TomAz's Official, Ugly, Totally Threatening Titus Andronicus Misery Slog

[Sexecutioner]

two of those three bands suck though.

well i guess its pointless for us to discuss this then since we obviously have a very different opinion on whats good.

Can you explain to me what you mean here? I am confused. To me, it seems like you are saying rock was at its best when Led Zeppelin was writing "rock anthems." Well, if bands continued to just write "rock anthems," wouldn't these rock anthems eventually get boring and progressively more generic?

i am not saying i want the same style from every band, i'm just saying that's my favorite style, and it seems bands today dont really play anything like that anymore. pearl jam, mmj, white stripes maybe. dont get me wrong, i like lots of other bands, just not into most of the whole noise, experimental, indie crap around.

Exactly, because Zeppelin were about bombast and being "big" and had ridiculous lyrics that were cool maybe, but you couldn't really get too invested in a story about gollum and Mordor or squeezing lemons, whereas Titus Andronicus, especially on the Monitor, is focused on intensely personal lyrics and music with less punch and more motion. Or something like that, which is basically to say that Zeppelin was a band that came before Punk and it shows, and Titus wear their punk influence proudly.

i guess i dont need personal lyrics. for me its more about the music itself, and less about the lyrics. and i prefer cleaner sounds to the noise punk of TA. too much fuzz and screaming, hard to even make out all those personal lyrics hes screaming. that being said, i do still like them and cant wait to see them.

[Sexecutioner]

I will listen to IV occasionally. Like, maybe once a year. I still really really love "When the Levee Breaks".

I is where its at.

[shermanoaksyo]

A kid in my class today was lamenting that there is no "kick ass modern rock n' roll." I immediately played him parts of The Monitor and he balked, saying, "I'm talking more Led Zeppelin rock 'n roll."

UGH/Any suggestions?

[faxman75]

I haven't listened to Zeppelin in years but when I did it was pretty much always IV from start to finish. I liked Sabbath when I was in my teens and listening to hair metal, at the same time I loved AC/DC and old Aerosmith. When I got into alternative I listened to classic rock less and less. Of all of those bands the only one I still love and listen to on a regular basis is Pink Floyd. I love the instrumentation, the arrangments the music is just timeless to me. Some is bluesy, some jazzy and spacey. I love it all. No other classic rock even comes close. I think as time goes on the value of Floyds music has only gone up while the rest haven't even been able to maintain. Just my personal opinion.

[bmack86]

Also, does anyone over 14 and under 45 still listen to Led Zeppelin on a regular basis? Don't get me wrong, Zeppelin are great and they are legends, Page is unarguably one of the best guitarists of all time, and I would jump at the chance to see them if they ever reunited. But really?

EDIT: This was probably a really stupid thing to say... but I already wrote it so I am just gonna go with it.

I've got all their records and I toss them on regularly, because it's good music.

[bballarl]

I get so frustrated with the argument that all music sucks after so-and-so, or that so-and-so was the last band making "real" music. Go on Youtube and read the comments for a Tears For Fears video or something. It's hard to find someone not talking about how Tears For Fears were the last great band making real music, that Lady Gaga/Kings of Leon/whatever is on the radio is crap, nothing can compare, etc. I understand being attached to music that was big (personally, I don't mean on the pop charts necessarily) in the formative years of one's life, but at a certain point it just becomes close-minded and lazy.

I think one of the contributing factors is that it is so much easier to live in a romantic past than the present. Part of music is escapism, and I know that when I started getting into shoegaze and the Stone Roses and stuff like that I wished I was born in 1975 instead of 1988 so I could not be three years old for acid house and the release of Loveless and Spike Island and whatnot. It's easy to want to escape to those times. That line from "Losing my Edge" about borrowed nostalgia for the unremembered 80s (or early 90s, for me) is spot on.

Then I got older and realized that there was a ton of great stuff happening now. Really vital, potentially important stuff. From bands I could see and follow from their beginning. Which was an exciting prospect.

My main point is that it's important for music fans (or fans of any type of art in general) not to get entirely caught up in the past. Study the past, respect and enjoy the work, sure. It's there as a resource, and it is undeniably important. But the reason half of the stuff becomes "important" in the first place is that someone, with the benefit of hindsight, writes about it and is able to put it in broader contextual terms. No one gave a shit about Van Gogh until he died. Hendrix would have probably made some fucking awful albums in the 80s.

I can't wait for people to lament that Lady Gaga was the last "real" music on the radio and that whatever the hit female pop star of 2025 is doing sucks ass. The cycle will always continue.

[TomAz]

I think one of the contributing factors is that it is so much easier to live in a romantic past than the present.

So hey, Andy, let's turn into dirty old men,
Close down the bar every night at the Glen Rock Inn.
Talk about our grandkids as we stroke our grey beards.
Funny we're still doing carbombs after all of these years.

[bmack86]

I just want to have been a teen in the 40s so I could have gone to the cutting sessions in Harlem. There hasn't been any good music since Bird ODed

[hawkingvsreeve]

I was there.




Edit:

I want to be on the Union side for this thing.

[TallGuyCM]

The concept of bombast and the progression/public reaction to it over the years is very interesting to me.

In the 60s, 70s and 80s, it was all about bombast. "Hey, look at me. Worship how great I am. Watch me show off this crazy guitar solo." And people ate it up.

Then over the past few decades the bands that have made the most bombastic music have flickered for a short while and eventually become the most maligned. It really is a tough time for bands who have grandiose ambitions with their music. You kinda have to convince people over and over again that you're not a royal douche. The Arcade Fire is a perfect example of a band who's gone through this recently.

[faxman75]

You should include the 80's in that. There was plenty of me, me, me i'm awesome flashy guitar playing in the 80's. Some of it was solid guitar playing like Slash and Eddie Van and some of it wasn't, for example C.C. Deville from poison and most hair metal stars.

[TallGuyCM]

You should include the 80's in that. There was plenty of me, me, me i'm awesome flashy guitar playing in the 80's. Some of it was solid guitar playing like Slash and Eddie Van and some of it wasn't, for example C.C. Deville from poison and most hair metal stars.

Yeah, fixed. More than ever in the 80s actually! That's prob why the 90s had such a backlash to the whole thing, people overdid it to no end in the 80s.

[bmack86]

Punk had to break at some point.

[bballarl]

I broke punk.

[rage patton]

I will listen to IV occasionally. Like, maybe once a year. I still really really love "When the Levee Breaks".

Me too. Don't get me wrong here, Led Zeppelin is great. Every few months or so I will get the urge to throw on a Zeppelin album. Usually it is IV, thiugh sometimes it isn't. But I really have to be in the right mood to listen to a bunch of Led Zeppelin at one time.

I've got all their records and I toss them on regularly, because it's good music.

Interesting. For me, like I said above, I may listen to a Zeppelin album every few months. I certainly do not listen to them "regularly."

i am not saying i want the same style from every band, i'm just saying that's my favorite style, and it seems bands today dont really play anything like that anymore. pearl jam, mmj, white stripes maybe. dont get me wrong, i like lots of other bands, just not into most of the whole noise, experimental, indie crap around.

Well then why are you lamenting that there aren't any bands like Zeppelin anymore? And, just curious, since you are a regular Coachella attendee and since you aren't into "indie crap," who has been grabbing your attention lately? (Excluding Titus Andronicus)

[JelloPuddingChat]

I want to be on the Union side for this thing.

This will be fucking cool. I think I'm gonna make a thread.

[bmack86]

I'm buying the hat, and I played most of the album for the bar I went to tonight, and I sold my friends who are going to Coachella. I think we'll be Union side, although half of my family fought for the Confederacy so maybe I should represent them? I certainly prefer a blue hat because it looks cooler, and regardless of color I'd like to spraypaint a TA on the top of the cap.

[JelloPuddingChat]

Sweet. I got a thread in the misc section.

[bmack86]

Also, definitely the best album of 2010.

[JelloPuddingChat]

I had this album at number 5 when I ended the year and was in a trance with the Newsom record, but listening to the monitor non stop for the last 3 days has me ALMOST wanting to reconsider.

[bmack86]

Joanna is my favorite artist, bar none, and Have One On Me is a great statement, but I think that The Monitor is a better album. That's really hard for me to say, but I think it's true.

[JelloPuddingChat]

I think it might be the raw passion that the monitor has. Have One On Me is a strong personal change for Joanna, even though she does still hide a bit through concept characters. The monitor is much more relatable and just an unstoppable force that had something to say, knows how to say it and then shoves it down your throat. Still tough to choose. The first time I heard Good Intentions Paving Company I damn near cried because I didn't think music like that could be made anymore.

[thestripe]

I think I'm going to do the hat thing too. It's been a slow process but the Monitor has come around and hit me in a big way. I'm really excited for their set.

[send me ctrpllrs]

Joanna is my favorite artist, bar none, and Have One On Me is a great statement, but I think that The Monitor is a better album. That's really hard for me to say, but I think it's true.

While Joanna isn't my favorite artist, Have One On Me was my favorite album of last year until a few days ago when I realized that I do like The Monitor more.

[TomAz]

[faxman75]

I'm in on the hat thing. This is a top 3 set of the entire weekend for me. I loved this album from first listen. I've listened obsessively from the get go and it hasn't even come close to growing tired on me.

I would like to offer thanks again to this thread because without it I don't think I would have listened to it or found it.

Also, i'm hat shopping. For those just wanting cheap and to participate this might be one of your best bets.

$5 shipped.

http://www.buy.com/prod/adult-union-...209248781.html

[TomAz]

I'm afraid if I buy a Confederate hat I'll be labeled a Palin republican, and if I buy a Union had I'll be labeled an overaged wanna-be hipster. I'm at a loss. Maybe I should just wear a Born to Run t-shirt.

[TomAz]

speaking of overaged.

[MissingPerson]

Accompany the hat with an "I'm not a racist, I just really like Titus Andronicus" t shirt.

Solved.

[TomAz]

Yeah, nothing convinces someone that you're not a racist like leading with "i'm not a racist, but".