[atari 2600]

Originally Posted by Dead-Air

Springsteen can write great songs, as proved by Bowie ("Saint in the City"), Patti ("Because the Night"), and Waits ("Jersey Girl"), but his originals all come off as pure cheese in my book.

Occasionally if I'm in the mood for such cheese, he works as well as Manilow, who is actually a similar poetic talent. I can't think of a more wonderfully ridiculous lyric than "Outside the streets on fire in a real death waltz between what's flesh and what's fantasy/ And the poets down here don't write nothin' at all they just stand back and let it all be" Probably should have taken his own advice, but worth a laugh at the right moment.

Yeah, whatever, Doc Ock*, put a sock in it, pal. (*or whatever that horrible longtime avatar is meant to be)
I've heard that first backhanded compliment part tens of times from tens of poseurs, and as to your second condescending entry that contradicts the first somewhat, I'd love to see the lyric sheets of most of the bands you purport to like and, for that matter, your own band's lyrics. Then we'll really have a laugh.

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by atari 2600

Yeah, whatever, Doc Ock*, put a sock in it, pal. (*or whatever that horrible longtime avatar is meant to be)
I've heard that first part tens of times from tens of poseurs, and as to your second condescending entry that contradicts the first somewhat, I'd love to see the lyric sheets of most of the bands you purport to like and, for that matter, your own band's lyrics. Then we'll really have a laugh.

Hmm. My band does mostly instrumentals, so that might be difficult.

However, I'm sure that if I felt compelled to list many of my favorite lyricists from Alex Chilton to Chuck D. we'd find many that you like quite a lot and a few that perhaps you didn't. If you criticized the ones you didn't, I don't think I'd likely throw an inane tantrum and respond with a bunch of silly personal attacks though. I wouldn't take such a thing personally, you see.

As for my avatar, it's simply a picture of myself taken by myself. I'm sorry you find it so offensive. You might try St. John's Wort, it can be very helpful in many cases.

[atari 2600]

You know, I was even gonna write that you probably only do instrumentals.

What's This Called? for 9/22/2007!

a sampling:

Originally Posted by Dead-Air

This week's audio adventure STREAMS LIVE in 5 minutes!

On tap: Uterus Magnet, Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, Dub Trio, Baseball Camp Nurse, Waldteufel, L.A. Lungs, Yellow Swans, and MORE!

Dude plays this cack on the radio and has the nerve to thoroughly insult Bruce Springsteen?

Whatever, flame-boy. Nice try at trying to turn it around on me. And you do look like Doctor Octopus from the various Spider-Man comics in that cropped image. Any fool can see that. It's not a good look, by the way, and I kind of knew it was you.

Bruce Springsteen helped to save Rock from Disco; don't you forget it.

Any time Bruce ever gets mentioned, some variation on this same type of shit happens. Some of you are so damn pathetically narrow-minded. Everything is a fucking fashion statement with you fucks.

And, just so you really know, I'm not even the biggest Springsteen fan...at all.

But I still respect much of his music and won't stand for a flamer in this thread referring to his work as "pure cheese" on par with Barry-fucking-Manilow without remarking on the utter gall of it all. Your attempt at being a colorful character with the Barry comparison only makes you seem feeble-minded.
Perhaps you were even torn between Barry and Billy Joel while concocting your "cheese" witticism, but then opted for the worse of the two.
Some of you make me fucking sick.

Originally Posted by Putting on Airs

You might try St. John's Wort, it can be very helpful in many cases.

St. John's Wort, salvia, whatever...these herbs have no effect on anyone whatsoever except very young or very repressed people who never have really done any amount of drugs or alcohol over any extended period of time. You might as well be typing, "I'm a guarded nerd letting my hair down, lookee! Look at me, I'm trying desperately to be cool, I'm doing salvia! I'm taking St. John's Wort because I read some new age book or article about it and it's supposed to get you a little loopy and fucked-up."

St. John's Wort ineffective against depression: study
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2001/...erb010418.html

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by atari 2600

You know, I was even gonna write that you probably only do instrumentals.

And what would that have proved?

Originally Posted by atari 2600

What's This Called? for 9/22/2007!

Originally Posted by atari 2600

a sampling:



Dude plays this cack on the radio and has the nerve to thoroughly insult Bruce Springsteen?

I've heard quite a lot of Springsteen in my life (who I wasn't even dissing particulary, so much as saying I don't take overly serious). How many of those artists have you heard that you just completely dissed? None of them sound anything alike, so you aren't exactly demonstrating your superbly open mind here.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

Whatever, flame-boy. Nice try at trying to turn it around on me.

Flame is a term that comes from inflamatory. Anyone who goes back and reads these posts will find you launching several personal attacks, seemingly out of the blue, while I just stated my opinion of a musician in a thread that seemed to be asking peoples' opinions of said musician. If I had been trying to elicit a flame such as yours by that post, it would have been a "troll", not a flame. I wasn't, and honestly didn't even see it coming.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

And you do look like Doctor Octopus from the various Spider-Man comics in that cropped image. Any fool can see that. It's not a good look, by the way, and I kind of knew it was you.

I'd never actually noticed that the avatar might be taken for Steve Ditko's old creation. I see it now that you mention it, but I still don't see why you would waste your energy attacking an avatar. Except that you "kind of knew it was" me, and you are just grasping for ways to attack me, because I have a different opinion of a musician you apparently take a bit over seriously.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

Bruce Springsteen helped to save Rock from Disco; don't you forget it.

It'd be relatively easy to argue that about every rock artist with a decent following who didn't cut a disco track. As it is, I don't know that disco was such a horrible threat. It was just a fad that died out on it's own for the most part.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

Any time Bruce ever gets mentioned, some variation on this same type of shit happens. Some of you are so damn pathetically narrow-minded. Everything is a fucking fashion statement with you fucks.

I can't vouch for what other people think of him. For me, not putting him up there with Dylan (or anywhere close) as a lyricist isn't anything to do with fashion. I'm pretty clueless about fashion.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

But I still respect much of his music and won't stand for a flamer in this thread referring to his work as "cheese" on par with Barry-fucking-Manilow without remarking on the utter gall of it all. Your attempt at being a colorful character with the Barry comparison only makes you seem feeble-minded. Perhaps you were even torn between Barry and Billy Joel while concocting your "cheese" witticism, but then opted for the worse of the two.

Again, I wasn't flaming (and it would be "trolling" if I had been trying to start something. I didn't really even expect anyone to respond. Thing is, I kind of like Barry Manilow (so I think that proves I'm not making a fashion statement). Cheese to me is not always a bad thing, it's just something I wouldn't take particularly serious. Of course one's taste in cheese makes even less sense than taste in music in general. Why do I consider Barry Manilow entertaining camp and yet cringe at the very thought of, say, Air Supply, I couldn't exactly tell you. Aesthetics are strange. Billy Joel is just overall boring (though I still have a soft spot for "My Life") so he never crossed my mind. I do think Bruce is a better overall artist than Barry, because Barry could never do something like Nebraska, but I also think that many of Bruce's classics aren't light years away from "Mandy" in bombast. And again, I don't think bombast is necessarily bad, if one is in the mood for it.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

Some of you make me fucking sick.

You'll probably reach a point in your life where people posting on a message board about music can't elicit such strong feelings, and be happier for it. I'm already there.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

St. John's Wort, salvia, whatever...these herbs have no effect on anyone whatsoever except very young or very repressed people who never have really done any amount of drugs or alcohol over any extended period of time. You might as well be typing, "I'm a guarded nerd letting my hair down, lookee! Look at me, I'm trying desperately to be cool, I'm doing salvia! I'm taking St. John's Wort because I read some new age book or article about it and it's supposed to get you a little loopy and fucked-up."

I'm not exactly proud of the amount of drugs and alcohol I have done, but it definitely doesn't fit the profile you present there. I'm with you on salvia, I couldn't feel a thing the one time I tried it. However, I did take St. John's Wort at one time to deal with depression, at the suggestion of the therapist I was seeing at the time, and it really seemed to help. I've never ruled out it might have been a placebo, but really if it helped, what does that matter? I'll freely admit that I threw that one out as my one half-assed barb though. It was after you'd already attacked me personally, but I probably should have resisted.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

St. John's Wort ineffective against depression: study
http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2001/...erb010418.html

Interesting. I hadn't heard there was such a study, and actually appreciate the link as I am (mildly) curious about such things. I imagine I could probably google up a study that says the contrary, but arguing over whether St. John's Wort is effective or not seems even lamer than getting hot and bothered over whether Springsteen should be taken seriously or not, so I'll pass.

[atari 2600]

Nice try at being a gentleman, but you already blew your cover with the ridiculous remarks about The Boss.

If there's any performer in rock that is truly real as a person, it's Bruce Springsteen. To equate his work with "pure cheese" is condescending no matter how you slice it, and I felt you deserved a little condescension in return.

And, this is a thread about Bruce Springsteen, so I don't know what all the denial-blathering is all about exactly.

Also, please note, again, that Bruce mentions seem to always attract flamers, trollers, whatever; choose your term. It seems as inevitable as the goofy thread about salvia that comes along every so often. Bruce must really be on to something.

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by atari 2600

Nice try at being a gentleman, but you already blew your cover with the ridiculous remarks about The Boss.

Not trying to be a "gentleman", just trying not to make a bunch of lame personal attacks on a music board. I find such stuff to be really annoying when I read it in other threads, and I don't want to follow suit. I'd rather just discuss the music, which it's nice to see we're starting to do again now.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

If there's any performer in rock that is truly real as a person, it's Bruce Springsteen. To equate his work with "pure cheese" is condescending no matter how you slice it, and I felt you deserved a little condescension in return.

I think you've hit the nail on the head as to why I think Bruce is worthy of a bit of mockery. This "truly real person" is the same guy who after "Dancing in the Dark" was a big smash on MTV, pretended at every show to pull a girl out of the audience to dance with him - the girl was always planted for this stunt. He's spent decades marketing himself as the "working man rocker" when he's been quite well to do since the mid seventies and has had his share of model girlfriends/wives and the like.

Does that mean he can't write a decent song? No it doesn't mean that; it means he is part of the big media circus as much as any rock star, and his lyrics should at least sometimes be looked on as bravado more than sincerity. That's probably why Frankie Goes to Hollywood could do a convincing version of "Born to Run" (or for that matter Bowie do "It's Hard to be a Saint in the City"). Anybody who people call "The Boss" with a straight face, I'm going to find kind of amusing. But again, being amused, is often a reasonable way to be entertained, and we are talking about an undeniable entertainer.

When it comes to "authenticity" from within the E Street Band, I'm much more impressed with Little Steven (talk about lack of fashion!) The fact he has stuck by Bruce all these years makes me think higher of Springsteen.

[atari 2600]

Those sorts of things tend to come along to some degree when you're any good at all and considered the voice of a generation, and by some, the next Dylan.

And Bruce has handled his mega-stardom incredibly well.

Again, your criticisms are nothing more than grasping at straws. You're just another feeble, jealous, lost person who revels in the occasional Legend-bashing.

You made your original petty remarks because you wanted to try to impress or otherwise curry favor for whatever disturbed reason with like-minded individuals.

You know, for the same social reasons you play all that college-age, trendy, pseudo-cool, no-talent, shit music on your show and regularly post about it here.

And you did this even though you know Bruce Springsteen is a valid musical artist; you seem too intelligent not to know this intrinsically on some level.

[Dead-Air]

Originally Posted by atari 2600

Those sorts of things tend to come along to some degree when you're any good at all and considered the voice of a generation, and by some, the next Dylan.

I don't see how faking spontaneity every night is a mark of credibility. Dylan's had his ups and downs, but he certainly never did that.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

Again, your criticisms are nothing more than grasping at straws. You're just another feeble, jealous, lost person who revels in the occasional Legend-bashing.

I don't see why you can't discuss music without resorting to unfounded personal attacks. It weakens your arguments tremendously.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

You made your original petty remarks because you wanted to try to impress or otherwise curry favor for whatever disturbed reason with like-minded individuals.

You know, for the same social reasons you play all that college-age, trendy, pseudo-cool, no-talent, shit music on your show and regularly post about it here.

I just said what I think of a musician in a thread that was asking for discussion of that. On the one hand you claim I was trying to get a negative reaction, and on the other you claim I was trying to get a positive reaction from negative people. It was neither.

I play music on my show from Sun Ra to Sonic Youth, John Cage to Ornette Coleman. I also play lesser know artists who make interesting music and sound art. Very little of what I play appeals to "college-age" or "trendy" audiences. Though I have nothing against people in their early 20s that might happen to share musical tastes, most of the artists I play are considerably older than that. I do post about it here, because Sonic Youth being one of my all time favorite bands (o.k. not just one, the one) it only makes sense that I'd try to connect with their audience. As several people have listened, yes, that does appear to be a good decision. I have the hardest time swallowing your attacks on this point, as I'm sure I probably play tons of artists that you like and more that you would like if you listened. At least my judgement against Springsteen are based on me actually having heard a great many of his albums all the way through a significant amount of time.

Originally Posted by atari 2600

And you did this even though you know Bruce Springsteen is a valid musical artist; you seem too intelligent not to know this intrinsically on some level.

I never once said that Springsteen isn't "a valid musical artist" and you've missed that point from the beginning. I was simply stating that his lyrics on many of his classics are so over the top in their swaggering bluster to approach something humorous. I enjoy them for that reason actually, and just think he shouldn't be taken as some sort of guiding light for it.

[jetengine]

I can't watch the news any longer. I can't take news anchors, politicians, teachers, parents--everybody--referring to children as 'kids' any more. It sounds so low-cultured in formal situations. God, you could barely refer to television as 'TV' thirty years ago when I was a child! I think I'm gradually becoming a Leavisite as I get older. So forget Springsteen--bring on King Crimson and ELP!

[jon boy]

i knew i was getting older when i mentioned half penny sweets and people looked at me like i was a deviant.

on the subject of springsteen i liked dancing in the dark and philadelphia but thats about it.

[atari 2600]

Bruce Springsteen will be featured in a segment on CBS' 60 Minutes tonight.

[ThePits]

You know you are old when:

Your nappy needs changing

You break out in chronic cats

[MellySingsDoom]

I knew I was getting old the moment I had to start looking up slang and "street" words and phrases on urbandictionary.com.