[OT] www.dmb-bustedstuff.com

[jester47]

supplementally I would like to mention that the band -Soulfly- is showing exceptional talent. Not quite death metal, this band from former Sepultura member Max Cavelara is quite good. The music is loud but still fun to listen to, and has a very christian message. (that is not to say it is "christian" but it is very spiritual. Besides I have lots of respect for any Deathmetal guy that can get Julian Lennon to jam with him.)

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

But on another note. All I gotta say is: RUSH. Now there is a great band. 3 guys who sound like 4.

Rush is good stuff. If you want an interesting band that also sounds bigger than it is, look for Moxy Fruvous. They're REALLY quirky, and they're an obscure Canadian band, so their stuff is sometimes hard to find. They all play like 5 or 6 instruments and 87 different styles of music. They're incredible live. And hysterical, for that matter.

And then there's Cream. Best band EVER. Three (sometimes 4) guys who just put out a WALL OF SOUND. There's enough guitar in there for 2 bands, not to mention Ginger Baker on drums.

 

[blickish]

Ginger Baker is my personal favorite.
*snip*
Artimus Pyle's also really good.
*snip*
Max Roach and Baby Dodds.
*snip*
Charlie Watts from the Stones and Alex Van Halen, for entirely different reasons.
*snip*
Steve Gadd, who's apparently

What, no Neil Pert? Though Rush is certainly not my cup of tea, Neil Pert is one of the most technically proficient drummers alive.

 

[blickish]

The drummer for DMB is noted as one of the best in the business as well as their wind instrument player who can play over eight different types of wind instruments.

Flavor Flav from Public Enemy can play 14 instrument, including brass, keyboards, and guitar. I watched their "Behind the Music" or whatever it's called on E! or VH-1 or somesuch.

 

[herald]

When DMB stays on the charts for more then 15 years, maybe I'll give then some small respect.

The only reason I feel that they are even close to the fame they are at right now is simple.

They are just the product of the mega-conglomerates that own American radio. The consolidation of ownership of most of major radio markets ensures that all we get is the homoginized pop radio all they time, everywhere we go. No one takes a risk on music anymore.

I just recently returned from a stay in Russia. I'm sad to say folks that in Russia, THAT'S RUSSIA folks, you have a wider choice of music than right here in the good old USA. I'm not bashing America, heck some of the coperations that have caused this problem in America aren't even American Conglomerates. (That's you Bertlesman). But you have to admit, when you watch MTV in Russia, and you realize that they play only music videos with the small exception when they do news, interviews and comercials, it's like a trip in the way back machine to the 80's when MTV actually cared about promoting music.

What we get instead is the mild, non-offensive, music that plays well in background of shops like muzak.

Jester47, what I'm trying to figure out is, why would I want to here a cover of "Devil Went Down to Georga for?" I can dig up a copy of "Urban Cowboy" anytime I want.

In this day and age covers are hardly a sign of talent. Unless they are done in some sort of Ironic twist, makes me feel like musicians are strip mining on other performers talent. It reminds me of when they remade "Psycho" shot for shot....why do it?

A band that I feel that has been overlooked musican wise is "The Band" truely good ensomble work.

Wolfen Priest is right, Rush is great. I hear the new album is out.

Eric Claptain and Cream. Awesome combination. Don't need to say much about "slow hand".

 

[Xar666]

They are just the product of the mega-conglomerates that own American radio. The consolidation of ownership of most of major radio markets ensures that all we get is the homoginized pop radio all they time, everywhere we go. No one takes a risk on music anymore.

Product of the Mega-conglomerates This is so far from the truth. They mainly get radio play on adult contemporary stations, not mainstream radio stations. The band donates 50% of all profits to charity. How is that even remotely connected with corporate America's thought process.

Risk? An acoustic guitar – with no lead guitar; unconventional vocals and song structure; a violin; sax and various wind instruments and a jazz based drummer in a jazz-rock fusion band, is that not risk?

Also, what other bands do you know of in current music that is mostly comprised of black people that is not Rap/R&B? I think that most people hear the radio singles, which do not represent the greatness of DMB, and then judge. I did this too. I then started to listen to their other CDs and realized they were a lot better than I thought.

If you listen to say DMB: Live in Chicago and don't think they are skilled (SKILLED- not - liking the music), you are lost.

 

[herald]

To me the band is banal. It's over wought with plastic sentimantality that seems borrowed or stolen from 10,000 Maniacs, REM, or Brian Ferry.

Dave Mathews as a lead singer is just about worst singer I can think of. He seems like a repackaged Bob Dylan light. He only becomes intelligable when he wants to force a chorus up though.

The composition of the music is constantly muddy with poorly thought out themes.

And the worst part is the sameness. It all sounds the same. It's all so cardboard that I can really say that it seems like white noise to me. It reminds me of Barney the Dinosaur. It's so overly sentamental that I can't stand it. Even U2 isn't that redundant.

And because listening to this type music doesn't challenge people to think about it. It doesn't force you to pay attention to it like say David Bowie's "Major Tom" or "Let's Dance" does, it will be the darling of modern radio. Eminantly forgetable, it's quickly lost in a stack of CDs to allow a record company to sell you another one as soon as the public's attention span has run out.

Look, here is the bottom line. You want to like DMB, fine. Be happy that I will never be someone to prevent you from getting DMB tickets or CD's by getting the last one available.

But don't expect me to vote for DMB for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or for anything else.

 

[Xar666]

To me the band is banal. It's over wought with plastic sentimantality that seems borrowed or stolen from 10,000 Maniacs, REM, or Brian Ferry.

Dave Mathews as a lead singer is just about worst singer I can think of. He seems like a repackaged Bob Dylan light. He only becomes intelligable when he wants to force a chorus up though.

The composition of the music is constantly muddy with poorly thought out themes.

And the worst part is the sameness. It all sounds the same. It's all so cardboard that I can really say that it seems like white noise to me. It reminds me of Barney the Dinosaur. It's so overly sentamental that I can't stand it. Even U2 isn't that redundant.

And because listening to this type music doesn't challenge people to think about it. It doesn't force you to pay attention to it like say David Bowie's "Major Tom" or "Let's Dance" does, it will be the darling of modern radio. Eminantly forgetable, it's quickly lost in a stack of CDs to allow a record company to sell you another one as soon as the public's attention span has run out.

Look, here is the bottom line. You want to like DMB, fine. Be happy that I will never be someone to prevent you from getting DMB tickets or CD's by getting the last one available.

But don't expect me to vote for DMB for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, or for anything else.

Is English your first language? Perhaps reading comprehension is not one of your strengths. I have stated in almost every reply that I realize you do not like the music of DMB. You have missed my point completely. You just keep doing the same thing, insulting the product of their skill. I guess you feel that this bothers me, I don’t know.

I have no interest in making someone who likes Styx (Mr. Roboto is so deep and artful...right) like DMB. It was all about acknowledging their skill at playing their instruments. You cannot recognize this, perhaps you should take a beginner music course. I am done.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

What, no Neil Pert? Though Rush is certainly not my cup of tea, Neil Pert is one of the most technically proficient drummers alive.

It was a quick, off-the-top-of-the-head list, and certainly not a comprehensive one. There were LOTS of omissions, Pert among them. Though, technical proficiency is not really what the list was about. In the years before Cream, Ginger Baker was considered wild and unskilled by some people because of the styles he was experimenting with. But he's now considered one of the greatest drummers ever to hit rock and roll. Perceptions of this kind of thing are pretty fluid, as many here have pointed out.

Herald: I'm with you on The Band. Any Traffic fans lurking about? Also, I only know of Steve Gadd from his work with a couple of other artists (i.e. Clapton and Paul Simon). What else has he done?

Two things to add to the discussion: 1) Skilled people can put out crap. 2) The definition of musical crap is (as has been pointed out many times already) subjective.

The Monkees were actually really good musicians, and a couple of them were really good songwriters, but the record company was in the drivers seat and was forcing them to record crap written by a panel of hacks. It's not until towards the end of their career, when no one was paying attention that they started to put out really interesting stuff. Of course, I also know a number of people who loved the bumblegum they put out early on and hate the later stuff. Then there's the Beatles. I think their really early stuff was mostly vanilla rock and consider the later work genius. But I know people who only listen to the early part of their career when they were doing a Chuck Berry impersonation and think that The White Album, Sgt. Peppers, et al were terrible.

There's also the Bob Dylan issue. Dylan is among the greatest song writers ever. Incredible. But I like it a LOT better when other people sing his songs. In fact, I HATE his voice. Makes it hard to appreciate his songwriting. I'm always happy when people cover him, because it means I'll enjoy it more. On the opposite end of the spectrum in Brittney Spears. Worst music EVER. But when she shuts off the tech crap, she has an amazing sounding, breathy voice. If you put her in front of real instruments and a good songwriter, she'd be incredible. Instead, she's wasting an amazing voice on an endless stream of crap. Technically, she's a MUCH better singer than, for example, Janis Joplin was, but I'll listen to Janis until the end of time and Brittney makes me change the channel.

 

[Wikidogre]

Personaly, I really enjoy DMB, i have been following these guys since i first heard them live in a dive bar in West Virginia, passing through on my way back home from Maryland. Since then thier sound has changed a little, but from the first time i heard thier music, and see how much felling they all put into it, that is what sold me. That and they can play one of the best covers of "all along the watchtower". DMB in my book is a band that will always be in my cd player.

Happy gaming!