All right…this is how I see the whole situation as far as looks and talent go in the music business.

It helps a great deal to be good looking as well as musically talented these days. Raw talent does carry one far, but in most cases, particularly now that videos and other visuals are so important, looks matter way more than in the pre-video age.

American Idol isn’t a show I watch on a regular basis, but I did watch part of the season where Reuben won the top prize. Talented singer he was, and probably still is. Hasn’t done well lately as far as his post-AI career goes.

As for this band, I agree…they’re very much a work in progress; their music seems to be all right enough for them to tour all over the world, but it doesn’t impress me much. I wasn’t enamored of Bada Bing Wit’ a Pipe…maybe its because it seems to be a stream of consciousness song with only some good but not great vocals and instrumentals.

Anyhow, back on topic. I can see why Postman would say that about their looks because these guys are not firmly established well known talent, and in listening to them, I think they have lots of work to do to get that level.

One of the most vivid examples I can think of that proves your “sex/good looks sell” point as being the Gospel truth is this:

When I was still in junior high, way back in the 1970s, I went over to a friend’s house just to chill out after school. He had a huge record collection, and one of them featured a gauzy but still very visible cover shot of the female singer, in her birthday suit, riding on horseback. No timid covering up of breasts with her long blonde hair, either…it was like a Playboy photo, just a bit blurry as though it had been shot through gauze.

I don’t remember the singer, nor the exact genre, but I do remember the cover art.

Also, I shudder to think about what people would think nowadays about Kate Smith. She was, as the term for overweight women now current online goes, a BBW, but she had a great singing voice. Doubt she’d make it through one round of American Idol, though.

Now, with videos and webcasts and all those audio-visual techniques audiences rely on, sex appeal and physical attractiveness certainly seem to be as important, or even more important than, as musical talent. I seriously doubt that Janis Joplin or Bob Dylan, giants of rock and indie-style music of the Sixties, would pass muster by today’s pop-tart standards that gave us Britney, Cristina, ‘N Sync, and all those other acts.

Do you still think that I’m kidding, Fardreamer?

I read the review, listened to some songs in MySpace, and I’m trying to understand where you’re coming from, but there’s really no rhyme or reason to the comment. I did not see in the review any mention of “youthful looks” anywhere. Youthful energy, yes, and it does show in the group’s music, but no one said anything (or cares) about Four Year Strong’s looks.