9 comments
Comment from: hrrundivbakshi [Member] 
Groan. I never really got the furor over this Matthew Sweet dude. One or two good power pop songs, sure -- but, really, can't we all agree on the fundamental mediocrity of his output?
I know some of you are professional acquaintances, and might have a hard time coming clean in a semi-public forum such as this one. I am prepared to take your brutally honest assessments off-line.
I know some of you are professional acquaintances, and might have a hard time coming clean in a semi-public forum such as this one. I am prepared to take your brutally honest assessments off-line.
11/29/09 @ 10:50
Comment from: jeangray [Member]
I second that motion! I went through a very brief period where I drank the Kool-Aid, and thought "Girlfriend" was a masterpiece. None of his other albums had that consistency, and have not aged well. I think that the Posies did this style o' musik much better.
Have yous guys heard his covers album with Suzanna Hoffs??? UGH!
Have yous guys heard his covers album with Suzanna Hoffs??? UGH!
11/29/09 @ 14:10
Comment from: jeangray [Member]
Hey hrrundivbakshi:
I jus' a-downloaded your baseball walk-up musik. Very nice. Strong work!
I jus' a-downloaded your baseball walk-up musik. Very nice. Strong work!
11/29/09 @ 14:37
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
I think the first 6 or 7 songs of Girlfriend and 1 or 2 other songs on that album hold up as a rare great power pop album. Unlike bands like The Posies, there's a real sense of playing going on, thanks to Richard Lloyd, Robert Quine, Fred Maher, and Sweet's own bass parts. In other words, if this makes sense, it's a rare power pop album that's played like a rock 'n roll album. To my ears, too many other power pop albums in the world sound like the Sam Ash Music equivalent of Cheap Trick, and you know I don't mean that as a compliment. At their BEST they sound like Cheap Trick and The Rasberries. I get no sense of frayed denim, stems and seeds, and other things I feel are essential to most great rock 'n roll. Among the power pop world I also give Big Star and The dB's (first 2 lps and even that misfired third one) credit for sounding like '60s rock 'n roll bands playing pop music rather than '70s rock dudes trying to sound like The Beatles on Ed Sullivan...but with kick-ass Marshall stacks!
Oh, and anything I've heard before Girlfriend is terrible. Anything after that usually sucks too, although I could put together a killer 6- to 8-song ep of his post-Girlfriend work. I still like what the guy once stood for and the enthusiasm (and undercurrent of sadness) he brought to the genre.
Oh, and anything I've heard before Girlfriend is terrible. Anything after that usually sucks too, although I could put together a killer 6- to 8-song ep of his post-Girlfriend work. I still like what the guy once stood for and the enthusiasm (and undercurrent of sadness) he brought to the genre.
11/29/09 @ 17:23
Comment from: cdm [Member]
Wait a minute, let me get this straight. You're telling me that there are going to be three rock bands AND a Ukulele Orchestra at the North Star on Saturday? Why, you'd have to be a fool to miss out on that. Count me in!
11/30/09 @ 09:24
Comment from: jeangray [Member]
Soooo, lemme see if I got this straight Mr. Mod. It sounds to me like you are a-saying that the success of Mr. Sweet's best material lies in the virtuosoity of the musicians involved.
That seems jus' counter-intuative to me in regards to Power PoP. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've always assumed that you didn't need to be a virtuoso to play PoP musik.
Oohh, and I'd put Jon Auer (lead-guit for the Posies) up against Richard Lloyd any day of the week!
Love,
JG
That seems jus' counter-intuative to me in regards to Power PoP. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I've always assumed that you didn't need to be a virtuoso to play PoP musik.
Oohh, and I'd put Jon Auer (lead-guit for the Posies) up against Richard Lloyd any day of the week!
Love,
JG
11/30/09 @ 12:12
Comment from: Mr. Moderator [Member]
Not necessarily "vituosity," JG, but - here comes an always-hard-to-prove term - ORGANIC NATURE OF THE PLAYING. I like it better when power pop bands sound like refugees of '60s pop trying to scratch out a place in the modern world rather than nerds trying to make it in arena rock. To me Sweet's band at that time sometimes sounds like what the Buffalo Springfield or some band like that might have sounded like had it managed to exist in a creative way into the then-modern world. It's about the pop first, not some phony sense of power, which is what I hear in too many of the Cheap Trick disciples.
11/30/09 @ 12:35
Comment from: cherguevarra [Member]
Will somebody watch this interview with Ian Gillan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppR838nSNX8
And then explain to me why what he says at the very end of the clip is funny. There is something about Sabbath, or Ronnie James Dio, that apparently must be known to find it funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppR838nSNX8
And then explain to me why what he says at the very end of the clip is funny. There is something about Sabbath, or Ronnie James Dio, that apparently must be known to find it funny.
12/01/09 @ 20:25
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