This Daniel Johns Qantas song is very hard to drink

subotic sold out says:

01:21pm | 20/07/12

The only silverchair disc to make the cut on the subotic compressed to shit electronic musical device is the 1st EP. Original version of Tomorrow, plus Blind, Stoned and Acid Rain.

After that, they sucked harder than Bon Scott chugging on a half empty stubby and freezing his ass off in the front of a Mini-Minor….

Luthien Nienna says:

01:23pm | 20/07/12

I always thought silverchair had a little “s”... Could be wrong, it’s been awhile!

Damien says:

01:23pm | 20/07/12

umm you obviously didnt hear neon ballroom when it came out in c2000. One of the songs was a collaboration with David Helfgott.

MD says:

01:32pm | 20/07/12

Silverchair were always mainstream (and pretty average imo), why is everyone crying about this?

a b says:

01:45pm | 20/07/12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-aRVTGWNc4k#!

azarashi says:

02:02pm | 20/07/12

If we didn’t know the song was composed and ‘OOoooh’d by Daniel Johns, would you have had a problem with it? I thought this piece of music was absolutely beautiful, and i know as a musician that it’s extremely hard to write an entire orchestral score where all the notes fits perfectly together. Daniel Johns has the talent for it, and he’d be wasting it if he only stuck with just one style of music for the rest of his life. Good on him for branching out!

Samuel says:

02:02pm | 20/07/12

Ant mate, i think you missed all of the later Silverchair albums somewhere there - they’re all full of orchestration and fancypants musician stuff (that’s the technical term, I believe).

Phil of 8Mile says:

02:08pm | 20/07/12

No personal attack here - his music is largely just crap with one or two exceptions. Think of what Cobain produced in a shorter time frame.

oRon says:

03:04pm | 20/07/12

And, I’m struggling with the two blokes standing in the staged oranges all over the road, looking up and giving some wierd slightly pleased attitude to the camera drone. WTF?
What’s that got to do with just about anything?

Susan says:

03:33pm | 20/07/12

Ah Ant…I can’t just cop the comment about violins without saying something.

You may be too young but you never got into Jethro Tull?  Most of them were classically trained as a number of bands were in that era.  Zappa had violins in music.  Nick Cave has had them.  The Bad Seeds…the list goes on.

At 2:18 I turned the Daniel’s song off because it’s too much like elevator-music in a department store.  I dislike Bieber with his over-produced tunes. I reckon the sound-man/recording engineer does more on those sort of albums than the artist.

Trust me, we middle-aged people generally aren’t listening to cosy soft music.  We might feel a sliver of poignancy over “Two Little Boys”  (tho far less than we do over Star Hotel) but we don’t go out and buy it or listen to it as we sip our cocoa and pat the labrador next to the couch.    How ismy you can be.

We also aren’t scared of a violin and think it a symbol of death.  Electric violins rock!  I’ve not seen this before but is this ok?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jm048XJohU

Middle-age is more about blowing out expectations and the stress one has re ‘conforming’ when in your teens and 20’s.

Drew(Darlinghurst) says:

03:46pm | 20/07/12

How sad ...from the great Peter Allen to ....um..er..Daniel Johns.

FAIL

Drew(Darlinghurst) says:

03:49pm | 20/07/12

QANTAS .....outsourcing , de - unionization and Alan Joyce.

FAIL !!

Stephanie says:

03:54pm | 20/07/12

I don’t get the drama ... it’s an Aussie airline , with a song written by an Aussie musician .... just for them .... what’s the problem exactly ?

Michael says:

04:24pm | 20/07/12

What a stupid article. You do realise Silverchair released other albums don’t you? The trip down the orchestral path is pretty well established in their music…..David Helfgott, Van Dyke Parks….....takes about two seconds of googling to establish that fact…....

Vehs says:

04:25pm | 20/07/12

“But the lengthy orchestral arrangement doesn’t seem very Daniel Johnslike.”

That comment ^ shows how very LITTLE research you put into this article as already discussed by previous posters

Benny says:

04:35pm | 20/07/12

Worst. Lyricist. Ever.

Seen live too, absolutely shockingly bad.
If I wanted a true genius of early 90’s oz rock, I’d be giving Tim Rogers a call. Then he would tell Qantas to go f#*k themselves.

Air Force One says:

04:53pm | 20/07/12

They should of done “Last Plane To Sydney”  aka Monkeys….eh…whatever…i don’t fly Qantas…they always break down on the tarmac and are over priced.

Stella says:

05:00pm | 20/07/12

Yes Silverchair are shite, but odds on Daniel there banks more coin and shags more groupies than you’ll ever see in a lifetime, Mr Rando Journo, U mad?

charlie boy says:

05:17pm | 20/07/12

I think this ad is like iSnack 2.0 or that lame Coles ad with Normie Rowe singing really badly. One of those kind of reverse marketing things where they put out something really dumb so everyone talks about it then withdraws it. At least I hope that’s what happens with this ad. Cos it really, really sucks. I kept thinking the good bit was coming ... but it wasn’t…

Erint says:

05:54pm | 20/07/12

I wasn’t a grunge fan (80’s pop/rock is more my style) But I like the more recent silverchair stuff. Who says he’s trying to reinvent himself? He was a teenager back then, and he’s an adult now.  Can’t the poor boy grow up? Maybe he has moved on. Maybe you should too.

Leo Perkins says:

06:28pm | 20/07/12

It actually is very Daniel John when he was doing the Dissociatives with Paul Mac.

Kate says:

06:28pm | 20/07/12

Pretty sure “Tomorrow” was written before Kurt Cobain was “the late Kurt Cobain. And I’m also pretty sure Silverchair were sounding orchestral a long time ago. Have you listened to Diorama, and Neon Ballroom before that? Whilst I don’t like everything Daniel does, I believe him to be an exceptionally talented musician. I saw the Diorama tour at The Palais in 2003 and it was an amazing concert.

Burton Erni says:

06:41pm | 20/07/12

Just how hard is it to press a few piano keys? Notice the effort and the raising of the shoulders? Or is that just a bit of ‘overacting’? Oh and it’s a crap bit of ooohh ing

Char says:

06:41pm | 20/07/12

Hahahahaha!! This is a hilarious read and completely spot on!

Vicki PS says:

07:21pm | 20/07/12

Daniel Johns “iconic”?  If ever I needed proof that this word is over- and misused to buggery…

Craig says:

07:34pm | 20/07/12

A bit shite is what I’d call this piece of ‘music’.

However that matches Qantas’s service and prices - one of which is too low and the other too high (though not in the good way).

I’m avoiding Qantas now as an airline. Given the only awards they now see to win are for their onground performance, well….

Lachlan says:

08:03pm | 20/07/12

Wow. So many haters. I enjoyed it. Hasn’t Daniel Johns won like 20 aria awards or something similar - I think he’s earned his dues. I suppose if you’re looking for good old hard rock try Coles Down Down with Status Quo.

Gareth says:

08:07pm | 20/07/12

This comes across as an advertisement for Australia, not an advertisement for Qantas.  What compelling reason does it offer a traveler to select Qantas to visit Australia over any other airline?  On another note, Daniel Johns does look a bit creepy in this…

carolbrady says:

08:38pm | 20/07/12

I LOVE Daniel Johns.  I love that he doesn’t pigeonhole himself by playing one type of music and I love that he’s taking a risk and trying something different.  I did love Silverchair but I’m glad he’s not stagnating. 
And he’s super duper hot! 

Gav says:

08:45pm | 20/07/12

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED (no more misnomers):

Australia is a small country that has a single state, called New South Wales.

Farmers deliver their produce in restored 1930’s trucks and have quaint, heart warming mishaps with Beetle drivers, spilling their non-imported oranges.

Australia is almost exclusively made up of attractive, leisurely white people, all of whom surf.

If you are Asian and a talented musician, you are welcome in our club, because having a non-white friend makes us feel warm, and because we’re progressive after all.

Qantas: It’s Sydney’s airline for white people.

BTW, the music was just lovely.

Caitlin says:

10:23pm | 20/07/12

I’m sure he did well for the brief, but that’s the point. It’s not *him*.

In Neon Ballroom era, My Daniel refused to even record an alternative ending to his *own* song when his record company suggested it. Now he’s recorded something not at all his own, at the request of an airline.

Oh, Daniel.

mm says:

11:27pm | 20/07/12

The author of this article hasn’t listened to anything by silverchair past Frogstomp if they think this is a departure in their style.

Nic says:

11:56pm | 20/07/12

Where’s there staff where’s the planes, it’s the people that make qantas a truly great airline if the volume was down wouldn’t even know what ad was for!! But love DJ 4 ever!!

Sarah says:

12:01am | 21/07/12

Anthony Sharwood - perhaps if you achieved something greater than bad mouthing musicians and writing about tv commercials, I would give your article more than a glazed over glance. This is a beautiful piece of music wherever it ends up. Even Florence and The Machine has lended her music to TVC’s, and she is considered an indie darling. Get with the times Sharwood, its OK for musicians to cross over and offer their creativity to the masses.

mactime says:

12:12am | 21/07/12

Daniel Johns is a legend. F***in tall poppey syndrome at work.. Always a million people ready to cut stuff down at a keyboard who’ve achieved SFA in their lives.

Carolyn says:

06:21am | 21/07/12

I was never a huge fan of Silverchair, but at least they wrote their own music/songs and played instruments. And there was not a trace of ‘autotune’ to be heard. BTW, why do so many young, so-called R & B singers use autotune? If they can’t hold a note or sing in key/pitch without it, how and why are they getting recording contracts?

James Carthew says:

08:44am | 21/07/12

People are mostly angry that Daniel Johns changed his entire Genre of music rather than building up his fan base like Iron Maiden did. I know who I’d rather pay money to see live. Silverchair taking a risk was Neon Ballroom, it was like they were trying to expand from a heavy band to adding orchestral elements, nothing wrong with that. The problem is they didn’t then use that to roll their grunge music into a new/better direction they just lightened everything up and ran for the cash cow of pop music.

Stephen says:

11:04am | 21/07/12

I’m 61.

I fly Qantas.

I like the theme immensely, and I’m grateful we wont have to listen to Peter Allen’s schmaltzy, flag waving doggerel any more. Its modern, melodic, ephemeral and somehow Australian. Different.

I never saw Silverchair live. Some songs were good, others not to my taste. I’ve never met Daniel Johns.

I still like the theme immensely.

KMFA says:

11:16am | 21/07/12

If you want to be correct about things, it’s actually silverchair (small ‘s’) and not Silverchair. Anyway, more to the point. If someone is paying him a bucketload of money to write this stuff, I say good for him!

Jessica says:

02:23pm | 21/07/12

If an artist is still producing the same work they did 20 years ago as a teenager then something is wrong. People evolve - I’m pretty sure your tune has changed since your teen years so get over yourself.

Silverchair fan says:

05:40pm | 21/07/12

Didnt any of you purchase Diorama, great album, similar arrangement here, Daniel Johns is a new age song writer & composer he is evolving into perhaps what he was meant to be, creative, grunge alternate music was a phase

Cynicised says:

06:26pm | 21/07/12

Most musos, those who have real talent at least, don’t give a fig about genre. That’s  an arbitrary marketing division of creativity, from which music in general suffers horribly these days. It’s splintered, categorised and pigeon-holed. It’s bullshit. Good music is good music, regardless of how it’s filed.

My only issue with artists who change their style is whether they do justice to their talent and subsequently, their audience. No-one with half a brain would question artists stretching their musical muscles, exploring new areas and producing good stuff. However, when the motivation for change is to appeal to a new demographic ie a business decision rather than a natural creative  evolution, then the music may be inauthentic and  hopelessly derivative as a result.

I know it’s harking back, and times have changed but a band like The Beatles were able to alter their style radically throughout their career, largely due to the willingness of their enormous audience to go on the journey with them. The new music also attracted listeners who liked the changed sound and appreciated it’s  increasing complexity. It’s difficult for artists to have that sort of  fan loyalty  and longevity these days unless they stick  closely to their original sound, with a few notable exceptions, ie Radiohead.

The difficulty for an artist is in balancing the demands of their fans  with their musical aspirations,  creative journey and financial needs. If  an artist utilises their talents well and the output is worthwhile, where they sit  on the musical spectrum shouldn’t matter.

As for Johns, was never much of a silverchair fan in the first place, so not particularly enamoured nor disappointed with this effort.

g1nchy says:

07:12pm | 21/07/12

Qantas is obviously honing it’s market
Marc Newson - official designer - bloke with a beard
Daniel Johns - official jingle maker - bloke with a beard

Other Anglo Saxon blokes with beards - qantas is hiring now.

matt says:

09:46pm | 21/07/12

Just listened to it.  Absolutely brilliant.  As usual though, the knockers are out.  Anyone who doesn’t think that is a fantastic, uplifting piece of music must be dead on the inside.  And as for Silverchair, those who think their ‘sound’ was just ‘Tomorrow’ clearly aren’t too familiar with their music.  Songs like Emotion Sickness, are, not unlike this, brilliant orchestral-type pieces of music.

In any event, it doesn’t really matter that much whether you think this is any good or not.  Its just disappointing to see, as usual, all too people ready to tear somebody’s hard work and effort down.  Quite pathetic. 

Crawl into your ‘good rooms’ and listen to Peter Allen on the wireless until its time to put the cardy on and head down to the rissole for the 5pm roast of the day special, the lot of you.  I think the song if effing awesome.  Booking a flight as we speak!

Mr S says:

12:36am | 22/07/12

Why are you critiquing an effing advertisement????  Stop right now and hand in your journalism pass.

Steve says:

07:01am | 22/07/12

He should have sang a duet with Bingle

chris says:

12:06pm | 22/07/12

Sounds like a very average Year 12 pop composition effort. Qantas are crap. why would you fly with them when you have better options: Asian and Middle Eastern airlines.

Wilma J Craig says:

04:35pm | 22/07/12

What is it supposed to do for us? Inspire? Imagine we are in the process of having a vvvvvvveeeeeerrrrrrryyyyyy Slowwwwwww orgasm whilst making a porno?
The old song was, is & always will be soemthing we can all relate to.
This tells us nothing. Just as Qantas should stick to servincing all their aircraft right here in Australia they should stick to the tried, true & inspiring song so loved by so many.

alan says:

06:56pm | 22/07/12

peter allans.s ” i call australia home,’ WILL ALWAYS BE THE BEST FOR QANTAS,it says it all….yes its that roo on the tail of the plane when you see it anywhere in the world, that says it all,when you hear peter allens tune and words thats AUSTRALIA.

Qbee says:

09:05pm | 22/07/12

the theme is fresh and uplifting.. but can’t help thinking DJ has been greatly inspired by the fabulous Paul Mac…. ..... could be even produced by Paul…. sounds soooo very similar to Paul Mac’s 2005 album   ‘Panic Room’....... do yourself a favour and take a listen punters….

Rob says:

04:39pm | 23/07/12

I like it

james says:

11:36am | 24/07/12

Frogstomp is nearly 20 years old. the 90’s are over. MOVE ON! I can’t understand how people can think Frogstomp was a masterpiece, yet despise Diorama, Young Modern and the Dissociatives record. Full credit to Daniel Johns for pushing himself creatively!

John says:

03:28pm | 24/07/12

The only impression of Australians I’ve walked away with after reading this pathetic piece (and the major percentage of comments that followed) is your country is full of jealous, hateful, self loathing people who don’t allow their artists to enjoy any success they might have worked hard achieve and that most of you (again according to your reactions) don’t forward very easily.
It’s just a song written for an airline commercial people, GET OVER IT! It’s a nice piece if you ask me, much better than that outdated crap you had before. I don’t even know what to say about a country that thinks you’ve created your best work at age 14 and don’t appreciate anything you’ve done since Mr. Johns except, get out! And if you read your own press, perhaps you should consider making a move somewhere else, where people actually allow you to move forward creatively and don’t label you as “pretentious” for pushing yourself beyond the limits of a you created as a teenager.
Good luck with this country of yours you seem to love so much, although that’s an admirable quality, I don’t think it’s deserving and I certainly don’t think your fellow countrymen love you as much as you love them. Sad really, especially with all the crap currently taking up space on your charts.

Fablady says:

11:51pm | 24/07/12

Bloody awful…

Michael says:

12:01am | 25/07/12

This is classic Daniel Johns and is just a continuation of what he started so many years ago. If you listen to all of Silverchair’s and Daniels music this is just a new height. You could put this in Diorama and it would sound the part. When I first heard it I knew it was Daniel Johns and for a performer to stamp his own special personality into his music is quite inspirational.

thanasi says:

03:32pm | 30/07/12

i listened to this like 4 or 5 times on youtube.
i’m 30 years old and listen to everything from tom waits, marylin manson, NIN, prince, rage against the machine, frenzal rhomb and think you dorks need to grow the hell up. this is a beautiful piece and if you dont like it i think it and only want to whinge and whine about it, i think it says more about you as a person than what you’re saying about the musical piece.

daniel has had this style a long time comming and i saw it comming from his 3rd “grunge” album around 1998/1999. you guys are dormant and oblivious.
go bang your heads against a wall while drinking beer from a yard glass.

bring on the motherfucking symphonies
can’t wait to hear his shit on 102.5 fm… classic radio !