Ian Rankin Quotes

I remember I heard it in an interview with Michael Jackson one day, saying the art is gone, everybody makes records just to make a record. See, I always want the artist that try to build a whole body of music on one album, so you can enjoy it. So you could say, 'I went with him here, I went with him here.'

I'm a fan of records you get and you listen to them from beginning to finish - records where everything is there for a purpose. There was never any filler on those records - it was all well planned out.

I strongly believe in the art form of the album.

If there's not drama and negativity in my life, all my songs will be really wack and boring or something.

I am just trying to do a song the best possible way I can.

I prefer to hear an artist's work and what they can do, so as far as I'm concerned, I'd get a lot more out of a collection of songs to be able to understand what the musician is doing.

A painting has to be beautiful. Even in its grotesqueness.

You don't realize how beautiful an idea is until you do it with other people. There's this really shimmery, awesome thing when you start finishing a song - where the song just starts writing itself.

I think 'War Eternal' - if I'm allowed to say it - for me, it's a masterpiece.

I think it's down to our songs - we've always made sure every song on every album works.

I just think you have got to bring out good music.

The personality and songwriting of Holy Ghost! trumps the originality card any day.

Just make good music.

Priyanka and Red One made a great record that we think will stand on its own. People won't buy the music just because she is who she is. We want them to buy it because it's good.

The whole deal with my music has been the emotional quality.

Once I got into pop songwriting, I was kind of just ready to help other people tell their stories... I'm here to facilitate and structure and grow and make things a little more fabulous and a little more urgent.

I wanted 'Imitations' to be a fully realized record from start to finish, with a cohesive sound and a sequence that took you from one song to the other, just like I would with a record of original stuff.

You've just got to believe that people will see and appreciate the value in the music and the artistry that we bring when they hear it.

Music is a living art.

I feel so lucky that I feel the music is at the forefront of Audioslave, and the songs are the most important thing.

A lot of projects I do be all 'real' music.

When you walk past a painting in a museum, if it doesn't make you feel something, then it's probably a failure.

You can make what you want. People care about what the artist has to say, what the sound is, and how it affects them.

I remember thinking that 'Earthworms' wasn't really an 'album' to me, only because it felt like a weird collection of songs more than an actual project.

One of the things I love about music and making beats is making something and watching someone's reaction, knowing you can do something to manipulate the way people move or act.