McBride's - Off The Beat Discussion

I think we're soul-mates Bidders.

The fifth position (The Offspring) as I said is replaceable, but there's probably no other band in the world I would pay an extortionate amount to see live these days apart from them. I had planned to go to Reading last summer to see them but got an internship at LOVEFiLM so couldn't make it in the end, I watched it on iPlayer and they were awesome sadly. A few years ago Green Day may have come in at number five but their new material is absolutely atrocious. Long gone are the days of Nimrod and Dookie.

I'm waiting on a top five from you Bids...

 

About the worst it got for me with Dylan was his show at the Roundhouse a few years ago - mumbling away at the side of the stage hunched over a keyboard. Still, the man's a genius and I'll probably still buy his new album in September, and then wonder why I bothered after I've heard the thing.

Course it's Richard & Linda - thanks for the correction.

 

My top 5 would be:

1) Yello
2) Depeche Mode
3) ELO
4) Jean Michel Jarre
5) Jimmy Buffett

Yello are a swiss duo who have been around for about 25 years but aren't very well known outside of central europe. The occassional tune has made it over here - The Race, Oh Yeah but by and large they are steadfastly ignored and unheard of by the British public. Early stuff was a mix of electronics and latin but they shifted over time to become much more synth and dance based and have recently ended up in almost a jazz sphere (although still with electronic overtones). - Best Album (Pocket Universe - not available in the UK on CD only from iTunes download).

Depeche Mode were for me one of the great bands of the 80's and 90's and are still going strong. Moody, atmospheric but possessing fantastic melodies they are the electronic band per se for me. - Best album - Violator

ELO - well, they were the first band I ever saw in Concert. At the old Wembly arena in 1978 with the huge spaceship that took off and landed at the start and the end of the show. Jeff Lynne took over where Lennon and McCartney had left off and produced brilliant songs - perfect pop, good rock and even edging into dance in the late 70's before coming back to Rock in the 80's. Lynne is listed as the 4th greatest producer in history so his stuff should be good. Best album - A New World Record

Jean Michel Jarre is, for me the Beethoven of the 20th Century but rather than use an orchestra he uses synths. His work is detailed and fantastically melodic. It can be sweeping and grand or sparse and cold but it is always engaging. For me Chronologie or Equinox are his two masterworks.

Jimmy Buffett - invented Gulf and Western. Has a country(ish) sound but is very firmly rooted in the key west area of Florida so picks up a lot of carribean influence. Lyrics are sometimes laugh out loud funny (Who's the Blonde Stranger, Cheeseburger in Paradise) and his ballards are genuinely touching (I Heard I Was In Town). Fans are called Parrotheads, no idea why. Best Albums (he has made over 35) Changes In Attitude, Changes In Latitude and Barometer Soup.

 

Did you give his Christmas album a listen? Awful.

Good choices Fulhamish, I quite like both ELO and Depeche Mode.

 

Pop:
Beattles
U2
Kings of Leon
Presidents of the United States of America
Police
Beck

Indie Rock:
Rem
Pixies
Sarah McLaughlin
Wilco
String Cheese Incident
Phish

Grunge:
Nirvana
Stone Temple Pilots

Neo-punk:
Green Day
Offspring

Punk:
Clash
Dead Kennedys

Alt-country:
Uncle Tupelo

Real Rock:
Blind Melon
Stones
Unified Theory
Grateful Dead
Henderix
Allman Brothers
Strokes

Guilty pleasure:
Red Hot Chili Peppers

I know that's a lot, but I listen to music all the time. I love Dylan. I saw him in Cologne. I saw Rem and GreenDay in Nurnburg.

 

Wilco! They are another band who should get an honourable mention on my list. Great call, DR. I've always liked the Clash too, and I love some U2, although saying that often gets a negative reaction these days.

ELO and the Beatles were the first two bands I ever got into, way back in junior school. Bizarrely, the Beatles were the one that I used to get mocked for, as they weren't a current band (this being mid to late 70s).

 

Oh, I don't know. . . . I've come to file that one away in the 'so bad it's good' category.

I'd have to have Bruce Springsteen in my top 5, and after seeing Paul Simon on Sunday I'd probably put him up there was well.

Elvis Costello anyone?

 

I'm not arguing about the album, but I do enjoy 'Must be Santa' from it. Only in a 'fun Christmas song' kind of way - but that's the point of the album, isn't it?

A big yes to Springsteen and Costello. Neither makes my top table, but I have lots of time for both. I remember finishing my last exam in second year at University and going straight from there into Glasgow to see Elvis Costello in concert. All I particularly remember is that Nick Lowe was great as the support act and Elvis' performance of Deep Dark Truthful Mirror was spellbinding.

This McBride's thread is going to be bad news for me - I keep distracting myself from work with it this afternoon. Must be more disciplined!

 

I had a very surreal experience of seeing Elvis Costello on the same bill as Paul Mcartney in Hyde Park two years ago. The gig clashed with England's match against Germany, so as the goals were flying past Rob Green on the big screen there was Elvis up on stage trying to cheer everyone up with renditions of Alison and Shipbuilding!

 

I am loving the music discussion - agree with a lot of what has been said. Thought I would give it a shot.
1) After seeing him a few weeks ago at the IOW festival it has to be Bruce Springsteen - I had always liked the recorded stuff, but live he is just out of this world - he did 3 hours, 25 songs without a duff one.
2) Neil Young - loved his music from the 70's - always varied - "Rocking in the free world" is my all time favourite - one to play loud in the car by yourself.
3) Ry Cooder - the musical master. So many styles, all great to listen too. Saw him a few times in the 70's - brilliant live.
4)The Doors - Music from the 60's that never dates - saw them at IOW in 1970.
5) Jimi Hendrix - the musical maestro - from seeing him do Hey Joe on Top of the Pops through to seeing him at the IOW 1970 - truely memorable.
6) Can't keep to 5 sorry!! - Humble Pie - Performance Rocking the Filmore is the all time great rock record in my eyes saw them a lot in the 70's as well.
7) last one - The Allman Brothers Band - Live at the Filmore - what a record - I could listen to Whipping post every day and never tire of it.

Wow - that was hard - I went with what came to mind instantly - there are many others I like, but if I had to choose Desert Island Discs, these would be they I think. Great music, great memories.

 

Lots to reply to here! Bandit first...

I've only managed to see them twice, once at Reading in '04, then again on the Greatest Hits tour at Brixton Academy (can't remember the year... '08?) and they were superb. The GH tour was a brilliant setlist, had all the classics and a few album tracks like Genocide, one of my favourite Offspring songs!

Anyway, my top 5(s)...

Currently;

Star One (Progressive Metal, all the songs are based on sci-fi films, it's basically a collaboration of all the greats of the scene, including four superb vocalists)
Jethro Tull (You must have heard of them, classic Prog/Folk/Rock)
Kansas (genius Prog Rock of "Carry On Wayward Son" fame, great guitar and Hammond work)
Timelord (Searing Power Metal, they only have one album otherwise they'd make the overall Metal list)

Metal (Liable to change on a daily basis);

BLIND GUARDIAN (My favourite band of all time, imagine Queen, crossed with 80's Thrash and Iron Maiden, singing about Swords and Sorcery)
Pharaoh (Like a darker contemporary Iron Maiden, with better vocals [IMO])
The Lord Weird Slough Feg (Traditional Metal, in a very distinct style. Interestingly understated vocals)
Death (A pillar of the genre, starting out as straight up Death Metal and ending up as one of the most thought-provoking Progressive bands I've heard)
Kyuss (Superb Stoner Metal, the band minus the singer went on to become Queens of the Stone Age. They sound similar, but Kyuss' John Garcia is a fantastic singer, infinitely better than Josh Homme)

Rock/Classic Rock;

Queen (Need I say any more?)
Led Zep (What my Dad used to listen to, and, well, they were great)
Deep Purple (RIP John Lord)
Cream (Blues Rock at it's finest)
Stevie Ray Vaughan (King of the Blues)

Punk/Ska Punk (of all types);

The Offspring
Operation Ivy (really raw and grimy, with great lyrics and endless catchy songs. The precursor to Rancid)
Rancid (Similar to OI, but less Ska and more grime)
Avail (Lots of Hardcore influence, and also very catchy)
NOFX (You must've heard of these, you either love 'em or hate 'em, superbly catchy riffs and chorus')

Other;

Alanis Morrissette (Had an affinity for her music for years)
Seasick Steve (Great Blues played by a proper bum)
RL Burnside (Authentic Blues from the 50's/60's)
Journey (Neil Schon is one of my guitar heroes, and Steve Perry was an unearthly singer)
Steve Vai (Music for guitarists - he's been stereotyped as a mindless shred machine but he's done a lot of thoughtful and interesting stuff)

Phew!

 

DR/Fred, which albums would you recommend I listen to from The Allman Brothers and Blind Melon? Been meaning to check them out for some time.

Great conversation guys! I'm not one to pick on someone for their music taste, but there's not one person who's posted their tastes here that I've thought "we can't be friends" to!

 

Captain .. If you like Wilco, you might like Uncle Tupelo.

Not surprised a Wilco fan would also like Dylan. You probably like Neil Young and Counting Crows, too. Great song writing.

 

There are some collections about which are good as a taster, but Live at the Filmore is the one to listen to. Recorded before they lost any members to unfortunate motorcycle accidents, they were at their absolute peak. Brothers and Sisters is worth a listen - probably their most commercial album it contains Jessica the theme music for Top Gear - it is not so hard rock as it has more of a country feel due to the introduction of Dicky Betts

 

Some names there I can relate to
Jethro Tull - Stand Up was the first LP I ever brought 37s and 6d!!
Led Zep - everybody's favouite in the 70's I saw them at Wembley with Stone the Crows - excellent live.
Cream - 3 musicians all who wanted to solo - it was a wonder they stayed together so long - seen Clapton by himself and Bruce when he was in Bruce, West and Laing - they were good, but Bruce was so drunk he didn't notice them intro sunshine of your love for about 5 minutes!!
Stevie Ray Vaughan - a true blue maestro - sadly taken from us - I have always liked his stuff with Bowie.

 

Neil Young and Counting Crows have always passed me by a bit, DR. I've heard a fair amount of Neil Young, and enjoyed it without feeling the need to dig further. Counting Crows I've had less exposure to. I know that Jeff Tweedy was in Uncle Tupelo before Wilco. Is he the only crossover between the two bands or do they have more personel in common?

 

Thanks Fred, some nice stories! Wish I was around back then to see some of the greats. And Live at the Fillmore is on my hit list!

 

Bidley ... I think the first two albums from Blind Melon were the only ones to have: "Blind Melon" and "Soup" - there's a third and fourth album, but it's a rehash. Before Soup was released, the lead singer and song writer died of a coke overdose.

Having said that, Unified Theory is Blind Melon reformed (literally) with a singer who's also pretty good.

Bidley, are you going to play Bulldog Bash this year?

Captain - From what I heard, Uncle Tupelo came first. Uncle Tupelo was weird because hit had these two big talents who were so different from each other. Tweedy and the other guy (whose name escapes me) battled for power until the band split; half went with Tweedy and half with the other guy.

Speaking of Tweedy, Neil Young and Bob Dylan: why are the best song writer's such awful singers?

Allman brothers .. I'm not an authority. I've got their big compilation CD set which spans about 20 years. Duane Allman played with Clapton on the Derek and the Dominos album, and it was Allman who came up with that great lick on Layla.

 

I'm willing to bet it's my tastes that you thought WTF to Bidders.

Never been into heavy/prog/metal rock music. When I was at secondary school in the early 70's most of the other lads were into Sabbath, Led Zep, Deep Purple and so on while I was into Motown, Soul, and guys like Ray Charles. Earth Wind and Fire were just the bee's knees as far as I was concerned when I was about 16. When Synth music started (as i could play keyboards) I bought a Synth and started making my own bleeping and whizzing type music but always with a danceable beat. Vince Clark is a bit of a hero as well.

I've got over 10,000 songs on my iTunes and not one of them starts with a KERRRR-ANNNGGGG!

 

Cheers DR!

And we emailed the organisers to no avail... In all honesty the Metal scene over here (at least in my area) is going through a terrible patch, so there're bands by the hundreds trying to get what they can. If we get the call I will definitely let you know!

Haha, not at all. I'm familiar with ELO and JMJ. ELO I don't have any aversion to, in fact, I've always wanted to do a Metal cover of Don't Bring Me Down, I think that would work a treat! There's another song of theirs I like (my co-worker digs ELO and JMJ too, so I've heard my fair share), sort of a ballady song that I can't remember for the life of me. JMJ I can appreciate, his more ambient stuff is very cleverly done. Not my bag at all, but I can appreciate it! The closest I've come to Electronic music is Air. I had an album of theirs, one song had an awesome bassline, La Femme L'argent.