A thought on Watch the Throne that probably won’t be fleshed out beyond this, beyond a cut for those sick of reading about it. (And, y’know, sorry. When Watch the Throne came out, it was literally my job to listen to it; of course I have thoughts.)
I’m…
Expensiveness is relative to earning potential, no? At least when comparing it to movies. A box office bomb is one that pulls in more in a single weekend ($19 M) than a platinum album does in 14 months (assuming a generous average album sale price of about $15). Don’t get me wrong, “expensive” is not a slur to me.
Sure, but then you could also say that there are “expensive paintings.” Which, sure, there are, but usually this isn’t really a meaningful distinction to make in art appreciation. I’m saying that music is far closer to the industry of smaller creative art fields than to industries of mass media with which it’s usually associated.
EDIT: To be clear, I’m talking about the cost of production, not the amount of money that comes in. There’s a huge gap between how much an album costs to make and how much it might make.
What about Damien Hirst’s “For the Love of God?” There, the cost of production was highly relevant to appreciation of the subject (in a way that I personally think is analogous to Otis).To be honest, my only firm opinion on WTT is that Trent Reznor needs to make an “It Gets Better” video specifically for Kanye West. Or maybe Jay-Z could set up a double date with Kelly Rowland or something.
