Controversial Music Opinions...

[allegro]

Once asked who her favorite artist was, Rhianna said it was Marley himself, when asked her favorite song, she said "they're all pretty good". Let's be honest, it's a bullshit answer and you and I both know she probably knows dick about him. I'll try to find the interview to further prove my point.

It wouldn't be hard to like "all of" Marley's songs considering his catalog wasn't exactly huge.

Also, I think you're failing to remember that I went to a four-year college and graduated in TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT. I was a full-time student on a college campus. And i didn't meet one single moron from "your generation" that you're describing. The students at my college were much more sophisticated than whatever the fuck junior college you're hanging at.

I *do* laugh, however, at all these white kids in rich neighborhoods blasting gangster rap.

[Kid Charlemagne]

Also, I think you're failing to remember that I went to a four-year college and graduated in TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT. I was a full-time student on a college campus. And i didn't meat one single moron from "your generation" that you're describing. The students at my college were much more sophisticated than whatever the fuck junior college you're hanging at.

Didn't know you graduated in '08 and frankly don't care either, just like I don't care what University you're at. You're foolish to think that any university or junior college doesn't have its share of smart people as well as jackasses. I'm sure you didn't go searching for bros, just like I don't currently. But who cares right? I still don't like his music, you still don't like me, and I'm wrong and will never be as smart as you, and I'm not being condescending on that last bit.


Back on topic, I'm watching this Isle of Wight special currently, and Tom Jones is performing. Can I say that he's as good as a performer and singer as there's been. The guy is a flawless entertainer and I don't think he gets the credit he deserves.

[Jinsai]

As overplayed as they are, I don't understand how someone can hear a song like No Woman No Cry or Redemption Song and not say "wow, that's a fucking incredible song." My personal favorite Marley song is Small Axe, but whatever, the man had fucking soul. It's odd to me to see people attack his music because some dorks think it's all about pot. Even if all his songs were ostensibly about getting high (which they're NOT), it would still be amazing music. I thought we all saw through that sort of thing? When we see an add with Kurt Cobain in heaven wearing Doc Martins, we don't suddenly start hating Kurt for being a sellout. He's dead, he has no control over what people do with his legacy and image and posthumous footwear.

Every genre is co-opted by people who abuse its aesthetics and act like douchebags about the pioneering voices. That's not Marley's fault. If anything, trust me, Bob Marley would hate the fuck out of what morons have done with his image.

Anyway, I'm going to go smoke a joint and listen to Natty Dread ;P

[Swykk]

Couldnt resist. I can't stand Marley but, as the digital short points out, posers can ruin anything.

[Magtig]

Pearl Jam fucking BLOWS. For fuck sake, they have "jam" right in their name.

Go gargle Neil Young's plaid somewhere else, Eddie!

[Senateguard33]

I'm not a huge fan of Pearl Jam, but you have to respect them as one of the bands that survived the 90s.

[pigpen]

Pearl Jam far exceeds any of their "Grunge" contemporaries based solely on the existence of Vitalogy. I'll agree the majority of their other albums aren't that great, but Vitalogy, IMO, is better than any of the output by any of the other "Seattle" bands of that time and sound.

[henryeatscereal]

On Pearl Jam: I think "Vitalogy" and "No Code" are albums that show ambition and transcend the "Grunge" label...

On Topic: Why U2 is bigger than James? in my opinion they are so much better...

[frankie teardrop]

i do love james, but they ain't got squat on the run from boy--->unforgettable fire. interesting how controversial it is to like u2 (even the early albums) around these parts.

[henryeatscereal]

i do love james, but they ain't got squat on the run from boy--->unforgettable fire. interesting how controversial it is to like u2 (even the early albums) around these parts.

Talking 'bout "controversial", I think "Pop" is U2's greatest album!

[frankie teardrop]

yeah, i should amend my post to say that i love u2 through joshua tree, and actively like everything afterwards up to and including pop. after that, i check right out.

[october_midnight]

Couldn't agree more. Pop was their last album that I love; their earlier albums are incredibly solid. The Joshua Tree is amazing. I may differ in that I actually kinda dig All That You Can't Leave Behind...but possibly just because some of the tracks really remind me of their earlier work.

[Kid Charlemagne]

On Topic: Why U2 is bigger than James? in my opinion they are so much better...

I like both bands, U2 were one of my first favorite bands and they remain that way to this day, but James are criminally underrated here in the states. It's a shame that "Laid" is the only song that made it big here. Absolutely love "Sit Down", "Out to Get You", "Tomorrow" and "Stutter". I used to have the "Laid" album on cassette, but I think they'll eventually go down as one of the best English bands to have never made it huge in the states.

[allegro]

On Pearl Jam: I think "Vitalogy" and "No Code" are albums that show ambition and transcend the "Grunge" label...

Nothing Pearl Jam ever did was "grunge." They just happened to be in Seattle.

(supposedly, the name Pearl Jam alludes to sperm.)

[hobochic]

None of those bands really considered themselves to be "grunge" anyway. They were just doing more or less what had been done since the 80's among post punk/new wave bands. Some with more "punk" and some with more "metal" influences.

Pearl Jam's Talking Heads influence is pretty obvious for example...

[allegro]

I don't know about PJ's later albums, but I hear zero Talking Heads in "Ten."

"Ten" is classic 70s riff guitar band with lush production. Mike stole the guitar solo on "Alive" from Ace Frehley in Kiss's "She" and Ace Frehley stole that same guitar solo from the Doors' "Five To One." There's an underlying sonic theme that's reminiscent of the Who's "Quadrophenia." But, overall, on "Ten," at least, it's not really totally a ripoff of anything else, and it was the antithesis of Grunge which was fuzz-toned garage rock (melodic MC5). Most Grunge bands cite Flipper as their biggest influence.

[Jinsai]

I think what bothers me most about Pearl Jam is Eddie Vedder's "underbite rock" style of singing. It's not his fault that he paved the way for Creed with that bullshit, but it still annoys the hell out of me to listen to it. He dropped it a little w/ Vitology, so maybe that's why I prefer that album.

[aggroculture]

Vitalogy is the only PJ album I loved. The first two are OK for glossy, emotional, earnest hard rock, but I find them a little cringeworthy today. Jeremy sounds almost comical in its earnest overstatement. JEREMY'S SPOKE IN. IIIIIIIII-N CLASS TODAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY.
It took Kurt Cobain's suicide to really squeeze a great record out of PJ (Vitalogy), one that was emotional, weird, spooky, arty, experimental, and rocked hard. After that they entered and settled in a kind of Springsteenian blandness I don't dig at all.

[allegro]

I think what bothers me most about Pearl Jam is Eddie Vedder's "underbite rock" style of singing. It's not his fault that he paved the way for Creed with that bullshit, but it still annoys the hell out of me to listen to it. He dropped it a little w/ Vitology, so maybe that's why I prefer that album.

I personally RELATE to a lot on "Ten" and personally identified with it so closely, the whole latchkey kid thing, and the music was so good, for me, that it all just blew me away; the message, alone, isn't enough for me, obviously, but all of the musicianship, the cohesiveness, the lyrics and theme, I got so excited about it after not having been excited about music in SUCH a long time.

i don't listen to much PJ after "Ten" but I think Vedder has an unbelievably strong and instantly recognizable voice. Whomever imitates that or exploits it, later, isn't Vedder's fault, anymore than some jackasses wearing Bob Marley t-Shirts decrease the value of Marley's music.

http://gozie.com/video/39GAH46A1YX3/...masters-of-war

[allegro]

back on topic:

Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" is one of the best songs ever written

[Highly Psychological]

Echo and the Bunnymen were in my opinion better than both Pearl Jam and U2. Far more moving and innovative. Their music could enduce total euphoria.
They could have been the biggest group in the world. Band had no work ethic though. Crocodiles (1980) or Heaven Up Here (1981) either one were my generations Ten i guess. Emotional classic rock.
They were THE most important band for a couple of years.
There was a real rivalry between U2 and The Bunnymen in 1982 or 83. Similar to the one echoed later with Pearl Jam and Nirvana.
Nobody on earth would have imagined U2 would eventually become SO huge at the time. That was the Bunnymens job
Can hear a real Jim Morrison influence in Ian Mculloch's voice.
They were a classic rock band attached to the post punk scene of the time.

This band should never have reformed either totally ruined their legacy.

[allegro]

I *totally* agree that Echo and the Bunnymen are highly underrated. I don't agree that they are in the same genre as U2 or whatever, but, still, great band, good songwriting, great live shows.

Ditto for the Psychedelic Furs.

[Jinsai]

regarding Pearl Jam, I have to admit that when Ten came out, I was eleven years old, and I loved the hell out of it. Back then, Vedder's voice didn't bother the living shit out of me.

When I hear his voice on Ten now it drives me up the wall. I can still get into Vitalogy and some tracks on Vs, but I can't stand that first album anymore. Maybe it also has to do with the fact that I probably overplayed it a bit when I was a kid, and maybe the whole "underbite rock vocal" thing was borrowed by shitty bands and abused to a degree that I can't help but recognize now. I really don't know. It just feels incredibly transparent to me now, but I still think Vitalogy is a fascinating album.

[Kid Charlemagne]

regarding Pearl Jam, I have to admit that when Ten came out, I was eleven years old, and I loved the hell out of it. Back then, Vedder's voice didn't bother the living shit out of me.

When I hear his voice on Ten now it drives me up the wall. I can still get into Vitalogy and some tracks on Vs, but I can't stand that first album anymore. Maybe it also has to do with the fact that I probably overplayed it a bit when I was a kid, and maybe the whole "underbite rock vocal" thing was borrowed by shitty bands and abused to a degree that I can't help but recognize now. I really don't know. It just feels incredibly transparent to me now, but I still think Vitalogy is a fascinating album.

Mark Arm's take on this on Metal Evolution was hilarious regarding "underbite rock".

[henryeatscereal]

Echo and the Bunnymen were in my opinion better than both Pearl Jam and U2. Far more moving and innovative. Their music could enduce total euphoria.
They could have been the biggest group in the world. Band had no work ethic though. Crocodiles (1980) or Heaven Up Here (1981) either one were my generations Ten i guess. Emotional classic rock.
They were THE most important band for a couple of years.
There was a real rivalry between U2 and The Bunnymen in 1982 or 83. Similar to the one echoed later with Pearl Jam and Nirvana.
Nobody on earth would have imagined U2 would eventually become SO huge at the time. That was the Bunnymens job
Can hear a real Jim Morrison influence in Ian Mculloch's voice.
They were a classic rock band attached to the post punk scene of the time.

This band should never have reformed either totally ruined their legacy.

I do think ETBM are underrated, the only thing that bothers me about them is the fact that they are repetitive, obviously all bands have recurrent tricks, but they got stuck in the same sound while U2 became "electric", so i think that was the main problem.
But it is clear that Ian Mculloch is a much better frontman than bono and his voice had a clear similarity with Jim Morrison, i think they should have taken more risks and maybe we would be talking about them as a huge mainstream band, but part of their appeal (in my opinion) is the fact that they never "made it", their Lyrics are so artsy and special that i would almost hate to listen to them on the radio everyday, they're a special band and they should always keep that spot.

[frankie teardrop]

I *totally* agree that Echo and the Bunnymen are highly underrated. I don't agree that they are in the same genre as U2 or whatever, but, still, great band, good songwriting, great live shows.

Ditto for the Psychedelic Furs.

i love both of those bands. i was barely in existence when the bunnymen were putting out their best stuff (first four records are flawless) but i can see where the bunnymen might have been outsiders of sorts. sure, they came from the same post-punk sort of ethics (post-sex pistols, gloomy guitar pop), but where most bands looked to bowie/iggy, the bunnymen always went more for the doors/beatles side of things. the long winded live arrangements with 8 minute breakdowns support that for sure, though i think ian's voice is completely shot at this point, nowhere near the same majesty. the band is still on fire, tight and precise, but i feel that without ian's soaring vocals, it's time to hang it up... but you know... this is the tour for the money...

the furs are a HUGE influence to me as a bass player. the first record is just perfect. i like all of their records (book of days is underrated as hell, and was the first one i heard/loved) though i could do without most of midnight to midnight.

[keysersoze]

I like DEADSY

[BlueCalx]

I like DEADSY

Haha, if it's at all possible to 'win' a thread, you just pulled it off.

[aggroculture]

Deadsy bums me out. I really liked the first album/s. But the second one was a major letdown, and when I saw them live it was horrible. He basically sabotaged his own career.
I think it boils down to the fact that Elijah is a talented guy but also a spoiled rich Hollywood brat with no motivation.

[henryeatscereal]

I like DEADSY

If you're joking, then i really like this song: