Alternative music: adressing a few common observations and debates

Music: a means of cathartic expression (psychological perspective)

Listening to an angry song to let out the negative feelings you may have collected over the course of a day really seems to help some people work with those feelings and “let them out,” as they say. Other ways people “let out” these inner aggressive urges are by punching a bag or screaming into a pillow. However, are these methods really the best way to go? Is catharsis healthy and helpful, or does it simply increase the aggression and negative feelings long term? The answer is………

Let’s do an experiment first. You listen to an angry, sad song and tell me if you feel angrier/sadder or relieved of aggression when you finish, then write down on a piece of paper what you feel so you can fully identify the feeling.

Your choice:
"Her tongue was tattooed on the back of her teeth" by Old Gray: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQY5BokdtpY

"It’s cool we can still be friends" by Bright Eyes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wC-6saAHHYE

"I exist I exist I exist" by Flatsound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNrtbl6ddZM

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Have you done it?

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Okay, I’ll let you in on the secret: catharsis is a lie. Psychological experiments have shown that engaging in a “release” of aggressive emotions (like listening to angry or sad music) will not stop the feeling or mellow it out, it will encourage it further in the long run. This means of letting go of anger or sadness does not work as many think it does.

However, it’s always comforting to listen to sad or angry music when you are sad or angry. Just don’t delude yourself into thinking that it will make your bad feelings go away.

Radiohead and Muse: similar sounds?

Have you ever wondered if two bands sound too similar for their own good? There is much discussion over the bands Radiohead and Muse, as many claim that Muse, a contemporarily formed band, has copied the styles of Radiohead, formed in 1985. Let’s first see what you think:

Radiohead:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7bIYSVpYSU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMbNcdoFDRs&feature=kp

Muse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9LOFXwPwC4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek0SgwWmF9w

My opinion:
I recognize the similarity of the two bands, but I don’t think Muse has stolen Radiohead’s signature sound. The two bands have a lot of differences. Muse is generally more upbeat and in a major key, with more jamming on the guitar. Radiohead is a beautiful, but very depressing band, with lots of slow and minor sounds and lyrics of desparation, heartbreak, and depression. The main difference as I see it is the bands’ different tones. However, Radiohead’s debut album “Pablo Honey” illustrates the same upbeat signature and guitar jamming of a Muse song, so who knows what direction Muse will take next! Maybe they will end up even more similar to Radiohead.

Thom Yorke, the lead singer of Radiohead

Matthew Bellamy, the lead singer of Muse