The Pixies are quite possibly the best band ever

[Dr. Simon Hurt]

no arguments here..eloels. SY have consistency like almost no band ive ever heard.

stereolab? imo the most consistent band i can think of.

[SID]

thats not what im saying...read what you said about sonic youth there...how is that any way to avoid a silly argument? thats ridiculous..i can say i prefer SY over the pixies..but i wouldnt say Kim Deal's bass playing sucks and NOT expect an argument..

But i never said any members of SY suck.

I said "they lack stong melody, most of their stuff is really angst-ridden shouting and bellowing down a mic".

That dosen't necessarily mean they were bad, i mean i practically just described Nirvana except for maybe the melody part, because Nirvana did have one of the more harmounious grunge sounds.

But yeah angst-ridden bellowing is cool, i like Korn, i like Killswitch, it dosen't mean there bad, just compared to the pixes there in a totally different catogery.

Pixies are more melodic and undistorted, in my point of view.

[SID]

you couldn't just make a thread saying 'the pixies are fucking great'? why does everyone's favorite band at the moment have to be 'possibly the greatest band ever'? ...or, better yet, 'the pixies are one of the most influential bands of the last 20 years'? not as hyperbolic and absurd i know, but a little more objectively accurate, if such a thing is even possible when discussing music.

'bossanova' is not in the same league as 'unknown pleasures' imo...great album, though. that's really the only one i was a huge fan of, but all the older indie kids i knew used to jock the pixies so fucking hard, maybe it turned me off and it's time to re-evaluate.

Don't pay attention to the thread title, i made it when i banged out bossanova and was baked listening to Blown Away, you cant blame me for that...

OK you comparing Pixies to JD, or are you comparing good albums?

Either way there is no comprision between the two.

Maybe theres more of a comparision in say, Daylight Nation and Unkown Pleasures.

[Dr. Simon Hurt]

ok...well you compared bossanova to unknown pleasures in your original post lol

'blown away' is the shit though.

even comparing unknown pleasures to daylight nation i'd have to give it to unknown pleasures...that's like a pitch perfect album imo...the construction and vibe of it...it's just perfect for what it is.

[SID]

Yeah in terms of my fav alternative albums, i didn't compare them though, just tried to give you an idea of how highly i rate Bossanova.

But dude seriously, Unkown Pleasures is almost untouchable, the eerie, dense atmosphere they created is kinda uncreatable, it just happened and that sound will never be recaptured again.

[oDoUoSoKo]

ya but what u said is a bunch of bullshit

[oDoUoSoKo]

ok better example, its like me sayin the pixies did a bunch of bluegrass inspired pro abortion songs.

[SID]

The question is why are you getting so emotional...

What do you find hard to except? where have i offended you?

[rainbow]

I prefer maybe two New Order albums to Unknown Pleasures.

And Closer i like equally probably.

[Dr. Simon Hurt]

interesting....closer is a lot more dour and dreary to me, great album to listen to if you're depressed lol...but it does have 'atrocity exhibition'..now that you mention it, 'movement', 'low-life', 'power corruption and lies', and 'brotherhood' all hold up very well when compared to the JD albums imo

[rainbow]

Yeah, i mean it doesn't really make sense to compare them, but i've definitely listened to Low Life a lot more than Unknown Pleasures.

I'd probably rank Power, Corruption and Lies higher also.

I really like some tracks on Closer, Heart and Soul, Twenty Four Hours and Isolation particularly. Maybe on reflection it isn't quite as consistent as Unknown Pleasures, but i still think overall it's about as good.

As you said, and a lot of others do, it's a bit depressing in some ways. But i find Curtis' lyrics in general maybe less depressing than Sumner's.

Maybe depressing isn't the right word, but a lot of Joy Division tracks had some hope to them, the music was much more dour than New Order, but lyrically it wasn't all depressing.

The majority of New Order tracks from the 4 great albums they released are pretty heart breaking lyrically, Sumner seems pretty obsessed with talking about how everything good eventually turns to shit. Granted, there are some more uplifting tracks, which were never really present in Joy Division's albums.

The lyrics on Low Life are particularly biting and harsh, i find some of those tracks at least as disconsolate as anything Joy Division did. New Order were just less subdued i guess.

[Dr. Simon Hurt]

sumner's nowhere near as good a lyricist as ian curtis; sumner has alot of trite and downright laughable lyrics especially on post PC&L albums...did curtis write low-life? the lyrics are totally unlike their later stuff.

lyrically, joy division were depressing for me alot ---'she's lost control', 'isolation', '24 hours' 'passover' 'the eternal'...alot of it probably has to do with curtis' voice, but 'Closer' as a whole is difficult to listen to for sometimes, probably because i'm interpeting alot of the lyrics in light of his eventual suicide.

i guess with the new order stuff, even the 'inevitable decay of relationships' subject matter was just made more palatable by the music, sumner's tone as a singer, and the fact that it was mitigated by more 'uplifting' songs around it like you said...i don't know i would put it down to curtis' lyrics just being more incisive and intelligent, so his observations and sentiments have more impact for me. sorry, i'm stoned so i'm rambling lol

wow, we got off topic didn't we?

[rainbow]

Curtis didn't write anything for Low Life (i'm not sure if New Order used any of his lyrics elsewhere?).

From memory all band members have credit as having written it. I just assumed Sumner wrote all the lyrics, but i could be wrong.

You know, obviously it's a personal thing, but the lyrics on tracks like 'Face Up' just hit hard to me.

The line "I cannot bare the thought of you" just seems poignant to me, i don't know why, it just is. A lot of people might think that track is saccharine or trite though.

That being said, i can barely listen to Republic, the lyrics (and music actually) is that ridiculous. There are a couple ok tracks, but like: "That's the price of love, can you feel it, if we could buy it now, how long will it last".... jesus price.

And yes, this thread did get way off topic lol, i've been listening to way too much New Order lately haha.

[Dr. Simon Hurt]

That being said, i can barely listen to Republic, the lyrics (and music actually) is that ridiculous. There are a couple ok tracks, but like: "That's the price of love, can you feel it, if we could buy it now, how long will it last".... jesus price.

hahahaha i know what you mean
i fuck with republic though if i've been drinking and i'm hanging out with my girlfriend and feel like camping it up a bit for the evening. it's a nice slice of early 90s house-y cheese imo but in the context of their discography it is a pretty horrendous album.

this track is a jam lol

[rainbow]

I remember reading an interview with them where they were talking about their aesthetic, how they always wanted that homogenised look, like every album was just a product, and then they go and put Republic out with a picture of a couple fighting over a buoyancy aid on the cover juxtaposed with a flaming house haha.

It really is a case of judging a book by it's cover being appropriate.

But

You've probably seen a lot of the tracks i post in the 'what are you listening to thread', i have a penchant for cheesy music of any variety.

And to be honest, just looking at my itunes, i've listened to Republic a bunch of times.

Yes, it is horrible as a New Order album, but maybe saying i can barely listen to it was an overstatement lol.

Listening to it now, it's actually pretty enjoyable. I guess some of those horrible lyrics just stuck with me.

It reminds of late Pink Floyd almost, damn, i still love 'Learning to Fly' haha.