Predictions for '07

[maarts]

I'll but out of the Vedder/Cornell-issue as I both like apples and oranges and both artists for me were at their best in the early stages of their career.

Beastie Boys- what use is a full instrumental album from them? Never liked the punky bits they bullshitted about with, their funky bits could be well funky but would they be any better than J-Dilla, The Bamboos, Dap-Tones or many other great funk bands of the last few years?



I think we found or next Freddie Kruger if Robert Englund steps down... ;D

[Ayinger]

sb said:

I gotta say, I did like their intertwining vocals on Temple Of The Dog. "Hunger Strike" is just a fantastic song.

dammit, ya beat me to that Kool! Though I've had some hard times stomaching Cornell in recent years, his wailing on that tune just makes it!

[Kensterberg]

Cornell doesn't really connect with me ... yet another case of great pipes but misses w/me emotionally. I'd rather listen to Vedder mumble and roar his way around a tune than hear Cornell, in general.

Vedder's the better lyricist, and I don't give a damn who does the music for any given Pearl Jam song. I think it's a silly comparison (a dude named Cobain could put both of these guys away: he was by far the stronger writer and his vocals were more effective than any of his peers), but I'll take Vedder over Cornell every day of the week.

[KooL]

If Cobain were still alive he'd be a hasbeen. He would've burned himself out. His suicide gave him whatever cred he has these days, and because he died at such a young age, it will always remain intact.
Ken, it's time you faced facts, Cobain is nothing more than this generation's Jim Morrison.

[Ryosuke]

sb said:

Ken, it's time you faced facts, Cobain is nothing more than this generation's Jim Morrison.

Haha, I like this.

[JesusLooksLikeMe]

kenholzman said:

Cornell doesn't really connect with me ... yet another case of great pipes but misses w/me emotionally. I'd rather listen to Vedder mumble and roar his way around a tune than hear Cornell, in general.

Vedder's the better lyricist, and I don't give a damn who does the music for any given Pearl Jam song. I think it's a silly comparison (a dude named Cobain could put both of these guys away: he was by far the stronger writer and his vocals were more effective than any of his peers).

Bah... come on Ken, how come the lyrics count in this comparison, but the song-writing - and presumably the guitar playing - doesn't? It should matter who wrote which PJ song and which Soundgarden song, when one of the criteria for any comprehensive, pointless-but-fun comparison between Vedder and Cornell has to be song-writing skills.

To my mind the bulk of the music on my favourite PJ songs were written by Gossard or Ament, whereas Cornell is the sole name on Soundgarden's classics. Even on the patchy Down on the upside you can still hear the difference between Cornell's outstanding compositions (Overfloater, Tight & Tighter etc) which offer everything that's great about Soundgarden, and the woefully limited, hit-and-miss offerings from Thayil, Shepherd and Cameron.

They both have great voices for the genre and that one comes down to preference between Vedder's passionate restraint and Cornell's slightly more histrionic but more powerful set of pipes.

Vedder's lyrics are far better, though without being anything special. Sure, "Off He Goes" fits the music perfectly and Vedder does those homespun little narratives well, but as soon as he tries to get political or philosophical he starts floundering, in my opinion. Cornell is not a lyricist.

As for musicianship, I'd always assumed Cornell was the more advanced guitarist. To be honest though, I'm not sure there's any substance behind that. I saw Pearl Jam live in '96 and Eddie only touched the harmonica for "Smile". I never saw either pick up a guitar in the flesh since I never saw live footage of Soundgarden at all, and I don't know enough about who-did-what in the studio.

As for Cobain... shit lyrics, average singing, hacked at the guitar more in hope that expectation, admittedly had an ear for an annoyingly catchy melody, but his chief assets were a surly, right-place-right-time attitude, and an exquisitely timed suicide.

[Matheus]

sb said:

If Cobain were still alive he'd be a hasbeen. He would've burned himself out. His suicide gave him whatever cred he has these days, and because he died at such a young age, it will always remain intact.
Ken, it's time you faced facts, Cobain is nothing more than this generation's Jim Morrison.

I think Cobain actually did burn out so I'm not sure what this is about...

I could care less what anyone thinks about Cobain, he spoke to a generation, and just like anything in music people are going to call his "cred" into doubt. In the evidence of his brilliance, no one can deny the fact that he was totally into music, and loved it. He just didn't know what to do with the fame.

Sometimes I question that though. Who the fuck signs a major label record deal not expecting some sort of fame??? I mean, really? His bitching about that was a bit much... almost nauseating. Alas, I loved the music, and that's enough for me.

[Matheus]

Prediction for '07

Madonna will once again rule the world come November. She ruled Europe quite handily with Confessions on a Dance Floor, and ultimately ruled the United States with the Confessions Tour. I hate America. People here don't like dance music, and for that they fucking suck. The kids in suburbia would much rather pretend that they're some kind of hardcore gangstas like 50 Cent or some shit when at the end of the day they'll be raising ungrateful little brats drugged up on Ritalin because god forbid they had any intelligence.

Bunch of wankers, if you ask me. Hung Up #7? So gay, and so American.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Really? Man, indie kids have been into dance music for the last 4 years here in Austin. LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture, Justin Timberlake, The Knife, microhouse, french house, clicks and cuts, all sorts of dance music.

I will agree that alot of bars, probably 60 percent here in Austin, are into that 50 Cent stuff, but I don't think that's a fair assesement of all American kids. Maybe most of them, I don't know. I think there's been some pretty awesome dance music in this decade though. Really Awesome.

It goes like this for me:

I think Eddie Veddar sounds like a guy who might have a decent voice if he didn't sound like some stoned surfer doing a Jim Morrison impression with marbles in his mouth. Music is really good though when it isn't wanking out like Stevie Ray Vaughn. I pretty much like everything post "Ten" those guys have done.

Chris Cornell has always been a bit of a poor-man's Robert Plant. It seems though that after Soundgarden broke up, everything that he's done is worse than the worst song of Plant's solo career. I always thought Soundgarden was cooler than Pearl Jam for some strange reason.

Cobain went the way of Sid Vicious: destroyed his legacy with stupid mytholizing hippie drug bullshit. Not punk rock, just fucking stupid. The dude just needed a toothbrush with a hug and he probably would have been okay. That and a post-birth abortion for Courtney Love as well. After that he probably would have become a Roadie for Pavement or the new Dinosaur Jr tour after he just quit Nirvana.

[Matheus]

skvorisdeadsorta said:

Really? Man, indie kids have been into dance music for the last 4 years here in Austin. LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture, Justin Timberlake, The Knife, microhouse, french house, clicks and cuts, all sorts of dance music.

I will agree that alot of bars, probably 60 percent here in Austin, are into that 50 Cent stuff, but I don't think that's a fair assesement of all American kids. Maybe most of them, I don't know. I think there's been some pretty awesome dance music in this decade though. Really Awesome.

I don't think I was disputing the fact that some awesome dance music is being made. I'm disputing what is popular in the United States. Madonna is the most popular dance artist in the United States. I remember around the time Hung Up was on the charts a Billboard article spoke about the fact that it was a miracle that Hung Up peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #7 because pop radio doesn't play dance music. At the same time, the article thought it was a travesty because Hung Up is an amazing dance pop tune. I would also like to mention that Hung Up is the second biggest selling dance song in the world after Cher's "Believe." It spent 15 weeks at #1 on the United World Chart, only to be bumped off by Madonna's second single, "Sorry." "Sorry" is better than "Hung Up" but it only peaked in the 50s in America. On the hot dance/club play chart, every single from Confessions on a Dance Floor hit #1. As a matter of fact, Madonna has 37 #1 hot dance/club play tracks far exceeding every other artist.

Some people would probably say that I'm annoyed that Hung Up didn't do better, which I am, but it's the lack of dance music on popular radio that's really annoying to me. It would be awesome to see Goldfrapp #1 in America. They make amazing music, too. It's the lack of variety. I occasionally will put on the local pop station, and they usually play hip-hop, R&B, and some of that boring modern rock crap where every band sounds the same.

[Paul]

maarts said:

Beastie Boys- what use is a full instrumental album from them? Never liked the punky bits they bullshitted about with, their funky bits could be well funky but would they be any better than J-Dilla, The Bamboos, Dap-Tones or many other great funk bands of the last few years?

Don't know if there is any real point to it - I personally just think it's cool of them that they can switch gears like that. Basically, the BBoys do what the feel like, and I think it's pretty neat they went from a straight hip-hop album in '04 to an all instrumental in '07. They've only released 7 proper albums in their 25 year career, but they have yet to release a bad album. TT5B was disappointing, but it wasn't horrible.

[Paul]

I liked Cobain, and I miss him. That's all the input I have for Nirvana.

Kool,

That's awesome you found all those singles! Have you listened to "Don't Believe In Christmas"? It's a cover from the early 60's (I think), and it's a rare song to hear PJ morph into a straight up rock n' roll band. It may be one of my favorites from those Christmas singles.

I'm not sure how much Eddie actually writes songs. I know he writes like 95% of the lyrics, but I think Stone Gossard is the secret weapon of the band. Matt has had a few writing credits as well - Unemployable from Avocado - something he didn't really have in Soundgarden.

Overall, yeah, Cornell can sing better. But as all you Dylan fans out there can attest to, singing isn't everything - it's if you can relate to the words, and the music moves you. That's what PJ does for me, that with the exception of a few songs, Soundgarden never could for me.

As for the guitar playing skills of the two, don't know. I'd bet Cornell is better, but Vedder does have an interesting style. It's not technical at all (that's for Mike McCready), but it's sloppy, raw, and very garage rock like. Maybe b/c that's a similar way I play, and I can relate more is the reason I prefer it.

[Galactus]

Cobain/Nirvana was great, I certainly don't know he'd be a hasbeen now. If Cobain burned out he did so personally not musically.

Badmotorfinger -> Temple Of The Dog -> Superunkown, that's all the Chris Cornell you need. He was never a that good a singer, like Plant, he's a good front man and since he belts everyone thinks he's a great singer. Vedder is a better lyricist, songwriter and singer.

[skvorisdeadsorta]

Nirvana changed my life. When I first heard "Nevermind" they were the gateway to the universe of music that I am now in. I think Cobain championed some amazing bands and I love him for it. I just wish that for someone who was so anti-rockstar, he hadn't fallen headfirst into almost every one of the rock star traps. I don't think he would have been a burnout though. I think he would have had a couple of years off and came back pretty strong. I just wish it would have happened for him.