Wall of Mouths

Currently that would be Firegarden

http://www.firegarden.co.uk

And very nice guys they are too.

Title: Charity Gig Thursday 9th

Some local Sheffield rock bands are doing a gig at The Grapes on Trippet Lane on Thursday 9th to raise money for Mencap. Doors at 8pm, tickets £2. If you only go just to support the local gigging scene then that would be just brilliant.

I don’t know their stuff well enough to comment. But they are only youngsters so perhaps they have a bit of talent lurking inside there just waiting to burst out. I mean, they weren’t the worst band I’ve ever seen (that would probably have to be Schism).

Perhaps they should go onto the “keep an eye on” pile.

Sabotage wrote:

My theory is that most bands have got 6 good albums in them, then they start either getting worse or just churn out the same old stuff.

I’d pretty much agree with that and add to it. I think the time between album releases affects this. Bands who get one good album then churn out lots of stuff in quick succession and allow themselves to become slaves to the money making machine ultimately end up producing utter pants. Bands who allow themselves a bit of space to relax often come back with some of their best stuff. I think this is because the rest allows them time to experience new things, or the old things in a new way. Without that your creativity gets stunted.

Obviously, there are exceptions to every rule.

Yes. I saw them live way back in March. They were the opening act on the Over the Moon Tour (from Moonska Europe). I didn’t think they were anything special really. Bit too much like lots of other bland poppy stuff that supposedly passes as punk these days.

I’d definately go see a band I’d never heard of. I go to small local gigs all the time. OK so you can’t always guarantee the quality of the music. But just occaisionaly you get some good, cheap entertainment. Every band has to start somewhere. The good musicians get encouraged and the bad ones get told to sod off.

I think I’m going to see Spineshank in a couple of weeks time (they are one of the bands on the Roadrage tour I think). Not sure I’d buy their albums coz it sounds like so much other stuff to me. But I think it’s good in a club situation so hopefully should be good live. If I like them live I’ll be more likely to buy their albums, probably.

As for Amen, not really heard any of their stuff so cant comment.

On average I buy about 4 or 5 CDs a month. Mostly stuff I wanted to get when I was in my teens but didnt have the money for and the occaisional new one. The last time I bought any was two weeks ago. Bought Placebo, Indochine, Dead Kennedys and Morbid Angel.

I’m “Hey” - and it’s all far too true. How unbelievably freaky.

dano wrote:

I know what you mean about bands spending loads of money in order to sound “raw”. I remember Def Leopard doing something similar a while back!

Oh god all the “big names” seem to try it at some point in their career. Any album where the band tries to make it sound “raw” ends up sounding so artificial. They try too hard.

just to add my tuppence worth. I was really looking forward to St Anger after having had the pleasure of hearing some of the tracks live at the Download festival.

But the album is SO crap I haven’t yet managed to play it all the way to the end. I tried so hard to like it but the simple truth is, it sucks big time. It’s boring, repetitive, got bugger all emotion in it, the lyrics are crap, the drums sound like bean cans. The production makes it sound like a band in a bloody big posh studio trying to recreate that small band in a garage feel. Well, if they wanted that, they should have recorded it in a bloody garage! Instead it just makes them sound right up themselves - “look at us we can make any old crap and you suckers will like it just coz it’s got our name on it”.

allroy wrote:

But, anyway, it’s interesting to see all the different musical tastes T? fans have.

True but not suprising really. I’ve come to the conclusion that those of us who are even vaguely interested in “alternative” music (by that I mean stuff that generally doesn’t make it into the popular charts) generally have much broader tastes than those who listen exclusively to the corporate backed pop charts. They also tend to be a lot more open minded about other stuff too.

How do you people manage to choose? When faced with such a question, my mind goes blank. I’ve listened to many great albums over the years and apart from the most recent I have a real problem remembering what they were until someone else mentions them.

One of my personal faves - Suicidal Tendancies “Lights, Camera, Revolution” which I think was released in the ’90s.

dano wrote:

What amazed me was how “official” sources ran the story as fact, I mean..what the hell do their researchers get paid for if they don’t even attempt to verify the story as being correct or not?!

That’s a general problem with most things on the internet. Most info is never verified and pranksters rely on the fact that people take everything they read as fact with no question (journalists/researchers included).

We all fall for it, and it’s all very funny (eventually - once you get over the “I am a prat” feeling).

And in my opinion, it’s just the kind of daft thing Metallica would do so it makes seem even more plausible.

Title: Any unsigned metal bands out there?

This is perhaps a cheeky use of this board, but I’m trying to help a friend of mine out. If you or someone you know is in a metal band and you fancy a gig in Birmingham, UK, then you might be just what my friend is looking for. He’s organising this gig and has a slot to fill. If it sounds like something you’d be interested in, please get in touch with me (smallandblue@hotmail.com) and I’ll pass your details on.

You’d have thought it would be easy to find a metal band in Birmingham, but apparently that just ain’t the case.

Cheers.

Title: Re: The Darkness

Notorious wrote:

The album’s great! I love it all.

Well my brother bought me the album and I’d love to hear it but thanks to the wonderful copy right protection software IT WON’T BLOODY PLAY ON MY CD PLAYER!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn’t be more peeved.

OK I understand the need for artists to protect their work, but this is too much! It’s not like my equipment is ancient - I only bought this CD player last autmun!

I’ve been reduced to bringing it into work and playing it on my pc there. AND before I do that it wants to bloody intstall software on my machine. This is totally crazy!

I think they’re great. My neighbours have a different opinion though ;)

Mr Sky High wrote:

…so why people doesn’t have balls to show for example these videos on TV (or even play in radio)???

AARGH!!:)

I would imagine it’s because most people who like that kind of music have more sense than to waste their precious time and money phoning to vote in pointless polls where bands get videos played based on the proportion of votes they get (I’m particularly talking about the tv stations like scuzz, kerrang and p-rock). If I was the kind of person to phone a vote in, I’d expect to see that video at least once but that just isn’t the way it works. They alter the playlist and a video’s relative frequency based on the band with the most votes that week. So those fans that want to hear something specific (like Anthrax - why the hell aren’t Anthrax being plugged?) would have to spend a fortune phoning loads of times in a week.

In short, music tv channels are a bloody con.

Yep, new Anthrax album is way better than St Anger. I’ve not actually managed to make it to the end of St Anger before the boredom takes hold and I have to switch it off. It’s so bloomin DULL. Shame coz when I saw Metallica at Download it was obvious they could still cut it live (although how much of that was based on the crowd reaction I don’t know - they could have just stood their for 40 minutes and the crowd would have still gone wild). So why’d they make such a bloody pants record?

But Anthrax - well all I can say is that’s how metal is supposed to be. And their energy was amazing. They were throwing themselves about the stage like demented animals.

But I don’t think you can compare T? stuff with either of those bands - it’s a much different style.

Title: Anthrax (merged)

Went to see them last night at Leadmill in Sheffield. Small venue, big band, bloody mayhem! Today I’m deaf and ache everywhere. They were bloody brilliant!

On first listen, I think it’s OK. Biggest problem for me is that it sounds like a lot of other stuff so doesn’t really stand out as “hell f*in yeah” type stuff. But I’d probably consider giving it a second listen.

I think they put on a damn good live show, but I’m not sure I like them enough to buy any of their records.

Well, I quite like Farse (from Birmingham, England - ska punk sort of stuff but more heavy than most of the stuff around). Sola Beat Alliance (formerly known as Spankboy) are also very good if you like that kind of thing (very party type Ska, once they actually get their album released it’ll be a great summer party album). Actually, there’s quite a thriving ska movement about in the UK at the moment. 4ft Fingers are another good British punk band.

But in terms of heavier rock type stuff, I’ve not found any good unsigned/ not well known bands recently. I’d be interested in any recommendations. Most of the decent stuff seems to be coming out of Scandanavia at the moment.

arvid4prez wrote:

You mean when they back-stabbed Maiden (who were the real headliners)? :mad:

Personally, I wasn’t overly impressed with Maiden’s performance (and I like Maiden so it was a real disappointment for me).

But considering Metallica played on a different day to Maiden, I can’t see how them being there should upset anyone. Upstaging the bands that were due to play on Sunday, that’s true. It’s the poor sods who were on the main stage at the time I feel sorry for. Can’t have been fun watching half the crowd disappear on you.

I have a David Soul album (which my mum bought me when I was like 3 I think - I loved Starsky and Hutch you see).

Other than that, I have albums by most of the bands already mentioned and add King of the Hill, Poison, and Limbomaniacs to the embarrassment pile. Oh, and Erasure.

Now I’m going to crawl back into my cave and die of shame.

IMHO having watched Metallica yesterday when they suprised the lot of us at Download - they put on a mighty fine show and the songs they played off the new album sounded bloody brilliant to me. Of course, I was wetting my pants just because they were there, so my opinion may be a tad clouded.