Ok so basically because they're from NYC and are friends with someone at Stereogum they get a track premiere and review? Would you do this for an up and coming Texas band? There's good music happening out there everywhere, not just from your NYC buddies (who aren't good).
I agree with his criticisms, but it's kind of foolish for him to publicly make these statements. It's makes him come across and petty and childish. Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam also have some of the most macho lunkheaded fan bases full of bro's who are going apeshit cause Corgan dared to criticize their favorite bands.
My view is this, both bands started off strong for the first three albums and then lost it.
Foo Fighters:
S/T album - his best work, great album start to finish (as well as all the b-sides and live bootlegs from that era).
Colour and Shape - good, but overproduced.
Nothing Left to Lose, their last good album, pretty solid album from start to finish.
One By One - this is where they started to sound like Nickelback for the next 14 years.
Pearl Jam:
Ten - some classic singles, but can still hear remnants of hair metal.
VS - more aggressive sound, some classic tracks, good album
Vitalogy - by far their best album
No Code - good album but their downward trajectory started here...
Sixteen Stone is a good slice of post-grunge. Razorblade Suitcase was even better, great Albini production, and some really good moody slower songs on the second half of the album. 'The Science of Things' had some excellent tracks too, kind of underrated.
NOTHING - Guilty of Everything (big oversight that this isn't included on stereogum's list)
Whirr - Sway
Sun Kil Moon - Benji
War On Drugs - Lost in the Dream
Smashing Pumpkins - Monuments to an Elegy
Ty Segall - Manipulator
Yes, of course others great records were released in the 2000's. But the reviewer said that there are hundreds of albums released every year that are better than Machina, Zeitgeist, and Oceania. Libertines and Strokes were incredibly OVERRATED, just like those bores the Artic Monkeys. Even SP's weakest output is better than any of those bands best material. Strokes were a bunch of rich boarding school brats who didn't have to work for anything.
Thumbs down all you like. But his statement is still ridiculous. You're lucky if there are 10 decent albums released in a year. Let alone hundreds. I can think of few current "rock" bands releasing good albums. Yeah, Royal Blood. who else? Back up your ridiculous claim with a list.
Seriously, this reviewer makes some pretty ridiculous and bold proclamations. Corgan was one of the best lyricists in rock in his heyday. MCIS has some great lyrics overall, some very poetic stuff.
"There are hundreds of albums released every year that are better than the MACHINA records, Zeitgeist, and Oceania."
Uh...no. It's hard to take this review seriously when you say stuff like that.
Sorry Courtney, but Heart Shaped Box is about Cobain's dissatisfaction with your relationship and how you trapped him by getting pregnant ("throw down your umbilical noose so I can climb right back".
Finally someone who agrees with me. Goldsmith was a much better drummer than Hawkins. That first FF line up was by far the best one. Goldsmith was a heavy hitter and could keep up with Dave (despite Grohl thinking otherwise). The FF's really went downhill when Taylor Hawkins joined. Just listen to them play the material from the first two albums. Hawkins drumming is way too classic rock sounding. FF's on SNL in 1995, all the proof you need:
http://vimeo.com/45287454
Exactly. First three FF albums are great. After that there's too much Taylor Hawkins influence. Think about it, the FF started to get pretty lame not long after Taylor Hawkins joined.
Uh no. It sounds like exactly what it is...sloppy, boring, generic indie rock. This stuff was dime a dozen on Matador records in the mid 90's.
-20 thumbs
Just an fyi. The audio from the DVD version sounds much better than the CD. Fatter and fuller sounding. You can find a rip of the DVD audio on torrent.
This sounds like AOR dad-rock which is pretty much the trip that Foo Fighters have been on since "One By One". The first three albums are the best. "Wasting Light" had it's moments but the record sounded compressed to all hell.
Who are you to decide what the way for them to honor their bandmate and friend of over 40 years is? You need to learn your place and keep your big mouth shut.
Traveling through space at 293.37246 million billion miles per hour, traveling past star systems and glowing golden suns, comes Radiohead's latest offering. Discovering a new Radiohead release is like staring into the eyes of Jesus Christ and feeling the eternal stream of love and awe that flows from Him. I might be so bold as to claim that Radiohead is the Jesus Christ of music; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost combined into one small package featuring the limitless talent of Thom Yorke.
So how do I review such an inherently perfect, flawless recording? It would be unfair of me to simply state, "this CD is perfection in the literal sense of the word," as that would not give such a masterpiece the sufficient praise it deserves. Putting this disc into your stereo and listening to it is like having the saints pee liquid gold into your ears. A beautiful, flowing, melodic wall of sound embraces you like the mother you never had because she was a filthy whore.
Track 1, "Ale A Gator," opens up with a lush field of melodic vibraphones and marimbas trumpeting the arrival of Thom York's genius. A glassy string section envelopes the sound field and reminds me of the time I was doing heroin in the middle of Canterbury Park. Finally Yorke's angelic voice sweeps in, crooning the following incomprehensibly intelligent lyrics:
Ale A Gator, the world is your at your feet
With a gaping mouth and jagged teeth
Your eyes remind me of capitalism (the telephone is ringing)
And your love is love like loving eyes, I will be there for you
Ale A Gator
Ale A Gator
Dragging through your personal hell
Ale A Gator
Ale A Gator
Encrusted jewels and a kissing kill across your gentle forehead
Time for sleep
Time for sleep
Time for sleep
Time for sleep
Gentle Ale A Gator
Such raw, unrelenting beauty caressed my soul like fingertips running across my spine. The power, the genius, the immeasurable talent which escapes from this porous CD can easily overwhelm you without proper preparation. Teams of NASA scientists could spend hundreds of years attempting to discover the meaning behind Thom's words, but nobody is intelligent enough to properly do so except Thom himself and his alter-ego, Jesus Christ. Perhaps some day they will both do a duet together and we can finally see who's truly the Son of God.
As for tracks 2-9, I was unable to listen to them as I was so blown away by Radiohead's sheer power that I beat my CD player into pieces with a rake so it would never be defiled by another, inferior compact disc. I shall review the rest of the album once my dad flies back from the Hamptons and buys me a new SUV to play it in.
Quit your sanctimonious whining. Good lord. The internet is always on some crusade of righteous indignation. Who gives a crap what Mark Kozelek called anyone. He makes great music, I don't care if he's an asshole. I prefer my rock stars to be assholes in fact. Nice guys make boring music.
Just had to have that "RADIOHEAD" reference in the end there, didn't you? Like they were the first person ever to just drop an album on our doorsteps with little to no warning.
Way back in 2000 (yes, a whole 14 years ago!) this band called Smashing Pumpkins, maybe you've heard of them, release their MACHINA II album for FREE on the internet. No pay what you want. Just free.
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