The Similarities between Shine and Change

 Richard Shannon Hoon of Blind Mellon left, Joshua Ostrander of Mondo Cozmo right.
Picture via Twitter and Wikipedia

While driving on the highway, cruising at approximately 65 miles per hour, I listened to eighty-eight point five, WXPN. 

The DJ announced that he was about to play a new single track by the band Mondo Cozmo called Shine. Once on-air a solo guitar riff accompanied by a solo singer appeared. Immediately my ears perked and interest was pointed, almost, directly to the radio. The introduction to Shine sounded oddly familiar as if I have heard it before. As the track went into the first verse, the guitar was drowned by the rest of the band and familiarity ceased but didn't go. I have never heard Shine before, and I never knew Mondo Cozmo existed. So, why did this composition ignite nostalgia in me? Luckily, after the track finished, the DJ proclaimed that the guitar riff in Shine is similar to that in Change by Blind Mellon. 

Eureka! At last, mystery solved, but my feeling of antagonized yearning is not answered. 

Having listened to Change many, many times before hearing Shine, I realized the main similarity between Shine and Change is the guitar riff. 

The riff in question is in the key of D major. The chord progression is dominate V, IV, I or descending A major, G major, D major. Within each chord, two types of suspensions are heard: sus2 and sus4. Check it out:

A, A, Asus4, A, Asus2, A, G, G, Gsus4, G, Gsus2, G, D, Dsus2, D, Dsus4, D then starts over.

What is interesting about this progression is a blues turnaround! Aka, rock and role, aka twelve-bar blues. 

Typically, the music theory gods prefer a minor iv to resolve to major V then major I, but blues defies the gods every time. Instead, blues inverts the wishes of the gods as the major V goes to major IV. Whereas the dominant commands resolution, like a burning sensation, heard in your ear, to the tonic (I), but are left with anguish as the dominant goes to the subdominant, intensifying the seventh chord. The order is restored when the IV resolves to I, then repeats. 

Shine modulates into a different key at the bridge, so the familiar riff isn't the entire song like it is with Change. 

Shine

Shine is a single release on September 15, 2016. 

Shine is about faith in Jesus. 

Its chorus is about getting high, stoned, and letting go of, presumably, getting high and stoned to improve the quality of life. 

Shine's orchestration is one acoustic guitar, two electric guitars, a bass guitar, an electric piano, and a drumkit with what sounds like a trashy sounding snare. Shine starts with the familiar guitar riff and vocals then explodes into a wave of sound. The familiar riff isn't heard from until the accompaniments stop playing. You can barely hear the electric piano, the bass guitar is way too loud, and the backup electric guitar is playing embellishments like a kid putting too many ordinates on the family Christmas tree. Ironically when the chorus is on there is a choir of people backing up the lead vocalist. The lead singer's sound is unique, in tune, and is fitting for a song about Jesus. However, the rest of the band and their music fits together like a peg forced through a square hole-- the ensemble's sound is not balanced nor does it express dynamics while playing. Shine's orchestration does not fit the familiar guitar riff, and its volume is synchronized like someone messed with the band's instrument volume settings and didn't tell anyone about it.

Change

Change is a b-side track on the self-titled, debut album released on September 22, 1992. 

Change is about a person who will not change. 

It has no chorus.

Change's orchestration is a harmonica, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar (sometimes acoustic as well), a mandolin, an electric bass guitar, and a drum kit. You can hear the familiar guitar riff throughout the entire track, even during the solo. The track starts with the familiar guitar riff and a melodic harmonica solo then fades away for the first verse to begin. The mandolin pierces through the ensemble's sound in a good way with a not too noticeable counter melody. The bass guitar's volume is perfect-- you can hear it, and you're not sure what exactly it's playing. The drummer carefully hits the drum as if one hit too loud will break a sheet of glass. The lead guitarist chugs away until the solo. Overall, Change's orchestration is a well balanced acoustic hybrid, and the band plays with sound dynamics like professionals. 




Moreover, Mondo Cozmo has a history or borrowing other musician's material. Their track Plastic Soul is comparable to a makeover of Erma Franklin Piece Of My Heart. Yet, Mondo Cozmo's Sound Cloud reads, "MC [Mondo Cozmo] is working class, honest, inspirational, cautiously hopeful, and socially observational."

MC's biography on their Facebook page proclaims, "Not sure if I graduated high school." Someone should remind Joshua Ostrander that education is essential to a professional musician or you will sound like someone else's composition, by accident.



In conclusion, the familiar guitar riff does not make a track sound good-- the musicians and the orchestrations are what makes a track sound good. Plenty of musicians will borrow, rewrite, or copy the familiar guitar riff, but most will not make it sound good. Change by Blind Mellon is an excellent track because of their superior musicianship and orchestration.



-Tyler