IT BACKFIRED AGAIN: THE STEADFAST PATTERN OF MUSIC DECLINE

Originally Posted: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 10:36pm

I bought the new Mute Math album, Armistice, today. It is exactly what I was expecting, let me tell you why this is a slight disappointment.

The self titled Mute Math debut album is the epitome of good music to me. From start to finish, that album is perfect. Unbeatable by even themselves, there is no way Mute Math could recover from their own slaughter. Mute Math themselves announced early on that, "whoever thought the first album was perfect, would hate the new album, whoever thought it was good but could be fixed in a few areas, would love the new one."

Again, this is all pertaining to me, some of you may disagree, but you can hopefully agree with the point I will make.

Unlike most artists who give you grandeur and then hit you in the face with a terrible follow up album, Mute Math warned us. Which is why I was expecting Armistice to disappoint to an extent. Don't get me wrong it is still very good. I will listen to it for the rest of my life, but this album still can not hold a flame to their first.

It is a sad and an upsetting truth that a great album is easy to find, but a great artist is hard to find. Which is why I decided early on that consistency is much more important to me when it comes to music, rather than a good song or a good album.

So many bands peak at their first or early on albums and then decline from there, never making anything as good as the first. It is almost as if they put all of their heart and mind to make something bigger than themselves, and when it is done, they are asked to do it again. What a challenge. I know I couldn't do it.

I thank God for music. There is something about music that hits an emotional aestheticism that creates a type of nostalgia that resonates to the deepest part of ourselves. The work and creativity that it takes to make something original and become part of our lives does not go unnoticed. I appreciate even more though, the artists who are truly gifted and imagine newness throughout the lifespan of their artistic existence.

Do not get me wrong, Mute Math is still amazing. And will always be held in high regard solely for that first album and the fact that they still do make great music! But they now fall in the same category as so many other bands I've come to stop gawking over as soon as they've outdone themselves by being too good at one time.

Ultimately I am grateful for even having at least one album that blows my mind by so many different bands, no matter where they are now. And I am thankful for the bands that keep their consistency and will always be great and I am thankful for just... music in general!