Metamatic Forums John Foxx John Foxx 2008 - a disappointing year for Foxx fans?

At no time in this thread has anyone with an opinion contrary to the majority suggested that the work the John Foxx team put forth in 2008 was in vain or that those behind the scenes, or Dennis Leigh himself, should stop what they have been doing and throw in the towel just because something they did might not have made everyone equally happy.

For example, I am delighted that there were so many John Foxx gigs this past year! But I am nevertheless disappointed that none of those shows were anywhere I could afford to get to. That is a legitimate emotional response to my personal experience. It is not in any way intended to diminish the pleasure others got from attending shows they could get to, nor is it a dismissal of the hard work that went into planning and coordinating the shows. Furthermore, it is not — as has been suggested elsewhere — moaning for the sake of moaning. My reaction is selfish only insofar as it is my opinion because one's opinion pertains only to one's self.

I was under the impression that this forum welcomed differences of opinion, but based on some of the comments in this thread I'm not so sure anymore. Are we only allowed to post if we are cheerleaders for the standard bearers who say everything is peachy, and dissenters be damned? People aren't always going to agree, but that doesn't mean one person's subjective responses are any less valid than another's. Get over it, guys! :rolleyes:

Nicely put, Alex. I agree with you on both counts.

Well said, Martin.

Well, on Saturday, 10th May 2008, I travelled most of the day to get to the Sydney gig for what I considered to be my once in a lifetime opportunity of getting to see John (& Louis) live. Not only that, I got to meet John in person, have a chat and buy him a well-deserved beer. So, I'd have to say that, for me, 2008 was a 'pretty-good' year.

John: In case you read this ... I lost my bloody 'fan photo' with you. My computer went up in smoke in September and I lost absolutely everything, although I've still got my specially autographed copy of the A New Kind Of Man CD as a souvenir. I'm coming to the UK in April, so hopefully I might be able to catch you and Louis gigging again, maybe? I've got to have a couple of more beers with Chris 1, at least!

Thanks for that Aussie tour last year, and as far as the various CD releases go ... I still remember how I felt when I got my first copies of Metamatic and The Garden way back then, so I'll buy everything of your material that gets released, I don't care if it's a repackaging or remix collection. Until I get to hear it for myself, how do I know what I might be missing out on, eh? Hopefully, the various 'live' CDs will contain all of the tracks played on the Aussie tour, so I'll now be able to compile my own 'Aussie Tour' compilation.

I'm looking forward to the remaster of The Pleasures Of Electricity though!

All the very best to you and everyone else in the extended 'family' for 2009.

Regards,

Rod (the Kiwi fan base ).

One of the reasons I like the Metamatic forum is that, unlike some artists' forums I could name, one can express an honest opinion rather than blindly praising the artist regardless of the quality and quantity of the material he or she puts out. I'm sure we've all seen forums where, as soon as you say "actually I didn't much like the last album" several posters immediately jump down your throat with "call yourself a fan?" flaming that only serves to push the non-obsessive fans away.

I started this thread because in my opinion several (but by no means all) of the releases that came out under John's name in 2008 weren't up to the standards he's previously set himself. I also queried the cynical marketing tactic of forcing fans to buy whole albums worth of new material just to get a new track or two when it would have been more fan-friendly to have made the new tracks downloadable for, say, 79p each. This doesn't make me "wrong", "moaning" or "talking bollox", it means that I prefer to judge each CD John releases on its own merits rather than buying it regardless of the material within.

Whilst I'm glad that the thread has provoked an interesting debate, I don't much care for those who throw insults at those who dare to offer a contrary opinion. Sycophancy is never a good thing; if people aren't prepared to come out and say "Sorry John, I don't think your recent music is as good as it could be", where is his incentive to make the effort? He might as well just release a CD of him brushing his teeth and several people would rush out and buy it.

So no, I stand by my opinion in the opening post. 2008 was in my opinion a disappointing year for fans of John Foxx. Nevertheless, I'm interested enough to hear what John has planned for 2009 and hope it's better.

Got to agree with Alex - this is a healthy thread; and people should have the right to air their views - my only concern is how they air those views.

We're all adults on here - some detatchment and maturity wouldn't go amiss; whatever your view.

Be happy, be well and look forward to the future

[controversy_mode]
NO NO NO NO NO.

If I want guitars, I'll listen to Numan.
Real drums? NOOOOH!!!! Bloody Ting Tings?Orchestral? Cathedral Oceans Surely..

It was adding guitars etc that buggered up John's music in the first place (for me). I left after Metamatic.
I came back when "pleasures" showed a return to the electronica fold.

I'd like to see more in the Pleasures/Trash/Crash vein, please..

So, maybe there were too many releases. But then, we don't have to buy them all.

[/controversy_mode]

My apologies if I'm out of synch here, but I was reading the thread from the start, and HAD to respond!!

No offence intended to anyone. (Unless they're French.)

Any Foxx fan from the first time around is now getting on a bit, and therefore entitled to be a "Grumpy". And I include myself in that!
I hereby launch the Metamatic "Grumpy" club, and nominate Herbert as a fellow founder member.

Aye - Well said that man. Maturity - yes, Respect - absolutely. Lets not destroy what we have here!

Given the enormous tide of opinion (both ways) listed above, would it not be fairer to add the word "some" inbetween the words "for" and "fans" in the portion of your last paragraph that I've cut out? Hopefully some of us have conviced you that not all of us are disappointed?

Probably a different thread that we shouldn't start, but my disappointing year was 1986, then '87, '88.......

Anyone who knows me will know that I really don't like arguments. And so I was very reluctant to add my voice to a thread which has produced some strong and heartfelt opinions for fear that it may be taken the wrong way.

I can only speak personally when I say that I've found 2008 to a very interesting and exciting year to be a fan of John Foxx. Irrespective of my involvment with this website and the recent batch of releases I'm still a fan first and foremost.

Debate is fine and healthy - and that's a point that I really thought didn't need to be made here as this Forum has always been run with what I hope is seen as a 'light touch'. I've been told (on several occasions) that this is one of the friendliest forums around - and that makes me very happy indeed.

I completely agree - 1986 wasn't so much a 'disappointing year' as the start of a 'disappointing decade'.

Ultimately, we're not all going to like everything that gets released - but so what? It's not like there's any shortage of material. Surely it's every bit as good to be presented with a choice. In short, there's heaps of things going on in the world of John Foxx - some of it will please people and some of it won't. And we will all have our view on what happened in 2008, but that's been and gone now...

Here's to 2009...

Rob