Bands/Artists whose imitators are better than they are

On 2nd thoughts, I suppose Can and Neu! did.

(blah canon blah boring rockist blah shutup)

*unless you're a couple of hand puppets, in which case I applaud you.

The Bee Gees of course!

Anyway, I was thinking more Doors/Jim imitators=Iggy, Patti Smith, Nick Cave, Echo & the Bunnymen.

Good pop songs can have good lyrics if they want - a good backbeat is better sometimes. The Strokes' lyrics are far from awful and I adore the "catchy simple hooks". I think they imitate other bands as much/more as the VU, I just mentioned them cos they were the first lot that came to mind.

Oh Vey...

How Bizarre, how bizarre.

hahaha the hell they did

i still don't mind the strokes, but is there any truth to that rumor going around that their new alb is being produced by nigel godrich? haha, the mind boggles at how inconceivably bad that's gonna turn out!

And Pere Ubu were way better Captain Beefheart.

And Public Enemy (and lots of other rap acts, politically minded and otherwise) are better than the Last Poets or Gil Scott-Heron.

xps re aerosmith: listen to rocks.

you know why they named it rocks?

admittedly i've only heard a handful of Royal Trux songs but it has never occurred to me that they might be ripping off Aerosmith.

Wooden Shjips > Les Rallizes Denudes

― How dare you tarnish the reputation of Turturro's yodel (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 17 April 2014 21:17 (4 days ago) Permalink

What Wooden Shjips releases sound like Rallizes? I never woulda thought to associate them. Shjips seem a bit more kraut and Rallizes are more Sister Ray kinda thing, at least what I've heard

someone saying Wooden Shjips are better than Les Rallizes Denudes is literally the craziest most morally reprehensible thing I've ever heard

VDGG were 70s music that I find to be an order of maybe 10^3 x heavier than Sabbath

― imago, Thursday, April 17, 2014 4:19 PM (4 days ago)

wait, what? are you operating on some special snowflake definition of "heavy"?

someone saying Wooden Shjips are better than Les Rallizes Denudes is literally the craziest most morally reprehensible thing I've ever heard

― smhphony orchestra (crüt), Monday, 21 April 2014 19:10 (26 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

srsly

xp yeah most people's definition of "heavy" doesn't include guy who plays acoustic guitar and no other guitar ever. i mean vdgg are heavy in their own way but if i tried to pass "killer" off to my metalhead brother as "heavy" i'd be laughed out of the room.

this thread can't help but make me think of the old saying "nanos gigantum humeris insidentes", which actually describes oasis fairly well now that i think of it

hammill most certainly has played electric guitar

skip to 6:27 of this and tell me VDGG aren't heavy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-6QXVFcczw

thought of a pre-70s example: 21st Century Schizoid Man ffs. I mean, I've recently heard and liked the Sabbath Bloody Sabbath album after various individuals grew piqued at my claims, but that shit's soft-rock compared to the Crimson at their fieriest

and m8 it's "nanos gigantum humero insidentes" if we're talking about oasis

VDGG were 70s music that I find to be an order of maybe 10^3 x heavier than Sabbath

― imago, Thursday, April 17, 2014 4:19 PM (4 days ago)

wait, what? are you operating on some special snowflake definition of "heavy"?

<3 VdGG and imago but lol

This whole thread, and no mention of Sunn O))) / Earth ?

again, if someone wants to talk about the sabbath/crimson nexus you really have to talk about iron claw- took their name from "schizoid man", aped sabbath, got themselves some ian macdonald-style sax and mellotron. their later recordings particularly, like "all i really need", right there.

hammill does play electric guitar, you're right. i'd kind of rather he didn't, like when he did that 16 minute reggae tune in 1976. vdgg "heavy"? sure, but generally in the same way as the first couple st. vincent records.

Why do I get this all the time, with so many bands?

Like, with Led Zep. I can name several bands who've taken their tricks and (imo) improved on them by miles, in terms of songwriting and sonics. It isn't ignorance (because I've tried with Led Zeppelin, repeatedly), so what is it? Cloth ears?

danava "one mind gone separate ways" = "achilles last stand"

― reggie (qualmsley), Sunday, March 27, 2011 3:06 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

you see, I absolutely love this Danava song but can't get into the Zeppelin. why? I don't want zings, I want to know if I've spoilt myself rotten with contemporary sonic standards and require electronic sturm und drang or tricksy songwriting in my classic rock to enjoy it at all

I mean, I've been really getting into Hawkwind's album Quark, Strangeness And Charm - it doesn't sound 'dated' at all, but this might be because it comes from slightly later on - maybe punk truly changed everything - maybe the psych-rockers started listening to prog properly - maybe everyone bought synths - help me out here

Captain Beyond's s/t from '72 nails it as well, so I'm not sure it's a modernity issue. I think it's about the extent to which genuinely progressive elements were incorporated?

or I may have ADHD

I also like Hawkwind's 'Warrior On The Edge Of Time', mostly coz of the mellotron

You can't even get into The Immigrant Song, really?

to add to that danava song, as above, lansing-dreiden 'disenchanted' >>>>>>>> everything new order ever did ever

I think ALS was a production triumph. How does Danava improve on it sonically? By adding that synth line?

There are countless ways One Mind Gone Separate Ways improves (for me) on Achilles Last Stand, to the extent it really is not the same song at all. It isn't just superficial stuff like an extra synth line - it adds several extra chords to the sequence, making it much less repetitive and imo more dramatic. There are more fun rhythmic switches, a better and more memorable bass line, different textures adding to the sense of a lush, orchestrated trip, and above all a clearer sense of development throughout the song, featuring a sick bridge section featuring both mellotron and horns falling headlong into a cataclysmic final build slathered in all sorts of astonishing synth bullshit, it's so amazing lol, I'm listening to it again right now in honour of them finally releasing a new album and it's just as incredible as it always was, but above all, it is extremely psychedelic in a way the original song just wasn't. I'd hardly call it an imitation, more that they had an idea based on ALS but took it in some insane psych-prog direction

I mean, you decide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdVrV1XQxXI

Sorry for taking nearly 8 years to reply