Favourite Thing About TGA?

I'm sure this has been pondered and debated before but the other day something got me thinking about what really drew me to TGA. My first experience of them was seeing Springsteen play with them at Glastonbury (wasn't there, BBC iPlayer) and I figured if he was playing with them they must be good. So I bought their stuff to date (then I think just S/S and T59S). Since then I've been hooked.

However what got me thinking happened the other day in work. I work in a HMV store (Music/DVDs/Games etc to any non-UK users) and a customer asked me who's CD I had on the player. I said it was Gaslight Anthem's new album etc, showed them where to find it and told them a bit about the band, recommended THC too. Then they asked something to the effect of 'You seem to like this band a lot, what is it that makes them stand out for you.'

Now to me, the first thing that drew me to them was 1. The sound of the music is very much my kind of thing. Guitars, rock n roll and such, and 2. Springsteen's endorsement.

However I realised that what was really making me listen over and over again and get more involved really wasn't the music on its own, as we all know it's not exactly groundbreaking new music but it is excellently written, composed and produced.

What really hooked me I realised was Fallon's lyrics. There's something in every single song that on one level I know exactly what he's saying, what message he's communicating, and on another I can empathise with it, apply it to events in my own life and every single song has relevance. The choice of words, phrasing and use of language to paint the scene or tell the story is something I personally have not become so attached to in any writer other than Phil Lynott. With Lynott it's more linguistic, but with Fallon, as odd as it sounds, it's more heavily emotional. There's substance to TGA lyrics that just doesn't exist with Rihanna or Snow Patrol and many other bands where you get the impression that they use lyrics just to fill space. To me music is communication, and Fallon achieves it with every single song. As a guitarist I appreciate the guitars and the construction of songs etc, but what really clinches it and makes me turn on TGA over Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher, Foo Fighters, Stone Sour or any other of my favourite bands is Fallon's lyrics.

So that's why I absolutely love TGA and that's my answer when somebody asks me what makes this band different, I just wondered what everybody else's defining aspects were?

Well said. Couldn't agree more. Good lyrics have always been the #1 thing I look for in music. There are numerous good lyricists and a handful of great ones from my grandparents and my parents generations but I had given up hope that I'd ever find a really great one in mine. Brian proved me wrong on that one.

And while they're not reinventing the wheel musically, there's still...something, I don't know what, that's different. Not in every song but in the majority of them. There's something in their style that just stands out as slightly different than the rest of todays rock bands. Maybe it's just their willingness to combine so many subgenres that we basically just have to call them a "rock" band now.

It's really hard to put your finger on what makes them special, isn't it?

For me, a lot of it comes down to Brian's singing. He can take the dumbest song (see: Teenage Dream) and make it deep and meaningful. There's a passion in every note that tears right through you.

There's also something to be said for how the other band members mesh together. With all due respect to their tremendous musical talents, there's nothing about the way Alex R plays guitar or Alex L plays bass or Benny drums that really is different from numerous other individual performers out there. But put them together and they produce a unique sound that's mesmerizing.

I know it's rock n roll, but I feel TGA have a unique sound like nothing I've ever heard in band before. I don't quite hear the Springsteen some people insist, but just pure raw rock n roll. Combine this with Fallon's writing and it's a match made in Heaven.

You guys hit the nail on the head.

And for me personally its just real good music

njguy99 wrote:

It's really hard to put your finger on what makes them special, isn't it?

For me, a lot of it comes down to Brian's singing. He can take the dumbest song (see: Teenage Dream) and make it deep and meaningful. There's a passion in every note that tears right through you.

There's also something to be said for how the other band members mesh together. With all due respect to their tremendous musical talents, there's nothing about the way Alex R plays guitar or Alex L plays bass or Benny drums that really is different from numerous other individual performers out there. But put them together and they produce a unique sound that's mesmerizing.

Hmm...I'd disagree on Alex R. I'm not talking pure technique, but the guitar parts he comes up with are always interesting, rarely similar and always serve the song and improve it. He never plays too much and never plays too little. That's a skill very few guitar players possess or care to learn.

But I get what you're saying. It's all about those four guys and how they sound when they come together.

JackStreetcar wrote:

Hmm...I'd disagree on Alex R. I'm not talking pure technique, but the guitar parts he comes up with are always interesting, rarely similar and always serve the song and improve it. He never plays too much and never plays too little. That's a skill very few guitar players possess or care to learn.

But I get what you're saying. It's all about those four guys and how they sound when they come together.

You could say the same thing for Benny's drumming too

The Lyrics, The raw emotion, an the truthfulness behind every song .

brian's shirts

Completely unrelated but I'm absolutely delighted that responses to this post have come from Canada, USA, Ireland and Isle of Man. Without TGA we may never have ever come into contact, but because of their music and our collective appreciation of it, we've managed to converse when we may never have done so otherwise. Mad Ted.

njguy99 wrote:

JackStreetcar wrote:

Hmm...I'd disagree on Alex R. I'm not talking pure technique, but the guitar parts he comes up with are always interesting, rarely similar and always serve the song and improve it. He never plays too much and never plays too little. That's a skill very few guitar players possess or care to learn.

But I get what you're saying. It's all about those four guys and how they sound when they come together.

You could say the same thing for Benny's drumming too

Yep, definitely. Not that Alex L is bad...hell, Handwritten showed him stepping up his game big-time.

JackStreetcar wrote:

njguy99 wrote:

JackStreetcar wrote:

Hmm...I'd disagree on Alex R. I'm not talking pure technique, but the guitar parts he comes up with are always interesting, rarely similar and always serve the song and improve it. He never plays too much and never plays too little. That's a skill very few guitar players possess or care to learn.

But I get what you're saying. It's all about those four guys and how they sound when they come together.

You could say the same thing for Benny's drumming too

Yep, definitely. Not that Alex L is bad...hell, Handwritten showed him stepping up his game big-time.

I agree. I think that while it's not like any of them will go down in history as one of the best on their respective instruments they're all worth noting as very skilled. Especially when a lot of rock bands today don't have much "flavor" in their music. Like these guys aren't playing something you've never heard before but they're taking what you have heard and making it their own. I think Benny is one of the only drummers that I actually listen to. Like sometimes I put on these songs and just listen to his parts. I don't do that with any other bands to be honest.

Me too! Haha don't know if the exclamation point was warranted, but I listened to Handwritten the other day and suddenly became entranced with what Benny was playing. He always comes up with interesting parts.

I've never even attempted to play drums, though I'd like to, but I've sort of come to the conclusion that the drummer makes or breaks the band.