comparisons

[John A Swartz]

>I think this thing is getting way too over-analyzed.

You're right, and I'm the one doing it too . . .  ;-)

Allow me to explain a little further, hopefully without ranting, and
then I'll shut up on this (I PROMISE!)...

The original post asked about comparing Heaven Forbid and the Brain
Surgeons - I took it as implying "O.K., who's the REAL genious of
BOC - Buck or Al?" at some level I suppose.  Now, I think that is a
debatable point and something that certainly can be discussed on BOC-L,
and I think that while many of us know and respect Al, we also know he
is thick-skinned enough should such comparisons arise.

As for "who do you like better", well, I think this question has been
asked before, and whether or not Heaven Forbid changes the answers I
don't know.  In some sense I feel this is a pointless question, but
of course folks are free to do so - but, to me it starts to sound too
much like those "who are your favorit artist" polls that pollute
USENET discussion groups.

But my own over-analysis (can't spell "analysis" without "anal") of
this question is that I wonder if there is still some people who want
to somehow tie the Bouchards of today with BOC of today - and my point
is that they aren't tied, and haven't been for years.  And, Heaven Forbid
is now the first BOC album that has no fingerprints of the Bouchards
on it (possible ties to "In Thee" excepted) - maybe I wonder in my onw
(oops "own") mind if some folks here are still dreaming about the
original line-up - like it will return someday.  If that's the case,
I think people need to give it up - it most like won't, and shouldn't
happen (yeah, IMHO).  In my own mind, I enjoy the past, but as for the
present and future of the artists involved, they are no longer involved
with eachother other than the fact that the Bouchards do cover some of
the BOC songs which they wrote, and BOC also still plays live some of the
songs which the Bouchards wrote.

O.K., end of analysis.  For those that want comparisons between HF and
tBS, I'll give a quick analysis, and drop the fan-boy, I-love-everybody
stuff here and say the following:

As for "preferences", I can't say I have any - I'm listening much more
to Heaven Forbid than tBS, but I'm also listening to HF much more than
anything else these days (including BOC's back catalog - and that should
not be interpreted to mean that HF is the best BOC album IMHO - just
that right now HF hasn't "worn out it's welcome") - the only other CD
that is getting as much time in the player is the debut album (also
released this past March 24th) of SWAMP BOOGIE QUEEN ("Ill Gotten Booty") -
if you like soulful, gin-soaked jazz/rock/blues sung by a babe with an
almost Joplinesque voice, I heartily recommend it.

In terms of lyrics, I think tBS wins hands down.  I LIKE John Shirley's
lyrics, but I would prefer less repetitiveness (and, as said before,
that may either be John Shirley's fault, or BOC's fault for not better
utilizing them).  And besides, that stuff that Meltzer (in particular)
writes is just plain cool.

Musically, I think it's hard to compare - I like some of the heaviness
of much of Heaven Forbid, although some of tBS seems more complex (and
there of course are exceptions - tBS' "Bad Habit" and "Needle Gun" are
cool tunes, but BOC's "Real World" and "Damaged" seem musically more
complex).  I like the use of the odd-time signatures in SYIB and PUD,
and while it is true that being used throughout the songs is something
less sophisticated than only a few inserts (as Al had pointed out was
done in the past), it's still a cool effect.  I think both bands have
shown a decent amount of variety on their latest albums.  I prefer to
compare tBS' Box of Hammers or Trepanation to Heaven Forbid as Malpractise
is sort of an "odds and sods" album, and has more covers.  Comparing
BoH with HF - despite the KC and the Sunshine band sound (and damn those
of you that pointed this out <g> ), "Damaged" is probably my favorite
track between the two, and then probably 2 or 3 tracks from BoH (St.
Vitus Dance, Earthquake Boogie, Overture) would be next, or some of
these might be tied with HF's SYIB, Harvest Moon, and Real World.
Speaking as a fan of bass, BOC's got the bass more up-front in the mix
on most of HF than tBS, yet some of David Hirschberg's lines are more
complex - which seems strange because Danny Miranda is fantastic bass
player, but most of his lines (Damaged and Real World being the major
exceptions) are fairly straight-forward.  As for drumming, Al wins hands-
down - Chuck/Bobby are good, and their in-your-face style compliments
BOC's current sound well, but I like Al's subtleties that he brings to
tBS' music - he seems to play the drums almost as if they are a melodic
instrument at times, rather than just pounding rhythms.  Guitar-wise,
Buck Dharma is THE MAN - no doubt.  But of course, it ain't all about
shredding (never was in BOC), and no one can fault the guitarwork in tBS -
it just doesn't blow you away like Buck's can.  Vocally - this is tough -
as singers go, Deb will probably overall be my favorite - part of that
is her ability to sing a variety of styles, and sing with such power
and emotion, and part of that seems that I like to listen to rock and
roll sung by women (don't mean to be sexist, but when I look at who
I like to listen to, it becomes obvious to me that lately I've really
been preferring female singers).  When Eric is on (and he is on the 4
tracks he sings on HF), it's an ass-kicker to hear as he delivers that
"menace" that we all love.  Al's vocals, while never catching my attention
when he was in BOC, I've come to really like for their underlying humor
and sinisterness at the same time - Al would be a great "mad scientist"!
And while Buck's vocals are great, they don't usually reach out and
grab me ("Damaged" being the exception), but this also compliments some
of the softer songs like Harvest Moon and Live for Me.

Whew, that turned out to be a mouthful!  So, I guess the REAL reason that
this question shouldn't be asked is that I might ramble on way to long
with some opinions!  ;-)

John