This brought back so many memories from my teenage years. I can't lie, I owned Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em, but I quickly delved into better stuff. I still remember the looks my friend and I got blasting Fear of a Black Planet in the driveway while shooting hoops. Couple of white suburban kids listening to Chuck D rant about social injustice and racism. I think I was 13? Also, I kind of hoped to find Arrested Development in here somewhere, but I get that they aren't exactly representative of this write-up. "Tennessee" was a jam though. Also, don't even mess with Digital Underground.
You stated that their music was comparable to Che t-shirts and implied that it was imbued with disingenuous social and political commentaries in order to maximize sales. Hence, my use of the term sellout. Sorry if it doesn't fit your definition. At least that's what I took away from what you wrote. They quit because Zack quit. Morello has been extremely active since, musically and politically. I just grew up thinking this band sounded unlike anything else I had heard and they kicked ass as musicians. I agree w/ the William S. Burroughs fan on the music side. But hey man, you like what you like. Peace.
This is fantastic but I get the impression that this dude could churn out a song of this quality a day if he really wanted to. Looking forward to seeing him again in June. His live shows are phenomenal.
Well they aren't a nu-metal band for starters nor do they sound like one unless Zack's rapping evokes Fred Durst in your mind. I think you'd be in the minority on that though. And describing Zack's lyrics as sophomoric platitudes smacks of hyperbole. And the implication that they're really sellouts cashing in on the sociopolitical elements of their music...you do know that this band could easily continue to record and tour but they haven't, right?
You know, I wrote that without even considering it. Please allow me to revise.
1. Faithless Street (Mining Town? Hard Luck Story? I'm a Texas outlaw country boy, so...)
2. Stranger's Almanac
3. Honeybear
4. Heartbreaker
5. Fear Fun
I can't really decide between Heartbreaker and Fear Fun. Music impacts you so differently given the timing of it in your life. I've probably listened to Fear Fun more so...I also like both Taylor's and Ryan's versions of 1989. I guess I'm not discerning enough when it comes to good songs by good artists.
1. Faithless Street
2. Honeybear
3. Heartbreaker
4. Fear Fun
5. Pneumonia
6. every other Ryan Adams solo record
Full disclosure, Faithless Street just came along at the right time and place in my life. But I'm one of the few who love Whiskeytown more than Adams's solo stuff. Also, all of these albums are great....except for Ryan's Rock and Roll. WTF was that?
Seriously. "Holy Shit" alone is worth the price of admission. "Ideal Husband" and "True Affection" are the only tracks I ever skip through, and they aren't that bad.
The Ryan Adams thing didn't even occur to me while listening to this. I think he has moved on from that whole thing and any sonic or vocal similarities are coincidences in this case. I think this dude just fucks around a lot and throws shit on the internet to entertain himself more than anything.
Interesting takes on those two albums. I actually think that Honeybear is stronger in its lyrics but less so in the actual instrumentation. But to clarify, I love both albums. And I'm fairly cynical when it comes to relationships. I think there is almost as much cynicism about relationships as there is laudatory love songs on that second record, but I'm biased because I've been sold on him ever since I saw him the first time for Fear Fun.
I get that his persona rubs many the wrong way, but you can't argue with the quality of this dude's two albums under the FJM moniker and his live performances. And he is genuinely funny....most of the time. He falls into that rare category of an artist that I would not want to hang out with but consider myself a huge fan of.
I just think it's devastatingly beautiful, but yeah it's hard to pick a favorite. The sequencing on this album is amazing. This track is an amazing peaceful lull between the horn funk at the end of the opening track and Keep it Between the Lines.
TKOL was so, so different live though. Seeing them tour for it completely made me do a 180 on the way I felt about those songs. Something about the way that album was mixed just dulls all the edges on it.
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