Topic: Rock Music Discussion

Radiohead - The Bends. Probably one of my favourite Radiohead albums but it, understandably, gets lost in discussions about Radiohead.

@skywake I would say it's normally an argument between The Bends, Kid A or Ok Computer as their best one.

I've actually met Thom Yorke before and he was pretty cool.

@Bizaster How are KoRn a laughing stock? They are way more legit and respected than most of the nu-metal bands from back then.

@Bizaster The new albums are pretty well received, their last one The Nothing is considered one of their best albums. Are you thinking back 10ish years ago when they did that dubstep album which was more a one-off experiment than a proper album?

@Bizaster I remember seeing them on that tour and the crowd were so confused by it as the support acts were all djs too even though they went out of their way to make sure people knew it was a different type of show. It was poop but it's stll better than Metallica's Lulu.

This may be a wall of text and video, but it's been awhile since i've posted and this is a subject I can go on about. I'd say the first rock band that I was obsessed with was Blink 182. I was 12 or so and this was right around 'Enema of the State' so they were big. I think I was into Korn a bit too. My only exposure to music at the time was Mtv and, aside from Marylin Manson, Korn was probably the most legit metal band to get regular airtime. I could see why someone would consider Korn a guilty pleasure band, they're the archetypal "nu metal" band, but I think there's a bit more substance to their music than they get credit for (even though I haven't listened to them in ages).

High school for me was all about industrial metal. I don't know how it started exactly, but I think Rammstein was the stepping stone, and maybe a little bit Rob Zombie. Love those two, and still occassionally see what they're up to. That led to KMFDM, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Front 242, Skinny Puppy, The Revolting Cocks, Fear Factory, and others. I've seen KMFDM 2 or 3 times live, Ministry once (with Revco.), and NIN once. Industrial metal is my comfort zone with metal I think. It had so much more depth than what I was listening to before (stuff like Slipknot. Another decent band, but not really for me). Industrial metal can be violent, groovy, funny, and/or political...sometimes within the same song.

There were two bands that were more inspirational than the industrial metal groups. The first is Type O Negative. They're kind of a goth/metal group, but that label doesn't represent their music well. Sure, each album is decorated in black & green, the songs are about sex and death, and the lead singer was a 6'8" (203 cm) giant with a deep voice and long black hair. That giant vocalist/bass player is Pete Steele. The thing is - in spite of all of those surface level clichés the band was incredibly funny, earnest, and creative.

They were unlike any else I had listened to. Fun story: I saw them live in April of 2007 (I think...I have the ticket stub somewhere) and after the show some friends and I were waiting in the back of the venue hoping that we'd meet the group and get autographs and pics. After some time there were other people that came walking out of the doors. They were fans. They said if we went up a set of stairs there was a room the band was in. I booked it. Sure enough there was Pete Steele and Johnny Kelly (the drummer) and I got an autograph on the cd they were touring for. Johnny had somehow acquired a trucker cap and seemed a bit drunk, Pete was sitting on a couch relaxing and thanked me for coming to the show and shook my hand. I didn't even realize that my friends hadnt followed me up the stairs as they were stopped by security. Looking back I'm lucky I didn't get my @ss kicked lol. But it's a cherished memory, because Pete passed away in 2010.

The other band is Mr. Bungle. They're Mike Patton's first band and they're nuts. At the time they had only 3 albums before breaking up, and each is significantly different than the others. Ostensibly they're a metal band, but they were much more varied than that.

These two groups are most likely the reason I stopped listening to most metal. My boundaries were expanding. Type O Negative overtly referenced The Beatles (they called themselves 'The Drab Four' on occassion) as well as a smidge of Pink Floyd. It turns out I was a larval classic rock snob, and now if I listen to rock music it's usually that or folk rock (Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Leonard Cohen). I actually listen to soundtracks more than traditional music. The 'Jurassic Park' theme turns mowing the lawn into an epic dinosaur adventure.

Underated album? 'Atom Heart Mother' by Pink Floyd. Most articles I read place it towards the bottom of their discography, but it's top 5 for me.

Underated band? They Might Be Giants are fantastic and not talked about enough.

All of the table memes are coming back to me!

@Losermagnet I like a bit of Leonard Cohen too, it mostly because my missus is a big fan so it was either learn to love it or dump her.

I do feel folk rock is a little bit under appreciated in general compared to say hair metal which still hasn’t died off yet or done something new. It’s not something imagine people naturally gravitate to being the reason. I was into mostly punk as a kid and folk rock protest songs go hand in hand with that so I was aware of singers like Billy Bragg and Frank Turner and from there got into Grace Petrie, Kid Harpoon and Beans On Toast.

@jump I have a lot of respect for Leonard Cohen. He wrote a song that was as popular as anything Dylan wrote, but not many people realize it's his. I think the version of 'Hallelujah' in Shrek is more well-known than Cohen's original. Although I'm sure Cohen himself would've felt accomplished just knowing how many people it's reached.

I think it's really interesting how we discover new things (in this case, bands and music). It might seem odd to say "I started listening to folk rock because of punk rock" or "this goth metal band turned me on to The Beatles" but there is a connection and influence.

@Losermagnet
Have you heard Naked City? Patton sings on some of their stuff.
It's John Zorn's jazz/surf/grindcore band. They're incredible.

@Losermagnet Have you ever seen "Leonard Cohen: Bird on a Wire" ? It was released a few years ago after being lost for years, it's a backstage documentary from the 70s around the time his label dropped him so he had to start touring even though he hates touring to make a living. It's an interesting time capsule and it's a very honest showing of him like the big show he was looking forward to makes him have a breakdown backstage.

Could we start making the questions a tad more interesting? Stuff like favourite cover song in a different genre, favourite all black band, favourite band who had already split up before you were born, favourite band who don't sing in English just things you have to dig a bit deeper for.

Uni's Rocksmith any good to anyone here....?

@BruceCM I like Franz Ferdinand's Take Me Out. What a goddamn classic.

@BruceCM the concept sounds alright but rather than pissing about playing Guitar Hero with my own guitar I’d rather just play my own guitar to be honest.

@Rambler I haven't heard it, but I'll check it out. If you have any other Patton recommendations, please let me know. I'm a big fan, but he has a ton of albums and collaborations that I struggle to keep up with it. Bungle and Fantomas are fantastic, Faith No More is pretty good, and I've got some solo stuff of his too: Mondo Cane, Peeping Tom, Crank sountrack.

@jump I haven't seen that, but I'm gonna check that out. I always got the feeling that pop music was a means to and end for Cohen, like his poetry and writing weren't going quite the way he wanted so he tried something else.

One of my favorites I (somehow) didn't mention before is Tom Waits. I love Tom Waits. From maudlin piano ballads to bluesy, sur-rural rockers to nightmare-like spoken word tracks, he completes my trifecta of old-dude rockers (Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen being the others).

@Bizaster
What Burns Never Returns by Don Caballero. I love this so much. There is just so much joy in the playing. It's quite technical, by never show-offfy (for me anyway). Makes me smile loads

This post brings back some memories. I saw Ministry about 10 times between the Land of Rape and Honey and the Psalm 69 albums. Those shows were always cool because Al would always play songs from his side projects. Ian MacKaye would come out and do some Pailhead songs. They would also do some Revco, 1000 Homo DJs songs. During TLORAH tour Ogre did some Skinny Puppy songs. I got to witness the popularity of NIN grow over about a three year span. I saw them play a show at the Calvert Street Cafe in Baltimore in front of around 100 people right when Pretty Hate Machine came out to playing the Baltimore Arena for the Downward Spiral tour. Front 242 always had great light show and Skinny Puppy was always great for the theatrics. Too Dark Park is still one of my favorite albums from this era.

I’m a little late to this one.
The Replacements - Sorry Ma, Forgot to take out the Trash
Song - I’m in Trouble

@Munson to be a fan during those burgeoning years sounds awesome. By the time I was 13, Wax Trax had folded and it seemed like I was lucky to find anything other than the most well-known industrial groups. I've been thinking of dipping back into the genre, any group recommendations? I pretty much named all the bands that I actively listen to in my earlier post.

@Losermagnet
Some of the older industrial albums really sound dated now, IMO. But I would recommend checking out
Meat Beat Manifesto - 99%
These guys opened for NIN at a small club in Baltimore. Hottest show I have ever been to. NIN came through Baltimore at least four times during Pretty Hate Machine.

Nitzer Ebb - That Total Age

Dessau - Exercise in Tension
I think Al Jourgensen produced one of the songs.

Some other bands to check out
Front Line Assembly
Die Warzau
A Split Second
The Young Gods
My Life with Thrill Kill Cult
Pigface - kind of industrial super group started but Martin Atkins.

I don’t listen to most of this stuff anymore. I can’t really say how much of this holds up today.