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Bands that changed...for the worse

Woodface said:
Toast

I’m right though;)
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I waited to calm down before I responded to this one and the earlier posts :) Each to their own and everybody's opinions and tastes are valid but DB has just come off a box office breaking run on Broadway. He has Academy Award, Grammy, and Golden Globe for the Last Emperor score with Sakamoto and Cong Su. Not withstanding that his diverse career that has led to three concert movies after Stop Making Sense and multiple solo albums, collaborations with various artists including Eno, St Vincent, Fat Boy Slim, Anna Calvi and myriad others. His record company Luaka Bop and the artists they supported, his many books, musical Here Lies Love and various artistic endevours for over 40 years. His lyrics and songs that have become prescient many years later writing about stuff way ahead of his time. To be still relevant and on top of his game at 68 and you think the Tina, Chris and Jerry were all the talent was??
Forgot his True Stories movie! Suggest you have a good read and go and maybe think about re-evaluating your thoughts on his lyrics and abilities.

Will concede he hasn't got the vocal range of Whitney or Pavarotti but I think he avoided a lot of their excesses.
 
tonerei said:
I waited to calm down before I responded to this one and the earlier posts :) Each to their own and everybody's opinions and tastes are valid but DB has just come off a box office breaking run on Broadway. He has Academy Award, Grammy, and Golden Globe for the Last Emperor score with Sakamoto and Cong Su. Not withstanding that his diverse career that has led to three concert movies after Stop Making Sense and multiple solo albums, collaborations with various artists including Eno, St Vincent, Fat Boy Slim, Anna Calvi and myriad others. His record company Luaka Bop and the artists they supported, his many books, musical Here Lies Love and various artistic endevours for over 40 years. His lyrics and songs that have become prescient many years later writing about stuff way ahead of his time. To be still relevant and on top of his game at 68 and you think the Tina, Chris and Jerry were all the talent was??
Forgot his True Stories movie! Suggest you have a good read and go and maybe think about re-evaluating your thoughts on his lyrics and abilities.

Will concede he hasn't got the vocal range of Whitney or Pavarotti but I think he avoided a lot of their excesses.
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Most of the good things about talking heads relate to Tina’s Bass playing. David Byrne has told me that there is water at the bottom of the ocean & that his girlfriend is better though.

I actually think image is very important to all bands, where would Roxy Music be without it for example?

Despite his other achievements he is not a great lyricist, his general tactic is to state the obvious repeatedly.
 
Woodface said:
Most of the good things about talking heads relate to Tina’s Bass playing. David Byrne has told me that there is water at the bottom of the ocean & that his girlfriend is better though.

I actually think image is very important to all bands, where would Roxy Music be without it for example?

Despite his other achievements he is not a great lyricist, his general tactic is to state the obvious repeatedly.
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As I said each to their own I think his lyrics are quiet moving. This must be the place. Life during wartime, Listening Wind. Yes Tina's bass playing added lots to the early Talking Heads records and I love them all but David Byrne was never going to be U2 churning out the same sound for 40yrs. He had the talent in every sense. When you tear Talking Heads apart take away David Byrne and it would never have happened. Yes together in their 'young' prime collectively they were probably better together. But I think if you have seen David Byrne live and digested all he has produced since. Their is no real discussion to be had.
 
tonerei said:
As I said each to their own I think his lyrics are quiet moving. This must be the place. Life during wartime, Listening Wind. Yes Tina's bass playing added lots to the early Talking Heads records and I love them all but David Byrne was never going to be U2 churning out the same sound for 40yrs. He had the talent in every sense. When you tear Talking Heads apart take away David Byrne and it would never have happened. Yes together in their 'young' prime collectively they were probably better together. But I think if you have seen David Byrne live and digested all he has produced since. Their is no real discussion to be had.
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I was specifically talking in the context of Talking Heads though but, yes, we don’t have to agree.
 
Woodface said:
Despite his other achievements he is not a great lyricist, his general tactic is to state the obvious repeatedly.
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That's the point though, I think. Byrne has never set up to be a poet or a confessional songwriter - I would think very few of his songs are directly personal. He describes people and their lives, or places and what happens there. IMO he uses plain language, but invites us look behind it for meaning.
Also these are songs, with the words at the service of the band's typical rhythms. "Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind" just won't fit.
 
vince rocker said:
That's the point though, I think. Byrne has never set up to be a poet or a confessional songwriter - I would think very few of his songs are directly personal. He describes people and their lives, or places and what happens there. IMO he uses plain language, but invites us look behind it for meaning.
Also these are songs, with the words at the service of the band's typical rhythms. "Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind" just won't fit.
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That is a perfectly justified position, not completely opposed to what I said or meant.

I can’t know what his fans will read into his lyrics. I do think the main contributor to their sound is the bassist but I am not really that bothered either way.

To be clear I have all the TH albums so I am not saying I don’t like them.
 
Chicago Transit Authority / Chicago springs to mind. Really liked their early stuff but it went all mushy ballads in the 80's when Peter Ceterra took over. Have lost touch now so don't know what their more recent stuff is like.
 
vince rocker said:
That's the point though, I think. Byrne has never set up to be a poet or a confessional songwriter - I would think very few of his songs are directly personal. He describes people and their lives, or places and what happens there. IMO he uses plain language, but invites us look behind it for meaning.
Also these are songs, with the words at the service of the band's typical rhythms. "Take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind" just won't fit.
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Yes but what about 'Pulled Up' on 77. His solo albums contain a lot of stuff that is quiet personal. Examples 'Accident' 'Broken Things' 'Every ones in Love with you' all from Look Into the Eyeball. 'Lillies of the Valley', 'Buck Naked' Self titled. But in the round I give up you are right :D
 
webster said:
Examples?
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Portishead. Amazing first album, ground breaking. Second, more of the same but just the stuff that went on the cutting room floor, third yet more. By "3" it was "40 minutes of stuff that wasn't good enough to make it into the second album, let alone the first".
 
tonerei said:
I waited to calm down before I responded to this one and the earlier posts :) Each to their own and everybody's opinions and tastes are valid but DB has just come off a box office breaking run on Broadway. He has Academy Award, Grammy, and Golden Globe for the Last Emperor score with Sakamoto and Cong Su. Not withstanding that his diverse career that has led to three concert movies after Stop Making Sense and multiple solo albums, collaborations with various artists including Eno, St Vincent, Fat Boy Slim, Anna Calvi and myriad others. His record company Luaka Bop and the artists they supported, his many books, musical Here Lies Love and various artistic endevours for over 40 years. His lyrics and songs that have become prescient many years later writing about stuff way ahead of his time. To be still relevant and on top of his game at 68 and you think the Tina, Chris and Jerry were all the talent was??
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Yes, but apart from that what has he ever really done of note? ;)
 
Whoever that outfit is that did 'The Bends', mind you don't think I could even manage all of that.
 
Bob Edwards said:
R.E.M. after Bill Berry left for health reasons (a brain aneurysm has to be considered good cause for leaving, right?).

Not to say they didn't make some interesting and good music, but nothing IMO that comes close to Murmur, LRP, AFTP, or New Adventures . . .
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I have just written the same thing.
 
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