Guys I heard the interview on Tuesday and he never said they were better he just offered his opinions on bands which is fine as this is typical media blowing things out of proportion. He was discussing with Howard that he respected fellow grunge bands at the time but always had a competitive mentality that they wanted to be the best which is what drove him. He praised Nirvana and Cobain saying he was a genius and looked up to him. When Howard asked him about Pearl Jam Billy said he didn't get it. He gave them props for being a big act that still sells out arenas but said their catalogue is pretty thin in great songs and doesn't understand the hype. Personally I totally agree with him here. If you stack the Pumpkins best material with Pearl Jam it's not even close IMO that SP has more tracks that are memorable and enduring.
As for the Foo Fighters he praised Grohl (ironically also gave a great interview on Stern last week) but just said they haven't evolved as they are still making the same music as they were in the 90's. That's fair but I like the Foo Fighters because they haven't strayed far from what works. IMO you have bands like Linkin Park that try so hard to evolve they turn into the answer for a question nobody asked for trying to pull off music to which their fans don't particularly want to hear from them. This also applies to the Smashing Pumpkins to an extent as although Adore was in a lot of ways a 180 from Siamese Dream but still brilliant their last album Oceania was missing the edge and was IMO overproduced fluff.
Personally I love that Corgan was candid and not cliché and he had some good stuff on Courtney Love as they dated before she got with Cobain.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Erick Estrada For This Useful Post:
I think the quote is taken out of context. But Corgan is still irrelevant. Foo Fighters are putting out new material, Grohl has projects going on all day long. Pearl Jam, same thing. 10 stands up to anything the Pumpkins ever put out.
I think the quote is taken out of context. But Corgan is still irrelevant. Foo Fighters are putting out new material, Grohl has projects going on all day long. Pearl Jam, same thing. 10 stands up to anything the Pumpkins ever put out.
I will say though 10 is pretty well all Pearl Jam has to hang their hat on. Smashing Pumpkins at least have a handful of good albums.
I think the quote is taken out of context. But Corgan is still irrelevant. Foo Fighters are putting out new material, Grohl has projects going on all day long. Pearl Jam, same thing. 10 stands up to anything the Pumpkins ever put out.
Exactly! He might just be butt-hurt because he was not invited to the x mas party this year.
__________________
Westerner by birth, Canadian by law, Albertan by the grace of God
Summersault 2000? They were just horrible on that tour.
Was there with my wife in Edmonton and Smashing Pumpkins was the worst band that played that day I thought. The only time it got good with them on stage was when Melissa Auf der maur sang. Can't remember the song she played though.
there's NO WAY the Smashing Pumpkins hold a candle to the Foo Fighters. The Foo Fighters are my favourite band though... love em so some major bias. Dave Grohl is a musical genius.
As Erick said above I like the fact that the FF are still releasing music that honours their original sound. Why does a group have to "evolve"? More to the point, most musicians that "evolve" really just move away from the sound that made them popular to begin with. Linkin Park sounds horrible now, whereas their original songs were pretty good, for example.
I have trouble ranking most of the bands mentioned. It really depends on what kind of mood I am in. One day I might think Smashing Pumpkins were the best, and the next day it's all about Nirvana or some other group.
In my opinion though, Eddie Vedder as a pure vocalist blows them all out of the water. Of course, rock music isn't always about pure vocal talent. Still, there are some days where I can still listen to the album Ten and melt in my chair. Not too many bands have albums that are that good from start to finish and are meant to be listened to from start to finish. At least not too many since the 1970s. Nirvana's In Utero was like that too to me.
Edit: I actually don't really even think of Foo Fighters as a "90s" band. They seemed come into their own and dominate more in the 2000s and 2010s.
My personal favourite from that era is Sonic Youth, but they never had that one big commercial hit even if their body of work had overall commercial success.
__________________
"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Last edited by FlamesAddiction; 12-11-2014 at 10:53 AM.
The Following User Says Thank You to FlamesAddiction For This Useful Post:
Yeah they are okay as they have couple of really good songs between them. I think Better Man and Daughter are arguably their best songs but it's just my opinion that his whole grunge yodelling thing got pretty old but I can't deny their best songs are very, very good and hold up better than stuff over that same period from Soundgarden and Alice in Chains.
Personally they would make my top 10 90's grunge band list but after Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins at the very least. While you can lump most of these bands in a blender Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains in particular were easily the most talented of these acts.
Last edited by Erick Estrada; 12-11-2014 at 10:53 AM.
I like Alice in Chains (their new stuff is good, too) and Soundgarden more, but I still appreciate Pearl Jam. Nirvana is elevated above the others a little more because of Cobain's demise (yes, I know he had amazing talent).
Yeah they are okay as they have couple of really good songs between them. I think Better Man and Daughter are arguably their best songs but it's just my opinion that his whole grunge yodelling thing got pretty old but I can't deny their best songs are very, very good and hold up better than stuff over that same period from Soundgarden and Alice in Chains.
Personally they would make my top 10 90's grunge band list but after Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins at the very least. While you can lump most of these bands in a blender Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains in particular were easily the most talented of these acts.
I have kind of a love/hate thing with Alice in Chains. I actually like them more now than I did when they were popular. I can't get over the fact that before grunge broke, they were promoting themselves as a hair glamrock band. While I do like some their songs and recognize their talent, the music snob in me can't help but wonder if they were more of an act.
__________________
"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
Grohl is a world class drummer. Musical genius is a bit of a stretch.
He was a one man band when he recorded the album Foo Fighters. He played every instrument for that recording. Only other current day act I know of (I'm sure there are probably others that I don't know about) that has done that is Lenny Kravitz. Maybe not a genius but a supreme talent I would say.
I'd say PJ have the best live show by far, but I've always found PJ's studio albums to be dull and flat sounding, especially compared to how they sound live. Every FF album I ever bought was a disappointment and never bothered to see them live. Billy's voice sounds like garbage live, but I think Siamese Dream and Melancholy stand tall out of all three groups studio work.
Last edited by Matata; 12-11-2014 at 11:13 AM.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Matata For This Useful Post:
I'd say PJ have the best live show by far, I've always found PJ's studio albums to be dull and flat sounding, especially compared to how they sound live. Every FF album I ever bought was a disappointment and never bothered to see them live. Billy's voice sounds like garbage live, but I think Siamese Dream and Melancholy stand tall out of all three groups studio work.
FF are an outstanding live band. One of the best I've seen. You should check them out this summer when they come through town.
Saw them in Perth a few years back, and even in his music he came across as a self indulgent a-hole. Seemed like he was more interested in looking in a mirror that putting on a show.
Same festival had Duran Duran (ok), Modest Mouse (ok), Queens of the Stone Age (Awesome), but all of those bands were COMPLETELY upstaged by The Presets. I highly recommend them.
