OFF: Many

[Keith Henderson]

OK folks....

In light of the heavy off-topic traffic on the list lately, I thought I
might add my voice to the fray in (hopefully) an unbiased fashion as I'm not
a huge fan of any of them.  I heard about all of these bands on various
lists, mainly this one and Porcupine Tree, and eventually bought all of
these as I came upon them in local second hand stores.  Perhaps this might
help some folks who don't shop excessively like I do, to decide which ones
of these might be right for them...perhaps not.  Opinions are only opinions
afterall, although mine are the best.  :)
[Just to note, although I joined boc-l mainly for Hawkwind, I own eight BOC
discs and a similar number of LPs, first heard them in the mid-70s (before
HW) and first saw them live in 1983 (again, before HW).  So, I straddle the
fence, you might say.]

The Tea Party - Splendour Solis (1993)
Summary description:  Pearl Jam performing highlights from Led Zeppelin (III
through Physical Graffiti)

I generally like this album.  I bought it four or five years ago, and hadn't
listened to it much lately until last night.  Many of the songs have a
strong Eastern flavor, kinda like Zeppelin's Kashmir, and despite the
implications of copying (a la '87 Whitesnake & Kingdom Come), their
songwriting is at times quite original.  "Deams of Reason" sounds a little
too close to "Rain Song" though.  I don't know which of the trio is the
singer, but he's got a strong, resonant voice that I can only compare to
Eddie Vedder.  There's a good mix of more acoustic sounding tracks (like LZ
III), and the heavier guitar tracks that mostly stick to those oriental-type
chord progressions (??...I'm no musician). Toronto has some good bands, eh?
Thumbs Up

Radiohead - OK Computer (1997)
Summary description:  Slick, spacey, and lots of variety...too bad the
singer is pathetically sappy

These media darlings have gotten some progheads with modern leanings all in
a tizzy.  I don't see what the big deal is.  However, this album does start
out quite strongly (musically speaking).  After three songs, my reaction is
positive...very modern, spacey material with inventive bass lines and layers
of atmospherics and effects-laden guitars.  But I absolutely cannot stand
the whiny, sappy vocalist (don't know his name) at any point throughout this
album. Though the tune "Subterranean Homesick Alien" is a real winner, and
the vocals aren't *quite* so awful here.  Starting with Track 4, things go
sharply downhill.  The music turns boring and predictable, and the more I
hear the voice, the more I hate it.  The only comparison I could make is
Ka-spel from the Legendary Pink Dots (there are even a few musical
similarities at times), though it's really not the same.  I have
(somewhere...I can't find it) one of Radiohead's earlier albums, which was
so generic-sounding, I don't even remember the title.
Thumbs Down (wasted potential)

King's X - Ear Candy (1996)
Summary description: Screaming Trees meets It Bites

This is pretty standard material.  The proggish pop-rock writing style of It
Bites' Frank Dunnery but with that enormous dude from Screaming Trees on
rhythm guitar pretty much explains everything you need to know about King's
X (is it pronounced 'ex' or 'cross'...I always wondered).  The vocals are
indeed unusual, again very reminiscent of Frank Dunnery (alone), but also
like Echolyn (a 'truer' prog band) when doing the harmonizing thing.  I
found it only marginally interesting.  And they get quite soulful (or even
'gospel-ish') once in a while. But the main problem is the drummer.  This
guy is clumsy and plodding (see Chronicle of the Black Sword), which is
unfortunately emphasized by the fact that the sound of his drums on this
album is also pretty much dead.  This is a major label recording, so can't
imagine what the engineer was doing to make the drum track so lifeless.  (I
had to put on KW's III afterwards, just to hear Sami do some real drumming.)
I do like some of It Bites' songs (hell, I have all their albums), but the
ones I don't like (the cheesier, poppy tunes - esp. Dunnery's solo material)
are the ones that are the most similar to King's X.  Which means I have to
say...
Thumbs Down

Gov't Mule - Dose (1998)
Summary description:  Southern Fried Robin Trower

Gov't Mule seems to be a boc-l favorite, so there's no way I'm going to slag
this band!  Actually, they're quite good, though new bands in 'old styles'
don't overwhelm me unless that 'old style' is my favorite.  So as talented
as these guys are, they're not going to displace my personal choices in this
blues-rock vein, i.e., Tommy Bolin, Robin Trower, Captain Beyond, and Spooky
Tooth.  The difference with the Mule is Haynes' love for southern-style
slide guitar.  A couple numbers really stood out, "Thorazine Shuffle,"
"Birth of the Mule," and "Larger than Life."  I hear a lot of Trower (and
occasionally) Jeff Beck in the music, but that may be because Haynes' voice
is a touch reminiscent of Jim Dewar.  They came through Columbus just
recently, and though I've heard here that they rock hard in live shows, I
don't feel disappointed I didn't go.  Trower himself is coming next week,
and I doubt that I'll go to that one either. I've already seen him four or
five times anyway, and I still remember that time my car was stolen while I
was at one of those gigs!  (Like it was his fault!)
Thumbs Up

Spiritualized - Ladies & Gentleman We Are Floating in Space (1997)
Summary description:  Syrupy sweet ambient-alternative rock (whatever that
means)

This is an album that will take another few years to fully digest.  Like
Radiohead, they've spent a lot of time (and money) tweaking the sound
(perhaps over-producing), and as a result comes out a bit muzaky.  But there
are some very nice aspects of their modern space sound that I haven't heard
before.  Well, ok, the best tunes rely on uptempo hypno-rhythms are
certainly takeoffs of kraut bands like Neu! and Can ("I think I'm in Love"
and "Electricity").  But they created some bass sounds on this album that
are irresistably boomy.  And they use lots of horns and even harmonica
(instruments that I rarely enjoy in 'rock' music) in extremely effective
ways.  They overdo the 'whispery vocal' thing a bit, but it does work on the
more ambient tracks.  Except the title track, which I'm a little sick of
because it's used for a TV commercial over here.  But in the end, the
originality in creating new sounds outweighs the cutesiness, and I give it...
Thumbs Up

Man or Astroman? - Project Infinity (1995)
Summary description:  WIPEOUT!!!

OK, I'd seen this band's name around a lot, and passed by their discs in
stores for a number of years before finally picking up this one for $5.  I
*knew* that despite the band's name and cover art imagery, that this wasn't
my beloved space rock.  But I didn't think it was as stupid and annoying as
it turned out to be. This is totally outside my experience, and all I can
think of is that tune 'Wipeout' (who did that?), or maybe the B52s.  I don't
really care...it's not serious music (which is fine) but it's inane (which
is not fine).  The popularity of this band can only be explained by the same
method by which Brian Setzer's fame can.  Totally stupid.  (Although
"Tomorrow Plus X" *does* sound a little like "Phetamine St.") :)
Thumbs Down

Mercury Rev - Boces (1993)
Mercury Rev - Deserter's Songs (1998)
Summary description:  (DS) Muzak versions of Moody Blues muzaky tunes

I don't know much about this band (for some reason, I think they're from
Buffalo...izzat right?), but they seemed to be a favourite of Christian
Mumford (who's oddly vanished from the e-world).  I bought Boces thinking
that they were 'spacey' or 'psychy' back then, but not really I discovered.
Though one tune, "Something for Joey," was a pretty cool psych-fest in an
alterna-shoegazey way, but the others drifted through all sorts of other
styles without really much excitement.  But not cosmic in any way.  But with
my two-album rule still in tact, I went for Deserter's Songs and discovered
that Boces is brilliant by comparsion, as this is one of the very worst
albums I've ever bought.  What I said above applies...take the sappiest
Moody Blues tunes (e.g., Hayward love ballads) and create symphonic/muzak
versions and you've got Deserter's Songs.  It truly is abysmal.  (Oh, BTW, I
like Moody Blues just fine, despite the sporadic gooey-ness.)
Thumbs Down

Voivod - Nothingface (1989)
Voivod - Angel Rat (1991)
Summary description:  Quirky Canadian prog metal

The 'prog metal' genre is one that I really could do without, despite the
fact that I have several dozen CDs that I categorize as such.  I was a big
fan of Diamond Head and Queensryche in the early 80s, back when there was no
such 'genre.'  Since then, bands like Dream Theater and Fates Warning have
appeared in my collection without a great deal of serious attention.  And
Voivod too.  I give Voivod credit though, they don't compose songs in any
pre-set fashion, and are tight performers.  Their herky-jerky music (which I
will call 'Crimson-esque') does have a hint of that wankiness (i.e., 'we do
it just because we can' mentality) though.  The vocalist is ok, but his
voice is rather non-descript...doesn't really sound French like you might
expect.  The version of "Astronomy Domine" on Nothingface is pretty cool.
Thumbs Up

Deniz Tek - Equinox (1998)
Summary description:  Fairly intricate, uptempo guitar-driven rock

I found this album by sheer coincidence on the first day I saw him mentioned
here on boc-l.  It was merely $3, so how could I pass that up?  It's pretty
good.  I didn't really like the guest female vocalist very much (two tracks
only) and preferred Tek's voice, which isn't outstanding but decent enough.
Tek certainly likes phasers, flangers, backmasking, whatever....lots of
effects on his guitar, anyway.  "Sideways Motion" is a pretty cool track, a
badder, bassier riff with a taste of funkiness.   "King of the Carnival" is
another funky/rappy style tune, which surprisingly are the ones I like the
best.  In contrast, some of the other tracks are like a more intelligent
style of 'stoner rock' sharing some characteristics with Nebula (Fu Manchu
spinoff), but with more variety and complexity.  And some keyboards to
boot...not exactly a stoner staple.
Thumbs Up

Well, that's all for now, for what it's worth.

Note:  I still haven't picked up a Kyuss/QotSA disc, although I have heard
some of the latter.  And Monster Magnet I haven't included here, since I'm
more of a fan of theirs having all their albums..."Superjudge" is my
favorite for the same reason as Carl.

Most of these discs I picked up used (because I *have* to, in order to
afford my massive collection), and I only really regret buying Deserter's
Songs and the Man or Astroman? discs.  So, in the end, I've done ok with
this selection of (what to me are) pop bands, considering that a large
percentage of what I buy are sold in the hundreds to thousands, not hundreds
of thousands like most of these ones.  And at the least, it's been
educational.  But sorry if I dissed your particular favorites...I just tell
it like I hear it.  :)

Keith H. (FAA)