How come your favorite artist can’t make another album like the one you lost your virginity to, that saved your soul after the breakup, after your mom died?<\/p>\n
When you start off, your goal is to open the door.\u00c2\u00a0 You knock so hard.\u00c2\u00a0 At first no one is paying attention.\u00c2\u00a0 If you persevere, and have talent, eventually people notice and the door opens.\u00c2\u00a0 You pass through, THEN WHAT?<\/p>\n
You’ve got so much to say, so much to prove.\u00c2\u00a0 If you can just plead your case in front of the masses, if you can just get acclaim, your life will work.\u00c2\u00a0 But it doesn’t.\u00c2\u00a0 You\u00c2\u00a0 may make some dough.\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re smart, you may still have some of it.\u00c2\u00a0 But, you’ve got relationship problems.\u00c2\u00a0 Your kids are no better behaved than those of your high school classmates.\u00c2\u00a0 And, when you release new material, no one cares.\u00c2\u00a0 If you play live, people only want to hear the hits.\u00c2\u00a0 You can’t get on Top Forty radio, classic rock plays your past hits, but wants nothing to do with you now.\u00c2\u00a0 If not exactly depressed, you’re defeated. And you’ve earned the right to take no shit, no direction from anyone.<\/p>\n
That’s where Rick Rubin comes in.\u00c2\u00a0 He tries to get you back to the garden.\u00c2\u00a0 Back to the space you were in when you cut those great hits of yore.\u00c2\u00a0 He’s not a sycophant, he’s a trusted ear, telling you to keep writing because what you’ve come up with so far…just isn’t good enough.<\/p>\n
You’ll listen to Rick because of his rep.\u00c2\u00a0 Because of your raw desire to have an impact again.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ve lost your way, and you want to get back on track.<\/p>\n
There was context in the old days.\u00c2\u00a0 A game that you understood how to play.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, you might have a board, but the rules have evaporated and even though you’ve still got a few game pieces, you don’t know what to do with them.\u00c2\u00a0 Rick gives you context.<\/p>\n
Rick reminded Metallica how great those pre Black Album records were.\u00c2\u00a0 Told them to forget about the casual fan, to make a record for the hard core.\u00c2\u00a0 The results have been universally accepted, even revered, as a return to form.\u00c2\u00a0 But the process was hell on the musicians.\u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes torture.\u00c2\u00a0 But they did it, because they wanted to feel they still had something to say, were vital, they wanted to be back on top.<\/p>\n
Your favorites are lost.\u00c2\u00a0 They know how to do it.\u00c2\u00a0 Round up all their buddies and turn on the computer and lay something down.\u00c2\u00a0 But, since they’re not living four to a room on ramen, there’s no urgency. They believe good is good enough.\u00c2\u00a0 And good enough was NEVER good enough.<\/p>\n
I’m not talking about Clive Davis programming.\u00c2\u00a0 Telling you you suck and that you need to work with the usual suspects and record the music of hack songwriters.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m talking about a coach.\u00c2\u00a0 A manager, who tears you down and then inspires you.<\/p>\n
Every great athlete has a coach.\u00c2\u00a0 Some of the best football coaches are hated.\u00c2\u00a0 They play mind games. In order to get their charges to deliver their best work.\u00c2\u00a0 This is what we need in the music business.<\/p>\n
Rick did it with Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond and now Metallica.\u00c2\u00a0 He brings them back to the garden. He talks music, tells them how much he loves their classic work.\u00c2\u00a0 And then implores them to make more.<\/p>\n
It’s not repeating yourself.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s being INSPIRED in the same way.\u00c2\u00a0 So you can recapture the essence.<\/p>\n
It’s true.\u00c2\u00a0 Most people are not waiting for the albums of aged acts.\u00c2\u00a0 So, it’s hard to get psyched up.\u00c2\u00a0 But first and foremost you’re a musician, not a star.\u00c2\u00a0 Deep down inside you want to do your best work.\u00c2\u00a0 Not crap like Rod Stewart, doing it solely for the money and fame, but something that truly resonates with your audience, that you’re proud of.<\/p>\n
Rick Rubin has been able to put a spell on old artists, do such a mindfuck on them that they dig down deep and prove how great they are to him.\u00c2\u00a0 We need more Rick Rubins.<\/p>\n
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How come your favorite artist can’t make another album like the one you lost your virginity to, that saved your soul after the breakup, after your mom died? When you start off, your goal is to open the door.\u00c2\u00a0 You knock so hard.\u00c2\u00a0 At first no one is paying attention.\u00c2\u00a0 If you persevere, and have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-business"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-m6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}