While I personally think this record should have shot him to super-stardom, I think the two reasons it didn’t are two of the things I love about it the most.
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Nowadays, things are fast, cheap and disposable. We used to build things to last. They were timeless. Now, we don’t care about our work, we don’t care about our things and we don’t care about each other. So, when people call me a dinosaur, I take it as a compliment.
Not only does Tiger Army take this kind of pride in their craft when it comes to writing, performing and recording, but they do it with their merch, and especially their music videos. Art comes first. On their terms. Their way.
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It’s okay to be obsessed sometimes, but you’ll be better off to take a break and start again in the morning. I’m bad about taking breaks on the weekends or days off too – I will work all day. I love it, it doesn’t feel like work, but I have to remember to take a break if I love the work. I’m not doing it any favors by pushing through when I’m tired or forcing ideas when I’m out of them.
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I can’t remember for sure how I heard about the Pistols, only that it was sometime in 1992. I rode my bike to Karma Records and bought The Smashing Pumpkins Siamese Dream and Never Mind the Bollocks. The twenty-something girl checking me out said something to the effect, “Your mom will be okay with the Smashing Pumpkins, but I don’t think she’ll like the Sex Pistols.”
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I keep returning to Depeche Mode. Why? Because ultimately what I care about are songs and Martin Gore is an amazing songwriter and they have an ability to push their boundaries when needed and to show restraint when needed.
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The greatest performance I’ve ever seen, and it’s not even close, is Grinderman performing “Kitchenette” at Coachella on April 12, 2013.
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Watching the video now, it’s not as hard as it was sitting there, but it’s still not easy to see him in that state, especially with the gift of hindsight.
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My reward is no longer in the finished product, but in the work itself. My reward is the absolute joy and peace I get from sitting in a dark room at the keyboard. I seek no one’s acceptance or validation. I am free from the expectations of others.
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U2 have become a bloated band of old rich dudes. I think they can largely blame themselves for their current irrelevance. However, I do believe people still look back on The Joshua Tree with the reverence it deserves. The rest of the catalog however, people have pushed it into the dustbin. I think The Joshua Tree is a masterpiece, but I also think Achtung Baby is a masterpiece as well. One that paved the way for a lot of music that is out there today, but I think it happened subtly and people don’t recognize it’s there.
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Both of their records are insanely good. It is really unfortunate they’ve received so little attention, at least stateside. I started reading the British music press in the late 90s and I vaguely remember seeing some mentions, but never anything here in America.
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None of what I’m saying is revolutionary, but it’s important not to rely on this technology, just get the most out of it as a tool. There’s no substitute for a great lyric, arrangement, melody or performance. Great songs are great songs on a single instrument, but that doesn’t mean you have to write them that way. As the old expression goes, there’s more than one way to skin a cat and there’s nothing better for the artist than to continually force yourself out of your comfort zone.
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I almost never hear anyone talk about this record, but it is absolutely my favorite Green Day record.
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You could blame my individualistic, anti-authoritarian worldview on being of Scottish via Appalachian descent. Or, you could say it is because I’m an only child who spent the first twelve years of his life living in the country with no kids around. However, even if those things are true, it was punk rock that solidified it. It was punk rock that gave me not only a reason to do what I dreamed of, but a way to do the things I dreamed of.
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It took me awhile to appreciate the Ataris. All these years later, I can admit it was a bit of jealousy. Kris and I were never friends, but I used to see him all the time at shows in Indianapolis, mostly at the Emerson Theater, and also at A-1 Records in Anderson.
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This record is not their masterpiece, but it certainly blew people minds and gave you glimpses into the music to come.
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If we all met other people’s expectations, we’d all have medical degrees, our parents would all still be married and John would have left Yoko and the Beatles would have been together until George Harrison died.
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I paid homage to Chris Bell on the cover of my 2021 single, “Overwhelming”. I shot it myself in the course of a few minutes, with help from my friend Dave to make sure my tripod didn’t blow over on a windy Colorado day. In recent years, Chris has started to catch up with his former bandmate Alex Chilton in posthumous “cool credibility”, but I have long been as connected to, if not more, Chris’s musical talents as I have Alex’s.
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1) When it comes to people, there are no equal transactions, there are no “I owe you ones”… there is only giving of yourself for the sole purpose of giving. That is not to say I don’t get things back in return, but only that it’s never equal. With some folks, I’ve received more than I’ve given to them and many others I’ve given to them more than I received and, almost never, has it been anywhere near to equal.
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As I still try and navigate my way out of this season of my life, the time to reflect has been helpful. It’s hard to tell sometimes when clarity is creeping in, but I can say I am working my way towards some peace.
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Ryan Adams has been so prolific dating back to his time in Whiskeytown in the 1990s that, possibly aside from Heartbreaker, his solo debut, you could say all of his records are under-appreciated.
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