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Chowder

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Everything posted by Chowder

  1. Silvermedalist, let them have their fun. I actually thought Ady's big banner headline was meant to be taken seriously, but obviously I was wrong. But all this pissing and moaning will get us nowhere. However, regardless of whether LZ are indeed the best band ever, I think it's fair to say that they're a whole lot better than Sabbath. Here's how I see it: Sabbath were humble and unassuming tree-fellers, whereas Zep took wood and fashioned fine carvings out of it, or wrote holy books on the paper. Or, if you prefer, here's a geographical analogy: Zep were the Cambridge to the Sabs' Manea. As a fellow resident of Cambridgeshire, I'm confident that Ady will appreciate what I'm getting at here.
  2. An eminently sensible suggestion, Ady. I'm still smarting from being accused of sounding like a Rolling Stone writer. But I'll get over it. Right then - anyone for a Sabs v Purple bun-fight?
  3. How very patronising, and how very predictable that you bring up King Crimson. All the worst musical snobs, pedants and pseuds usually do. Fascinating as well to learn that, despite having spent over 40 years listening avidly and open-mindedly to most forms of popular music and possessing a semi-decent grasp of music theory, I am nevertheless a 'casual listener with an untrained ear'. Seems I've been wasting my time, and that all the value judgements and emotional investments I've made over the years have been wrong or worthless because I haven't understood what I'm hearing. Duh - I quit. I'll leave it all to the bedroom pros.
  4. Who said I was replying to you, Electrophile? Get over yourself.
  5. Wow, it seems you're actually being serious here, danelectro. I really thought you were kidding. Ok then, FWIW, here's my assessment: PARANOID: With the exception of Planet Caravan, which is a pleasant enough but essentially one-dimensional and repetitive groovy magic carpet ride, the whole album boils down to simple, heads-down-no-nonsense-mindless-boogie. The only variation within or between the songs is provided by jarring time-changes and the Frankenstein-esque welding together of incongruous segments. Admittedly, this was one of the Sabs' trademarks, but in their early days it made for frankly comical listening at times, and it took them until SBS to master the art of linking the disparate passages to create a flowing, cohesive whole. Iommi's soloing is repetitive and generally directionless, somewhat akin to a cat chasing its tail, and is widely accepted as not being his strongest suit. Ozzy's vocals are strong but one-dimensional, and he was and remains incapable of carrying a ballad, or emoting anything other than anger or insanity. LZII: Whilst still principally founded on basic blues structures, the song construction and balance was a vast progression from LZI, which I have always seen as a fairly grey, almost dismal album. But by LZII, their construction of segmental songs was vastly superior to that of the Sabs. WLL and BIOH, for example, move through various differing sections, but those sections form a pleasing and logical coalescence. Plant's deftness of touch on WIAWSNB, Thank You and Ramble On were a joy to behold, and something Ozzy could only dream of achieving. Page's riffing was considered, varied and sensibly paced. The expressiveness and variety of his soloing is evident and undeniable throughout, but peaks on Ramble On and WIAWSNB. The balance, poise and elegance of his slide solo in the latter is one of his high-water marks IMO, and that song alone is an object lesson in the 'light and shade' for which LZ are rightly revered, and which the Sabs almost totally lacked. As for the rhythm sections, whenever the going gets tough, Ward and Butler are all over the place, but JPJ and Bonzo stay tight as a gnat's chuff throughout. And Moby Dick OWNS Rat Salad.
  6. Hahaha, you guys are killing me. If any of you were a little older, you'd know that the Sabs were considered the red-headed stepchildren of 70s British rock. FFS. And don't lecture me on muscial sophistication. It doesn't take a graduate from the Royal Academy of Music to compare & contrast the first 4 albums by Zep and Sabbath. It took the Sabs until their 5th album to add any diversity and colour to their narrow, monochrome vision. And what the hell has George Benson got to do with any of this? Whatever next - The Who eclipsed by the Bee Gees? Unbelievable.
  7. Great as they undoubtedly were, the Sabs were a fairly bovine band, in all respects, compared to Zep. Very unsophisticated, and not very classy. Kind of like the Pistols compared to The Clash.
  8. Oh no, no no NO, not Sabbra Cadabra! I've never liked that song. I always skip it. Sounds like a dumb-ass yank boogie jam band to me. I've never heard any Grand Funk Railroad or Black Oak Arkansas, but that's what I imagine they sound like. But maybe I'm being too harsh on the Sabs there. I'll never know. Sabotage is their masterpiece. That album just ROCKS from start to finish. That would be in my Top 5 Heavy Rock Albums Of All Time, with PG, Who's Next, Ride the Lightning and Unleashed in the East.
  9. Hey there SM, sorry about that, I think I got you confused with your good friend 'Jethro Tull'. But it's an easy mistake to make - you two are alike in so many ways. But you do LIKE Tull, and that's just plain wrong, IMO. (Scratches head, furrows brow.) Glad to see you agree about the cake, though. Women, eh - can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. But I could never live without cake. Can't get enough of it, it's just not possible. A cake will never let you down. Dave Mustaine is the true King Of Riffs, btw. No contest. Just ask Hetfield, he'll tell you the same.
  10. I'm listening to them all in sequence. Tomorrow will be Memphis 17.4.70 and Phoenix 18.4.70. Might even get onto Shepton Mallet 28.6.70. I'm looking forward to that one.
  11. Well, I haven't had any cake today, so I'll take that, thank you! With you on Keef. Never was so little stretched so far. But I think Silvermedalist prefers his music lightweight. He worships The Eagles and Jethro Tull, you know. As for Iommi, I'd be surprised if he wrote ALL the Sabs' riffs.
  12. Symptom of the Universe Sweet Leaf Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Into the Void Electric Funeral Supernaut Black Sabbath Come on then, what's the prize? For anyone interested in Sab covers, I can recommend 'Masters of Misery: An Earache Tribute'. Brutal Truth's cover of 'Lord of This World' is, well, brutal. And Fudge Tunnel's version of 'Changes' has to be heard to be believed. There's also a great version of Frank Zappa's favourite Sabs tune, 'Supernaut', by 1000 Homo DJs (aka Ministry).
  13. LMFAO. I know those aren't your words, Swede, but that is total bullshit. KiwiZepFan, make sure you check out Sabotage (by far their best, IMO) and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, especially 'Killing Youself to Live' which for some inexplicable reason is omitted from the best-of posted above. The quality drops massively for the last 2 Ozzy albums IMO, but the Dio era is a return to form, though I don't really think his vocals & lyrics work as well iin the Sabs as they did in Rainbow.
  14. FON is a very 'classy' album, perhaps a little too slick in places, but definitely very high quality. As an unreconstructed & unapologetic knuckle-dragging ZepHead, my favourite is probably Manic Nirvana, followed by Pictures at Eleven.
  15. Good god, would you look at the size of those hands? If we'd had her in goal at the World Cup, we'd likely have won it. BTW Atlas, although I do tend to agree with your opinion on the quality of ladies featured here, I do hope you're not including the divine Charmane Star in your assessment.
  16. Judas Priest, 2005. Have I missed anything worthwhile?
  17. Never liked Tull. Far too baroque for my tastes. I keep expecting to hear a Crumhorn Chorus. Medieval flamingoes in codpieces? No thanks.
  18. Thanks Steve. But I was thinking more in terms of quality of material and live performances. I suspect he would have thought he was in the greatest band long before 73. I've thought of another question: 'Hey Jimmy, could you burn me a copy of Dundee-ism, please? I can't find the bugger anywhere.'
  19. One of the very best. He had it all, and should've been much, much bigger. I don't think I've ever seen anyone who put more into their live performances, and he always looked like he was having a really good time. Great lyricist too. First thing of his I heard was Tattoo, and I got seriously obsessed with Who's That Coming. Back then, I didn't know what slide guitar was, but the intro and the solo were like nothing I'd ever heard before - a really intense performance. Love all his stuff, but out of the later albums, I'm particularly fond of Photo Finish. Mississippi Sheiks and Brute Force & Ignorance - totally brilliant songs.
  20. They must mean 1968. Can't imagine them playing their first ever gig in the middle of Germany, they day before their first credited gigs in Denmark.
  21. I would ask him at what point he realised Zep were the greatest band in the world, how did that feel, who he feels has come close to rivalling them, and did he ever think that they would STILL be the greatest, head and shoulders above any other band, 30 years after they split.
  22. Sorry Steve, but Axl's totally out of order. It's not as if he got hit in the face with a real bottle, or even a can. These were apparently plastic glasses. So he's not the tough guy he thinks he is, either. Back in the punk days, I remember seeing Gaye Advert (the Adverts' female bass player) getting a full beercan in the face. Yeah, they stopped for a bit and told the offender to fuck off, but then they just carried on. No melodrama, no hissy fits, and guess what - there was no repeat offence. Plastic glasses, FFS - what does he expect when he totally disrespects his own crowd? I saw Gnus 3 times in the 80s & early 90s, and the only time they made it onstage punctually was the first time, in autumn 87, when they weren't yet Big Stars and couldn't get away with that shit. Christ, even Zeppelin didn't keep me waiting. With all his millions and after all these years, you'd think he'd have found a way by now to control his demons and get his act together. Maybe he has, and maybe all that's left now is his hard-wired truculence and disrespect. Axl, if you're reading this, here's something Beta probably won't have told you. It will solve all your problems. It's something I learned from my Looney Tunes ex-wife. Are you ready?: If you don't want to be late, set your watch an hour fast.
  23. Now there's a reunion I would love to see. But if they wanted to record a new album with any decent songs, they'd need to call Izzy too.
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