A book I hope to read soon is Carl Wilson's entry into the 33 1/3 series. I have yet to read any of the 33 1/3 books (which take a look at critically acclaimed records like 69 Love Songs and Murmur, among many others), and I'm well aware that Wilson's topic is definitely not on a celebrated album. Maybe that's why I want to read it. I've read enough about why Pet Sounds is great (I own the album and have come to my own conclusions). Celine Dion's Let's Talk About Love, however, is a different story.
Wilson's book "documents [his] brave and unprecedented year-long quest to find his inner Celine Dion fan, and explores how we define ourselves in the light of what we call good and bad, what we love and what we hate." I'm all eyes and ears on this one. Why this is the case is that my experience with Let's Talk About Love about ten years ago taught me a lot.
Working at Best Buy when Dion's album, as well as the Titantic soundtrack, came out, I saw an endless parade of men and women (mostly my parent's age) come in and buy a copy or two. Because of the movie's massive popularity, we had difficulty keeping the soundtrack in stock, but rarely had a problem with Let's Talk About Love. Dion had long since been a superstar at that point, so her label was anticipating it to be a hit album.
Coupled with her duet with Barbra Streisand, "Tell Him," and her duet with Luciano Pavarotti, "I Hate You Then I Love You," I proceeded to hear "My Heart Will Go On" enough times to last five lifetimes. Let's Talk About Love and the Titantic soundtrack were like a two-headed beast, with the Let's Talk About Love part the bigger one since it had more popular songs on it. They were on Best Buy Radio, regular radio, MTV and VH1. It was, as often said, inescapable. And I don't pine to hear these songs ever again.
But from what I gather about Wilson's book is how we strongly dislike something while others seem to love it. This is not a case of whether or not Let It Be is the better or lesser album than Tim. Rather, why a number of people my age hate Let's Talk About Love while people my parents' age appear to love it.
For me, Let's Talk About Love isn't just about the songs; it's the apparent taste in music and lifestyle that comes with it. It's the, "I'm a busy parent who has no time to get into modern music. I am appalled by what I see with younger generations -- doing things my generation did as well, but that was in a different (and more innocent) time. Rock music used to be good, but then it got bad. Now all I want to listen to is smooth jazz, light rock and the sound of waterfalls."
I'm not saying that taste in music or lifestyle is bad. I'm just very sure that it would not be a good fit for me as a fan of music and the way I look at life. Since Let's Talk About Love is like a gateway into that, I'm very hesitant. I love my parents for who they are, but I definitely inherited my view of music from another source.
Wilson's book "documents [his] brave and unprecedented year-long quest to find his inner Celine Dion fan, and explores how we define ourselves in the light of what we call good and bad, what we love and what we hate." I'm all eyes and ears on this one. Why this is the case is that my experience with Let's Talk About Love about ten years ago taught me a lot.
Working at Best Buy when Dion's album, as well as the Titantic soundtrack, came out, I saw an endless parade of men and women (mostly my parent's age) come in and buy a copy or two. Because of the movie's massive popularity, we had difficulty keeping the soundtrack in stock, but rarely had a problem with Let's Talk About Love. Dion had long since been a superstar at that point, so her label was anticipating it to be a hit album.
Coupled with her duet with Barbra Streisand, "Tell Him," and her duet with Luciano Pavarotti, "I Hate You Then I Love You," I proceeded to hear "My Heart Will Go On" enough times to last five lifetimes. Let's Talk About Love and the Titantic soundtrack were like a two-headed beast, with the Let's Talk About Love part the bigger one since it had more popular songs on it. They were on Best Buy Radio, regular radio, MTV and VH1. It was, as often said, inescapable. And I don't pine to hear these songs ever again.
But from what I gather about Wilson's book is how we strongly dislike something while others seem to love it. This is not a case of whether or not Let It Be is the better or lesser album than Tim. Rather, why a number of people my age hate Let's Talk About Love while people my parents' age appear to love it.
For me, Let's Talk About Love isn't just about the songs; it's the apparent taste in music and lifestyle that comes with it. It's the, "I'm a busy parent who has no time to get into modern music. I am appalled by what I see with younger generations -- doing things my generation did as well, but that was in a different (and more innocent) time. Rock music used to be good, but then it got bad. Now all I want to listen to is smooth jazz, light rock and the sound of waterfalls."
I'm not saying that taste in music or lifestyle is bad. I'm just very sure that it would not be a good fit for me as a fan of music and the way I look at life. Since Let's Talk About Love is like a gateway into that, I'm very hesitant. I love my parents for who they are, but I definitely inherited my view of music from another source.
Comments