Rest of The World - Bands - Semi Finals - Kraftwerk vs U2

[johnsusername]

8 hours ago, No2 said:

U2 are being punished for being shit for 25 years. Their work prior to that wipes the floor with every other band in this competition. 

It doesn't wipe the floor with Kraftwerk. Autobahn, Trans Europe Express, The Man Machine and Computer World are all seminal albums. 

 

U2 are a great band, sadly they've trampled all over their reputation since the mid 90s with shite song after shite album and diluted their own legacy. 

 

Bono talks too much. Too much shite. And to be honest I can't even be arsed with their early stuff anymore - all that wailing and gnashing. 

 

Bono has become a bit of a joke and that reflects on the band - like dodging tax through Lithuanian shopping centres. 

 

And The Edge - what's all that about? His name is Dave! 

 

They really dragged their own name through the mud with that iTunes stunt they pulled. 

 

Who knows, if they'd split up after Acthung Baby they'd probably be seen as one of the top 5 bands of all time. But they didn't, and they're not. 

 

Or...it might just be that people on this forum prefer Kraftwerk to U2.

[Mook]

U2 are fucking shite, they've always been fucking shite.

[VladimirIlyich]

9 hours ago, No2 said:

U2 are being punished for being shit for 25 years. Their work prior to that wipes the floor with every other band in this competition. 

That's pretty accurate but those 25 years of dross are hard to forget while the great early years are harder to remember.

[Total Longo]

The majority of the albums that they made with Eno and Lanois are amongst my favourite albums. The Unforgettable Fire in particular is an album that i return to loads, it's just on the cusp of full on experimentation whilst retaining their ear for a tune with the likes of Pride. Likewise Zooropa. The critically lauded No Line on the Horizon is absolute drivel, however, and i agree that almost everything they have put out since Pop has been at best, average. at worst, awful. 

 

The argument that none of them are particularly great musicians is perfectly valid. But i'm all for making the most of the amount of talent that you do have, whilst still being able to experiment and grow in terms of sound. Innovation is the key. On a personal note, i find a lot of prog, classic rock etc way too much up its own backside to enjoy. I can't bear those 15 minute "pieces" with drum and guitar solos that show off the ability of the musician well, but bore the kecks off the listener. Its all very Spinal Tap "Jazz Odyssey" to me.  

 

Kraftwerk rarely over-egg the pudding either, which is why this particular vote has been such a difficult one.

[Bjornebye]

56 minutes ago, Mook said:

U2 are fucking shite, they've always been fucking shite.

Absolute fucking bollocks. 

[AngryOfTuebrook]

2 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

They inspired plenty of artists to pick up the guitar in the same way otehr bands inspired Ossis to do the same. You see, thats how it works. Most British bands of the last 20 years will cast Oasis as one of their inspirations to get into music. Oasis were massive and a huge influence on a generation. No matter what your Kraftwerk shagging hipster "oh its cool to slag oasis off" outlook is, they were massive. 

Oasis were massive in the sense that they shifted plenty of units.  They may have inspired plenty of people to think that catchy guitar riffs were a surefire route to drugs and fanny, but they never fired anyone's creative impulses.

 

Someone like the Velvet Underground sold comparatively nowt, but they were genuinely inspirational in a way that Oasis just weren't. 

 

Even in terms of the ripple effect of inspiring people to form bands, Oasis are lots of storeys below Lonnie Donegan or a single Sex Pistols gig in Manchester. 

[Juniper]

1 hour ago, AngryofTuebrook said:

Oasis were massive in the sense that they shifted plenty of units.  They may have inspired plenty of people to think that catchy guitar riffs were a surefire route to drugs and fanny, but they never fired anyone's creative impulses.

 

Someone like the Velvet Underground sold comparatively nowt, but they were genuinely inspirational in a way that Oasis just weren't. 

 

Even in terms of the ripple effect of inspiring people to form bands, Oasis are lots of storeys below Lonnie Donegan or a single Sex Pistols gig in Manchester. 

Gotta disagree with you there.
 

Without wanting to get into the whole Oasis thing much but as someone who has been in bands for decades and has spoken to hundreds of musicians in that time Oasis inspired tons of people to start bands or start playing instruments, especially in the 90’s.
 

Can tell you that from experience from speaking to people. People may have quickly expended their musical taste but they did have an impact. 

[SasaS]

1 hour ago, AngryofTuebrook said:

Oasis were massive in the sense that they shifted plenty of units.  They may have inspired plenty of people to think that catchy guitar riffs were a surefire route to drugs and fanny, but they never fired anyone's creative impulses.

 

Someone like the Velvet Underground sold comparatively nowt, but they were genuinely inspirational in a way that Oasis just weren't. 

 

Even in terms of the ripple effect of inspiring people to form bands, Oasis are lots of storeys below Lonnie Donegan or a single Sex Pistols gig in Manchester. 

That is pretty much the history of rock (or all pop music for that matter). Don't quite understand why would all those would be musicians have to wait for Oasis to suddenly see the light.

[Mook]

16 minutes ago, SasaS said:

That is pretty much the history of rock (or all pop music for that matter). Don't quite understand why would all those would be musicians have to wait for Oasis to suddenly see the light.

It was timing, Oasis filled a big void (in Britain) where dance music had generally taken over a bit & kids were ready for a guitar band to come along & smash the doors open. They were perfect for that & inspired a whole generation to follow suit.

 

I'm no Oasis fan but would back Jupiter up 100% on his post, my experience was the same back in the 90s.

[TheHowieLama]

Cobain inspired more. Maybe not in Manchester but certainly world wide.

[SasaS]

17 minutes ago, Mook said:

It was timing, Oasis filled a big void (in Britain) where dance music had generally taken over a bit & kids were ready for a guitar band to come along & smash the doors open. They were perfect for that & inspired a whole generation to follow suit.

 

I'm no Oasis fan but would back Jupiter up 100% on his post, my experience was the same back in the 90s.

OK, but I don't quite understand this void of guitar bands, admittedly I was not that much focused on the mainstream British scene at the time, but if someone asked me, without checking, I would have been certain there were more than enough other successful guitar bands at the time.

[Tony Moanero]

Kids, generally speaking, listen to contemporary music. In this country in the mid-nineties, Oasis and Blur were as mainstream as it gets. Their music was everywhere and lots of teenagers listened to it.

 

 

[Mook]

4 minutes ago, SasaS said:

OK, but I don't quite understand this void of guitar bands, admittedly I was not that much focused on the mainstream British scene at the time, but if someone asked me, without checking, I would have been certain there were more than enough other successful guitar bands at the time.

There were loads of successful guitar bands about at the time but not inspiring kids to pick up guitars like Oasis did.

 

Oasis were the mid 90s equivalent to The Beatles or Sex Pistols in terms of getting kids starting bands across Britain. Easy chords & a singer with a bit of charisma goes a long way.

[Bjornebye]

Oasis had a huge impact on music. People see a handful of songs that got overplayed to death on the radio and the personas of the Gallagher brothers then forge an opinion based on that. Can't be arsed even discussing it with people like that. 

 

Anyway this isn't about Oasis, U2 have just been knocked out by a keyboard. 

[TheHowieLama]

1 minute ago, Mook said:

Easy chords & a singer with a bit of charisma goes a long way.

Mick Jagger liked this

[SasaS]

16 minutes ago, Mook said:

There were loads of successful guitar bands about at the time but not inspiring kids to pick up guitars like Oasis did.

 

Oasis were the mid 90s equivalent to The Beatles or Sex Pistols in terms of getting kids starting bands across Britain. Easy chords & a singer with a bit of charisma goes a long way.

Come to think about it, yes, they did stand out a bit with their attitude, I can see that, whilst other big Brit pop bands looked like they belonged, Oasis were more like the people who were not supposed to amount to anything but they made it big, huge, through music, whilst retaining the fuck you attitude. Plus I guess successfully reworking the heritage, already in public's "collective consciousness". Brazen, arrogant, sounding like the new Beatles.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

3 hours ago, Mook said:

There were loads of successful guitar bands about at the time but not inspiring kids to pick up guitars like Oasis did.

 

Oasis were the mid 90s equivalent to The Beatles or Sex Pistols in terms of getting kids starting bands across Britain. Easy chords & a singer with a bit of charisma goes a long way.

That's a good point.  In the early 90s, nobody listened to Suede and thought "I could do that". Skiffle, punk and Oasis's simplistic riffs (and truly daft lyrics) gave the impression of being fun and easy: irresistible, really.

[VladimirIlyich]

Oasis v Blur was like The Beatles v The Rolling Stones of the 90s. It gave the mainstream British music business a boost that it probably hasn't had since and maybe never will.

[cochyn]

It's easy to forget just how tribal and polarised popular music was when Oasis burst onto the scene. Rockers rocked and ravers raved and never the twain would meet. Then all of a sudden everyone dropped their cudgels and got behind Oasis in a way I'd never have expected. Big anthemic tunes delivered with a swagger and a proper fuck you attitude: Rockers to ravers loved it equally. For me, Oasis smashed the fallacy of tribal music fandom to pieces. 

[AngryOfTuebrook]

3 hours ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Oasis v Blur was like The Beatles v The Rolling Stones of the 90s. It gave the mainstream British music business a boost that it probably hasn't had since and maybe never will.

The emphasis on "business". There were people making much better music, but it was the hype around those two that made the Christophers*.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*If Americans can make "Benjamins", why not?

[VladimirIlyich]

1 minute ago, AngryofTuebrook said:

The emphasis on "business". There were people making much better music, but it was the hype around those two that made the Christophers*.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*If Americans can make "Benjamins", why not?

Music has always been a business and always will be. As much as we all like music to some degree,every musician wants to get paid for their time and effort, even if many don't.

[Mook]

3 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Music has always been a business and always will be. As much as we all like music to some degree,every musician wants to get paid for their time and effort, even if many don't.

Believe it or not, some people simply play music for the sheer joy it brings.

[VladimirIlyich]

4 minutes ago, Mook said:

Believe it or not, some people simply play music for the sheer joy it brings.

Yes,which is why I said 'many don't.' But we are talking about professional artists here and not just 'bedroom players' or 'family strummers.' I am learning guitar for fun but if I was the ages that Oasis and Blur were back then I'd certainly be looking to get paid for it once competent and in a band.

[Mook]

41 minutes ago, VladimirIlyich said:

Yes,which is why I said 'many don't.' But we are talking about professional artists here and not just 'bedroom players' or 'family strummers.' I am learning guitar for fun but if I was the ages that Oasis and Blur were back then I'd certainly be looking to get paid for it once competent and in a band.

You said 'every musician wants to get paid for their work'.

 

I'm a professionally trained musician myself & have played hundreds of gigs for free because I loved the music. Plenty others do the same.

[SasaS]

What is a proffessionaly trained musician?