[kj] Thoughts on Raven

[B. Oliver Sheppard]

I never met Paul Raven, but he was the sort of person I always thought 
I'd end up meeting sooner or later. I friended his MySpace profile 
awhile back and noticed he was pretty hands-on with it, that he was not 
distant and unapproachable like a lot of musicians. Down to earth, in 
other words. This is probably why I always thought I'd meet him some 
day. Those of you who've met him are lucky! Now the chance to ever meet 
him face to face is gone.

 From a musical legacy standpoint, I also think he was really cool 
because he was a living link between the classic '77 phase of punk and 
newer music that was spawned from that era. A lot of musicians who start 
out in '77-era Brit punk bands either live in the past and stay in that 
rut eternally, like The Exploited doing tours over and over again, or 
they go on to try to make slick pop and have a Top 40 career, like the 
Billy Idol types. I like Raven because progressed from '77 punk (Neon 
Hearts) into newer music, like Ministry and Prong, and was willing to 
evolve, even drive that evolution, but never try to do what would appeal 
to Top 40 masses -- he was always in projects that were pushing musical 
evolution and without being the frontman or trying to hog the limelight. 
He was never trying to steal anyone's fire, but he was busy creating his 
own!

-Oliver