Gaslight Anthem = meh

Here's what Michael MacLennan had to say about TGA:

Meanwhile The Gaslight Anthem trudge through a perfunctionary - if well received - slew of blue-collar punk-rock anthems.
They pull out Miles Davis And The Cool and though I'd consider it
little to get excited about, the crowd happily appear to disagree. Ho
hum.

I understand when someone doesn't like a band or type of music, but when they put it in a way that reveals their elitism and shameless inability to see past their own nose... it really burns me. Attitude is everything.
I mean, "Ho hum?" Could you have a drumstick shoved any further up where the sun don't shine?

Source

douche

"the crowd happily appear to disagree."

- and so they should!!

Well I guess if the crowd disagrees, then his opinion really doesn't matter one bit.

Ah exactly.

simo wrote:

Well I guess if the crowd disagrees, then his opinion really doesn't matter one bit.

agreed. who is this guy anyways?

Oh right! Forgot to link to the article:
http://entertainment.stv.tv/t-in-the-park/news/108559-seasick-steve-goes-into-battle-at-t-in-the-park/

damn

the focus of the article is on Seasick Steve... who is seasick Steve?

Well, its good to see that there is only 1 negative feedback about TGA in the world eh? haha, whadda douche nozzle

e7c wrote:

the focus of the article is on Seasick Steve... who is seasick Steve?

He's a guy who plays a battered old guitar with just two strings.
Seems pretty good what I've heard of him... but that's not the point. lol.

Stevearm wrote:

Well, its good to see that there is only 1 negative
feedback about TGA in the world eh? haha, whadda douche nozzle

Hehe. Yeah.

e7c wrote:

the focus of the article is on Seasick Steve... who is seasick Steve?

Seasick Steve is fantastic; I heard him at Hyde Park on the Saturday, and he was worth that day's admission alone

also, I had come across the same article (via my Google alerts), but thought it just wasn't worth posting (there will be more nay sayers, as the band gets bigger, but I don't need to read about it on here)

he's a terrible writer! not just cos it's negative about gaslight (!) but he just seems bored writing it. at least if he feels that they weren't any good show some passion and reason behind it not just trail off with a ho hum! muppet!

this is the most negative review i've seen about '59. from Jesse Raub of punknews.org:

Quote :

Here's the thing: I get it. I understand that the band conjures up the
same kind of energy and affinity for '50s rock 'n' roll culture that
Bruce Springsteen did in his heydey. I understand that. But I have
issues with this album. If you strip away the image, the styling, the
cultural references and overlays, you're left with basic mid-tempo
four-chord boring modern punk music. Now, it's understandable that Born to Run's
Spector-ish production might be a little intimidating. There are a lot
of bells on it. But Max Weinberg didn't play the same drum pattern for
every song, 15 to 20 beats a minute difference in tempo. And Bruce
didn't let Stevie Van Zandt play the same crappy guitar parts over and
over. And Bruce built his songs on basic chord progressions. It's hard
to say this (maybe it isn't), but Gaslight Anthem is just another
gimmick band. Replace the tattoos and Chuck Taylors and white Lincolns
with Balkan music and you've got Gogol Bordello. Replace it with Irish
instrumentation and you've got Flogging Molly. These bands are all just
flavors of the week. Now I think these kids may be onto something, but
we've got to be honest here: It's unimaginative, repetitive, and
derivative. And hey, if we're all shouting "It's just like Bruce
Springsteen" as a selling point, why don't we just go back and listen
to Bruce Springsteen. The man has at least six albums worth of solid
material. There's no need for a half-assed tribute if we've got the
original at our fingertips.

http://www.punknews.org/review/7921

wow! she wasn't impressed was she?!

Jukebox Romeo wrote:

this is the most negative review i've seen about '59. from Jesse Raub of punknews.org:

it seems that this is turning into the thread to dump all the negative links/reviews in

at least they're all in one place though!

I thought that was the whole point of the TGA Army section!

I dont understand the point in including the Gaslight bit at the end. It reeks of shoody writing it seems like an after thought that he just tagged randomly on.

Jukebox Romeo wrote:

this is the most negative review i've seen about '59. from Jesse Raub of punknews.org:

Quote :

Here's the thing: I get it. I understand that the band conjures up the
same kind of energy and affinity for '50s rock 'n' roll culture that
Bruce Springsteen did in his heydey. I understand that. But I have
issues with this album. If you strip away the image, the styling, the
cultural references and overlays, you're left with basic mid-tempo
four-chord boring modern punk music. Now, it's understandable that Born to Run's
Spector-ish production might be a little intimidating. There are a lot
of bells on it. But Max Weinberg didn't play the same drum pattern for
every song, 15 to 20 beats a minute difference in tempo. And Bruce
didn't let Stevie Van Zandt play the same crappy guitar parts over and
over. And Bruce built his songs on basic chord progressions. It's hard
to say this (maybe it isn't), but Gaslight Anthem is just another
gimmick band. Replace the tattoos and Chuck Taylors and white Lincolns
with Balkan music and you've got Gogol Bordello. Replace it with Irish
instrumentation and you've got Flogging Molly. These bands are all just
flavors of the week. Now I think these kids may be onto something, but
we've got to be honest here: It's unimaginative, repetitive, and
derivative. And hey, if we're all shouting "It's just like Bruce
Springsteen" as a selling point, why don't we just go back and listen
to Bruce Springsteen. The man has at least six albums worth of solid
material. There's no need for a half-assed tribute if we've got the
original at our fingertips.

http://www.punknews.org/review/7921

Well atleast this person gave some legit reasons why he/she didn't like TGA and hey more power to 'em. But seriously...

Quote :

If you strip away the image, the styling, the
cultural references and overlays, you're left with basic mid-tempo
four-chord boring modern punk music.

...what band doesn't have all 4 of those ingredients in the band..then they'd all be 'four chord boring modern punk' and to me it sounds as if this person wants some extra instrumentation or something, like guitar solos and all that crap (I don't like guitar solos AT ALL, I get it, you're good at your instrument, now get back to the song!)

the image and the styling?
some people see what they want to see.

Stevearm wrote:

I don't like guitar solos AT ALL, I get it, you're good at your instrument, now get back to the song!

oh I love guitar solos, but they have their place; there isn't a single TGA song that says 'play guitar solo here', but they sure have a place in many Springsteen songs (sometimes in place of a sax solo), where they work really well; and then there are solos like in the Chilli Pepper's 'Wet Sand', where a single note is made to work wonders, and Guns and Roses' 'Civil War', and ... (oh, I could go on, like Neil Young does with his solos, admittedly)

Ok those are exceptional, but I don't like the whole 'metal-band solo' examples: Trivium, Slipknot, All That Remains etc. I don't like that hardcore solo type stuff, I don't mind the whole 'Jimi Hendrix' type solo, know what I mean?

Stevearm wrote:

Ok those are exceptional, but I don't like the whole 'metal-band solo' examples: Trivium, Slipknot, All That Remains etc. I don't like that hardcore solo type stuff, I don't mind the whole 'Jimi Hendrix' type solo, know what I mean?

ok, now I do know what you mean, and with that I'm happy to agree

Yeah, but I think it's unfair to take that distaste and apply it to guitar solos in general. It's not like Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Steve Vai, etc are "exceptions" to any rule. If anything, I'd say metal solos are really in the minority in the grand world of guitar. And even then, who doesn't enjoy the guitar solos in Metallica's One, or Van Halen's Volcano?
On top of that, what about awesome virtuostic instrumentals, like Classical Gas or Cliffs of Dover? I mean, they're almost entirely guitar solos!

I see what you're saying you like and don't like, but to say you don't like guitar solos b/c of it... way too broad a statement.