[The Soup Nazi]

I never partake in "RIP" threads when the deceased is someone I strongly disliked (although I'll sure make an exception when Cheney and Rumsfeld die), but this particular thread is making me sick to my stomach. Compliments and tributes to Stone Temple Pilots, the act that EMBODIES one of the moments in rock music when everything went to SHIT? On THIS board?

 

Originally Posted by Severian

I never liked Ten. Stupid name, stupid cover, bad songs.

And I never thought I'd agree with you 100% (restrain yourself from posting a

 

 

 

reply, though). That egregiously unlistenable "Black" tune should be banned for all eternity on account of being a grandiloquent vomitive whine written by, targeted to and beloved by oligophrenics.

[noisereductions]

a lot of times when I browse the "what are you listening to" thread, I think a lot of people listen to some really boring music. But I don't find the need nor benefit of spreading any negativity around. Just saying.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

a lot of times when I browse the "what are you listening to" thread, I think a lot of people listen to some really boring music. But I don't find the need nor benefit of spreading any negativity around. Just saying.

Despite what my previous post may suggest, in general I agree with you, especially when it comes to lamebrained blaahhhhghhh!! comments without any insightful fundaments — their contribution is usually zero. The reason I went visceral on Stone Temple Pilots is that for me they represented everything that went wrong as commerce clashed with and absorbed art in early '90s rock music. One minute, due mostly to Nirvana's success, you believe you're finally witnessing the triumph of bands who at least appeared to stand for something, the contingent of artists from the tail end of the '70s onwards who made their own rules and whose music made you feel and think and just fuckin' EXIST the way hair metal douchebags surrounded by blondes with big racks or acts that were composed by one person singing, one dancing, and one doing fuck-all —as one writer described the Thompson Twins— never could. Blink, however, and the apparent revolution is over: fuckers who one year before did what they were told to become the next Guns N' Roses were now being groomed by the big record companies to look "grunge" and go multiplatinum. Which, lamentably, in many cases they did. I'm not exactly discovering the philosopher's stone here.

As for my spit on that Pearl Jam record, I concede it comes more from a place of utter repulsion on which I didn't expand rationally... and I'll remain guilty of leaving it at that for now.

[noisereductions]

Originally Posted by The Soup Nazi

Despite what my previous post may suggest, in general I agree with you, especially when it comes to lamebrained blaahhhhghhh!! comments without any insightful fundaments — their contribution is usually zero. The reason I went visceral on Stone Temple Pilots is that for me they represented everything that went wrong as commerce clashed with and absorbed art in early '90s rock music. One minute, due mostly to Nirvana's success, you believe you're finally witnessing the triumph of bands who at least appeared to stand for something, the contingent of artists from the tail end of the '70s onwards who made their own rules and whose music made you feel and think and just fuckin' EXIST the way hair metal douchebags surrounded by blondes with big racks or acts that were composed by one person singing, one dancing, and one doing fuck-all —as one writer described the Thompson Twins— never could. Blink, however, and the apparent revolution is over: fuckers who one year before did what they were told to become the next Guns N' Roses were now being groomed by the big record companies to look "grunge" and go multiplatinum. Which, lamentably, in many cases they did. I'm not exactly discovering the philosopher's stone here.

As for my spit on that Pearl Jam record, I concede it comes more from a place of utter repulsion on which I didn't expand rationally... and I'll remain guilty of leaving it at that for now.

see, this is a response I can respect.

I don't mind disagreements of opinion. But I get annoyed with "someone likes something I don't, I better shit on quick with a single sentence!" as it just comes off as 'negative for the sake of negative' to me. And to be honest, the world has enough negativity in my opinion.

I mean at least you're saying something more insightful than " ugh they sucked" /post.

At any rate, I do sort of have that same sentiment as Sev - at the end of the day we ARE talking about people.

@Pepper: Though I actually do still enjoy Ten (and agree, the remaster does it better), I still like pretty much all Pearl Jam albums. And agree that they've found their place. It's sort of that same place that Foo Fighters occupy. I guess - begrudgingly - it's sort of Dad Rock for those of us who grew up in the 90's. But dammit, I like it. So whatever haha.

And I do sort of agree, PJ seems to just keep on keeping on pretty much ignoring everything around them. I respect their grind.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by pepper_green

couldn't listen to Ten after a certain age until that new remix they've done to it and i quite like most of the songs on it still. Vs. has crappy red hot chilli peppers plastic drum sound and silly funk songs. didn't like it then and don't really like it now though some songs grew on me. Vitalogy has "Tremor Christ" on it.

we all could easily make fun of Pearl Jam in their early years because it all comes off a little embarrassing -- this mismatched tracy chapman goes grunge with Hendrix leads band with a hippie beach bum singer -- that they were but, I respect them.

they found their place in the heartland rock world and mind their own business unlike Smashing Pumpkins who should have fucked off from the very beginning.

Well said, p-green. Well said indeed.
I have a soft spot for Pearl Jam that will probably never go away. I'm really glad they took the road less traveled and five under the radar to become a cult live band that didn't give a fuck about commercial success.

That's said, I stil think they've only had fleeting moments of non-absolute stickiness on their records since about '98. "Fixer" was one of those moments, because even though it was pretty basic rawk type stuff it still sounded downright dangerous on the radio compared to fucking "love boat captain" and whatnot.

Agree totally about the drums on Vs. Still love "Go"... But yeah, those were some terrible drum sounds. Agree about the odd mismatched, mottled patchwork quality their image and sound had, especially when they tried to throw a punk backbone into the mix. That's why they work well as a boring jam-type band, because boring jam type bands are all over the place as well, and somehow it works for them.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by pepper_green

[...] unlike Smashing Pumpkins who should have fucked off from the very beginning.

Damn straight — no wonder Corgan wrote an "eulogy" for Weiland, calling him (I swear I'm not making this shit up) "a great voice of his generation".

 

[noisereductions]

That pj album was good.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by pepper_green

checked out "Fixer". really good song. and this wasn't a hit in 2009 on modern rock radio(does this exist)?

had to do some Pearl Jam catching up. they seem to be doing fine and skimmed over some of those interviews Carrie Brownstein and Judd Apatow did with the band.

It was kind of a hit. It was their first song with an accompanying video since "Do the Evolution", I think. I remember hearing it on the radio and even on vh1 (which, for a time, I actually watched fairly regularly in the early AM before work.)

I remember thinking it was a pretty rockin song for them.

But I didn't like the rest of that album at all. Not one bit. And I never even bothered listening to Lightning Bolt after hearing the singles on Spotify.

[noisereductions]

I reallt liked that song "just breathe." So pretty.

[Severian]

I really like the song "Breath", from the Singles soundtrack.

For years I didn't like it at all. I felt like it was a meandering mid-tempo noodle fest compared to the super early-90's on overdrive thump of "State of Love and Trust", but somewhere around '98 or '99 I finally started to appreciate it. I think what did it was the climactic bridge section:

Come (here it comes) there it goes (when it comes)
Where it goes (where it comes)/
can't see through the faith
Oh, come (here it goes) there it goes/
grasp what you can
Don't you know there's something inside your hand...
If I knew where it was, I would take you there/
There's much more than this

That section, indecipherable though it may be, always stood out. After enough listens and enough years, the rest of the song just felt like an extended lead in to and fade out from that point. The lyrics are ...uh... well, yeah... But the intensity of the music in that section really encapsulates the energy Pearl Jam had, on stage especially, in the early '90s.

In truth, it was really their live show that always set them apart. Now it's all they have. But back then, it was something to behold. I saw them for the first time in '93 I believe, and man what a presence they had!

I think that's one thing that "grunge" did do well. It gave kids with more punky sensibilities something to enjoy in the arena rock world. I'd say Soundgarden accomplished this too. Nirvana was basically just a basement band playing stadiums, and even the Foo Fighters threw on some brutal early shows, as did Hole.

The influence that punk had on that generation's big rock bands actually helped me get more into punk. Bands like Smashing Pumpkins and STP just didn't have that quality about them, which is probably why Stephen Malkmus was able to sum up their lameness so perfectly on "range life."

Anyway, I digress. As usual. Sorry Soup Nazi.

[Severian]

(That punk business doesn't excuse the fact that, to this day, I will jam "Hunger Strike" any time, any place. So the theory is flawed. But then again, I hail from the Pacific Northwest originally, and I must admit there's a collective nostalgia among folks my age who grew up in that area. It may have been a big commercial goldrush, but I'll always have fond memories of that era, when my back yard was the coolest place in the country.)

[Severian]

Originally Posted by pepper_green

with Pearl Jam I keep thinking of the bass player with the funny hats bouncing around with his basketball shoes.

they were so mismatched.

Yeah. They were kind of like a protein shake of rock stereotypes. One of those protein shakes that has, like, blueberries and raspberries but also has fucking kale and Swiss chard and pine nuts and hemp seed and shit.

Like the opposite of the Beatles or Nirvana, both of whom seemed like one personality split into 3-4 parts.

They were ridiculous looking, to be sure.

[The Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by pepper_green

with Pearl Jam I keep thinking of the bass player with the funny hats bouncing around with his basketball shoes.

That one's the douchebaggiest-looking of all the bandmembers, and he's got stiff competition.

[Severian]

^ mmmmhmm.

Vedder always looked pretty cool though. Gotta say. He had a great stage presence in the early days. Now he looks a bit bored and sedentary, but I'm pretty sure he was the reason for their success. Good frontmen are so valuable, and he was a good front man, even when their music was ½ Jane's Addiction and ½ ... I don't know... mother loves n' roses.

Anyway... Are we done taking about Scott Weiland?

[Rob Instigator]

Where does one get pure MDA these days? That shit is locked down harder than Fort Knox!

Since the record companies want to make a mint of the recently dead, they keep referring to his death as an "accidental" overdose. The only time an overdose is NOT accidental is when it is a suicide attempt. All they gotta say is overdose.

homeslice was chuggin' liquor, dosed on MDA, and snorting cocaine like it was goin out of style. heavy drug and alcohol use are slow suicide, right? Maybe then it was not so accidental.

"Accidental" makes it seem like he meant to drink some kool-aid and instead snorted coke and ate some MDA.....

At the record company meeting
On their hands - a dead star
And oh, the plans they weave
And oh, the sickening greed

At the record company party
On their hands - a dead star
The sycophantic slags all say :
"I knew him first, and I knew him well"

Re-issue! Re-package! Re-package!
Re-evaluate the songs
Double-pack with a photograph
Extra track (and a tacky badge)

A-list, playlist
"Please them , please them !"
"Please them !"
(sadly, this was your life)

But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have said no
If you'd wanted to

BPI, MTV, BBC
"Please them ! Please then!"
(sadly this was your life)

But you could have said no
If you'd wanted to
You could have walked away
...Couldn't you?

I touched you at the soundcheck
You had no real way of knowing
In my heart I begged "Take me with you ...
I don't care where you're going..."

But to you I was faceless
I was fawning, I was boring
Just a child from those ugly new houses
Who could never begin to know

Who could never really know
Oh...

Best of! Most of!
Satiate the need
Slip them into different sleeves!
Buy both, and feel deceived

Climber - new entry, re-entry
World tour! ("media whore")
"Please the Press in Belgium!"
(This was your life...)

And when it fails to recoup ?
Well, maybe :
You just haven't earned it yet, baby

I walked a pace behind you at the soundcheck
You're just the same as I am
What makes most people feel happy
Leads us headlong into harm

So, in my bedroom in those 'ugly new houses'
I danced my legs down to the knees
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again...

At the record company meeting
On their hands - at last! - A dead star !
But they can never taint you in my eyes
No, they can never touch you now

No, they cannot hurt you, my darling
They cannot touch you now
But me and my 'true love'
Will never meet again

[Rob Instigator]

STP re-issues just in time for xmas

[The Soup Nazi]

You did NOT just quote "Paint A Vulgar Picture" in relation to a dismal hack whose contribution to art was less than zero.

[Rob Instigator]

it is applicable to all!!!!! ha!!! someone, somewhere, feels that way about weyland