Style on Style:
 

 Mike,Craig and Guitarhacker you guys crack me up lol. I needed a good laugh. 
 
 I totally agree there Rain on your comment about smiling also being fake at times especially while having a pic taken. Both can be a form of fake. I guess I singled out the metal guys because those are the images in my head of outright scowls and plain mean looking looks. In hindsight I see similar looks from other artists on other types of music cover photos.To me it wasn't so much how they dressed as it was how they came across. I know Metallica is an example of serious metal to a lot of people as is Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. Time seems to make things progress into more extreme territories. When it comes to metal. These bands are now the fun lighthearted boys from yesterday. Any attempt at sincerity of art has been over shadowed by showmanship IMO. I don't necessarily look at them as any more than good musicians using a gimmicks to promote. In reality maybe the more recent deathcore metal bands are taking the same gimmickery to a whole new level. Metallica have had their fair share of arguments and tension, still if they were always wound as tight as some of those pictures seem to portray they wouldn't have lasted a year on the road.
 
 I think some bands originally set out to take on a persona and might have toyed with the wrong things which may have caused them to become the persona without realizing it was happening until it was too late. To find the underlying story you need to look at the whole picture. I can't say it is or was always fun and games in the background and be totally comfortable making that statement.One thing famous rock musicians on the road aren't noted for is stability.
 
  I try to go back to the most basic common denominator and work up from that and this causes me to ask a lot of questions I probably can't answer. Why is it important to portray certain music within a context of hate,hurt, violence and dare I say it evil? Even if it's all light hearted behind the scenes why is it important to make the portrayal and why does that captivate people and sell records? What does that say about some of humanity in general? If these people ruled the world what would the world be like? Does the listener associate with the hurt in the music and feel like a brother with the musician because of the perceived shared experience? Is this a way some people vent? I really don't know and it probably isn't a cut and dried answer.
 
 In the case of Nirvana I believe a lot of the popularity was because of a shared experience with the youth at that time. I'm mad, I'm hurt, I've been neglected . I'm blaming whatever the popular thing is to blame at the time. Along came Kurt and they had their messiah. Only one small example.This hasn't stopped as far as I can tell.
 
 An association personally with the art is what attaches the listener to it. Would you agree with that ? Maybe a catchy tune or hook got you into it and it was simply fun to listen to it as music. This was how I enjoyed music when I heard it on the radio and didn't recognize the lyrics. Musically associated at first then maybe drawn into another level on a closer listen. Or maybe the opposite was true, a closer listen made me like a song less.I liked the tune but the message didn't sit well. The cover art made me curious at first, then I felt some kind of a conveyance through the music emotionally or maybe that happened first before I even seen the album cover. I seldom seem to like everything about anything. Sometimes the less I know about something the more I like it :)
 
 And to think this all started from looking at scowls on album art.
 

 I think you hit it on the head Bapu when you said ," Give the fans what they want".
 
 There's a lot of that " crying in my beer" country music out there. Misery loves company. Just pick your misery and someone else shares it.
 
 Can you confidently say  that all death metal bands are merely for show? If you can, more power to you. I can't say that and feel confident about it in every case. In some cases I think lifestyle can cross over into the showmanship. If we only sing for the show where is our soul in that? This would mean that all death metal bands only write their lyrics for the showmanship of it. If this is in fact true then the lyrics really mean nothing on any deeper level. Roight?..
 
 Rap,pop,metal...doesn't matter. Come up with a theme that connects with a group of people and they will like the show.Give em' what they want. But is it real?

I think sharing thoughts about putrid decay has a lot of downsides.
 
 
 
 
 
 
But that's still probably better than doing a Journey cover. :-)

McQ,
 
That's all him live (no autotune/pitch shift)

My boy ain't no gog off the old block.

How about a Metal cover of ELO?
 

And Rod Serling covers Prince
 

I promise to listen to each one... I'm in the middle of listening to loud geetar.
 
:-)
 
 

All of those songs were fun and very well done.  I think my favorite of the bunch was the birthday song. 
 
(You gave him a toy accordian???  What were you thinking??!  The Karmic retribution could be massive!!!)

 
 
I like music that transcends genres.
 
If it's good music I can listen with my eyes closed and feel it's power to suggest a mood and vibe.
 
Everything else is extra stuff.

Starise
If I sang  "God Bless America" but I had no interest in America the song itself would still convey a meaning to thousands of people.

Maybe, but I think you'll find that the insincerity still comes through.  The best songs are those where the performer really feels it when they sing - that definitely translates to the audience well!  (And is also why those live performances are kept and raved about for years to come.)
 
Heck, in voice-over training they always tell you to smile more!!!

 
Kiss Alive (I) was one of the greatest bubble gum pop records to come out of the 70's.
 
The target audience was 14 year old boys that had an actual interest in girls.

The first time I heard Double Live was at a "kegger" at the beach. Something about Great White Buffalo really caught my ear and I stopped to listen.
 
I still have my LP sized Rock n Roll Over decal stored somewhere. ;-)

South Florida had some great indie radio stations in the late 70's.
 
Our small town had 3 really fantastic record stores where the folks working were in to every and any thing and anxious to share.