The other day, I was sitting in my freshman seminar on the origins of music. I listened in awe as my professor explained the incredible complexity of the human brain's ability to process sound, the sensitivity of the tiny hairs within our ears and the countless combinations of neuron connections that take place and cause us to perceive waves of compressed air as sound. I have but one question: who would waste such a precious evolutionary gift on the Pussycat Dolls' Doll Domination?
Not that the music is important anyway. Over the years, there have been scores of musical acts whose commercial success has been based on sex appeal: Britney Spears, Rihanna and Fergie, to name a few. But regardless of their allure, there has always been a certain quota of talent - or at least effort - required to get people listening. But with the Pussycat Dolls, it's like they're not even trying. And if they're making money, why should they try? As one-too-many marketing executives have put it, "sex sells." But what Doll Domination has proved is that sex alone can sell.
I could easily say that Doll Domination represents the decline of the modern era or that the record killed pop music, like critics have claimed a thousand other albums have. But to say that would be giving it too much credit. In truth, the Pussycat Dolls have done nothing that hasn't already been done. People misspelled "don't you" before and they will misspell it again. Entrepreneurs have organized talentless bands before, and they'll do it again. The silver lining to the Pussycat Dolls is that they are but a blip on the timeline; the world will forget them. Music will live on. I just hope the future holds acts that actually try to make good music. Don't cha?
