Taking Sides: VU's "Rock and Roll" vs. Triumph's "Magic Power"

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Both songs about the curative power of rock music and rock’n’roll radio.

In VU’s, the rock and roll radio station saves Jenny’s life (she was bored out of her skull and possibly suicidal at five! She probably moved on to Cecil Taylor before she hit middle school.) But Lou Reed never makes mention that what he’s doing at the moment, his song “Rock and Roll,” might do the same for someone else.

Triumph on the other hand wrote a song about the magic power of music, and the singer and song of the moment are identified as the source of healing. When Rik Emmett of Triumph sings “I'm young, I'm wild and I'm free / I got the magic power of the music in me” he’s talking about himself! (later he says, “She gets the magic power of the music from me,” and then finally he asks the girl listening under the covers to “…turn me on - turn me up - it's your turn to dream…”

Is it any wonder that Triumph’s Allied Forces of Rock ‘n’ Roll took over the streets while VU remained doomed to obscurity?

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 25 October 2002 12:33 (twenty-three years ago)

I thought this was gonna be a dave q. thread.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Friday, 25 October 2002 12:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Hey I tried.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 25 October 2002 12:38 (twenty-three years ago)

-vs- Juke Box Hero.

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 25 October 2002 12:40 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah but dave225 "Jukebox Hero" is about being a star -- these songs are about being a listener.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 25 October 2002 12:41 (twenty-three years ago)

God gave Rock n' Roll to you.

― hstencil, Friday, 25 October 2002 13:07 (twenty-three years ago)

But Rock & Roll is in third person, as is Juke Box Hero - & Magic Power is in first person. So where's yer messiah now?

― dave225 (Dave225), Friday, 25 October 2002 13:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Which streets did Triumph take over? It's not a fair comparison other than subject-wise -- that's probably Triumph's best song, and the Velvets are simply out of their league on a song called "Rock and Roll". I have lots of least favorite Velvets songs, but that's definitely one of them.

― Kris (aqueduct), Friday, 25 October 2002 15:00 (twenty-three years ago)

If I were Lou Reed I'd be embarrased to talk about myself too.

― Kris (aqueduct), Friday, 25 October 2002 15:01 (twenty-three years ago)

the Velvets are simply out of their league on a song called "Rock and Roll"

You'd think this could be true, or at least that the song might be meant ironically or something. But for me it really works, mainly on the strength of Reed's lyric and vocal.

― Sean (Sean), Friday, 25 October 2002 15:06 (twenty-three years ago)

Fireball is better. By Ducks Deluxe. It has no person, it just IS.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 25 October 2002 16:34 (twenty-three years ago)

That Triumph song is great....

...for me to poop on.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 25 October 2002 16:56 (twenty-three years ago)

Are you actually claiming that the Velvets are more obscure than Triumph? Even I have trouble with this. I don't follow what you're saying with your comparison either - Reed is glorifying the pop music of a particular era; Emmett is glorifying himself. Why does this make Emmett's lyrics better or more populist? And surely the possibility that the Velvets could themselves save someone is implied when they sing about the saving powers of music - it's not hard to extrapolate from the specific situation in the song. Basically, I agree with Kris except that "Magic Power" isn't my favourite Triumph song. "Follow Your Heart" is easily the single cheesiest song that I love (and that says something). Musically, it's pretty much a straight Boston imitation without the production and the harmonies. Lyrically, it aims to include every self-help cliche ever. At the same time, I played it every day for a couple weeks. It would do things like make me want to get up and work out when I was exhausted at 1 in the morning. When Emmett sang "Any other way will only lead to sorrow" it felt like a profound truth.

― sundar subramanian, Friday, 25 October 2002 17:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Are you actually claiming that the Velvets are more obscure than Triumph?

Sure -- millions of albums sold vs. several hundred thousand. Lots of radio play (even now, on classic rock stations) vs. almost none. I'm sure many more people know Triumph. But they're dying off while VU gets rediscovered, you're right about that.

The rest of my comparison isn't so hot. I should have just done a "Magic Power" classic or dud b/c holy mother do I love that song. It was a glimmer of light in a very dim childhood circa 1981.

― Mark (MarkR), Friday, 25 October 2002 19:02 (twenty-three years ago)

first of all, like much of loaded, you really need to listen to the demo (which far outshines the released version) before you can dismiss this song... and it's not to be dismissed
secondly, the song's not so much about the music but rather the station (101.1 fm i think)

― coelcanth, Friday, 25 October 2002 19:36 (twenty-three years ago)

How about Velvets' "Rock and Roll" vs. Zeppelin's? I think I'd actually vote for the Velvets in this case.

― Kris (aqueduct), Friday, 25 October 2002 20:17 (twenty-three years ago)

I love "Rock 'n' Roll", but "Magic Power" kicks its ass to kingdom come. The lead up to the chorus with the strung out A chord leading to the sumptuous D chorus (I've always wondered if this was supposed to be a steal of "The Song Remains the Same")...ahhhh.

The best Triumph song, though, is still "Say Goodbye".

― Joe (Joe), Friday, 25 October 2002 20:42 (twenty-three years ago)

The Zeppelin song is amazing (and certainly better than anything I've heard by Triumph). The drum line alone is one of the most memorable Bonham ever laid down - the introductory drum riff announces the song's propulsive presence with such authority and it sounds massive and unstoppable. All the rhythm tracks (including the burnt-out piano thumping that makes an entrance in the last verse - used in fact in the same motorik way that John Cale used the piano except that with Zeppelin you were actually moving somewhere) sound clear, thick, and punchy. The lead guitar and to a degree the vocal tracks sound in a way like they're coming through a crackly radio and amplified through a giant loudspeaker dangling in the sky. Except for the one repeated riff that introduces the guitar solo by sliding into clarity each time. And the vocal track might be Plant's most perfect - like an electrical current running through the song. It can be easy to forget how remarkable the song is because of overexposure but it may ultimately mean more to me than any VU song (and I love the Velvets).

Really, though, the VU's "Rock n Roll" isn't bad, at least on the live and Another View versions I have. (Sold Loaded years ago, played it once or twice.) It has a distinctive ringing guitar sound and a memorable rhythm. And if we are comparing lyrics, it at least has some colour and cleverness compared to "Magic Power", which is the drippiest of the Triumph hits I know.

Don't think I know "Say Goodbye".

― sundar subramanian, Saturday, 26 October 2002 16:41 (twenty-three years ago)

Don't think I know "Say Goodbye".

― sundar subramanian, Saturday, 26 October 2002 16:41 (twenty-three years ago)

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