reached the masses last summer in the guise of Charli xcx's album Brat.
Another reason why there are so few musical geniuses:
People who engage in genuine innovation rarely find themselves in the spotlight themselves.
This seems particularly relevant compared to the 1960s; it is impossible to separate personal achievements from the gold rush of the decade - a manic crusade to bring pop and rock to their absolute limits.
Let us remind
Directors McMehon and McGurty created the documentary "Becoming Led Zeppelin" with the participation of all living members of the band. For the first time in decades, the legendary band agreed to tell their story.