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| From | Mike Bennett <mrhonorama@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: 25 overrated thingies |
| Date | Tue, 27 Nov 2007 00:55:39 -0600 |
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Bob, you really started something. I enjoyed Bob's list because he takes the time out to explain why these various acts don't float his boat. In so doing, he reveals his general preferences in music (well, those of us who've been here a spell had a pretty good idea...).
For example, I love XTC and Sparks, and I think his takes on both are accurate. The reason he's not so thrilled with them (the artiness, to generalize) is what I dig about them.
Yet the Joy Division entry has caused some real sparks to fly. I agree with Stewart that JD is not lionized solely due to Ian Curtis's death. Almost immediately, Joy Division was an innovative band, shaped in part by difficult but creative producer Martin Hannett, creating a unique rhythmic style that put a great deal of emphasis on sonic space, filled by Curtis's doomy baritione vocals and cutting lyrics.
I just read the chapter on Joy Division in Rip It Up and Start Again, Simon Reynolds' excellent book on post-punk. Joy Division's impact was there nearly from the beginning, as a slew of bands quickly glommed on to what they were doing, and that still holds true today.
In the introduction to his book, Reynolds posits that the post-punk period ('78 to about '84 or so) was as fertile and thrilling as the heyday of the '60s, and I'd wholeheartedly agree with him.
Mike Bennett, who just got back from a killer Frisbie show.
Blog: http://blog.myspace.com/mrhonorama
Record reviews and more at http://fufkin.com
Find out about Chicago shows: http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/chicagopopshowreport/
> Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 20:09:33 +0000
> From: bobhutton@btinternet.com
> To: audities@smoe.org
> Subject: Re: 25 overrated thingies
>
> I decided to mix some classic name bands I don't particulary love with
> some of the power-pop stuff revered on this list that I find overrated.
> I am playing Devil's Advocate with some of these, but not all.
>
> 1. Bob Dylan - Anything with folky harmonica does NOT translate well to
> small earphones - invariably I reach for the "off" switch.
> 2. Boston - I ought to like this but it is just too goddam polished and
> bland.They
> 3. Cheap Trick - A meat and two veg. band - but are they really worth
> all the praise that gets bandied around here?
> 4. The Byrds - Gene Clark is exempt, but if you take away his
> contributions there ain't all that much left to write home about, is there?
> 5. The Cramps - Great concept but the songs just ain't that good.
> 6. David Bowie - Some decent singles but his work seems to lack a real
> visceral quality - it's like it's all been created as a post grad thesis.
> 7. The Doors - Nothing more needs to be said.
> 8. The Hollies - Lovely harmonies and good singles but their albums lack
> consistency.
> 9. Led Zepellin - Rehashed blues -why anyone would pay money to see them
> now is completely beyond me.
> 10. Oasis - All downhill after the first album.
> 11. Pink Floyd - Says nothing to me about my life.
> 12. The Pogues - Some nice clattering anthems, but Shane: being a
> drunken bum is not the same as being elegantly wasted.
> 13. Amy Winehouse - See above entry for The Pogues
> 14. Public Image Limited - Lack of basic melody, not compensated here
> by Pistolian power.
> 15. The Clash - An incoherent rabble of ill-conceived political flummery.
> 16. Queen - Too polished, too pompous, too bombastic, too show-offy
> 17. Greenberry Woods - Half decent, but not half the band that
> Splitsville became.
> 18. Paul Weller - Incredibly dull solo career is now threatening to
> overshadow the brilliance of the Jam and the ambition of the Style Council
> 19. Kaiser Chiefs - God-awful shout-a-long nonsense - "Ruby, Ruby, Ruby,
> Ruby" ... indeed.
> 20. T. Rex - Another revered band who really had not a great deal of
> substance other than a handful of great singles.
> 21. Television - More to be admired than loved.
> 22. XTC - Wilfully arty when they could let their melodies flourish - I
> just can't see why they are held in such high esteem by power-poppers.
> 23. Sparks - Ditto, just way too archly wierd for my liking, although
> This Town Ain't Big Enough and Amateur Hour are fine songs.
> 24. Myracle Brah - Great first album, subsequent records just didn't
> have good songs in sufficient quantity. Plus Andy Bopp's voice can grate
> after a while.
> 25. Joy Division - Would such a fuss have been made of this band had
> the singer not tragically killed himself right at the start of their
> career?
>
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