NOw here is an artist that I have always struggled with. I understand her and what she is doing, it just always seems to come across as over the top and the source of a good joke. I have listened to this album repeatedly over the past few months. It has grown on me and perhaps I have a much better understanding of Patti. I defenately 'like' the album better. It still doesn't make for casual listening. It takes effort. The problem that I really have with 'Art Rock' is that it is made to be appreciated for it's form from an intellectual stand point instead of just a pure emotional level. I am pretty sure that I am not explaining myself well, but maybe you can see what I am getting at here. It is not the complexity of the music. I have no issues per say with prog rock like Yes or Rush. The there is a line that gets crossed when there is a pretensious high horse that puts poetry over the melody and that is where we get into trouble. Not so much with this album, because there is certainly a lot of melody, energy and emotion. Patti's real strength is her ability to take the pretentious poetry type of Art Rock and marry it with punk. A lot of her followers miss this point or at least over shoot the target.
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