@Rstrahs Love Stabbing Westward... And their "we don't own the rights to the name anymore" band The Dreaming.... Highly recommend their new official Stabbing Westward album (out earlier this year) if you haven't heard it. Walt is back, and so is their original production team. It's beautiful!
@theunabeefer I have heard some of it. It was not bad, the music was great. The lyrics, not so much. They have that problem that a lot of bands seem to have, that 20-something angst doesn't work when the band members are 40+.
@Rstrahs That's kind of how I felt with The Dreaming (they also had issues with the label bringing in producers that really changed their sound), but I didn't get that with the latest Stabbing Westward album... To me, I could tell it was the first album in a long time they actually had control over.
I'm also an audio producer, so I might be biased a bit there... Hearing nuances that I can tell a band has say over...
@theunabeefer I do think the music was excellent and it sounded great in my car. Really, the lyrics are just me being nitpicky.
@Rstrahs That's fair... I'm just happy they're back in their shoes and maybe another album can happen that's maybe more natural... That band went through a lot to get where they are... I still love every iteration.
@theunabeefer After this Bad Religion concert thing that I am watching is over, I will throw on the newest Stabbing Westward album again.
@Rstrahs I almost forgot about Bad Religion. Need to listen again to them.... Weirdly, Godsmack is the one band that really got me after seeing them live........ They were just so precise and perfect live that I can't fault them for anything
@theunabeefer During the pandemic Bad Religion did audienceless concerts showcasing each decade they have been around. I have on the 80s concert and it is amazing. It's sort of like listening to a live version of their compilation All Ages.
Godsmack's first album was great but they went hard with the AIC thing, they were an AIC cover band at one point so it makes sense. I just usually go to AIC when I'm in the mood for that style. I haven't heard Voodoo in forever that's a great song.
@Rstrahs I grew up in far NorCal, and one of the bands I saw a lot was a band from Portland/Eugene called Floater... I've since relocated to the Midwest, but Floater is the one thing from the west coast that I miss... I can't recommend them enough if you like Tool, The Doors, and other things prog and/or Pink Floyd... It truly makes me sad that they haven't reached father east then Denver...
@theunabeefer I have heard of Floater! They are really good.
Where about in the Midwest are you? I am in Cleveland.
@Rstrahs I'm in Chicago... As in, a block from Wrigley, Chicago. Kind of surprised you heard of Floater! They deserve to be better known... Same with King Black Acid (psychedelic rock?) also from Oregon. One of the best bands I've seen live.
@theunabeefer I was a member of random music forums, one was a grunge one and someone on there posted Floater.
@Rstrahs That's funny, because only recently I realized they reminded me of Pearl Jam... Decades of Floater and it took me that long to think "oh this reminds me of PJ"... Although Pearl Jam is also questionable as a technical "grunge" band after their first album, but that's another argument!
@theunabeefer Grunge, in my opinion, was a weird sub-genre of alt rock. Like the big 4 Seattle bands sound nothing like each other. It is that way throughout the entire genre, Mudhoney, Tad, etc. I think PJ had the grunge sound until No Code.
@Rstrahs No Code is actually my favorite... And yes, "grunge" is a weird "not a sound or style, but a sense and feeling" genre that it's really not as easily narrowed down as other genres.
@theunabeefer Have you heard Talk Talk, we are talking about bands that have evolved in sound and style. They are the definition of that. They first had that Duran Duran sound that was popular at the time and then they moved on to help create post-rock.