Today’s music scene reminds me a lot of Twilight fans. Twilight fans are obsessed with Team Jacob and Team Edward will see the movie over and over again, will have positive stories about their ‘new’ phenomenon and feel they have been embraced and understand the love of vampires. At some point, the elder state people, the ones that have grown up on Dracula, Near Dark, Anne Rice and countless other depictions of vampires in print and visual media, will give the Twilight legion a full education on what vampires are, and they will be so afraid.

A few days ago, and I just repeated it before starting this article, I listened to some of the top 100 songs in the country. For weeks I had heard about the inventive nature of Lady Gaga, the catchy tunes of Katy Perry and the music of some other up and coming artists. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. My biggest disappointment had to do with how so many singers sound the same. The music is processed through some Euro disco track, voices are auto-tuned to robotic lifelessness and the life of the music is as unbelievable as sparkling vampires in the daylight.

This delving into listening to some of the new stars of music came about when Lady Gaga started to become this icon of the new music decade. Nothing about Lady Gaga’s music screamed originality to me. She seemed like a cross between Dale Bozzio at the height of her Missing Persons fame and Madonna at her musical middle. Last week someone asked me if I had heard her new song Alejandro. I said I tried watching the video but at 9 minutes and after 2 it looked so much like a Madonna video mash up I stopped before I heard the song. With some coaxing I was told to listen to it and well, it was a very good version of La Isla Bonita with a bit of an Ace of Base beat.

Listening to the new artists today I don’t feel any passion for them. I’m sure there are a few out there, broken from the chain of overproduced auto-tune and Europop beats that are contributing something but I doubt they will be on the charts or heard on the radio. No, we get people imitating music videos to bland music on YouTube, we get young man children with little more than safe good looks who are paraded as child prodigies because they can imitate the weakness of today’s pop song, of course with a little help from electronics.

I am thankful I have an extensive collection of music to listen to so I don’t have to subject myself to the processed Velveeta cheese people lap up today. It’s hilarious to me when I look at the music charts when I was growing up in the 80s. You had pop, rock, punk and soul sharing the same area, with a distinct difference in a lot of the music. You couldn’t confuse Kim Carnes with Michael Jackson with Madonna with The Cure with The Sex Pistols. There was variety which is sorely lacking today.