More, Now And Again

Someone on threads was asking about the change in tone between season five and season six. So, I explained it as you’ve got to imagine that season 1 to 5 was a band’s first album, and season 6 & 7 is a band’s second album.

I didn’t go into much detail there but I really like that metaphor and I feel like it really fits the Supernatural writing room, so I’m going to bore you all with it here (sorry).

So most band’s have been working on that first album for years before they get signed. Which means that by the time they come to record it, they’ve already made sure the sound is perfect, that the lyrics are tight & that the track listing gels. Then they’re given the best engineers & producers to make their record.

Sure, there’ll be hurdles like the record company may ask to switch out the odd song or disagree on what should be released as a single, but overall that album has had years of time put into it. Just like Kripke had planned the 5 season arc and altered elements of the story until everything clicked into the right place. Yes the writers strike was a hurdle but he knew the material well enough to figure a way out/through that.

But season 6 to 7 was unexpected/unplanned, therefore it’s like a band’s second album. It had to be made a lot quicker and there wasn’t really any material left over to use. So nearly everything had to be written from scratch. Add to that the main songwriter of the band stepped back, leaving another band member in charge. Sure that band member helped to create the first album but it’s not the same as being lead. Which is why season six and seven is less cohesive, tight and polished. Sure there’s some stand out tracks (episodes) in there but it’s not quite the same.

Then 8-15 is more band members coming & going. Some of the newer band members only like certain songs of the band so they refuse to write anything that sounds like the other songs. There’s even a Yoko type who turns up occasionally but they can’t be bothered to learn the music so they just make up their own lyrics/tune when they record.

There’s still a lot of really great music but some of it is derivative of their old stuff, and it’s kind of universally agreed that the debut album (s1-5) was the best artistically.