21 Comments
author

If you don’t quit it I’m just going to go on hating Moby Dick despite the best evidence of my aged and refined tastes upon revisit, see if I don’t!

Expand full comment
author

I still love you even when you're wrong and stubborn.

Expand full comment

I always applaud eclecticity. (eclecticality?) Anyway: Boldly Done.

Your comment about The Beatles reminded me of this: one time I heard a stand-up on a radio 'morning zoo' type-show radio pipe up with an incredibly subtle joke during a discussion of classical music. Out of nowhere, he interjected, "Man, that Mozart. I think he's underrated."

Expand full comment
author

LOL that's a Norm-tier joke. Love it.

and thank you. I do aim for a sort of reasoned chaos in my eclecticalitality (I assume this is the proper form)

Expand full comment

It took me a long time to appreciate rap/hip-hop, and I had to come at it from some unusual directions. One of those was "Q-Unit," which is an album of mashups of 50 Cent and Queen songs. "In Da Club" is mashed up with "We Will Rock You" to close out the "album." It's weirdly effective.

Expand full comment
author

This legit sounds awesome hah. I’m gonna look up the record. Just the concept makes me smile. Good mashups can be a real treat.

Also I imagined “it’s weirdly effective” as text in like Pokémon red hahaha iykyk

Expand full comment

I mean, I wasn't *not* making the Pokémon reference, so fair enough.

Expand full comment
author

Niiice. I did a podcast thing the other day and said something was “super effective” twice and had to stifle a laugh cuz it was totally not intentional but I can’t hear it any other way

Expand full comment

Ricky Martin? Not gourmet for sure, but if we’re just gonna talk about turkey sandwiches, let’s go to the Stones. Put any one of their party songs on and everybody’s up dancing in 30 seconds. And jeez, I forgot what an amazing child talent MJ was!

Expand full comment
author

oooo there's definitely some Stones songs that I can put in for coming weeks. I won't name them here but one of their tunes at least I think is totally genius.

Also upon reflection I think the lyrics to "Livin' La Vida Loca" are actually really good. I said nothing special above but the line "She'll make you live a crazy life but she'll take away your pain/Like a bullet to your brain" is pretty stellar.

And yeah Jackson 5 and Michael himself were incredible. "Who's loving you" is an all time vocal performance.

Expand full comment

Actually, wasn't "Yesterday" written by that grocery store clerk from Suffolk? I think his name was Jack Malik? I remember watching a documentary about how he had nearly given up on his music career but then he got hit by a bus and all these great songs just came to him.

Expand full comment
author

I had to google to get this joke, haha. I thought that movie sounded silly when it came out but maybe I should see it? You recommend it?

Expand full comment

I love it, but lots of people I respect don't like it at all.

Expand full comment
author

Sounds like you should disavow those people and discontinue your association with them

bur fr I'll add it to my watchlist. It's a clever concept but my first thought was "the Beatles' fame was culturally and era-dependent contextual. If you brought those songs out now with no context they would not be hits". So I guess I "akchusally-ed" the conceit of the movie without bothering to watch it haha

Expand full comment

It's just a really cute movie, and it has some great character interactions. It's fun to watch.

But your point about the Beatles is something I've thought about as well. Are they popular because they were good, or are they good because they are popular? I was listening to some modern-day surf music (Beach Fossils' Somersault) and I thought, if the Beach Boys came out with this exact recording right after Pet Sounds instead of spending all that time perfecting Smile, would it have been considered a true classic in the genre, etc.?

Expand full comment

I dunno man: I would have to say "That's the Spirit" is the best BMtH album. "amo" and "POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR" also slap, even if they both rely a bit too heavily on the electro-pop elements.

Also, Mastodon is one of the most overrated metal bands, right up there with Killswitch Engage, System of a Down, and Lamb of God.

Expand full comment
author

Sir, these takes are wrong tho

haha. but more seriously Sempiternal is where they lost me. I mean after that. I'll revisit That's the Spirit based on what you're saying here. Happy to try again but I was massively disappointment when I bought it. "There is a hell.... etc etc" is a very solid record too but less of a complete vision than Sempiternal.

And with all those band I have to divide them into periods almost. Or exclude certain records from that overrated tag. Broadly speaking I agree they are all very overrated. But. Alive or Just Breathing is a masterpiece. Leviathan is too. I won't defend System outside of like Aerials is decent. And I have a soft spot for LoG because they got me into metal but I also think As the Palaces Burn and Ashes of the Wake are excellent records. Especially Palaces. It's also a blast to play those albums as a guitarist. Mark Morton wrote some absolutely stellar riffs. LoG do get worse with basically every album after that tho.

So all in all I agree with a lot of what you're saying but I have nobly restrained myself from taking the bait and coming out swinging haha

Expand full comment

Well, "That's the Spirit" is the album that got me into BMtH, so I admittedly have a soft spot for it. "Wonderful Life" off of "amo" has insane groove and a catchy, muscular riff.

I liked Lamb of God the first time I heard them, but the more I listened, the more I realized they were just sorta Pantera wannabes.

Expand full comment
author

I'm gonna be honest rn, I totally had "amo" confused with That's the Spirit. TtS is a very good album. I did like it when I bought it. I retract my comment. Still don't like the ones after it but TtS is awesome. Been listening to it since your comment. My b tbh haha. ffs "Drown" was my ringtone for two years hahaha. I just had a weird brain error today.

My friend and I joke that Pantera is a LoG cover band because he had the same criticism. I'll always love Ashes and Palaces but your critique is totally fair.

Expand full comment

"Happy Song" was my ringtone for about a year or so, lol.

Expand full comment
author

we are brothers, then

hilarious coincidence tho

Expand full comment