God or Marx

I do try very hard to overlook ridiculous ideologies if the music is good, and they don't feel the need to shove that ideology down my throat.

Oh, part of the reason they are fun is because of the ridiculous Marxism. Would their songs be as interesting if they were singing boy/girl moon/june lyrics instead of about smashing the capitalist system?

I dislike Christian Rock (dc talk, et al) but that's because it's all about converting kids to christianity and very little to do with music. It's not even in the Westlife league.

I really like Asian Dub Foundation. Which would tempt me to ask: which political artists are so good that their ideologies CAN'T be overlooked...?

however, prince's "the CHRIST," re-worked to fit in his current conversion to the jw's, is NOT good.

I'm thinking of the Louvin Brothers, whose right-wing Christian- moralist lyrics I disagree with but find completely fascinating, and furthermore adore the sound of their records.

I'm also thinking about lots of the reggae I love which lives in a religious - political world which I never could.

I'm not saying that in these cases the noise is so great it means I can ignore the politics. Rather, I'm saying that (sometimes) I can engage with the ideas, disagree with them and get on with enjoying the records.

The Louvin Brothers, to take up a discussion which has spread across several threads, have soul. But their soul doesn't make me more sympathetic to their politics. So Tracer, probably nobody, although if I'm interested in a genre I'm more likely to pay attention to the people and politics involved so I'm perhaps more likely to become more aware of the issues.

Surely there's one obvious answer to this: Public Enemy in the context of their embrace of Farrakhan / Nation of Islam.

I don't think jacking off eternally is any more or less tolerated under a capitalist order than under a marxist one. If anything, the marxists will have more time on their hands, not having to work and all that. Wasn't the whole hippie thing about realizing unending and limitless self-gratification? Weren't they commies? Did they make any good rock music? (ans: Of course, but not that much and I'm still trying to figure out what it is). Rock, to me, is more about the insatiable appetite that is never fulfilled: i.e. frustration (or the fall from grace, to put it in god terms). If the marxists ever got what they wanted, seems to me they'd be a pretty contented lot = BAD for rock music. I think upward mobility helps drive the rock engine (you've always got your Axl Roses moving to the big city to become stars; being a rock star is a CAREER OPPORTUNITY!) and that sort of requires capitalism, but as long as the system is capitalist, I think diverse individual ideologies (no doubt the result of various frustrations) keep things interesting. Remember, the best Chinese Rock was Johnny Thunders'. If dysfunctional junkies can rock bells, Christians and Commies sure as hell can too, so long as they aren't living in Utah or in North Korea. And I would never want to "overlook" their ideologies, I'd want to understand what it contributed to the music and its appreciation, because I am a scientist.

An artist that was ruined for me by their ideology? Kula Shaker. OK, it was ruined as much by the fact that their second album was total shite, but still.

The first album was just cute, dippy-trippy neo-60s psychedelia garage stuff with dumb lyrics, but was still fun to bounce around to on a sunny day.

But as soon as all that half-understood "eastern philosophy" crap started spilling out of their mouths, it really started to ruin it. It took a while for it to sink in, and I really wanted it to be kind of a misunderstanding and all, but when that second album came out, it was like... "OK... back away slowly..."

Embarrassing to think that I ever fell for it.

He was dead good looking, though. Heh. ;-)

Smugness, piety, self-satisfaction= enemy of great rock.

People with extreme beliefs can make great rock if they write about it as a struggle, a coming to terms with their own beliefs, or a struggle to get those beliefs accepted by the world at large.

However, smug self celebration of "my beliefs are so great, and I am brilliant for having them" destroys the sense of urgency and conflict that makes music great.

This is a simplistic answer to an intriguing question, but it's the best I can come up with after some contemplation.