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Post by Proud on Jul 14, 2006 17:15:00 GMT -5
Smashing Pumpkins. Used to think of Billy Corgan's voice as grating and snobby, but I'll be damned if Siamese Dream isn't an emotional masterpiece.
BTW Neil Young kicks ass.
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Post by Kensterberg on Jul 14, 2006 17:18:37 GMT -5
I'll meet Skvor half-way as well ... bad Neil Young really blows, and Neil's never cut an album that doesn't have some filler (at best) on it. The man simply can't tell the difference between his well executed stuff, what needs more work, and what are simply bad ideas. While his best material deserves the sort of acclaim he normally gets (The Needle and the Damage Done; Hey Hey, My My; Rockin' in the Free World; etc.), he is perhaps the most erratic major artist in rock and roll.
And this shows even on his showcase releases, such as the cherry-picked Decade (at least half of which documents his flaws in great depth) or his live recordings (Live Rust demonstrates his inability to avoid the crap in his catalog, and Arc/Weld shows off his fascination with feedback and necessity of turning even the slightest ideas into lengthy jams). Neil Young has done too much good/great work to be dismissed out of hand, but his quality to crap ratio is no better than the Rolling Stones, for example (and frankly, Neil's never made an album of the caliber of Beggar's Banquet or Let It Bleed, nor has he ever released singles which were up to the standards of the Stones best work).
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Post by skvorisdeadsorta on Jul 14, 2006 18:06:07 GMT -5
I'll take "Steel Wheels" over anything that hack has done. I've tried very very hard to like Neil Young and I just can't find it in me. His voice is poison and this is coming from someone that loves John Lydon and Bob Dylan.
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Post by Galactus on Jul 14, 2006 18:39:00 GMT -5
No, Neil's never been much of singles guy but so what? Tonight's The Night, On The Beach, Ragged Glory, After The Goldrush, Sleeps With Angels, Zuma and Comes A Time all stand next to the Stones best albums. What's more, excepting his unfortunate 80's period (which is still better then it often gets credit for) has been more consistant then any other performer I can think of that's had a forty year career. I can't name anybody who has nearly as many great late period albums as great early period albums. I can dig it if he's not your bag o chips though...he's one of hand full of bands/artists that I'm just unreasonbly fanboy about, as you may have noticed....
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Post by Galactus on Jul 14, 2006 18:45:53 GMT -5
Also Ken...the second disc of Decade is better then the first IMO.
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Post by kool on Jul 14, 2006 19:25:56 GMT -5
Smashing Pumpkins. Used to think of Billy Corgan's voice as grating and snobby, but I'll be damned if Siamese Dream isn't an emotional masterpiece. BTW Neil Young kicks ass. Ditto. On both counts. |
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Post by kool on Jul 14, 2006 19:33:03 GMT -5
I have a handful of Neil Young albums myself, and they're all great, but I never could get into "Ragged Glory". I've given it many chances but every time I listen to it seems to fall flat compared to the other ones. I'm surprised so many seem to like it... "Mirrorball" is top notch though. Excellent disc, I was listening to it the other day. The fact that I was a huge PJ fan at the time of its release made me like it even more, right from the get go. And despite the fact that all songs are NY compositions, there are moments where it just sounds like a great Pearl Jam album. Only with a better singer.  |
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Post by Galactus on Jul 14, 2006 19:39:19 GMT -5
DEEEEEVVOOOOORRRRRRCCEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
I could you not love 'em?
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Post by kool on Jul 14, 2006 19:39:44 GMT -5
Oh, and to get back on topic, I just remembered. I used to hate Blur, almost as much as I hate [and still hate] Oasis. That was until I heard "Song 2" and "Beetlebum". I was sold.
Only later did I realize I didn't really hate them as much as I thought I did. "There's No Other Way" from one of their earlier albums is probably my fave song of theirs overall. But at the time it came out, I didn't even know who Blur were. I knew and loved the song before I knew it was a 'Blur' song.
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Post by kool on Jul 14, 2006 19:41:51 GMT -5
DEEEEEVVOOOOORRRRRRCCEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! I could you not love 'em? That's from Rust Never Sleeps, isn't it? Welfare mothers, make better lovers... love that line. So true, too.  |
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Post by frag on Jul 14, 2006 23:42:51 GMT -5
Smashing Pumpkins. Used to think of Billy Corgan's voice as grating and snobby, but I'll be damned if Siamese Dream isn't an emotional masterpiece. BTW Neil Young kicks ass. The only way I can enjoy the Pumpkins is to drown out Corgan's voice. It took a while, but I was finally able to do it, and yeah, I fell in love with that album too. But it was brief. I don't like the Pumpkins enough to put that much work into listening to 'em. |
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Post by wayved on Jul 15, 2006 1:32:34 GMT -5
Regarding Neil Young-Neil Young is beyond words. Just pick up a copy of any Buffalo Springfield album and its already in stone......you can go on from there...Sure his albums may be spotty but I LIKE that about Neil Young. Take some fucking risks. Sure, TRANS was weird (I dug it though--"we R In Control" cracks my ass up, and I really dont like "Cowgirl In The Sand"--
I just cant imagine someone dogging on Neil when you love Bruce. Yeah Ken--Im pointing at you.
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Post by skvorisdeadsorta on Jul 15, 2006 11:45:38 GMT -5
I dog on both. Springsteen and Neil are both Cheesy Yuppie Music. There. I said it. At least Springsteen has put out a couple of records that I like though like "Born to Run" and "Nebraska". Neil Young was not the mastermind of Buffalo Springfield, though I'm not giving him credit for that. I think that was all Stephen Stills (who sucked afterward as well). I will give you that Young has been consistently bad in his output. You're right. For those people who love him, he's sucked well for them for the last 30 years. He makes two records: The country tinged folk one and then the "Crazy Horse" type more "rock" records. I'd much rather just listen to The Band when I want something like that.
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JACkory
Struggling Artist
Posts: 167
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Post by JACkory on Jul 15, 2006 13:56:51 GMT -5
I'll meet Skvor half-way as well ... bad Neil Young really blows, and Neil's never cut an album that doesn't have some filler (at best) on it. The man simply can't tell the difference between his well executed stuff, what needs more work, and what are simply bad ideas. While his best material deserves the sort of acclaim he normally gets (The Needle and the Damage Done; Hey Hey, My My; Rockin' in the Free World; etc.), he is perhaps the most erratic major artist in rock and roll. I probably like Neil Young more than you do, Ken, but it's not normally Neil's job to "tell the difference between his well executed stuff, what needs more work, and what are simply bad ideas"...I don't know the extent to which Neil produces his own albums, but that is definately the job of the PRODUCER. Of course, Neil's got the clout to produce his own albums if/when he wants to, and like I said, I don't know the ratio of his stuff which he's produced himself as opposed to outseide producers. Young has kind of bullyed his record labels, and really THEY should shoulder some of the blame for not INSISTING that he use one at least most of the time. Producers are even more important when it's a BAND being recorded (as opposed to solo artists) because there's never going to be a time when all of the band members are going to agree about the recording they're doing. The producer has the power to lower the boom and say when the song is DONE, and it really doesn't matter if it sounds like "what it sounds like in the heads of the writers" or not. That's why you need a producer with exceptional taste and a confirmed "good ear" (which is why Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Todd Rudgren & Steve Lillywhite, among others, get so much work)... |
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Post by skvorisdeadsorta on Jul 15, 2006 14:06:15 GMT -5
Yes. Exactly.
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