Has Art lost some of his edge during his long absence ? ...

[Falkie2013]

Given that most people get rusty after retirements, vacations, illnesses or enforced absences and need time to get back into the swing of things, I thought I'd pose the above question.

What do YOU think ?

Does Art still have what it takes and what it took to make him great or does he need time to get back in the groove again ?

Or did the time he was away from radio harm his style, focus and ability to interview irreparably ?

Your comments are welcomed.

[DanTSX]

No.  Not at all.  Times have changed, info is more ready avaliable.   If anything WE are sharper.

[guildnavigator]

I think that Art is just as awesome as ever.


I think that we are more or less like a pack of hungry dogs who have been seething for the last 10 years of Noory. Throw Chunga to the wolves and you can see that ten years of hate has strengthened our opinions so much that it can be brutal, but it's not directed at Art.

[steelbot]

I think that Art is just as awesome as ever.


I think that we are more or less like a pack of hungry dogs who have been seething for the last 10 years of Noory. Throw Chunga to the wolves and you can see that ten years of hate has strengthened our opinions so much that it can be brutal, but it's not directed at Art.

+2 joints

[The General]

he's better than ever. 

[Earth Pod]

I think that Art is just as awesome as ever.

I couldn't have said it better!!

[midnight]

Actually, I would say he's better.  Or maybe it's just that I'm older and wiser now, and can appreciate real, true, natural talent when I hear it.

[Surmo]

I agree with you Midnight.  I have more appreciation now for the "Art of Talk" than I used to at a younger age.  Comparing now to 1996, Art seems slightly more nuanced, but basically similar, but my perspective has changed for the better.

[Surmo]

Hey, I just noticed, I lost my Bruce Campbell Avatar....Now where did he go?

[Cynnie]

I think art is great , as good or better than ever .
Art is actually an intelligent man, not just a voice asking prepicked questions .
I especially love when he's gleeful over a subject ,,a happy art is always my favorite

[fromwomewhere outthere]

Art is much better than he was during his final years on C2C. He sounds rejuvenated and the shows have the same energy as his shows during the 90' and the early part of the last decade.

[The General]

Art is much better than he was during his final years on C2C. He sounds rejuvenated and the shows have the same energy as his shows during the 90' and the early part of the last decade.

He hadn't seemed happy 'guest-hosting' C2C for a long time.  I think the audience had changed because of the direction George took the show (down), and Art could hear it in the callers.  I know he was also unhappy about the amount of commercials and we now know about his institutional hatred for Premiere radio.

Dark Matter sounds fresh and rejuvinated for sure. 

[b_dubb]

ABsolutely not. Art rules

[HorrorRetro]

I was a bit concerned that he might have lost his edge, but I see no evidence of that.  He's been sharp, witty, energetic, etc. 

[UnscreenedCaller]

he's better than ever.

+1

[Treading Water]

No, he has not.

[nooryisawesome]

I think there was a small amount of rust, nothing bad though. But this week has been FANTASTIC. Art is now firing on all cylindars.

[Jackstar]

Is he going to do unscreened open lines tonight, or screened open lines?

That's the bleeding edge, right there.

[aldousburbank]

Is he going to do unscreened open lines tonight, or screened open lines?

That's the bleeding edge, right there.

Unscreened, full frontal, open lines. As I call it, Everything Matters

[Jackstar]

I would very much like to hear Art do unscreened open lines on International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

September 19, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk_like_a_pirate_day

Sorry, I don't know how to hyperlink here yet. Arrrrr!

[Falkie2013]

I posed the original question because it seemed to me that Art was less patient with both guests and callers than he used to be and I wondered if he'd lost something and was having trouble with all the teething problems the new show has given him.
Seems that he's the same Art we all love.
I was NOT making an attack on him by any means.
I've got to crash. One thing hasn't changed. I still get sleepy as the show end approaches.
:

[popple]

He is Art Bell, and Art Bell only gets better with the passing of time 

[Sardondi]

There's still a little rust to be knocked off. But the first few weeks are like a shakedown cruise, when you have a trial by fire and find out what needs tightening up by putting it all to the test. Art seems fine - far better than could be expected from a near-70 guy who took the last decade off. It's a remarkable performance all things considered.

What I see needing work is in the producer line. Art needs better guests. And by that I mean bigger and/or more exciting guests. The guests so far have been fine, but, absent Kaku, who is very familiar to all of us, there have been no guests that I would have considered really blow-your-socks-off good. And a couple have been actual stinkers. This is the producer's responsibility.

We need something new and fresh. That doesn't necessarily mean unknown guests, but it does mean guests with something new and exciting to say, whether we're familiar with them or not. And regardless of how professionally and perhaps personally close they've been for 20 years or more, a guest with "something new and exciting to say" was not Whitley Strieber. But in fairness to Paul, Whitley's appearance could very well have been Art doing him a favor - or maybe vice versa, let's face it.

Paul Bowman does not seem to have researched his guests more than just looking at their websites or reading testimonials. I get the feeling he has not listened to them in other interviews, or even personally mini-interviewed them.

Bottom line is I feel Paul needs to up his game. The guests need to improve.

[SciFiAuthor]

I don't think he's lost any edge. He sounds better now than he did in his last years with C2C. He seems as engaged as ever, and everything seems to me to be about what I heard in the 90's. Uncannily so on some nights, it can be like a time warp. So I give him a five star rating on delivering what he used to.

Where I do notice a difference is that he does seem less patient with some guests and callers. But at the same time, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing.

[Fractal]

Hi guys.

I haven't posted here for a long time because C2C became too unbearable for me--to the point of disgust. I could no longer take Noory's lack of interviewing skills nor the extreme right-wing fascist fundamentalist Christian talkfest that the show's become. I'm looking at you, JBW.

Having said that, I have checked in on GK's shows from time to time because he's a professional interviewer and is not painful to listen to.

As for Art, in my opinion, he's lost none of his edge on SXM. It seems to me that he's much more relaxed than he was in his last shows on C2C. As with most of you, I'm really happy that Art is back and I haven't been disappointed yet. I doubt that I will be. I'm a dyed-in-the-wool skeptic and don't believe in a lot of the subject matter that Art presents. I don't believe in god, demons, angels, or portals. Have people seen UFOs? Sure, but I don't believe that means the UFOs were manned by little green men from Mars. I concede the possibility of other life in the universe, but I doubt that any of that possible life has made it here. However, Art is the master of presenting these subjects and of interviewing, and I love a good story well-told and discussed. This is what Art does best and it's why I listen.

As for concerns that Art may be a bit impatient with some of the guests and callers, I haven't noticed that too much. As I recall, Art didn't suffer fools lightly at any rate. To be perfectly honest, let's compare this matter to the sorry alternative: just consider the cretins that have clogged the phone lines at C2C and let's all be brutally honest about it. To listen to that kind of banal, incoherent drivel that goes on unchecked for what seems an eternity is enough to make me run for the mountains with my hair on fire and despair for the future of humanity.

Art keeps callers and guests focused and I, for one, appreciate that very much. No hair on fire here.

I've mentioned before that, back in the 90s, Art's show always gave me the feeling that we were all an underground group of friends gathered clandestinely around a campfire in Pahrump, listening to weird tales moderated by our host, Art. I have that feeling back again, and it's great!

[Wintermute]

Art edgy?  Can't remember him ever being "edgy".

Art Bell has the ability to conduct a radio show and make the listeners feel like a clan.

Edgy? No.

Dark Matter is getting  better and better. Good to have him back.

[Foodlion]

Art seems to be the same. It's his guests that have lost their edge.

[The General]

Art seems to be the same. It's his guests that have lost their edge.

I think the real question is...
Has ABBA lost their edge?

[Foodlion]

I think the real question is...
Has ABBA lost their edge?

I can see it now.

"You are the dancing queen, young and sweet only seventy"

[Heather Wade]

Art doesn't know how to be anything but awesome.