Your heroes, are they PAST IT?

[Hat FM]

Gruff Rhys is 50 now but still making great indie pop music which earns many repeat plays for me. Not sure if he's ever tempted to do another sfa album but i imagine this suits him more as the other members would want an equal share of the creative output and to be blunt they aren't quite as gifted as Gruff. I hope he'll be making albums until he is grey and old.

[Chicory]

Yes, not to do the other lads a disservice but whenever I hear new stuff by Rhys I just imagine that's roughly what a new SFA record would sound like.

[Hat FM]

Yes, not to do the other lads a disservice but whenever I hear new stuff by Rhys I just imagine that's roughly what a new SFA record would sound like.

yeah though maybe with a bit more beaty stuff provided by Cian and just a bigger sound generally i think.

[DrGreggles]

That Das Koolies single was great though.

[Chicory]

October 2019 German TV' 'performance' says 'no, M'Lud' (the two backing singers can't hold a candle to Kim & Maz either). For comparison, here's the same song being perfomed on The Tube in 1983 (though the sound man fucks up Kim & Maz's mic levels)

Ach, that's painful to watch. Well done Paul for just about managing to grunt out all your own lines, instead of giving up despondently half way through to let your backing singers do 'the tricky bits'.

[jamiefairlie]

Ach, that's painful to watch. Well done Paul for just about managing to grunt out all your own lines, instead of giving up despondently half way through to let your backing singers do 'the tricky bits'.

More than a hint of 'baby babyyyyy' about that.

[Egyptian Feast]

Gruff has a new one out in the next few days, doesn't he? I ordered a 'Dinked' edition of it, whatever the fuck that is. He's never disappointed, though admittedly I haven't heard the Tony Da Gatorra album. I would prefer a new Neon Neon album over a new SFA, tbh.

[jamiefairlie]

I'll need to throw Dead Can Dance under the bus here too. Nothing interesting since the 90s, as they noodled away on their bongoes and bird noises instead of pretending to be medieval monks.

[Nowhere Man]

Half Man Half Biscuit are still pretty good

[jamiefairlie]

They are 😃

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Mogwai- I think their long slow decline began around about The Hawk is Howling but with little periods of decent stuff following intermingled with averageness.

I'll second the poster who mentioned Clutch for consistency, I still look forward to each release and still enjoy the fuck out of Neil Fallon's lyrics and JP Gaster's groove laden drumming.

[Tombola]

Please, someone, get Weezer to stop.

Tough to imagine a band with further diminishing returns after Blue and Pinkerton, two of the best albums any band has ever released. Patchy from there, but moments of joy, particularly The White Album which was genuinely delightful.

After that, fucking hell. They just won't fucking stop. The Black Album isn't just the worst album Weezer have made, it's the worst album anyone has ever made. I've refused to listen to anything else they've made after that abomination, despite them probably being my favourite band on paper.

I'll see them when they do the inevitable Blue/Pinkerton tour but fuck everything else. Awful.

They just released 'Van Weezer', and it's more of the same Black Album shite....

In an interview that month with Entertainment Weekly, Cuomo mentioned that an album tentatively titled Van Weezer was in the works, and that it would take the band "back to big guitars". He remarked that when the band would perform "Beverly Hills" live in concert, he would perform a guitar solo that was not present on the recorded version of the song. "We noticed that, recently, the crowd just goes crazy when I do that. So it feels like maybe the audience is ready for some shredding again."

...But with slightly more guitar.

I really don't know who it's supposed to appeal to.

[peanutbutter]

Please, someone, get Weezer to stop.

Tough to imagine a band with further diminishing returns after Blue and Pinkerton, two of the best albums any band has ever released. Patchy from there, but moments of joy, particularly The White Album which was genuinely delightful.

After that, fucking hell. They just won't fucking stop. The Black Album isn't just the worst album Weezer have made, it's the worst album anyone has ever made. I've refused to listen to anything else they've made after that abomination, despite them probably being my favourite band on paper.

I'll see them when they do the inevitable Blue/Pinkerton tour but fuck everything else. Awful.

I think Weezer have kinda rehabilitated themselves to be honest. EWBA was pretty good, the White Album was shockingly good and from what I've heard OK Human is pretty solid. Rivers losing his mind and becoming overly bruised by Pinkerton's reception led to a pretty rough 10-15 years of trying to reachieve past glories, but I think it also kinda set Pinkerton a pedestal it doesn't really warrant. the White Album really wasn't that far off Pinkerton for me.

Rivers Cuomo being a dude who seems to knock out an album or two a year, mostly below average but with some odd bursts of greatness seems like all I could have ever realistically expected from him. Erratic as fuck sure but has never truly lost it (beyond the youthful energy and less-creepy innocence of the debut)





Anyways Burial would be my main pick for this, and possibly maybe Kanye although he's proven me wrong before.

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Just looked up public ratings from this site for Weezer:

https://rateyourmusic.com/artist/weezer

Fuck me that is a long string of mostly shit, decades of it almost.

[Goldentony]

Weezer's been saved by them being around for ages and anyone who originally gave them the time of day just fucking them off to get on with it, its the Green Day paradox

[pupshaw]

Roy Wood, on the other hand, has been past it longer than I've been alive.

Roy Wood is such a funny case. He seemed to completely lose interest in the business of writing and recording music in the late 80's, although you could
possibly trace that back to the late 70's. Less successful obviously, than his run from 67-75, but he was quite adaptable and ambitious musically in those
years, then nothing. I wish he'd been more active. Everything he has done has some appeal to me.

[DrGreggles]

Roy Wood was ripped off in The Move, learnt his lesson, now makes a fortune from the re-recorded Christmas song he wrote that he owns ALL the rights to (as he only licensed the new version for availability about 40 years ago).

Does he even write songs any more? Or does he just sit around all day in his solid gold house?

[Goldentony]

did he not make anything off The Move? I haven't seen if he's the writer but writing Do Ya, Brontosaurus and Turkish Tram Conductor Blues should get you a medal

[Brundle-Fly]

October 2019 German TV' 'performance' says 'no, M'Lud' (the two backing singers can't hold a candle to Kim & Maz either). For comparison, here's the same song being perfomed on The Tube in 1983 (though the sound man fucks up Kim & Maz's mic levels)

God, I remember Young being on The Tube what seemed every other week.




You're going to tell me now that he only ever made one appearance on The Tube, ain'tcha?

[Brundle-Fly]

Er, I wasn't implying your opinion is 'wrong' or that you're past it. I like his 60s stuff, too!

I wasn't implying you were implying, just saying that often Scott Walker fans are divided by which Scott style is superior. I admired him so much for his 'Tilting' and 'Drifting' just didn't want to listen to it.

[buzby]

God, I remember Young being on The Tube what seemed every other week.

You're going to tell me now that he only ever made one appearance on The Tube, ain'tcha?

Three times, apparently - I suspect having the backing singers from Mr. Boogie Woogie Stylings' band probably helped. They were all in 1983 (tail end of the first series and start of the second) which makes sense, as he dumped Kim & Maz for the follow up to No Parlez, so Holland would have probably been a bit peeved with him.

[Jockice]

God, I remember Young being on The Tube what seemed every other week.

And when he wasn't it was Tina Turner. I'll still never forgive Heaven 17 for inflicting the croaky old bat on us again.

[TheMonk]

October 2019 German TV' 'performance' says 'no, M'Lud' (the two backing singers can't hold a candle to Kim & Maz either). For comparison, here's the same song being perfomed on The Tube in 1983 (though the sound man fucks up Kim & Maz's mic levels)

That audience is very generous. Not one bottle.
More like F*ck Off and stay home for good this time, Paul.

[pigamus]

I remember years ago reading a story about people demanding their money back after seeing him. He's clearly one of those people immune from embarrassment. Or maybe he just needs the money.

[phantom_power]

I remember years ago reading a story about people demanding their money back after seeing him. He's clearly one of those people immune from embarrassment. Or maybe he just needs the money.

It is really sad seeing something they used to be good at, and probably the only thing they can really do now, and failing so badly. Just locked in this cycle of going on stage to be embarrassed because there is nothing else they know

[the science eel]

At least he's staying in his range and not reaching for those high notes. He knows his limitations!

Nice chap too, apparently.

[Bently Sheds]

did he not make anything off The Move? I haven't seen if he's the writer but writing Do Ya, Brontosaurus and Turkish Tram Conductor Blues should get you a medal

Roy Wood wrote Brontosaurus, Bev Bevan wrote Turkish Tram Conductor Blues and Jeff Lynne wrote Do Ya (which he subsequently re-recorded for a post-Wood ELO album). Wood should get a medal for Curly, Omnibus and Fire Brigade at least.

Speaking of Mogwai, I suspect you could rustle up one half decent album from selected tracks taken from their releases after The Hawk Is Howling. Most of the new Mogwai stuff I hear just sounds like AI is generating Mogwai music.

Sigur Ros were great up to Takk, then just went to shit. Wasn't that after the keyboard player left?

The Church were great up to Gold Afternoon Fix, but then went extremely dull. I've never dared to listen to anything after that album for fear it will taint the love I have for their jangly, psychedelic early stuff.

[Brundle-Fly]

I remember two girls at my college once got chatting with Paul Young in a pub in Earl's Court in '86. He wanted to play them the new stuff he'd been working on and asked if they'd like to join him for a spin in his open-top sportscar. They agreed and spent the afternoon cruising around West London listening to demos on his car stereo. They even went into the West End to pick out some shirts for him because his wife wasn't in the country, later he bought them lunch. Not once did he make a pass or made them feel uncomfortable but after that, they never saw him again. I always thought that was quite cool. 'Nice chap', as The Science Eel said.

[The Culture Bunker]

The Church were great up to Gold Afternoon Fix, but then went extremely dull. I've never dared to listen to anything after that album for fear it will taint the love I have for their jangly, psychedelic early stuff.

I put that down to pressure from the label to come up with another 'Under the Milky Way', as well as the usual rock and roll trappings (drugs). 'Ripple' from the Priest=Aura album was great, but I've not been inclined to investigate further - seems they're still going now, albeit with Kilbey as the only original member.

Shame, as you say. I listened to Starfish a few days ago, and it still holds up. None of the production horrors you'd expect from a late 80s "commercial breakthrough" album.

[phantom_power]

I remember two girls at my college once got chatting with Paul Young in a pub in Earl's Court in '86. He wanted to play them the new stuff he'd been working on and asked if they'd like to join him for a spin in his open-top sportscar. They agreed and spent the afternoon cruising around West London listening to demos on his car stereo. They even went into the West End to pick out some shirts for him because his wife wasn't in the country, later he bought them lunch. Not once did he make a pass or made them feel uncomfortable but after that, they never saw him again. I always thought that was quite cool. 'Nice chap', as The Science Eel said.

I believe that is what they call a "no no no no, yes" story