Taking Sides: Gin Blossoms vs. Toad The Wet Sprocket

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Goo Goo Dolls > Soul Asylum > Gin Blossoms > Toad The Wet Sprocket

Soul Asylum don't belong in there. True, they started to suck in the same way those other bands did, but once upon a time, they were a Twin-Tone band who actually rocked (something those other bands -- Goo Goo Dolls included -- could never do).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 26 May 2005 17:03 (7 years ago) Permalink

actually the Goo Goo Dolls were once a Metal Blade act that rocked

― miccio (miccio), Thursday, 26 May 2005 17:08 (7 years ago) Permalink

xpost: Alex, what you're saying about Soul Asylum could very well apply to the Goo Goo Dolls as well. Not sure if you're familiar with their Metal Blade records or not.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 26 May 2005 17:08 (7 years ago) Permalink

Bob Mould produced an early Soul Asylum album!

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 26 May 2005 17:10 (7 years ago) Permalink

Goo Goo Dolls > Soul Asylum > Gin Blossoms > Toad The Wet Sprocket
If you factor in Soul Asylum before they became famous, it would be...
Soul Asylum >>>~x1000~>>> Gin Blossoms > Goo Goo Dolls >>>> Toad The Wet Sprocket.
Never cared for the Goo Goo Dolls. Not sure why.

― Lord Custos Omicron (Lord Custos Omicron), Thursday, 26 May 2005 17:34 (7 years ago) Permalink

Gin Blossoms. They may not be the hippest band around, but the debut had a ton of great songs and has aged really well.

― kornrulez6969 (TCBeing), Thursday, 26 May 2005 18:53 (7 years ago) Permalink

Friends of mine went to see a bill described as "Gin Blossoms, Chevelle and Guster."

They had dinner, arrived in the middle of Chevelle's set, figured that the Gin Blossoms would go on last.

Gin Blossoms had actually gone on first. Like at 5:00 PM.

That is what they've been reduced to: opening for Guster.

― The Mad Puffin, Thursday, 26 May 2005 18:56 (7 years ago) Permalink

Goo Goo Dolls > Soul Asylum > Gin Blossoms > Toad The Wet Sprocket

I love you, gygax.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 26 May 2005 19:00 (7 years ago) Permalink

xpost: Alex, what you're saying about Soul Asylum could very well apply to the Goo Goo Dolls as well. Not sure if you're familiar with their Metal Blade records or not.

Yeah, I am. I had the album whereupon they covered both "A Million Miles Away" by the Plimsouls (an amazing song they managed to make shitty) and some Prince tune.

They sucked then. They suck now. They will suck for all time.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 26 May 2005 19:22 (7 years ago) Permalink

i can't believe this many people are pulling for the gin blossoms. toad all the way. must this really require clarification?

― katie, a princess (katie, a princess), Thursday, 26 May 2005 19:30 (7 years ago) Permalink

Apparently it must. Please share.

As The Mad Puffin said, Toad were rated the more serious act at the time (paceAlex in NYC - this is, again, relative), produced their share of inescapable radio hits and had the more durable career. So someone somewhere must be willing to make the case.

Sprocketheads to thread?

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:04 (7 years ago) Permalink

"Walk On The Ocean" is the only song I've heard by Toad the Wet Sprocket, but I'll take just that one song over the whole Gin Blossoms catalog.

― jotai, Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:09 (7 years ago) Permalink

In the immortal words of Roy Batty: "That's the spirit!"

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:12 (7 years ago) Permalink

Gin Blossoms!

― dan. (dan.), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:36 (7 years ago) Permalink

Gin Blossoms, by a mile

― xhuxk, Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:44 (7 years ago) Permalink

I actually have to agree with that on name reasons alone. I remember the first time I heard the phrase Toad the Wet Sprocket was when I heard the Monty Python sketch where it was used as part of a series of rock band reports. Then two or three months later their repackaged debut turned up in my local record store and I'm all, "Hey, wait..."

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:47 (7 years ago) Permalink

For what it's worth, I also like "Walk on the Ocean" more than I like any Gin Blossoms song, even "Hey Jealousy" (which is a great, great song).

But the Toad edge is rapidly lost as soon as you move away from the best song vs. best song rubric.

What it comes down to is this: the GBs have three or four songs that are almost as good as "Hey Jealousy," whereas TTWS has perhaps two or three songs that are almost as good as "Walk on the Ocean."

And the Toad songs I don't like, like "All I Want," are more annoying to me than the GB songs I don't like, which are merely background noise.

Wow. I had no idea, until this morning, that I felt this strongly about either of these bands.

― The Mad Puffin, Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:54 (7 years ago) Permalink

the Toad edge

Such a wrong phrase.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:55 (7 years ago) Permalink

y'all are forgetting Poi Dog Pondering

― The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Thursday, 26 May 2005 20:59 (7 years ago) Permalink

y'all are forgetting Poi Dog Pondering

Not an accident.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:03 (7 years ago) Permalink

virtually the entire world of music > Gin Blossoms > Goo Goo Dolls > Toad the Wet Sprocket > Soul Asylum

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:08 (7 years ago) Permalink

Good Dr. Bill to thread.

woah, sorry this took me so long.

Anyway, yeah, it's no contest. Toad the Wet Sprocket were almost unquestionably the most poorly-named band in history (and the biggest potential slam dunk for critics ready to pan 'em), and that can't help influence my opinion on them. Still, they are clearly the inferior band--they had what, one great song? I mean yeah, I'd put "Walk on the Ocean" up against most of NME's album tracks, but aside from that this comparison is fucking ridiculous--in fact I'm a little surprised at you, Raj. The Blossoms never made a single nearly as flaccid as "All I Want" or "Fall Down". The better thread would be Gins vs. Goo Goos, Gins vs. Soul Asylum, hell, even Gins vs. Westerberg solo.

virtually the entire world of music > Gin Blossoms > Goo Goo Dolls > Toad the Wet Sprocket > Soul Asylum

This is just silliness.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

"the Gins"

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:24 (7 years ago) Permalink

Toad loses. It's no contest. "Fear" had some interesting songs aside from "Walk On The Water," in a Big Star/REM derivative fashion, but nothing I'd care to revisit.

Gin Blossoms wrote some great songs. That first ep prior to New Miserable Experience was Byrdsian and rather fetching.

And the Googs! I'm surprised there's so much hostility. Hold Me Up, Superstar Carwash and A Boy Named Goo all have kiler songs, in that 2nd rate Westerberg fashion. But by that point, there 2nd rate Westerberg was better than Westerberg himself.

After "Name" everything went to hell.

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:27 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'm irrationally prejudiced against the GB's, because I had to play 'Hey Jealousy' over and over in my band-of-sorts senior year of high school

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:29 (7 years ago) Permalink

"the Gins"

THIS DOESN'T MAKE MY POINT INVALID DAMMIT

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:38 (7 years ago) Permalink

Better than Ezra, please report to thread...

― better than almost nobody, Friday, 27 May 2005 00:02 (7 years ago) Permalink

Gin Blossoms by a mile.

I'll also stump for the earlier Goo Goo Dolls records. But Soul Asylum was once a pretty great rock band...ye olde tymers in Mpls tell me they were quite teh sight to behold live back in the day.

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Friday, 27 May 2005 00:12 (7 years ago) Permalink

Having just skimmed the thread, I think I'll only be the second person to rank Toad far higher than the Gin Blossoms. I can't get the vision of that prancey Gin Blossoms singer in his turtleneck and Ray-Bans out of my head whenever I think about them.

Toad's songwriting strengths were always far more evident in their album tracks than in their singles, although "Come Down" from the Coil album is still one of my favorite singles of '90s alt-rock radio.

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Friday, 27 May 2005 00:25 (7 years ago) Permalink

Add me to the Gin Blossoms side. Back in the summer of '94, I remember observing that I was getting sick of their songs from radio overplay, but that "New Miserable Experience" would probably pretty enjoyable when revisited in about five years. That's exactly how it turned out -- NME has held up pretty well. "Lost Horizons" and "Alison Road" are probably my favorites. (To be fair, it's been a while since I've heard any of TTWS' material.)

― John Fredland (jfredland), Friday, 27 May 2005 00:31 (7 years ago) Permalink

"If that floats your boat, then bon voyage, Captain Bland!"

---hahahahahahahaha!

― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Friday, 27 May 2005 06:04 (7 years ago) Permalink

Did anybody else but me buy the Mutual Admiration Society record?

― The Mad Puffin, Friday, 27 May 2005 12:08 (7 years ago) Permalink

dude, "fear was so solid. it had great songs but equalled an evenly paced album as a whole, with "before you were born," "is it for me" and "all i want" (which, i think, was a gorgeous pop song). dulcinea had songs like "fly from heaven" and some nice art. coil sucked, but still had more depth than G.B. congrats... i'm sorry poo-box.

STEP, YO.
(went to the ttws reunion tour)
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v

― katie, a princess (katie, a princess), Friday, 27 May 2005 13:46 (7 years ago) Permalink

Yeah, that Mutual Admiration Society record is really, really good

― jedidiah (jedidiah), Friday, 27 May 2005 16:42 (7 years ago) Permalink

although the new Glen Phillips album isn't anything to get excited about

― jedidiah (jedidiah), Friday, 27 May 2005 16:44 (7 years ago) Permalink

damn it, I was hoping this was a dave q thread

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 27 May 2005 16:45 (7 years ago) Permalink

Hahah, what a beautiful dream.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 May 2005 17:27 (7 years ago) Permalink

Toad wins for me -- they don't remind me of the Rembrandts as much as Gin Blossoms do.

TS: Toad the Wet Sprocket vs. Toadies

― Ian Riese-Moraine's Plateau Rouge! (Eastern Mantra), Friday, 27 May 2005 18:14 (7 years ago) Permalink

oh, btw, I'll take Gin Blossoms if forced to choose. I still like "Found Out About You" just fine.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 27 May 2005 18:15 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'm irrationally prejudiced against the GB's, because I had to play 'Hey Jealousy' over and over in my band-of-sorts senior year of high school

you mean MARCHING BAND? 'cause that'd be AWESOME

― Morley Timmons (Donna Brown), Saturday, 28 May 2005 14:18 (7 years ago) Permalink

1 month passes...

I like random threads. Toad for me. I once wrote the lyrics to "Windmills" in a journal I was keeping for a summer class in college. I passed them off as my own and the teacher (who was pretty decent looking and probably 30 to my 19) loved it. We slept together the entire summer. She liked to fuck to Joy Division

― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Monday, 11 July 2005 11:44 (7 years ago) Permalink

I'm going to be contrary and argue for Toad the Wet Sprocket, in spite of the incredibly dorky name, just because I like "Walk on the Ocean," "Fall Down," and "I Will Not Take These Things For Granted" more than "Hey Jealousy" and "Allison Road." I recognize this has more to do with my personal prefrerences -- I dig the mope -- than with actual musical merit.

― Lyra Jane (Lyra Jane), Monday, 11 July 2005 11:51 (7 years ago) Permalink

Goo Goo Dolls Worst of Bunch

― Aaron A., Monday, 11 July 2005 12:39 (7 years ago) Permalink

3 years pass...

Bump for 90s night...

― Passenger 57 (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 10 December 2008 05:13 (4 years ago) Permalink

found out about you is a tune

GBs for sure

― thereminimum chips (electricsound), Wednesday, 10 December 2008 05:26 (4 years ago) Permalink

Gin Blossoms resurfaces memories in my head of the type of music you'd hear in the mid-90s for a "Party of Five" promo (or any generic Fox drama that appealed to teens). Waiting for the Simpsons' to come on and seeing promos for Fox shows accounts for a sadly significant part of what I remember about mid-90s music and television.

― Cunga, Wednesday, 17 December 2008 08:08 (4 years ago) Permalink

yup Found Out About You is one of the prettiest Byrds rips ever.

― insufferably annoying (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 17 December 2008 18:32 (4 years ago) Permalink

Goo Goo Dolls > Soul Asylum > Gin Blossoms > Toad The Wet Sprocket

you've gotta be kidding me

― billstevejim, Wednesday, 17 December 2008 18:39 (4 years ago) Permalink

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