There have been a few requests for some more Listening Posts and the suggestions are....interesting, to say the least.
The project started when I realized that i owned Make Believe by Weezer but had never listened to it. And, with the Red Album coming out, I thought I would go through the discography to see, well, to see what I thought.
And what I thought was, Red sucks, Blue is antiquated, Pinkerton is a clunky classic, Green is short and to the point, Maladroit is correctly titled and Make Believe is unfortunately maligned. Weezer are the last decade's version of The Cars and Make Believe was their Heartbeat City. Red, on the other hand, is an ep's worth of music at best.
Then I decided to delve into another band that I owned but only occasioned: Everclear.
What I discovered there was Art Alexakis writes two or three songs over and over and over again and, once you are past So Much for the Afterglow and American Movie part One, it's all over. There's absolutely nothing you haven't heard and been bored by before.
Which brought me, somehow, to U2. You've read that. That was fun.
So, where to go next? The thing about the Listening Post, for me, is it has to be a once-iconic band, I have to be peripherally knowledgeable of their music, mainly the hits and it has to be a challenge.
Some of the bands that have been mentioned, R.E.M, Pearl Jam, Beck, hold some interest and I might, MIGHT, visit them but I am more inclined to look at the oeuvre of the likes of Cheap Trick, Bon Jovi, Journey and, dare I say, AC/DC.
So, prepare yourselves. A Listening Post is on the way. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
3 comments:
I was going to do something like this and never did. I really enjoyed the U2 posts; I've only listened to a few of their albums all the way through, and it was really cool seeing what you had to say. I'm glad there's going to be more.
Given what we've talked about in the past, I'd put up Queen for the Listening Post. AC/DC is a great choice, too. Me being who I am, I'd put forth Bowie, if you were so inclined.
Oh, Bon Jovi, definitely Bon Jovi.
I was listening to Simple Minds this morning. I love Simple Minds pre-Breakfast Club, they were a great art-dance band, just wonderful. That song ruined them, kind of, but I was thinking what really ruined them was U2. At some point, U2 made it unsafe for bands from that part of the world to not exhibit a self-important political relevancy. Now I know those two bands were friends and I think the relationship rubbed off in the wrong way, with Simple Minds on the losing side, descending into really horrible, grim. political bombast instead of their usual artsy quirkiness. At the same time, U2 eventually mined the quirky dance arena, didn't they? A Freaky Friday situation?
Anyhow, can't stand U2 other than that version of Night and Day on Red Hot and Whatever it's called, but enjoyed your overview! I don't think I really like iconic bands, actually.
I couldn't help but think recently that Simple Minds, at a certain time, just sounded like a U2 rip off band. And the only band that succeeded at doing that was The Alarm.
Bon Jovi is intriguing but I think you might enjoy what's coming, Samurai.
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