Soundgarden

Another band long overdue a mention in this shitty blog; although their inclusion is for a slightly odd reason...


There was much sadness and wailing and gnashing of teeth when Soundgarden broke up way back whenever it was.  The sadness was replaced by a sense of profound disappointment when frontman Chris Cornell joined with the remaining three quarters of Rage Against The Machine to formed what appeared to be a Led Zeppelin tribute act.  Not that Audioslave were particularly bad; they were just far less great than the sum of their parts.  Similarly, countless Cornell solo efforts failed to fill the Soundgarden-shaped void in my soul.


And then a year or so ago came news that Soundgarden had reformed.  And not just one of those got-a-mortgage-to-pay festival circuit take the money and run reunions, either (although there does seem to have been a lot of that); there were promises of new material...


Which brings us up to a few days ago, when I learned that a new song, Live To Rise, was available for free download from itunes.


I grabbed a copy straight away, of course; but I haven't dared listen to it yet... because what if it's shit?  It's their first new release for a million years, it was written for the soundtrack of a blockbuster film about spandex-clad superheroes... it has middle of the road written all over it.


And so instead I'm listening to all their old stuff again, because at some point Soundgarden were definitely the greatest band in the world ever.  Meanwhile, as long that new single stays tucked away on my hard drive without me hearing it, they could be the greatest band in the world ever...











Website: http://www.soundgardenworld.com/
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/soundedenmusic
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Soundgarden
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soundgarden

Melvins

I've mentioned before that I dislike repeating myself here.

Hence the delay. I kind of hoped that something else would pop up and rock my entire world.

But in a week where I saw the Melvins play to a sold out Thekla, there was only going to be one greatest band in the world ever.

Website: http://www.melvins.com/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/themelvins

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvins

Melvins

I made a very conscious decision to leave my mp3 player behind when I went on holiday. Partly because it's just another thing to lose/break/drop into my fruity cocktail; but mainly because if I had taken it with me I would have spent the entire time time listening to the Melvins, to the complete exclusion of all other activities. Including sleeping, eating and washing. And it would be shame to go all the way to the Greek Islands without trying out their leading brand of shower gel at least once.

A few days before I left, my good friend Smith gave me a heads up that they would be playing in my favourite shipwreck in November; I immediately squealed with delight, bought a pair of tickets and ordered two more records for good measure. Nine days later, and I am still giddy with anticipation. The next two months are going to be hard to get through.

Plenty of other people have tried before me to explain how fucking great this band is; and as much as I'm in favour of plagiarising the best bits and standing on the shoulders of giants, I fear that this will merely provide me with a better view when I too run out of superlatives. You'll just have to take my word for it that the Melvins are way better than your favourite band, and probably have twice as many drummers too.

Website: http://www.melvins.com/

Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/themelvins

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvins

Nirvana

I bought myself the Live At Reading DVD a week or so ago, and it's just reminded me how great these guys were.

They didn't write the best songs, they weren't the most talented musicians, their shows weren't the most explosive or legendary (apart from the explosive and legendary ones). But I've yet to find anything that sends the same shiver down my spine as the first time I listened to Nevermind.

And yes, I do realise how horribly clichéd that sounds.

Website: nope

Myspace: nope

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nirvana_(band)