USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

[Gurtholfin]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

I don't pay much attention to the R&R HOF, but how the fvck is Lou Reed not already in?

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/green-day-nine-inch-nails-smiths-nominated-for-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-20141009


Other nominees of note:

The Smiths - I'm a fan. Have been since I first bought Meat is Murder on vinyl. Still listen to them a few times a year and Queen is Dead is a classic. Not sure they are worthy though.

Sting - Yeah, I guess. Really liked his early solo stuff but then he went all adult contemporary. Still, he's been VERY famous for a long, LONG time.

NIN - This one is right on the line as far as I am concerned. Again, I'm a fan but have they really done enough and were/are they famous enough?

Green Day - Yes, of course. Like them or not, they have been hugely influential (punk-pop is mostly due to them and has spawned an entire movement of bands), have had a number of hits and have been together and popular for a long time.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

NIN - This one is right on the line as far as I am concerned. Again, I'm a fan but have they really done enough and were/are they famous enough?

Green Day - Yes, of course. Like them or not, they have been hugely influential (punk-pop is mostly due to them and has spawned an entire movement of bands), have had a number of hits and have been together and popular for a long time.

I was in high school when both these bands made it big. At different points during the early to mid-90's, it would be tough to name more than two acts that were more popular in their respective album release years. When you figure the prominence of grunge at that time, neither of these acts were going down that path and yet still remained huge.

 

[Kepler]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

I don't pay much attention to the R&R HOF, but how the fvck is Lou Reed not already in?[/URL]

That's insane. Donovan is in. Heart. Brenda Lee. Hall and Oates, for fckcs sake. What, does Reed have to wait until the Captain and Tennille get in?

NWA is nominated; that should make the usual suspects' heads explode.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

That's insane. Donovan is in. Heart. Hall and Oates, for fckcs sake. What, does Reed have to wait until the Captain and Tennille get in?

I'm shocked they're not already.

 

[Kepler]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

The Who - By Numbers

One of my favorite albums of all time. "Blue, Red and Grey" always reminds me of a girl I adored in high school.

 

[Kepler]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

I'm shocked they're not already.

Anyway, until Television, Wire and Gang of Four are in it's all just a sham.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

I was in high school when both these bands made it big. At different points during the early to mid-90's, it would be tough to name more than two acts that were more popular in their respective album release years. When you figure the prominence of grunge at that time, neither of these acts were going down that path and yet still remained huge.

Thankfully...

Grunge has not aged well imo and sounds very stale and dated now to my ears. Ironic as it was an alternative to what at the time was stale.

Would much rather listen to Green Day or NIN than any of the grunge bands that come to mind - and I was/am a fan of many of those bands.

 

[St. Clown]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

Thankfully...

Grunge has not aged well imo and sounds very stale and dated now to my ears. Ironic as it was an alternative to what at the time was stale.

Would much rather listen to Green Day or NIN than any of the grunge bands that come to mind - and I was/am a fan of many of those bands.

It all depends upon my mood, but I'll take Green Day, NIN, STP, Nirvana, Soundgarden, all of it. My favorite, though, is still the Black Crowes, who also hit the national scene in that same basic timeframe.

 

[rufus]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

What's shocking to me is that Green Day have been recording for 25 years. Seems like just yesterday...............................

 

[FadeToBlack&Gold]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

IMO, grunge as a genre is pretty difficult to pin down. Pre-1992, the music coming out of Seattle was relatively diverse, notwithstanding Sub Pop's best efforts to lump everyone together. I actually wrote a college paper about this (my favorite blow-off class, by far).

At the end of the day, grunge was a fad - plain and simple. One of the many factors that did not favor it's long-term survival is the quick rise of copycat bands like Bush, STP, and Candlebox, that were paint-by-numbers knockoffs of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, respectively. By 1995, the whole thing was so played out that people got sick of it. I think Kim Thayil put it best, when he said (and I'm paraphrasing a bit here), "Imagine that you open up a lemonade stand, selling lemonade for a nickel. Everyone on the block likes it, and you're successful at it. But then, all the other kids open up lemonade stands, on your block, competing for that same nickel. Except, obviously, they're selling lower quality lemonade."

 

[The Rube]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

I don't consider Pearl Jam and Soundgarden grunge. They were rock bands who happened to come from the same area as Nirvana, who were grunge. And then they got lumped into the genre.

And the RnR HOF is a joke, but that being said, NWA should be in there all the way. GREATLY influenced rap, and in hindsight had an all-star lineup. Dre, Cube, Eazy-E...man

 

[St. Clown]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

And the RnR HOF is a joke, but that being said, NWA should be in there all the way. GREATLY influenced rap, and in hindsight had an all-star lineup. Dre, Cube, Eazy-E...man

Last I checked it was the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, not the Gangsta Rap HOF.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

I don't consider Pearl Jam and Soundgarden grunge.

But... they wore flannel.

Case closed. They were grunge.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

I'm thinking that today might be a day for me to listen to every Eric Church song released.

I was very lukewarm on The Outsiders when it came out, and now I absolutely love it. It is obvious that Church is drifting more towards the rock side of the spectrum, and there are just less traditional sounding country songs on this album. But as he says himself, the idea of genres in music is an outdated concept, and you can see that he doesn't consider genre as a barrier to creating his music.

I absolutely love listening to "the trilogy" (Dark Side into Princess of Darkness into Devil, Devil), didn't like it at first, but **** if that isn't a fine piece of music. I put together a playlist ranking his songs from my least favorite to favorite. My top 10 are:
10. Like Jesus Does
9. These Boots
8. Drink in My Hand
7. Guys Like Me
6. Give Me Back My Hometown
5. Smoke A Little Smoke
4. Sinners Like Me
3. Homeboy
2. Carolina
1. Springsteen

disclaimer: Talladega, Man Who Was Gonna Die Young, and The Trilogy are rising fast on the list.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

Sticky Fingers... again - all of it on shuffle.

These guys are a new discovery for me and I'm really, REALLY liking them. Probably listened to their whole catalogue 5 or 6 times this week.

For those of you who like Arctic Monkeys, The Verve or even Spoon, check these guys out. Really great stuff. Couldn't be much more impressed.

 

[Gurtholfin]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

I'm not one to form impressions quickly when it comes to new albums (unless it be "meh") - even from my favorite artists. Usually have to listen a few times and am often more critical of my favorites as they are up against what they've done before. I'm also not prone to declare the most recent work as the "best evah" as many seem to be - simply coz it's new and fresh.

After one listen, I'm comfortable saying that this is easily their best since Achtung Baby.


I'll recant if necessary, but on the second listen, I'm doubtful that I'll be compelled to.

Amazing.

After some more listens, I've concluded that I don't love the new U2 album. It's over-produced and... I don't know, so much of it sounds like so many other U2 songs. It's not that it's generic, in that I don't think it sounds like everyone else's music like is the case for so much pop music, but it sounds like THEM. It's listenable, and all the songs will go just fine in a shuffled playlist of U2 songs, but I don't know that I'm ever going to say "I really want to listen to Songs Of Innocence" like I might say "I really want to listen to the Joshua Tree." I guess that's OK, especially since, as you may have heard, I didn't pay anything for it.

Wanted to revisit this after some time...

I agree with many of your critiques, but I don't necessarily see them as negatives. The (over) production is what at first drew me to the new songs. Danger Mouse is a lot like Daniel Lanois in that music that he produces takes on his unique characteristic approach. I really like Broken Bells and went through a pretty heavy phase of loving Gorillaz, so enjoyed hearing U2 through the Danger Mouse filter - a LOT. Wish he produced all of the songs instead of just most of them. Would have been a stronger and more coherent album and also a more specific new direction.

Anyway, the DM direction is why I was so excited when I first heard these new songs. There are nuances in there that have never been in U2's music before and they are very noticeable to my ears.

That said, I agree that it still sounds distinctly like U2, but everything they've done always has. Even when Achtung Baby came out - as radical a departure as it was - it still sounded like them. Bono and Edge are pretty unique and I'd argue that Mullen has a pretty distinct sound/style too although he's playing some DM rhythms on some of these new songs.

I also agree that over time it's unlikely that I'll specifically reach for this album for a listen. I went heavy on it when it first came out coz it was new. Some of the songs aren't all that good upon numerous listenings. Raised by Wolves and Soldier are meh to me.

I still think that I like this better than the last three studio albums and find it to be better front to back than Zooropa or Pop. That said, my initial take on it is tempered a bit now.

Like you said, the songs will fit nicely in a playlist and I really look forward to hearing them in a live context - which is how I prefer U2 anyway.

 

[bigblue_dl]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

So good:

I like fast cars and sharp dreams
Chased a lot of crazy things
Left behind my share of broken pieces
This morning I turned 36 & when you just remember half of it
You wonder how you out-lived Hank or Jesus

I put the rage in the river and the roll in the thunder
But you kept me from going under
When that current got too heavy
I always thought I’d be a heap of metal
In a cloud of smoke, foot stuck to the pedal
Sold for parts like a junk yard rusted out Chevy
Fear, I've had none, what the hell made you wanna love

A man who was gonna die young

In the mirror I saw my surprise
Who knew gray hairs liked to hide
On a head, didn't think he'd live past thirty
If I make it thirty more it's the brown that you'll be looking for
As you run your fingers through it and say "slow down honey"

I put the rage in the river and the roll in the thunder
But you kept me from going under
When that current got too heavy
I always thought I’d be a heap of metal
In a cloud of smoke foot stuck to the pedal
Sold for parts like a junk yard rusted out Chevy
Fear, I've had none, what the hell made you wanna love

A man who was gonna die young

Call it intuition or call it crazy
Just thought by now I'd be pushing up daisies
But I'd gladly stick around, if we're together
So baby when you bow your head tonight
Could you tell the lord I’ve changed my mind

And with you, I'd like to live forever...

 

[rufus]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

I kinda know what you mean about Nirvana and grunge in general. While I love them, and respect the hell out of what they did, and played one of the best shows I've ever seen, I don't really listen to much Nirvana anymore. When it comes time to choose something to listen to, they just get passed by.

And I don't really consider Nirvana grunge. I just feel like they were something more. Nirvana's choruses exploded, while grunge to me seems slower, more plodding and dense. Alice in Chains sounds like grunge to me. Nirvana sounds like something different,something original, something that stands out from the rest of the crowd.

And while I'm typing this, I'm watching Michael Stipe inducting them into the R&R hall of Fame. And the E Street Band induction was just awesome.

 

[The Rube]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

Last I checked it was the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, not the Gangsta Rap HOF.

I agree that it should be only RnR artists in there, BUT the Hall has let in non-rock people, so going with that...NWA is in.

And bbdl: I LOVE that song. Love love love that song. I'm convinced that "Sinners Like Me," "Dark Side," and "A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young" is a trilogy of some sort with Church.

 

[Slap Shot]

Re: USCHO Music Thread 2: Rock On, Amigo.

After a few months of trying to get by without a computer, I've finally sucked it up and purchased one here in Manila. Glad to have iTunes back and my external drive with all my music from home. One of the few things I can 'touch' here that has a semblance of home until the family arrives in November. Per the last few posts I'm listening again to the new U2 as well as:

The Church - Under the Milky Way
Arctic Monkeys - AM
Bob Marley - Legend
Grant Lee Buffalo - Mighty Joe Moon
House of Pain
Morcheeba - Big Calm
Placebo - Without You I'm Nothing
Three Days Grace
Trampled by Turtles - Live at 1st Ave

Ahhh, my music is back.