Apologies to all but Big Audio Dynamite. They had some great, fun singles but I wouldn’t spin the whole disc. A big part for me is how poorly 1980s innovations have aged. This sound machine noodling isn’t really my thing.
I like about 30% of their discography a lot.
But yeah.
"Everything's not always great
Sometimes it's just fine"
Re: Bands that are...fine
Posted: 14 Nov 2018, 11:40pm
by BostonBeaneater
Anything Morrissey related and that’s a compliment. He’d be a nobody if not for Marr.
Anything Morrissey related and that’s a compliment. He’d be a nobody if not for Marr.
I get it that you hate Morrissey and that's fair enough but you comment here is total rubbish. He would've had another guitarist there were loads of great indie guitarists in the late 80s. Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera is every bit an equal to Johny Marr as is Edwyn Collins of Orange Juice. I think The Smiths were a great vehicle for Marr to be part of. And hate Morrissey's voice as you no doubt will but it was very distinct and every part of The Smiths success as much as Marrs brilliant guitar.
It's noticeable that since The Smiths Marr was mostly a journey man working with The Pretenders/Bryan Ferry/The The and so on. His records haven't exactly set the world on fire. Morrisey has had a better career and way more sales.
Marr was taught by Billy Duffy of The Nosebleeds/Southern Death Cult/Cult ...make of that what you will.
Anything Morrissey related and that’s a compliment. He’d be a nobody if not for Marr.
I get it that you hate Morrissey and that's fair enough but you comment here is total rubbish. He would've had another guitarist there were loads of great indie guitarists in the late 80s.
I get that you like Moz but I stand by my comment. I say his shtick was repackaging new wave angst into soap opera style melodrama.
Anything Morrissey related and that’s a compliment. He’d be a nobody if not for Marr.
I get it that you hate Morrissey and that's fair enough but you comment here is total rubbish. He would've had another guitarist there were loads of great indie guitarists in the late 80s.
I get that you like Moz but I stand by my comment. I say his shtick was repackaging new wave angst into soap opera style melodrama.
"Repackaging new wave" you are so wide of the mark. The Smiths owed more to the sixties artists like Sandie Shaw than any 70s / 80s new wave.
Re: Bands that are...fine
Posted: 15 Nov 2018, 11:14am
by Wolter
I’m going to try to split the difference:
The Smiths have a lot of good to great music. It is somewhat handicapped by lyrics that waver between preciously clever and mawkish.
Morrissey is a terrible person whose solo career isn’t as good as his fans want to believe it is, and his voice is very grating to a significant portion of humanity.
The best part of the Smiths is Marr’s guitar work.
Marr hasn’t done very much that is amazing outside of the Smiths.
The Smiths have a lot of good to great music. It is somewhat handicapped by lyrics that waver between preciously clever and mawkish.
Morrissey is a terrible person whose solo career isn’t as good as his fans want to believe it is, and his voice is very grating to a significant portion of humanity.
The best part of the Smiths is Marr’s guitar work.
Marr hasn’t done very much that is amazing outside of the Smiths.
Even as someone who likes both the Smiths and much of Morrissey's early solo stuff (or at least liked; his turn to to the brutish right has made it hard to separate art from artist), I agree with all of this.
(Tho I'm not quite as ho-hum as so many are of Marr's post-Smiths career. I don't think he's that keen on being the star of anything, so is content to being a contributor and so he doesn't stand out so much. You could put together a pretty dang good compilation of records he's played on since.)
The Smiths have a lot of good to great music. It is somewhat handicapped by lyrics that waver between preciously clever and mawkish.
Morrissey is a terrible person whose solo career isn’t as good as his fans want to believe it is, and his voice is very grating to a significant portion of humanity.
The best part of the Smiths is Marr’s guitar work.
Marr hasn’t done very much that is amazing outside of the Smiths.
I really like The Smiths and think Johnny is great but also want to mention that they had a great bassist and drummer. There were four real Smiths and they all made great music. Morrissey/Marr are only half of the story.
Anything Morrissey related and that’s a compliment. He’d be a nobody if not for Marr.
I get it that you hate Morrissey and that's fair enough but you comment here is total rubbish. He would've had another guitarist there were loads of great indie guitarists in the late 80s.
I get that you like Moz but I stand by my comment. I say his shtick was repackaging new wave angst into soap opera style melodrama.
"Repackaging new wave" you are so wide of the mark. The Smiths owed more to the sixties artists like Sandie Shaw than any 70s / 80s new wave.
It's all good Marky. I didn't mean to hit a nerve. We all like what we like and Morrissey is not what I like.
The Smiths have a lot of good to great music. It is somewhat handicapped by lyrics that waver between preciously clever and mawkish.
Morrissey is a terrible person whose solo career isn’t as good as his fans want to believe it is, and his voice is very grating to a significant portion of humanity.
The best part of the Smiths is Marr’s guitar work.
Marr hasn’t done very much that is amazing outside of the Smiths.
Thank you! This is my sentiment. I do like the Healers though.
Anything Morrissey related and that’s a compliment. He’d be a nobody if not for Marr.
I get it that you hate Morrissey and that's fair enough but you comment here is total rubbish. He would've had another guitarist there were loads of great indie guitarists in the late 80s.
I get that you like Moz but I stand by my comment. I say his shtick was repackaging new wave angst into soap opera style melodrama.
"Repackaging new wave" you are so wide of the mark. The Smiths owed more to the sixties artists like Sandie Shaw than any 70s / 80s new wave.
It's all good Marky. I didn't mean to hit a nerve. We all like what we like and Morrissey is not what I like.
No nerve hit here mate. I appreciate everybody has very different tastes and that's a good thing. Morrissey is a complete twat these days and I've very little time for his nasty personality traits. I do like a lot of his early albums and think The Smiths are great.
The trouble with artists becoming caricatures of themselves means a lot of people will turn off them as a personality and musically. They become easy targets much like Phil Collins one minute he's a silly pop star the next he's as evil as Hitler.
The Smiths have a lot of good to great music. It is somewhat handicapped by lyrics that waver between preciously clever and mawkish.
Morrissey is a terrible person whose solo career isn’t as good as his fans want to believe it is, and his voice is very grating to a significant portion of humanity.
The best part of the Smiths is Marr’s guitar work.
Marr hasn’t done very much that is amazing outside of the Smiths.
I really like The Smiths and think Johnny is great but also want to mention that they had a great bassist and drummer. There were four real Smiths and they all made great music. Morrissey/Marr are only half of the story.
Oh, the rhythm section is solid too. I just gravitate to those sweet sweet guitar hooks.
