Catty Much? Not So Sweet Sounds Regarding Sweet Sounds
Today's post is from our friend HIM.
Stumbling about the interwebs in a turkey-induced state of lethargy, I happened upon one of my “read it and cringe” routines, Metal Sludge. Like a tamer version of Blabbermouth (in terms of viewer postings, which never show up in my browser!), it operates like a feral adolescent’s mildly tepid dream when it comes to punching up the funny re: content. They oversell the jokes too often and adopt a Tuff posture that is, at times, a bit painful to read. But I am a reader. And this post is related to one of their posts.
Michael Sweet strikes me as a gifted man. He has skills I, and many of his peers, never will. He generally abides by the Godly edicts that have marked his, and his band Stryper’s, path. I liked him with George Lynch. Enjoyed his funny poke at metal-cum-country cluelessness on his recent single, “Radio,” and have grown to appreciate what God’s bumblebees were doing back when I was too blindered to give them a fair hearing.
Sebastian Bach (as even my recent posts would suggest) is a different sort of savage animal. Blessed with luck, looks, and an amazing set of pipes, he is the reason people remember Skid Row. But he is long since out of that band and long past his prime as re: any of the aforementioned attributes. He runs cold, then hot, then wine-induced in a series of fading swirls along the tail end of a career that has been, at the least, interesting. He occasionally finds time to shine, can be witty and on point. But, too often, he comes across as a prima donna no long capable of projecting—in literal and figurative senses--the gifts that would give him room to gloat.
So when the Sludge highlights a high and then provides a low I find it interesting. The high is the praise that rockers like Sweet (and Hale, etc.) have showered upon the young wunderkind, 15-year old Moriah Formica. This girl has a gift, for both mimicry and outright musicianship. She nails Heart. She does justice to some Stryper songs. Heck, she even slays on Skid Row’s “I Remember You"
Here, though, is where things get not-so-Sweet. The usually mannered Sweet comments on Formica’s prodigious talent with the following: “This kid is the future of rock "So proud of her and honored to have her on my new album – Moriah Formica kills this and in my humble opinion, smokes the original singer.”
Okay, that is both praise and a plug. Nothing untoward there. But the slam on Bach? That seems beneath Sweet and more . . . well, more like something a delusional Bach might say, has said, and will say again about countless other people. Moreover, it reduced Sweet to that oh so easy level of taking a swipe without really being catty (which is the flip side of a term coined in reference to dogs, mind you). There is no cleverness in hitting Bach while his angel’s trend increasingly down.
The other problem is this: it isn’t even true (as far as “humble opinions” go). In his prime, Bach was one of those talents who could smoke most challengers. Recall those gifts I made reference to earlier. And if Sweet took an honest look at his career and presence at the same time Bach was killing it, he might come in for some harsh introspection (irrespective of the fact that I now admire some of his youthful work). So it becomes a dumb game of the Pope calling the papacy black (for those who like a bit of a genus/species tweak to the old adage).
The biggest problem is, however, the following: he diminishes Formica’s incredible talent by pulling her into the maw of an all-too-familiar case of old metallers slap-fighting with each other over pieces of ever-diminishing turf (a topic worthy of more coverage on my new website, “The Outsider”). She deserves to be evaluated on her talents, even when sitting in with or paying tribute to others. She doesn’t need some old dude using her as evidence for a “humble” opinion that, even if true, is anything but. It is unbecoming on a host of levels.
Bach is a disaster already in process. Sweet is a man with gifts he has nurtured. Formica might have a shot if she is guided along the right—and rocky—path that is today’s music business. Leave her out of it, Sweet. When you lower yourself to the level of the person you critique, you are only looking in a mirror.
Original story posted at: http://metalsludge.tv/younger-gone-wild-strypers-michael-sweet-says-teen-artist-smokes-the-original-singer-on-version-of-i-remember-you/
