The Music Thread

[Bungalow Bill]

With heavy hitters like Celine Dion and Bieber in the lineup, these folks from up
north will be hard to beat.

Of course this is just messin' around. There are many fine artists from cold country.

[rstrong]

Back before the Crash Test Dummies made it big I used to walk past them loading and unloading their equipment at the Spectrum Cabaret, a couple blocks from my apartment. They were a regular band there, and I watched them play live a couple times. (It's now the Pyramid Cabaret.)

[Bungalow Bill]

Guess they paid their dues. Like a lot of bands, they were big for a few years and
then coudln't retain their popularity, though that doesn't mean the music wasn't
still good. Just the way things work out.

[neoplacebo]

I saw this morning that Ray Manzarek, a founding member of the Doors has passed. In Germany. He lived in France.

[The Piper]

We are not taking the blame for the Bieber...

We didn't ask you , might as well blame mostly US consumers for most Canadian talent.

Ok, Canada is not to blame for Justin Bieber; who's taking the blame for Alexis Normand?

Link

"If you're going to screw up the national anthem, at least do it with the gusto of Frank Drebin."

[Ombudsman]

I liked the old guy in the cowboy hat from Kentucky who sang the Dylan tune.

[Ombudsman]

...old guy...

Ahem, 47!

Not my style, but he did well.



I have a prejudice against solo singers, even Anna Christine, on AGT. Last year was the first time out of 7 that one didn't win and we've got The Voice, American Idol, The X Factor, etc. for them. I'd prefer a ban and letting other kinds of talent have their moment in the sun.

I have a prejudice against all those dance troupes. I was thinking that guy said he was in his 60's. He's an old looking 47.

[Bungalow Bill]

Sorry, but this is the kind of cornball crapola that would send me running out of
the house after five minutes, especially the judges. The good thing about singing
a Dylan song is that there's at least a 50-50 chance that the person has a better
voice than Bob.

[Stinger]

Sorry, but this is the kind of cornball crapola that would send me running out of
the house after five minutes, especially the judges. The good thing about singing
a Dylan song is that there's at least a 50-50 chance that the person has a better
voice than Bob.

You better have a 100-0 chance if you're on a program where they judge you by your voice. Dylan may be the best songwriter, but he ruined a generation of American vocalists.

[Bungalow Bill]

I don't know if he ruined a generation of vocalists as much as he gave permission to
people who didn't have the best singing voices to sing anyway. I remember reading
that Jimi Hendrix figured if Dylan could sing, he might as well give it a try too. And
though he might not have had a trained voice, it seemed to fit with his music.

[JTA]

Bob Dylan at his finest:

[Stinger]

I don't know if he ruined a generation of vocalists as much as he gave permission to
people who didn't have the best singing voices to sing anyway. I remember reading
that Jimi Hendrix figured if Dylan could sing, he might as well give it a try too. And
though he might not have had a trained voice, it seemed to fit with his music.

Nah, he ruined quite a few. Instead of trying to be themselves, they tried to sound like Dylan.

[Bungalow Bill]

There were all the "new Dylans" back in the day, some of whom might have tried
to imitate his singing, but I think the overall effect was pretty limited, and then
it was time to move on to other things.

This one ain't too bad either. A song plus some vintage late 1960s slang.

[JTA]

Any of you guys Black Sabbath fans? Have you listened to their the newest album, "13"?

Garbage.

I wasn't expecting it to be amazing, but I also didn't expect it to be this bad. It sounds incredibly "generic". I don't really know how else to describe it. Maybe I need to listen to a few more songs before reaching a final conclusion.

[JTA]

Any of you guys Black Sabbath fans?

I was, long ago.

Have you listened to their the newest album, "13"?...

No, I've been disappointed by old rockers so often that I rarely give them a try anymore. Carlos Santana stands out as a huge exception.

Lately the fad has been to turn the loudness up:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war

"13" is a great example of this. In my opinion this practice detracts from the quality of an album rather than adding to it. Maybe it's just me, but there's something about music recorded back in the day compared to a lot of newer stuff. The overproduced sound is disappointing.

[Bungalow Bill]

I stopped listening to Black Sabbath in the mid 1970s, but they were pretty good.
My favorite was the Master of Reality album. Pretty pretentious title, but
the music was good. It's hard to be that good for a long time and then musical
tastes change too. I bought one of the way past their prime Deep Purple albums
and it just wasn't the same.

OTOH, I really like Garbage.

[JTA]

I stopped listening to Black Sabbath in the mid 1970s, but they were pretty good.
My favorite was the Master of Reality album. Pretty pretentious title, but
the music was good. It's hard to be that good for a long time and then musical
tastes change too. I bought one of the way past their prime Deep Purple albums
and it just wasn't the same.

OTOH, I really like Garbage.

Master of Reality is a great album. I enjoy the stuff with Dio as well. It's definitely got a different sound from what I consider classic Sabbath, but still good stuff.

Have you ever heard of a band called Pentagram? They have a sound similar to ozzy-era Sabbath. They released a lot of the stuff in the late 70's/early 80's.

Two of my favorite songs by them:





Other notable mentions:
1) Be Forewarned: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNCImjiyKU
2) Sign of the Wolf: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYx631BWJmc
3) Review your choices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSbR87Erelc

[JTA]

OTOH, I really like Garbage.

I really enjoy female vocalists. There's not a whole lot of rock/metal bands that have them. Coupling a female singer with a heavy bass-laden sound is a recipe for success:

Jex Thoth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-ckjRiwa48

[neoplacebo]

Any of you guys Black Sabbath fans? Have you listened to their the newest album, "13"?

Garbage.

I wasn't expecting it to be amazing, but I also didn't expect it to be this bad. It sounds incredibly "generic". I don't really know how else to describe it. Maybe I need to listen to a few more songs before reaching a final conclusion.

I remember way back in high school the Black Sabbath album I believe was "Paranoid" or something.....it had the "Iron Man" song; that's the only one I remember, though. Never thought much of them then, don't have any of their music, and haven't heard this new one. For me, Van Halen was the same; after the first record, I didn't really care for most of what they did.

[Bungalow Bill]

I guess my taste in music changed a bit or sometimes a group just drops off
the radar for no particular reason. I still listened to some AC/DC and Led
Zeppelin at the time, but I gradually phased out metal for the most part.
Pentagram sounds slighly familiar, but I never really heard much about them.

Paranoid wasn't too bad, but it's not my favorite Sabbath record. Despite
all the drama, Courtney Love/Hole is a good band, a little more on the alternative
side, but still some great rock stuff.