Name your lame duck artist........

Beyonce: "Jay-Z, I am leaving you for someone I met on the internet."
HOVA: "Who is this mysterious Mac Daddy? That mutha is looking for a cap in his brain."

Beyonce: "It was not his rig. It is that damn pecan pie at Goode Co."

Dave Mathews, David Gray, current Springsteen, current U2, current Tom Waits, current Patricia Barber, D. Krall, N. Jones, and others of this ilk in their individual ways ALL SEEM TO BE STUCK ON ONE BORING, DROANING SOUND.

However, at least these folks have some genuine talent and have shared it with us from time to time. So many of today's music "superstars" really seem to be more full of luck than talent. [Was it ever really different? e.g., What did Dean Martin or Sammy Davis Jr. have to do with music that made them as popular in their time as Tony Bennett?]

From the non-talent list I would exclude K. Kristofferson, early Billy Joel, early Barber, early Krall, and early
R. Stewart, [any Jeff Beck "Truth" and "Beck Ola" fans here? How about "Gasoline Alley"?] who had in the past at least exhibited genuine and unique talent.

This music stuff is "art", right? Enjoyment is with the individual listener. We all believe we have exquisite tastes. I chuckle about the varied opinions here. It's a riot.

I'm a big fan of L. Cohen and enjoy his work even more today [I think his current live music is terrific].

By contrast I worked in Manhattan while Springsteen was coming up and generously stepping in for free at one or two of the bars in Jersy City and Hoboken. Loved his work back then. Today, however, I can't really stand listening to his music.

Likewise with how Tom Waits was a joy for me during many of my late-night college study spurts "the piano had been drinking" but now for me he is just a droaning, scratchy bore forcing his forced "poetry" on someone.

Oh well. At least it's fun communicating these things.

I'm not saying I wouldn't want to hit that thing- I just said Beyonce had no MUSICAL talent!

Dismissing Leonard Cohen as "pretentious dribble" (I presume you mean drivel) strikes me as awfully harsh. His particular genre ("contempopary art song" is probably as good a description as any) may strike some as pretentious in general, but Cohen is awfully good at it. Tom Waits is an interesting talent - no argument there -, but I suspect that you're in the minority as to his relative lyrical ability vis a vis Cohen. John Marks (IIRC) of Stereophile has written pretty extensively on Cohen and contemporary art song and offers some interesting insights.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but IMHO (and just IMHO) you're off base on this one.

Marty

My personal favorite nomination so far is Edge from U2. I just saw the dvd "It Might Get Loud" with Edge, Jimmy Page, and Jack White. Page and White were always looking to (essentially) unadulterated blues for inspiration, while Edge was stroking a giant battery of effects boxes. I kept waiting for White to ask "Who let this guy in here?"