― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:08 (nineteen years ago) link
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 (nineteen years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:24 (nineteen years ago) link
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 (nineteen years ago) link
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:29 (nineteen years ago) link
THIS DOESN'T MAKE MY POINT INVALID DAMMIT
― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Thursday, 26 May 2005 21:38 (nineteen years ago) link
― better than almost nobody, Friday, 27 May 2005 00:02 (nineteen years ago) link
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 (nineteen years ago) link
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 (nineteen years ago) link
― John Fredland (jfredland), Friday, 27 May 2005 00:31 (nineteen years ago) link
---hahahahahahahaha!
― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Friday, 27 May 2005 06:04 (nineteen years ago) link
― The Mad Puffin, Friday, 27 May 2005 12:08 (nineteen years ago) link
STEP, YO.(went to the ttws reunion tour)|||v
― katie, a princess (katie, a princess), Friday, 27 May 2005 13:46 (nineteen years ago) link
― jedidiah (jedidiah), Friday, 27 May 2005 16:42 (nineteen years ago) link
― jedidiah (jedidiah), Friday, 27 May 2005 16:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 27 May 2005 16:45 (nineteen years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 27 May 2005 17:27 (nineteen years ago) link
TS: Toad the Wet Sprocket vs. Toadies
― Ian Riese-Moraine's Plateau Rouge! (Eastern Mantra), Friday, 27 May 2005 18:14 (nineteen years ago) link
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 27 May 2005 18:15 (nineteen years ago) link
you mean MARCHING BAND? 'cause that'd be AWESOME
― Morley Timmons (Donna Brown), Saturday, 28 May 2005 14:18 (nineteen years ago) link
― Lupton Pitman (Chris V), Monday, 11 July 2005 11:44 (nineteen years ago) link
― Lyra Jane (Lyra Jane), Monday, 11 July 2005 11:51 (nineteen years ago) link
― Aaron A., Monday, 11 July 2005 12:39 (nineteen years ago) link
Bump for 90s night...
― Passenger 57 (rogermexico.), Wednesday, 10 December 2008 05:13 (fifteen years ago) link
found out about you is a tune
GBs for sure
― thereminimum chips (electricsound), Wednesday, 10 December 2008 05:26 (fifteen years ago) link
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 (fifteen years ago) link
yup Found Out About You is one of the prettiest Byrds rips ever.
― insufferably annoying (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, 17 December 2008 18:32 (fifteen years ago) link
Goo Goo Dolls > Soul Asylum > Gin Blossoms > Toad The Wet Sprocket
you've gotta be kidding me
― billstevejim, Wednesday, 17 December 2008 18:39 (fifteen years ago) link
My loud neighbor played Hey Jealousy tonight. It ruled.
― Allen (etaeoe), Monday, 4 August 2014 05:52 (ten years ago) link
gin blossoms are criminally overlooked. not kidding. maybe in a couple decades after everyone is able to jump over the mental hurdle of having lump them in with terrible shit like goo goo dolls and toad the wet sprocket, everyone will realize it. start with their first album, Dusted.
― Poliopolice, Monday, 4 August 2014 12:16 (ten years ago) link
Poliopolice OTM. Poor Doug Hopkins.
― Your Favorite Album in the Cutout Bin, Monday, 4 August 2014 18:16 (ten years ago) link
i think in a lot of respects they channeled the spirit of Big Star way better than Teenage Fanclub or any of the other ersatz 'power-pop' rip-off artists who worshiped Big Star. There's actually a palpable sense of defeat, melancholy, loneliness, and failure embedded in most of GB's songs, which, mixed with jangle, is basically the Big Star template.
― Poliopolice, Monday, 4 August 2014 21:26 (ten years ago) link
^^ good call imo
― resulting post (rogermexico.), Monday, 4 August 2014 23:21 (ten years ago) link
terrible shit like goo goo dolls and toad the wet sprocket
I prefer either one of these bands to Gin Blossoms. THE WEAKEST SHIT IN THE NINETIES.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 4 August 2014 23:27 (ten years ago) link
Throw Matchbox 20 in that equation as well. STILL more listenable than Gin Blossoms.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 4 August 2014 23:29 (ten years ago) link
so RONG (and I even like that one mb20 song)
― resulting post (rogermexico.), Monday, 4 August 2014 23:30 (ten years ago) link
Better Than Ezra is probably less enjoyable than Gin Blossoms, but then again...I like the way the singer makes a totally unnatural noise ("wanh hanh") in "Good".
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 4 August 2014 23:32 (ten years ago) link
Alison Road is a nice tune
― sinister porpoise (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 4 August 2014 23:36 (ten years ago) link
that's all I'm sayin'
― resulting post (rogermexico.), Tuesday, 5 August 2014 00:29 (ten years ago) link
There's a lot of venom to go along with the "defeat, melancholy, loneliness, and failure" in Big Star's songs. Humor, too. Neither exist in GB's music.
― rip van wanko, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 01:06 (ten years ago) link
the toad the wet sprocket song reminds me of ELP's "lucky man"
― brimstead, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 01:10 (ten years ago) link
you don't hear venom in "Found Out About You"?
― Now you're messing with a (President Keyes), Tuesday, 5 August 2014 01:30 (ten years ago) link
no humor in gbv???????? ok....
― brimstead, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 01:31 (ten years ago) link
jesus christ, the humor is at least half the point of the early 90s gbv stuff that is so well loved!
― brimstead, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 01:32 (ten years ago) link
oh god. GB. nevermind, SB away
― brimstead, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 01:33 (ten years ago) link
gb > gbv
― linda cardellini (zachlyon), Tuesday, 5 August 2014 01:43 (ten years ago) link
otm
― iatee, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 01:45 (ten years ago) link
like i said, SB away
― brimstead, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 01:51 (ten years ago) link
sorry, i'm still experiencing hallucinations after having read accounts of people listening to toad the wet sprocket songs OTHER THAN the one that sounds like "lucky man".
― brimstead, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 01:58 (ten years ago) link
toad the wet sprocket were from my hometown so I may have a skewed perspective but they had like 4-5 radio songs
― iatee, Tuesday, 5 August 2014 02:15 (ten years ago) link