Off the wall question

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In sputnikmusic site
They wrote a review
" If anything, the limitations of disco were the only thing holding Off the Wall from being a pop masterpiece, as a few moments here and there sound a bit samey because of the genre's conventions."
What genre conveitons they talk about
Any genre have conventions
 
They are basically claiming that OTW is too much constrained by disco elements / influences and therefore not a pop masterpiece.

lol

As far as I know, OTW was celebrated by many as the last "disco" album that at the same time transgressed the genre masterfully. It is also seen as the first milestone of contemporary R & B.

sputnikmusic people might as well have missed the track BURN THIS DISCO OUT :lol: :music:
 
He meant that the album is limitating himself to disco not that disco genre have limitations is that right? Moonstruck87
 
No. He's talking about ..."the limitations of disco...".
 
rhythm

What genre conventions they talk about? Any genre have conventions
The writer is probably not a dance music fan. So he or she might not understand the music. Disco songs tend to be longer than the average pop song. Love To Love You Baby by Donna Summer is almost 20 minutes long. That might be one of the conventions. In most cases, Top 40 radio didn't play anything longer than 4-5 minutes. Pre-1970s, maybe 3 minutes. Disco (and funk) are more about the rhythm and/or beat than melodies. So if the writer is only into melody, rhythm based music might not appeal to them. They might consider that a minus. It's like most R&B from that era did not get crossover airplay. R&B is short for "rhythm & blues". Blues rarely got played on pop radio stations.

Disco also often had long instrumental sections. It's kind of more about the music than the singing. People are dancing to the rhythm, not the vocals. The lyrics aren't that important. So if the critic is into singer-songwriter music like Paul Simon or Carole King, songs like Shake Shake Shake Your Booty, Disco Duck, or You Should Be Dancing doesn't mean anything to them. They don't take it seriously because they consider disco party music or they can't dance because they have no rhythm. :laughing: They're a music listener, not a music participator. Dancing or even head nodding is participation with the music. Like people singing gospel at a black church. They clap, stamp their feet, shout or sway with the choir. There's repetition with a lot of gospel songs. Gospel is the origin of R&B, soul, and early rock n roll. Those genres are also rhythm based as the music originating from Africa was mainly based on the drums & rhythm. Melody in songs is more of a European thing like with classical music. The piano is not an instrument that originated from Africa.
 
well... in the 70s disco was "pop-music" ...
 
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