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JAKE
@jake
I think one of the main reasons an artist’s earliest albums are often their best is because those albums have hunger at their core. You can’t fake a sincere sense of hunger from the soul. And the more successful you become, the harder it is to maintain that kind of hunger. Success is like food. It’s satiating. The artist becomes satisfied. Not completely, but moreso than they were before. They become comfortable. They have something to lose. Expectations to meet. It is hard for the art to be as pure as it was before. For the creation to be as unadulterated. The artist is creating for an audience, where there was none before. They were their own only audience. That’s why I love the early albums. The artist before they made it.
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Andrew
@music2work2
I get where you’re coming from, and I definitely appreciate the rawness in those early albums. But I'm wary of the idea that the best art comes from discomfort or suffering. If the message to artists is that they need to be in a state of discomfort to create their best work, that’s kind of toxic. If we tell artists that success, love, or even just peace of mind might kill their creativity - that’s scary - and doesn't have to be true: George Harrison's a great example. I'd push back against the idea that their art can't be "pure" just 'cos they're no longer uncomfortable. I think you're bang on with the audience aspect - I agree that in the beginning they don't have an audience - and this gives them freedom - which they then inevitably factor into the next work - but that's different from hunger and discomfort.
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