Its a truth universally acknowledged that critics find it far easier to write negatively than positively about the arts. Always primed to give pubescent, wide-eyed bands a good thrashing or waiting in the wings to finally take down a loathsome artist a peg or two with a damning review (evinced in the slew of derision heaped on Razorlights final album) the critic thrives on the frightening power a small selection of words can have on the reader, and the futures of the musicians in question. They will insist that Album X is an abysmal effort and a musical travesty of the highest order. And as anyone can be a critic nowadays thanks to social media, the word travesty gets bandied about a little too often. My point is that genuine musical travesties often get lost in the shuffle. Sure, its a little wrong that Miley Cyrus Wrecking Ball made it to number one, but in a world where number one doesnt really mean anything to anyone (unlike it did in the 60s, 70s, 80s), people are wallowing in too much apathy to really care. Indeed, not all musical travesties will be as iconic or important as the 1913 debut of Igor Stravinskys ballet, The Rite of Spring, whose chorographical content and avant-garde orchestration incited violent altercations between traditionalist and progressive viewers, but there really have been some giant instances of travesty in modern music. Whether these occurrences relish in falsity, absurdity or distortion (cheers, Oxford English Dictionary) they must be addressed and simply must be put into an easy-to-read list format! Read on to decide whether my own travestying of one of literatures most famous opening lines was really worth the effort...
A 22 year old English Literature graduate from Birmingham. I am passionate about music, literature and football, in particular, my beloved Aston Villa. Lover of words and consumer of art, music is the very air that I breathe.
