RRCCA IV

Will be fun guessing these.

I actually like a lot of stuff. I really don’t view anything as a guilty pleasure, as I have done my damnedest to eliminate that thinking from my appreciation of music/film/television. If it works, it works, you know? This meant I couldn’t choose those 80s pop gems or that smooth-ass yacht rock I do love so. I really had to go outside of my wheelhouse.

that I’d forgotten I love.

Maybe Cumbawummba – I get knocked down?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_DV54ddNHE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZyBmN6hWsk

Nor is my love for Michael McDonald era Doobs.

My school has that…..I think it’s the most important decision of my life

I didn’t judge you on your song… but by not correctly following the rules… No biggie.

who has seen them in concert at least 30 times. I don’t get it either. I get that they’re an especially good live act.. but they’re not the second coming of the Beatles.

Usually just him and Tim Reynolds… I have a friend who would blow the dude if given the opportunity, and he talked me into learning some of their riffs on guitar… Ever since I have been addicted to learning how to play all of his songs… I’m not really a fan of his voice, and I don’t pay attention to lyrics… But the shitty guitar player in me is fascinated with his guitar work.

As of the age of 18 I had not drank or smoked, and I fell in with a group of guys that showed me the ropes. They were huge music fans. They played guitar and worshipped Seven Mary Three, Guns ’N Roses, Kiss, and the like. This was 1998.

Dave Matthews showed up on the scene as a primarily acoustic guitar player set in an electric band that the mainstream had never before heard. As Dadunca points out, they had a little bit for everyone. Namely that Tim Reynolds had taught Dave Matthews some mad licks on the guitar, Stefan Lessard was literally a world-class bass player, and more credit was given to the band probably because they had roots- black men on drums, strings, and saxophone. This was a whirlwind for the music scene at the time, because they were a house band with chops that played pop music for the masses. And Dave Matthews was charismatic- telling dirty jokes in between songs while straddling the good-guy-in-a-corrupt-world image.

So there I am, 18 in 1998 exposed to “adult” music that was catchy, and damn they could play too. This was beset in a world just removed from the onset of Brittany and Backstreet and the likes. During my first year at college, I skipped two finals to see DMB without knowing a lot, other than my friends thought they were the coolest (and their first CD is damn good). The show they put on involved Tim Reynolds on electric guitar in Ames freaking Iowa. It was magnificent.

Then came the Dave & Tim Live at Jesse album that provided some of the best guitar work that has been displayed in a pop culture setting. An acoustic album just as the “acoustic scene” was hitting big. No one wanted to hear the studio version anymore; they wanted the stripped down “real-to-life” version. Dave & Timmy provided a little of both.

Dave’s image proceeded as a drunken do-gooder, and he populated the mass media with talk show performances showing his quirky potty humor, but all-the-while remained highly musically talented and charming. So…my theory on “what is it with Dave Matthews?” is that the band actually has talent and they provide something that is done damn well that appealed to a lot of people that didn’t try to punch you with an agenda. The appeal was for the average joe and for the clinical musician, and found a niche in the acoustic field just as it was emerging, like the Titanic hitting the ice berg.

I loved Dave Matthews at the time, and still find a spot for listening to his, and his band’s, music. I will say that Everyday was about the most disappointing album I have ever heard, period. Their last album was a return to former greatness, but I see Dave now as a Jimmy-Buffet type that will long endure fame and success, but will never again be a huge player in the “it” crowd or popular music scene.

Post-Crash, they’re especially bad. Then again, jam bands have never really had any appeal to me.

I liked the very first Audioslave single… Hated pretty much everything since… So it was even worse for me to get that excited only to be ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED!

but a couple thoughts:

Cornell’s vocals just aren’t the same as they were in 1992. He somewhat shot his vocals.
Rage’s rhythm section was great for pure, unrestrained anger, but not for the mellow-ish material that was suitable for Cornell. Audioslave’s material was mostly pretty mellow (with exceptions like Cochise and Revelations, which were great songs). Cornell was also clear that he wasn’t interested in singing political lyrics, which changed the focus of the band somewhat.

I think Audioslave’s final album is actually underrated, for what it’s worth.

I just take another pull off the bong and move on.