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Post by rockysigman on Mar 6, 2006 15:20:19 GMT -5
Oh, I wasn't holding anyone to any standard, I was just trying to think of an example. I don't think there's anything wrong with musicians trying to make money.
You're probably right that more people like the idea of Jandek than actually like Jandek's music, though. Fugazi is probably a better example.
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Post by JesusLooksLikeMe on Mar 7, 2006 4:52:01 GMT -5
I thought U2 were finished after Unforgettable Fire. The brilliant, career-topping Achtung Baby! was like a stirring raging against the dying of the light.
Nowadays they're just content to cruise along writing watered down, radio-friendly versions of what went before. It's like they can trot out Joshua Tree B-sides in their sleep. Fitting that they should get up Apple's arse, because really they're this big corporate juggernaut, like RHCP. You can go to some huge arena and watch them go through their slick, greatest hits motions... providing you're sufficiently middle-class to be able to pay for a ticket.
It's not my idea of a dynamic, interesting or vital post-'98 contribution. But each to their own.
I strongly disagree with Ken's labelling of Modest Mouse as, "run of the mill indie rock". Irrespective of whether you like 'em or not, that's in no way a descriptor of Moon & Antarctica.
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Post by luke on Mar 7, 2006 8:41:13 GMT -5
C'mon now, Jesus. The Chili Peppers are still too fucked in the head to be a big corporate juggernaut, at least on purpose. I think you meant to say "Aerosmith."
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Post by riley on Mar 7, 2006 9:42:11 GMT -5
Once you start making greatest hits discs, it's a slippery slope into pure cash flow. once you make more than one, you're pretty much whoring. Aerosmith have been shit since they got un-coked. The RHCP are only slightly more interesting than U2 in their current format.
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Post by Paul on Mar 7, 2006 10:06:25 GMT -5
Once you start making greatest hits discs, it's a slippery slope into pure cash flow. once you make more than one, you're pretty much whoring. Aerosmith have been shit since they got un-coked. The RHCP are only slightly more interesting than U2 in their current format. Precisely why Pearl Jam wins the Veterans board...Yes they do have a greatest hits, but it wasn't just "Jeremy"; they included some cool lesser known tunes on there and did it in a cool way by having an up side consisting of heavier songs, and a down side consisting of slower tunes. Plus they know how to treat fans, and they have managed to stick around for 16 years w/o "selling out". They kinda took a page from the 'Neil Young how to be a rock star and maintain integrity' playbook. Like their music or not, Pearl Jam has done the rock star thing right, and will never be like Aerosmith. I'm proud to be a fan. |
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Post by riley on Mar 7, 2006 10:45:31 GMT -5
Agreed on all fronts. They're just not anywhere near as good as Tool or Radiohead.
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Post by Paul on Mar 7, 2006 10:49:57 GMT -5
^^^^
That's debatable....I don't know a lot about Tool, so can't comment there; but I have 5 Radiohead albums and prefer PJ. Radiohead has some really incredible songs though, and OK Computer is better than maybe every PJ album other than No Code. I guess I just relate more to PJ than Radiohead, but I really like both bands.
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Post by Thorngrub on Mar 7, 2006 11:16:40 GMT -5
C'mon now, Jesus. The Chili Peppers are still too fucked in the head to be a big corporate juggernaut, at least on purpose. I think you meant to say "Aerosmith." haha, no doubt, if any band has earned the title "corporate whores", it's aerosmith . . . * sadly*  |
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Post by Dr. Drum on Mar 7, 2006 11:17:20 GMT -5
Nowadays they're just content to cruise along writing watered down, radio-friendly versions of what went before. The problem with U2 is not complacency. Just the opposite. Thirty years on from the notice on the Mount Temple bulletin board, they’re trying very hard to stay vital – probably too hard. Just listen to "Vertigo". If that’s not mid-life wish fulfilment, I don’t know what it is. |
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Post by Thorngrub on Mar 7, 2006 11:17:57 GMT -5
but . . .
"Honkin on Bobo" was certainly a step away from that,
back in the right direction.
Too bad that's all we'll probably get before they jump right back into
their radio-ballady corporate stew . . . *Ewww...*
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Post by Thorngrub on Mar 7, 2006 11:18:49 GMT -5
Nowadays they're just content to cruise along writing watered down, radio-friendly versions of what went before. The problem with U2 is not complacency. Just the opposite. Thirty years on from the notice on the Mount Temple bulletin board, they’re trying very hard to stay vital – probably too hard. Just listen to "Vertigo". If that’s not mid-life wish fulfilment, I don’t know what it is. One of my friends here bought a ticket to see U2's (possibly last) upcoming Hawaii concert, and he is flippin out of his gourd DAILY about it. Can't say I blame him . . . |
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Post by JesusLooksLikeMe on Mar 8, 2006 5:05:07 GMT -5
Nowadays they're just content to cruise along writing watered down, radio-friendly versions of what went before. The problem with U2 is not complacency. Just the opposite. Thirty years on from the notice on the Mount Temple bulletin board, they’re trying very hard to stay vital – probably too hard. Just listen to "Vertigo". If that’s not mid-life wish fulfilment, I don’t know what it is. I can't listen to Vertigo. It's unlistenable. I'm not saying they're complacent. Just that the fire long since went out but they're happy to keep writing retreads instead of either retire, start a new project, or keep experimenting. I mean, shit, Pop and Zooropa may not be very successful experiments, but at least they were interesting. War may not push any envelopes, but at least it was fucking good. Joshua Tree may have been middle-of-the-road, pompous arena rock for dumbed down, middle class 30-somethings who don't really love music to play in their car CD players back in the 90's (obviously in rotation with Automatic for the People and Out of Time), but at least... oh, hang on, there is no at least with that one. |
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Post by Dr. Drum on Mar 8, 2006 7:25:15 GMT -5
I'm not saying they're complacent. Just that the fire long since went out but they're happy to keep writing retreads instead of either retire, start a new project, or keep experimenting. How many artists, though, doing something they love, ever get to a point where they decide they’ve turned to crap and pack it all in? Doesn’t "happy to keep writing retreads" imply laziness/complacency? War was a good record, the pinnacle for U2 Mk. I, but baby steps compared to what came after it. As for Zooropa, an entirely successful experiment, IMO. Along with the Passengers album, their most adventurous period. Pop, a partial misfire, played out that creative cycle. |
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Post by Galactus on Mar 8, 2006 8:28:09 GMT -5
Has their ever been a time when U2 wasn't pompous arena rock? Even in the club days those guys thought they were the greatest band ever, Bono's always been a fucking rock star who knew more then you. They've always written retreads until they felt they got it right. October is a rewrite of Boy, War is a rewrite of October...U2 has always sounded more important then they've ever actually been but they have managed a few honestly great albums and, while admittedly it's short on substance but fucking packed with really good songs, All That You Can't Leave Behind is one of those.
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Post by riley on Mar 8, 2006 8:35:29 GMT -5
I still don't like that album, but that was a pretty good post DED.
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