Post a controversial music opinion

“Touch of grey” is pretty profound when you’re 4 or 5... “The abcs...” yeah Jerry I feel you

It’s still been weird this year to see LeBron and Questlove rocking Dead shirts.

people tend to overrated or underrate the Dead, except me, I like them the correct amount

if you like stuff like Pink Floyd and Neil Young —y'know, typical classic rock favorites— there's zero reason that you shouldn't be able to find similar things to like about the Dead.

Except that the members of Pink Floyd and various Neil Young backing bands included drummers that could count to four without getting lost, and bassists who could remember what song they were playing, and they all generally could tell when a song was over and they should stop, take a moment, and start another one.

things were better when the dad rock legends were generally considered to be the enemy

When was that? By whom?

The Dead are big on college campuses (or at least used to be); it would have been hard not to encounter their music and fans, and maybe get introduced to it yourself.

(I mean, I guess this is obvious - but it's why I scratch my head a little at the "How/why do people get into the Dead?" question)

(it helps if you like music and have open ears, of course)

It's a bit weird, the culture threw me off too much for me to get into it in my late teens and early twenties, but I was deeply into free jazz, NNCK, noise stuff, and etc when I was that age, and I did a lot of drugs. The way the culture seemed so commodified-- and what I then viewed as the rather abysmal tunage-- was enough to make me dislike the dead instinctively until pretty recently, tbh

xps in the 00s by most people I knew

the dead have no fans in the UK afaict

that's a rhetorical statement so exceptions would miss the point

Except that the members of Pink Floyd and various Neil Young backing bands included drummers that could count to four without getting lost, and bassists who could remember what song they were playing, and they all generally could tell when a song was over and they should stop, take a moment, and start another one.

Dunno, I always though that Floyd, the Dead and Crazy Horse all had the ploddiest drummers in rock (deliberately in Ralph Molina's case I guess). Not sure Roger Waters could remember what song he was playing either.

I always though that Floyd, the Dead and Crazy Horse all had the ploddiest drummers in rock (deliberately in Ralph Molina's case I guess).

Nick Mason's a great drummer.

yeah a slow style isn't necessarily plodding

I really liked John Oswald’s 1994/1995 albums that comprised Grayfolded - Transitive Axis and Mirror Ashes - where he  built, layered, and "folded" over 100 versions of The Dead’s “Dark Star” to produce two large recomposed versions, each about one hour long

Nick Mason’s drumming style is economical and it rules:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTlpFr3jd4s

I guess there’s a tendency to equate quality drumming with funkiness.

Nick Mason's a great drummer.

What makes him great iyo?

He's somewhat Ringo-esque in that he tends to play exactly what the song calls for. It's also worth hearing him in a live setting – I think he does a fabulous job in the Pompeii version of 'Echoes', for instance:

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

as many ppl have expressed in the pink floyd rules thread, he’s not the most mind blowing drummer in the world but he is the exact right drummer for pink floyd

unperson overstates the incompetency of the dead but also whatever man this isn’t the defend the grateful dead thread

unperson overstates the incompetency of the dead

I didn't even mention the fact that they had four singers, none of whom could sing.

At this point I can't tell whether being a Dead fan or a Dead hater is the more controversial stance. I, for one, am lukewarm.

What makes him great iyo?

Minimal but effective. Serves the song. Swings.

Yeah, I am wondering if there are any uncontroversial opinions about the grateful dead xp

Grateful Dud amirite

https://legofriends.fandom.com/wiki/The_Grateful_Dud

things were better when the dad rock legends were generally considered to be the enemy

Why?

xxp Pink Floyd are a singular group and Nick Mason's drumming defies qualifiers like "great", "serviceable" or "incompetent" IMO.

its funny how bad some drummers were back in the British Invasion days. one time I listened to the second Nazz album just focusing on the drums and couldn't help but notice the dude fucking up repeatedly. looked him up and it turns out he played on a record with Mitchell Froom many years later

xps whoever edited that 'Remember a Day' video made sure you don't get to see Richard Wright sing at all, not even for a fucking second. What an ass.

I really liked John Oswald’s 1994/1995 albums that comprised Grayfolded - Transitive Axis and Mirror Ashes - where he built, layered, and "folded" over 100 versions of The Dead’s “Dark Star” to produce two large recomposed versions, each about one hour long

― Dan S, Friday, December 4, 2020 5:57 PM

Thanks for this mention. Not something we knew about. Certainly not life changing, but enjoying it in the moment right now.

... nazz were from philly

xp

On the early stuff his playing is impressionistic and intuitive, Syd Barrett's songs have a quality of someone's first attempts at songwriting and their playing is tentative and exploratory (apart from Waters maybe) but very stiff. The stiffness, not the out-ness, is what makes it "weird" for me, and maybe also special.

David Gilmore is a much more fluid player and there's a smoothing out of Nick Mason's stiffness over a few albums, but not entirely and I feel like it follows the same basic template.

The thing about PF is you can really hear the effort they're making to match their ambitions. I'm always listening to that space between their abilities and their ambition, can't help it really. Probably until Pompeii or DSoTM where it feels like they've totally mastered their own idiom.

super otm

xps

I still don't like much of this music and it was more fun to hate when it felt like we were taking down The Man together

for an edgelord thread this is really rather polite now eh

all music is shit. bastards like it

This thread was Ross’s great contribution before he disappeared.

dang

From what we knew of him, I'd like to think he'd be very satisfied with that knowledge. Hope he's well, wherever he is.

Mouse otm

I always get the Nazz and the Move mixed up in my head

great post deflatormouse

Now listening to the Pink Floyd Empire Pool `74 show and it. . . well, rules.

I mean, I like the Dead a lot; maybe even love some of their recordings. But Pink Floyd —on this recording— is clearly better than the Dead ever were.

Remember a Day does have a classic drum part; unfortunately, it was played on the record by producer Norman Smith.

However, Nick Mason did compose and record The Grand Vizier's Garden Party, the most clever quasi-drum solo in rock history.

the dead have no fans in the UK afaict

There's one on ILX. But that's about it. For the UK. Why are people always spelling Dave Gilmour's name wrong?

I recall the Dead playing a couple of nights at Wembley Arena (capacity 10k) back in the late 80s, might have been full of expat Americans/people who'd travelled from elsewhere in the UK though.

mason doesn't play on Remember a Day i thought

as someone mentioned before me lol
also this is a tell
"This thread was Ross’s great contribution before he disappeared.

― wet tip hen ax (egg drop mix) (morrisp)"