In terms of composition/writing what was the desired goal?
Relatively few recording artists today write songs that are analogous to good story telling (aka Gordon Lightfoots opus Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald). Even if they did, the mandates and dictums of contemporary radio station program directors would effectively stifle such efforts. Music that is properly composed, arranged, performed, and produced should effectuate an emotional response. It should also invoke a sense of wonder and escapism epitomized by films such as Blade Runner, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It could be argued that this is purely the domain of classical music (sprawling, epic, cerebral, and maybe a bit stuffy). Its a decidedly baseless claim; listen to the Rush album Hemispheres for a contemporary example. It constitutes proof that rock and roll can be intellectually stimulating, well-written, and kick-ass at the same time. Generally any CD with an Explicit Lyrics adhesive sticker affixed is most likely the by-product of inferi
