As mentioned last Friday, Coldplay has announced a June 17th release date for their fourth album, “Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.” While writing that post, something clicked on in the back of my mind: this album has the potential to either keep Coldplay’s label EMI afloat for another year, or make necessary the eventual merger of EMI Music (including its subsidiaries like Capitol, Virgin, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Def Jux, Mute and Tooth & Nail) and Warner Music Group, who currently hold the 3rd and 4th place slots in “The Big Four.” Variety agrees that “Viva…” is shaping up to be something of a high-stakes venture. EMI’s certainly hoping that Coldplay’s X&Y wasn’t this:
I remember a time, not so long ago, when a record label depended on its solid roster to make the business float, not just a handful of high-profile superstar artists. Their top sellers would go quintuple-platinum, allowing for enough extra cash to take chances on smaller artists, grow them and support them until they break through, joining the ranks of the high-sellers (we used to call such a thing “artist development”). Britain-based EMI and its subsidiaries once boasted an amazing roster including the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and The Beach Boys. Now the label seems to be relying on one or two current chart busters, in this case Coldplay, and the repackaged back catalogs of their dusty dinosaurs.
Artist development on major labels is now a ting of the past (that’s what indie labels are for, right?); there’s no new EMI artist who comes close to replacing Radiohead, who left the label in 2007 after deciding that they no longer needed a record label. EMI can release Best of Radiohead (June 3rd), but no one stands a real chance at releasing another OK Computer….save Coldplay. It’s possible that Chris Martin and company can release an album with (almost) as much impact. But if Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends does any worse than 2005′s X&Y, I wouldn’t be surprised to see EMI/Warner Music rear its head in 2009/2010.
Until then, let’s look at what EMI will be releasing to keep its head above water, after the jump:
Best of Radiohead (since they bailed out of the company and decided they don’t need a label any more in 2007), June 3rd
Rolling Stones signed a one album deal with EMI following the end of their contract. It is expected they release a new album in 2009.
Al Green’s Lay It Down on 5/27. We are waiting on pins and needles for this one, actually. If it gets enough push, EMI might even make some profit on the R&B prophet.
Cassandra Wilson’s “Loverly” and Priscilla Ahn’s “A Good Day” both on subsidiary Blue Note Records.
Dusting off dinosaurs, we have the 40th anniversary Re-Release of Jethro Tull’s debut, “This Was” (6/10), and Asia’s new album, the hopefully titled “Phoenix,” which postulates that Asia fans still exist, other than Michael Scott and Dwight Schrute. “Heat of the Moment” was pretty rad, though.
Bobby Womack’s “Best of Bobby Womack (The Soul Years)” – 5/27.
There are others too, but I haven’t received their release schedule, and I needed to post this blog before Bill throws something heavy at me.
Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" Could Mean Sink or Swim for EMI ,
referring to Jethro Tull as a “dinosaur” is in itself a dinosaur dating to the wrongly heralded shot in the arm of the punk era, happily, all of whom Jethro Tull well predated, and have long outlasted, show a little respect to a musical organization that would bear better comparison to the Duke Ellington Orchestra or Art Blakey and the Jazzmessengers. As Duke once referred to jazzmusic as being “too good for Americans” so do I refer to Jethro Tull as being too good for rock and roll. While I find much to dislike about “progressive rock” and Tull’s alleged brothers in arms of ELP and Yes, that era produced some of the most potent music of the rock era and really should stop apologizing to the likes of the Clash, Talking Heads, Sex Pistols on up into Metallica and Run DMC. A talent the likes of Ian Anderson is a rare one indeed, too long dragged through the mud by the likes of dinousaur references, thats one vibrant dinasour btw. Long live the Tull. And with no thanks to the rock itelligentsia of the past 35 years or so, since they were the “darlings” of the underground, indeed they have. Move over Velvet Underground and others whose ass have been kissed more times than I care to bare any further witness to, your superiour officer is now, and long has been, if you can see beyond the codpiece, Aqualung and standing on one leg, itself a trivilization of rocks most vibrant stage performer bar none, than join me in celebrating the 40 th year of the remarkable Jethro Tull. And be grateful it can never be qualified as a sport , because if it had, Tull would have kicked securely the ass of every, and i do mean every rock act that has been held up as genius since 1972, when Tull was last given remotely any of the respect it so richly deserves. Remember Shakespeare while popular in his time was hardly respected by critics, his audience was largely drunkards, while Tulls was mostly quite stoned, yet, for better or worse, Ian Anderson’s next toke of marijuana will be his first, nor has he as of yet sent any television projectiles out a hotel window. In a nutshell, show some respect, and stop spitting out a tired company line.l
I want to rub my breasts in Ray Brettman’s Tull face!
Good for you for ‘standing up’ for poor old Jethro Tull, a band who had to change their name on a weekly basis to continue to get gigs in their infancy. For the record, I thought “Stand Up” was an excellent album. They have some good material, but as a songwriter, Mr. Anderson is at best hit or miss. Come on, Tull’s released some truly horrendous music to accompany some legitimately well written songs. And when we the last time they released anything memorable?
My point is that instead of EMI and its major label competitors investing in new artists to grow, they focus their resources on milking the fans of their acts who have been established and haven’t released a noteworthy note since the ’70s. Tull is a dinosaur act, they have museums for that shit.
Much to the contrary, even amongst hard core Tullies I would say that the years of 1995 through now have seen Tull to be the most consistent musically of their career, completely outside the mainstream, no radio play, full stop. These would include 1995′s Roots to Branches, 1999′s Dot Com, in particular 2004′s Christmas album, the live dvd and cd Living With the Past, both of IA’s most recent solo records, Secret Language of Birds and Rupi’s Dance, and the recent live dvd at Montreux in 04. Hunting down reviews of recent shows with reviewers with no Tull bias pro or con have netted results of best show in any genre ever seen, not just a nice try by some old guys. And I am talking about 2007 and 8 Tull, not 1971. The world decided Jethro Tull did not matter anymore around 73′s A Passion Play, funny in a way to see reviews of that record from then which were arguably the most scathing in the history of rock and roll, Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music not withstang, are now claiming that maybe they were wrong, it bares further investigation. Or Rolling Stone’s 1977 review of arguably Tull’s greatest record, Songs from the Wood of one star, look in their book now, to the extent their, or my, opinion matters, and voila, now that they are out of the wary eye of club CBGB’s and not wanting to run afoul of the then new sensibility, they can safely give it its rightful five stars, hope no ones looking. While they are still extremely vibrant, even I would allow, that amongst the old legends, Neil Young is probably going even stronger at the moment. Nevertheless I still hold, that as with Shakespeare in his time on earth, (I am aware that William was famous in his time, but not necessarily revered, the audience for his plays at the time was not dissimilar to rock audiences, the scholars of his work mostly came later) the world has watched one of their greatest poets and entertainers walk right past their distracted noses. Now I will allow that rare indeed is a Tull record effective until you have heard it closely at least five times, and I know they are one of a small handful that I would extend that amount of patience to. But if you think they are and have been a spent force for three decades or more, I strongly disagree, just won’t finally say I’m right, I totally respect your opinion.