Stone Temple Pilots are a Pearl Jam rip off -
When STP debuted in 1992 a year after Pearl Jam's Ten became a best seller, the reaction was that they were cashing in on their success by sounding exactly like them. When people told me that I was like "What is everyone smoking?" Stone Temple Pilots didn't sound like Pearl Jam at all. Their instrumentation was completely different for one thing. There music was written with more of a grungy alternative sense to it, influenced off of heavy metal, indie music, and maybe even a bit of glam rock. I never really thought Scott Weiland was a rip off of Eddie Vedder either. He always sounded a bit more like 80's era David Bowie. But, perhaps the most obvious fact, Stone Temple Pilots were first. They formed in 1986, 5 years before Pearl Jam. They just hadn't debuted sooner.
Born in the USA is a patriotic anthem -
I am sick of hearing rednecks constantly playing this song in their American cars wearing American flag shirts and talking about how great America is. This song is not a "GO USA!" song at all. The great misconception of music, the song is actually just the opposite. It's about a soldier returning from Vietnam, only to discover that the nation he fought for is still just as unforgiving and hard to live through as ever. It's about the people who had it tough in America, in the same way that Tom Petty's "American Girl" is actually about a girl killing herself under the pressures of American society. Want proof? Look no further than the video for "Born in the USA." It features a waving American Flag fading into a depressing, poor neighborhood.
Noel and Liam Gallagher are huge assholes -
This is half true. The Gallagher Brothers of Oasis would often speak highly of themselves in interviews and would diss other bands. In their most famous moment, Noel announced that he hoped members of rival band Blur would "Catch AIDS and die." They were not friendly, but to that degree was a bit pushed. After bands popularity started to grow after fighting between the brothers, they realized that in order to get publicity, they needed to act like huge assholes. They would take the mean feelings they had way out of proportion and it helped boost (What's the Story) Morning Glory? to become the third best selling album in UK history. They were assholes, but not to that degree.
Metallica are commercial sellouts -
This has always been a mystery to me. Why is it that so many people believed Metallica sold out? I always liked their stuff from the start and you can easily see a change over time. The first two records were pure thrash and speed. The next two were flirting with progressive metal. Then they released the Black Album, and their fans turned there backs on them. Why? I could understand selling out if they did like hair metal or something, but they were still hardcore, just not ridiculous hardcore metal. I can relate to that. If you listen to ...And Justice for All, you notice that they are beginning to sound a bit stiff in some areas, hell you can't even hear the bass guitar. Plus, their next album Load was a further experiment, with elements of blues. Metallica have certainly been greedy (look at Napster), but sellouts? No way.
Linkin Park are lousy rapcore posers -
Why is it that people seem to hate Linkin Park? What's so bad about them? I mean every band has people who hate them, but these guys seem to have this entire fan base of hatred. Let's look at everything people say is bad about them. First, their emo. Bullshit. You want emo, go listen to bands like Fall Out Boy and Paramore. Second, their music is overproduced and uses too many electronic samples. Yeah, that's completely true. But, just look at modern pop music. They're only about a thousand times more overproduced. Third, they whine. This is the only criticism that is pretty true. Linkin Park can seem a bit whiny at times. But, that doesn't kill a band. The music is what matters. And it is pretty damn well written.
David Lee Roth left Van Halen because of his giant ego -
This is still highly debated. Edward Van Halen will constantly insist that Dave "spat in his face." And Dave will always deny this. As much as I can get, here's what happened: Eddie had wanted to try using synthesizers for some time and finally got his way in "Jump." In anger, Dave directed the video, which had plenty of shots of him flirting with the camera. Eddie was already fed up with Dave's flamboyance and ego, and this pushed him over the edge. What followed was the typical "You're fired - You can't fire me I quit" situation.
Rage Against the Machine are an okay heavy metal band -
RATM can be considered a heavy metal group, but I personally feel that they belong in another category. They are an experimental rap group. I am dead serious. They qualify as it perfectly. They rap for one thing, they are ultra political in the same way Public Enemy are. The only difference is that they substitute a turntable for a scratch guitar. I mean I only recently found out that Tom Morello plays guitar, I thought he played a turntable.
The Smashing Pumpkins had perfect fusion as band -
I love the Pumpkins, but they were a band in the loosest sense of the word. Actually, they weren't a band in any sense of the word. Most fans know that singer Billy Corgan was the mastermind behind them, but he was to a ridiculous degree. He would write every part of every song, direct all the music videos, produce all the records (or co-produce in cases), tell all the other band members exactly what to where and how to act onstage, and he would even record the guitar and bass parts on every record to get them exactly how he wanted it. I mean just look at the band picture: You've got this skinny, tall guy in front, female bassist on his right, a Japanese guy on his left, and a metalhead looking drummer in the back. They don't look like a band as much as they do a variety snapshot.
In general, I am intrigued by this blog. As a DC resident who grew up in the 80's, however, I am a little saddened that you would classify Fall Out Boy and Paramore as emo.
ReplyDeleteEmbrace and Ries Of Spring were emo. Beefeater and Gray Matter were emo. Paramore and Fall Out Boy are just pop-punk bands that like to share.
Even in the more contemporary sense of the word, I'd argue that none of the platinum bands tagged "emo" share all that much in common with, say, Jawbreaker.
Seriously, listen to Rites Of Spring and tell me how much they have in common with My Chemical Romance and Panic At The Disco. Perhaps, you should clear up this misunderstanding.