Word: tuneless
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...purge of the arts was under way that mortally threatened those writers and composers who had survived the Great Terror of the mid-'30s. In music the principal target was Shostakovich. Though laden with Stalin Prizes, he was now being termed the author of "un-Soviet, unwholesome, eccentric, tuneless" works. He knew what to do. In 1936 he had nearly lost his life after receiving a public "whipping" for an opera that had displeased Stalin. Following a Central Committee resolution condemning him in 1948, he publicly expressed "deep gratitude" to the Communist Party for pointing out his shortcomings...
...loses the anger and humanity of the lead vocals, the power of the rhythm guitar, the pulse of the heavy drum beat; it becomes lobotomized. Devo probably intended all this when they recorded "Satisfaction" this way--but that doesn't make the track any less dull. Alas, this sterile, tuneless shell will be many radio listerners' only acquaintance with Devo, and they will understandably avoid the group like the plague...
...also manages to be offensive along the way. (I might also point out that the auditorium it is presented in has the atmospheric requirements for a sauna bath, and the seats are arranged in such a way as to leave ample legroom for dwarfs.) By bad I mean bad -tuneless, humorless, structureless. (On this last point, I could explain how the show actually collapsed into its conclusion a half-hour before the final curtain fell, but I'll save that one for my friends who had the sense to leave the premises at intermission...