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=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: ggw on July 25, 2005, 09:48:00 am
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Gen-X dinosaurs: The 10 most in-demand '80s-'90s reunions (http://www.startribune.com/stories/457/5512785.html)
The Pixies were a big deal. Dinosaur Jr., on the other hand ...
Whether or not you made it to the band's concert last night in Minneapolis -- featuring the heyday Dinosaur Jr. lineup that hasn't played together in 15 years -- there was at least one reason to get excited about the gig. It's another sign that broken-up bands from the 1980s and '90s no longer think they're too cool to reunite.
The success of last year's Pixies reunion proved there's a growing market for '80s-'90s nostalgia, even among hip rock fans. With that in mind, here's a list of the 10 groups from that era who would probably have the best reunion outings.
1. Soundgarden
Why the demand: They quit at their peak, continue to get regular airplay on rock radio and are still active in other bands (Audioslave, Pearl Jam).
Rules of re-engagement: Chris Cornell has to show at least some signs of aging.
Probability: 85 percent.
2. The Smiths
Why: The brooding Brits still have ultra-rabid fans, most of whom never got to see them before their breakup in 1987.
Rules: The two guys who aren't Morrissey or Johnny Marr have to be the original bandmates, even if we don't know the difference.
Probability: 55 percent.
3. Smashing Pumpkins
Why: To make Billy Corgan happy for a change. (This summer, Corgan took out ads in the Chicago papers on the eve of his first solo CD asking his ex-bandmates to get back together.)
Rules: Play more of the hippie rock, less of the goth metal.
Probability: 98 percent.
4. Rage Against the Machine
Why: Easy. Their live shows were better than any other '90s rock band's except maybe Pearl Jam's (and, yes, I saw Nirvana).
Rules: Zach de la Rocha first has to tell us what he has been up to for the past five years.
Probability: 33 percent.
5. N.W.A.
Why: Produced two of hip-hop's biggest stars, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, and one landmark album, "Straight Outta Compton." Eazy-E's 1995 death was tragic, but his contributions wouldn't be all that missed.
Rules: No cross-promotion for Cube's next movie.
Probability: 15 percent.
6. (Original) Guns N' Roses
Why: Most fans are fed up with Axl Rose (hence this No. 6 ranking), but many would show up just to see any prospective onstage brawls.
Rules: Discounts for fans who suffered one of the many GNR cancellations, and even deeper cuts for the few who actually did see the 2002 tour with the revamped lineup.
Probability: 10 percent.
7. Uncle Tupelo
Why: They broke up before the alt-country boom, and then co-leaders Jay Farrar and Jeff Tweedy went on to greater fame in Son Volt and Wilco, respectively. Neither plays the old songs much anymore.
Rules: Farrar at least has to act as if he's having fun.
Probability: 30 percent.
8. Hole
Why: Like cars need steering wheels, Courtney Love needs her ex-bandmates to reel her in. More importantly, radio programmers and label heads sorely need to be reminded that women can rock.
Rules: Love's mike must be turned off between songs.
Probability: 60 percent.
9. Pavement
Why: Much like the Pixies, they helped define alt-rock with the influential albums "Slanted & Enchanted" and "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain." Also like the Pixies, nobody likes the frontman's solo stuff.
Rules: No longer believe you're so clever you don't have to rehearse.
Probability: 80 percent.
10. The Replacements
Why: Whatever playful jabs Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson take at each other in the press, their affection for the ol' band still shows. Many fans forget that the latter-day lineup with Slim Dunlap was pretty great (and certainly more consistent) on stage.
Rules: Drummer Chris Mars has to be talked back in. Limit of seven sloppy cover songs per night.
Probability: 55 percent.
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I'd be down for 1, 2, 3 & 9. Other then that, I don't think I'd care.
Good read, even if Dino Jr. got insulted.
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or how about just 9. actually.
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2 and 10....both at 55%, though I think both percentages are overly optimistic. If ya gotta choose, you have to go with the Smiths.
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More that would do well: 10,000 Maniacs, the Pogues, Blur, Black Flag, Stone Temple Pilots, Stone Roses, Minor Threat, Afghan Whigs, XTC, Hüsker Dü, Babes in Toyland.
The Pogues are kinda sorta reunited - they played gigs last Christmas in Ireland
Would KILL for an Afghan Whigs reunion....
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i'd settle for a fugazi reunion
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blur is broken up? they just toured 2 years ago.
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Originally posted by sonickteam4:
blur is broken up? they just toured 2 years ago.
My thoughts exactly.
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Originally posted by sonickteam4:
blur is broken up? they just toured 2 years ago.
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My thoughts exactly
Damon Albarn came out doubting whether Blur would continue after Graham Coxon left:
http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-05/26.shtml (http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-05/26.shtml)
Blur's Future in Jeopardy
Kati Llewellyn reports:
So it's come to this. Despite the recent release of his new Gorillaz album, Demon Days, Blur frontman Damon Albarn is still in a slump over bandmate Graham Coxon's departure. All attempts to coax Coxon into making a return and taking part in the creation of a new Blur record have seemingly failed, but Albarn refuses to give up.
Speaking to BBC Radio 1, Albarn said, "I grew up with Graham and it's really confusing when you grow apart from someone who you grew up with. I've only got a sister so I did consider him for many years to be like my brother and it's a real shame that there?s been such a breakdown in communication. But as far as playing again live I cant play any other stuff that he worked [on] without him. I feel that there's a horrible hole in the sound if he's not there and obviously if we could get back or move forward to a time when everyone felt comfortable again...I don't quite understand why there's such a tension because when we actually meet in a room together, all of us, we all get on fine."
Coxon left Blur in 2002 as the result of arguments within the band. Since then, he has been gaining popularity as a solo artist, with several albums under his belt. Albarn will being touring Gorillaz in support of the new album. He will also be presenting music from his label, Honest Jons, on board the London Eye on June 21.
But as far as Blur are concerned, well...we'll just have to wait and see. With as much as work as Coxon and Albarn have released separately in the last few years, it appears the think tank has yet to run dry.
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What are the odds of a Dead Kennedys reunion with Jello at the helm?
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2,3,4,6 and 9 for me.
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2,3,4,6 for moi
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2,6 & 10
Of course any XTC tour is more important....
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Archers of Loaf!
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14, 42, 29, hike, hike.
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I don't really care about 1, 3, 5, or 6 (although G'n R would be an entertaining outcome just for the inevitable riots that would occur at the cancelled gigs or when Axl bails after two songs).
I think 4 has probably lost the chemistry. Ditto for 7.
8 would have a lot of "chemistry," but most of it would be coursing through Courtney's veins.
Would love to see 2. Would like to see 9. But 10 just wouldn't be the same unless the band goes on a huge bender to coincide with the tour.
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do people actually like soundgarden? i mean, i know they sold a lot of records, but it seems to me that if you liked them, you probably liked pearl jam and/or nirvana a whole lot more. i will never forgive them for "spoonman," which takes its place next to that new radicals song and every single live song as worst of the alt-'90s.
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Musically speaking, do those three bands really sound that much like each other?
Originally posted by BookerT:
do people actually like soundgarden? i mean, i know they sold a lot of records, but it seems to me that if you liked them, you probably liked pearl jam and/or nirvana a whole lot more. i will never forgive them for "spoonman," which takes its place next to that new radicals song and every single live song as worst of the alt-'90s.
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yes because I never consider Nirvana a grunge band, they came up in the same scene but had a cleaner rock sound then Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. Nirvana had different influences as well... PJ and Soundgarden have simalarites but their sounds are distinct from each other.
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Originally posted by BookerT:
do people actually like soundgarden? i mean, i know they sold a lot of records, but it seems to me that if you liked them, you probably liked pearl jam and/or nirvana a whole lot more. i will never forgive them for "spoonman," which takes its place next to that new radicals song and every single live song as worst of the alt-'90s.
Not me. The only Soundgarden that I've ever liked is the music store. Then again, I've never really liked Grunge all that much at all. In fact, Nirvana is probably the only band that has any connection with Grunge that I've ever liked, and even then, I only liked them a little bit.
Thank God those days are behind us and don't expect me to help dig it out of its grave. My Retro interests lie elsewhere.
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Originally posted by Bags:
2 and 10....both at 55%, though I think both percentages are overly optimistic. If ya gotta choose, you have to go with the Smiths.
2 and 10 here too, but I think both of these are pretty likely in the coming years. Probably not any time soon though.
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Originally posted by ggw?:
9. Pavement
Why: Much like the Pixies, they helped define alt-rock with the influential albums "Slanted & Enchanted" and "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain." Also like the Pixies, nobody likes the frontman's solo stuff.
Though not as good as Pavement albums, I like Malkmus' solo stuff just fine, especially the new one.
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I'd like to see a Lush reunion....with a new drummer of course.
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Originally posted by amnesiac:
Originally posted by ggw?:
9. Pavement
Why: Much like the Pixies, they helped define alt-rock with the influential albums "Slanted & Enchanted" and "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain." Also like the Pixies, nobody likes the frontman's solo stuff.
Though not as good as Pavement albums, I like Malkmus' solo stuff just fine, especially the new one. [/b]
i haven't seen him in a couple of years. does he play pavement shit live? he played like 3 pavement songs when i saw him on the first solo tour
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Originally posted by BookerT:
do people actually like soundgarden? i mean, i know they sold a lot of records, but it seems to me that if you liked them, you probably liked pearl jam and/or nirvana a whole lot more. i will never forgive them for "spoonman," which takes its place next to that new radicals song and every single live song as worst of the alt-'90s.
I couldnt had said that any better myself, Spoonman is probably one of the worst songs I've ever heard and I always thought Soundgarden was very, very boring sounding.
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Or, according to New York Magazine, you can actually find gems among the solo work of former 80s and 90s college rock.
Pop Music Review (http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/music/pop/reviews/12305/)
I Love the Eighties
Not to mention the early nineties. And I??m not ashamed to admit it. Luckily, college rock is back, and better than ever.
By Hugo Lindgren
I was in college when the category known as ??college rock? was popularized, and though it was as much a marketing conceit as anything else, I bought the concept immediately. The Replacements and Hüsker Dü, the Blake Babies, the Pixies, and Pavement: These bands weren??t just my idols, they felt like my peers, and a good part of the pleasure I took in their music was imagining that there wasn??t much that separated me from them. Like the earliest punks, they made a virtue of their amateurism, of starting things without knowing where or how they??d end. And for someone like me, on the scary precipice of adulthood, that was an incredibly exciting fantasy: the notion that sheer guts, plus a willingness to bare your weaknesses (no vocal talent necessary!), could make you into a rock star.
Then we all grew up, and while I tried to sort out a career for myself, my favorite bands went about ruining theirs. The breakups were ugly??and then came the solo albums. Most people quit paying attention, intuiting that aging college rockers are about as likely to recapture their youthful talents as aging baseball players. But I hung on. This was my music, after all; I could parse its microscopic distinctions. Just because others stopped caring about it didn??t mean I had to. So I kept buying the records by Juliana Hatfield (Blake Babies), Bob Mould (Hüsker Dü), Frank Black (Pixies), Stephen Malkmus (Pavement), and Mac McCaughan (Superchunk, Portastatic), and though I lost all claim to coolness along the way, I have now been vindicated??they all have new records out (or will soon), and none of them suck. One or two even flirt with greatness.
It makes sense to start with poor Bob Mould, whom even the most devout fans had all but disowned. In Hüsker Dü, Mould wrote fast, angry pop songs, blasting them out with his barrel-chested roar of a voice and beautiful, fuzzed-out guitars. But on his own, Mould caved under the weight of extreme self-consciousness. He toggled between weepy acoustic stuff and rigid, joyless power pop; he took time off and wrote scripts for pro wrestling; he returned to make a dreadful electronic record.
On Body of Song, Mould, now a popular D.J. in Washington, D.C., clubs, has regrouped. Marrying his sturdy rock-guitar talents to lively beats, he??s found a comfort zone. The album has flaws??the vocals are much too polished, and the lyrics to songs like ??I Am Vision, I Am Sound? and ??Days of Rain? reek of middle-school poetry??but it??s built on that mix of sunny melodies and morbid sentiments that is Mould??s peculiar gift.
Like Mould, Juliana Hatfield walks among the wounded. As a Blake Baby, she was a button-cute bassist who inspired a thousand crushes and could do nice harmonies, too; when she went solo, she aimed for the big time, pitching herself as a bulimic virgin. That made for freaky interviews, but no hits. Giving up on MTV, she slavishly devoted herself to the guitar and released a slew of ragged, emotionally raw albums, of which Made in China is the latest. Her songs still revolve mostly around the adolescent hell of looking right and pleasing jerky guys, a shtick that would be old if Hatfield, well into her thirties, didn??t genuinely sound as if she were still living through it. All hail the immortal teenager, long may she rock.
Frank Black, on the other hand, seems determined to show his maturity. Onstage with the reunited Pixies, playing to huge crowds, Black has been howling away, as gloriously unhinged as ever. But his latest solo album, Honeycomb, is a gentle country-and-R&B record made in Nashville with top session players. It is a noble effort, modeled on Bob Dylan??s Blonde on Blonde, but the results are underwhelming. Black??s greatest talent is his incredible dynamic range as a singer??he can scream and whisper and otherwise throttle his voice around in astonishing ways. But when he plays it straight, as he does relentlessly on Honeycomb, he just sounds ordinary.
As the singer of Pavement, Stockton, California??s greatest (only?) cultural export, Stephen Malkmus elevated boredom to an art. He was beloved for his diffident brilliance. Even after they had been together for years, Pavement still had the improvisational air of a band playing together for the first time, with Malkmus singing as if he were simultaneously trying to finish the Times crossword. Within a band, his distraction had mesmerizing appeal. But how could that be sustained on its own? On Face the Truth, Malkmus??s third solo try, he does something novel: He lets us see him sweat. The songs, which have the choppy angles and elegant dissonance of Pavement??s, are painstakingly layered with keyboards and all manner of funky blurps and beeps. It all sounds very labor-intensive??and pretty smart, too. Malkmus will never compete with the legend of Pavement, but who??d have guessed he??d make such a valiant effort?
Finally, there is Mac McCaughan, the living exception to every rule about rock music. Even by the inclusionary standards of college rock, McCaughan seemed misplaced when he started Superchunk in the late eighties. He looked half his age, sang with a squirrely little voice, and went to Columbia. A career in rock? Maybe in the accounting department. Instead, inspired by a lazy Kinkos employee, McCaughan wrote an irresistible screed called ??Slack Motherfucker?????Yeah, I??m working / But I??m not working for you / Slack motherfucker!???and the major labels were all over him.
McCaughan somehow knew better than to go that route and started his own label, Merge Records, geared so that even a record selling a few thousand copies could make money for the artist and for the company. In the past sixteen years, Merge has put out great albums by the Magnetic Fields, Spoon, and the Arcade Fire, in addition to many wonderful bands you??ve never heard of. Superchunk also kept making records, each one better than the last, as McCaughan honed his punk-guitar riffing and fearless yelping. Plus, McCaughan recorded under the name Portastatic, his own R&D unit for songwriting, and??why not???also launched a jazz label called Wobbly Rail.
Now Superchunk is on hiatus, as bassist (and Merge co-founder) Laura Ballance tends to her new baby. That puts Portastatic at the top of McCaughan??s priorities, and the result is the best record of his career, a collision of the idiosyncratic charms of Portastatic with the exuberant rock power of Superchunk. At 38, he still sings like a broken-voiced 13-year-old. But rather than disguise this limitation, he flaunts it. As he has since the heyday of college rock, McCaughan is testing himself, reaching for something a bit beyond where he??s been before. And for that, after all these years, I consider him the unsung king of rock.
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Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
Originally posted by amnesiac:
Originally posted by ggw?:
9. Pavement
Why: Much like the Pixies, they helped define alt-rock with the influential albums "Slanted & Enchanted" and "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain." Also like the Pixies, nobody likes the frontman's solo stuff.
Though not as good as Pavement albums, I like Malkmus' solo stuff just fine, especially the new one. [/b]
i haven't seen him in a couple of years. does he play pavement shit live? he played like 3 pavement songs when i saw him on the first solo tour [/b]
I'm not sure if I've ever seen him solo - only seen Pavement live. Slept on the last Malkmus show, and it sold out on me.
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my bloody valentine/....rumorsville is sayin kevin shields was asked to do atp next yr & told the fest coordinators he'd only do it if he could reunite mbv..... sez he'll make up his mind by years' end
:eek:
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Originally posted by shoot ur shot:
my bloody valentine/....rumorsville is sayin kevin shields was asked to do atp next yr & told the fest coordinators he'd only do it if he could reunite mbv..... sez he'll make up his mind by years' end
:(
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More that would do well: 10,000 Maniacs, the Pogues, Blur, Black Flag, Stone Temple Pilots, Stone Roses, Minor Threat, Afghan Whigs, XTC, Hüsker Dü, Babes in Toyland.
Rob Buck, the Maniacs guitarist, died a few years ago. He was a integral part of their sound.
Andy Partridge has terrible stage fright so don't expect XTC anytime soon.
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In no particular order.
Faith No More
The Smiths
Stone Roses
GNR
The Verve
Rage Against the Machine
Buckcherry
STP
Bush
The Jam
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The one band that I'd love to see again is Ride. Saw them at the old 9:30 in '92 and it is still by far the best live show I've ever seen.
As long as Andy Bell is plodding away in Oasis, it won't happen...
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Ben Folds Five- I would kill to see them again. They were absolutely on of the most fun live acts that I've ever seen. They caught lightning in a bottle on the Whatever and Ever tour. Unfortunately, Folds is intolerable as a solo artist. If he could put the key-tar and Tiny Dancer cover to rest for a while, then maybe we could remember how great that band was.
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AHEM.... DISPATCH
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I agree here. However, I don't find his solo stuff that bad. I didn't care for the first solo album, but the current one isn't half bad. On the most recent tour through the 9:30 you could see that he was trying to get back that vibe, going back to a three piece band. I would love to see them together again. The otehr two members haven't really done much at all since the break-up. And it always puzzled me why they broke up in the first place.
Originally posted by frenchpiece:
Ben Folds Five- I would kill to see them again. They were absolutely on of the most fun live acts that I've ever seen. They caught lightning in a bottle on the Whatever and Ever tour. Unfortunately, Folds is intolerable as a solo artist. If he could put the key-tar and Tiny Dancer cover to rest for a while, then maybe we could remember how great that band was.
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I'd add talking heads
Also, whats the deal with them saying nobody likes Malkmus' solo albums? I thought Pig Lib was really good!
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Originally posted by BLACKSTORM:
The Verve
The Jam
True dat.
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I'd pick #2, #7, and #10. Though I hope none of them tour again. Part of what's cool about having seen bands like that is that you can boast to all the Johnny-come-too-lates that you saw that band, and thus feel superior to those who didn't.
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Ok...great thread...but Dinosaur bones found in MD
National Parks representatives are set to unveil a first-of-its-kind discovery made at Dinosaur Park in Laurel.
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/maryland/dinosaur-bones-found-in-maryland/65-55679e66-f9de-4ffc-ae51-6f832c204862?
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reviewing the original 2005 list
1. Soundgarden[/b]
welp we know what this isn't RIP CC
2. The Smiths
and we know why this isn't happening
3. Smashing Pumpkins
this already happened
4. Rage Against the Machine
This already happened
5. N.W.A.
this happened, but only 1 show
he group reunited with surviving members Ice Cube, MC Ren, Dr. Dre and DJ Yella taking the stage during the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2016, just days following the group's Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame induction
6. (Original) Guns N' Roses
kinda happened, right?
7. Uncle Tupelo
Would love it, but not happening
but really should, not sure the demand would actually be that high, but then they could actually play the club
not happening
8. Hole
This happened...not sure how I missed it
Hole toured extensively between 2010 and 2012
9. Pavement
this happened - was there ;)
10. The Replacements
this happened - was there ;)
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Think there are some boardies that still have PTSD from the Hole show.. i'm sure the review is buried somewhere in the forum
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Think there are some boardies that still have PTSD from the Hole show.. i'm sure the review is buried somewhere in the forum
That was Courtney with ringerswithout Erik it aint Hole
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Think there are some boardies that still have PTSD from the Hole show.. i'm sure the review is buried somewhere in the forum
That was Courtney with ringerswithout Erik it aint Hole
you are not wrong
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is it too early, or too late, to add Daft Punk to this list?