Good together, Intolerable seperate

[Baby Shoes]

A lot of times people enjoy the original acts best of all. Of course most will pick the Beatles as a whole over the majority of their solo careers, however Lennon and McCartney still produced good music away from the group.

Although they are NOWHERE near the talent levels of the Beatles, I recently had the thought of the topic at hand about the Black Eyed Peas. All their solo projects annoyed me so much, I completely forgot the fact some of their old stuff was really enjoyable until it recently came up on my iPod randomly. While I wouldn't necessarily go seeking out a lot of their stuff these days, some of their old songs still hold up well, while the solo project usually make me turn off the radio

So the main question is, are there any musicians that you enjoy in one grouping that you cannot stand in other forms?

 

[THE KEELEDOVER KID]

Love GNR. Love STP. Velvet Revolver was a colossal waste of time for everyone involved.

And what the fuck was Audioslave all about?

Know who I'd like to see in a supergroup one of these days? Beck.

 

[Red Baron]

I still listen to Audioslave first album regularly and it was one of the better albums in 2002.

 

[Red Baron]

Phil Collins Genesis stuff isn't that bad, but his solo output is awful.

 

[CanadianGuitarist]

I like both Audioslave and Velvet Revolver, but neither can hold a candle to their predecessors.

 

[Youth N Asia]

Paul McCartney is pretty unremarkable on his own.

And Mick Jagger makes awful solo music. I think he needs Keith around to tell him what's no good

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

I could make a compelling argument that McCartney's solo stuff is nearly as good as Lennon's. If we're comparing Lennon's career with McCartney's career up until 1980, I honestly think it's pretty even. Both of their first two solo albums were great and then everything after was spotty. McCartney just had the musical disadvantage of living into old age. Besides Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and maybe Neil Young (maybe Springsteen too), how many rock artists have continued recording good to great music into their fifties and beyond?

I downloaded The Best of Mick Jagger on Ruckus a year or two ago and it isn't very good but I won't call it awful. It all just sort of sounds likes slightly lesser album tracks from any Stones album from the past 25 years. I'd probably include him on the list though. There was a great cover of "Too Many Cooks Spoil The Soup" from the '70s on there that was produced by (incidentally enough) John Lennon.

 

[Byron The Bulb]

Besides Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and maybe Neil Young (maybe Springsteen too), how many rock artists have continued recording good to great music into their fifties and beyond?

Sonic Youth

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

Are they really that old? *checks wikipedia* Wow, they are. Now I feel old!

 

[Czech]

Besides Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, and maybe Neil Young (maybe Springsteen too), how many rock artists have continued recording good to great music into their fifties and beyond?

Frank Zappa was great till his death and even beyond. Bruce Springsteen stopped making good music by his mid-thirties.

Of all the various acts in the Wilco universe, the only one I could never get behind was The Autumn Defense. I don't get it. Just sleepy acoustic crap for college kids who make a big show out of liking the Beatles, if you ask me. Emily Haines was a fine contributor to Broken Social Scene, but Metric's output is fair at best, and Knives Don't Have Your Back is some of the worst crap of recent vintage (lost this one two hard drive crashes ago and never bothered to recover it): just vague annoying lyrics while playing whole notes and never letting up on the sustain pedal. The real crime is that it ganks the cover art from Escalator Over the Hill! That one's a mindfuck. This is just boring.

 

[Lord of The Curry]

Audioslave is certainly not RATM but they're by no means bad. "Like a Stone" came up on the iPod randomly today and I enjoyed the shit out of it.

 

[Skywarp!]

The last two tracks of the first Audioslave album had a smooth, blusey feel to them and were simply excellent songs. What made them great is that Morello played actual guitar solos on those tracks instead of smacking us in the face with another laser-powered buzzsaw noisefest.

 

[BurningPirateShipSex]

To be fair, Czech, Emily is Paul Haine's daughter. Maybe it was a tribute?

 

[Czech]

I'm aware of that, but it doesn't make it less of an affront to weird-ass jazz.

 

[Black Lushus]

I may catch some flack for this but....the Wu-Tang Clan, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Not that a lot of the solo work is intolerable or anything. I mean, there are some down right great solo albums out there, but when the guys are together, it just sounds so much better.

 

[Lord of The Curry]

But the guys "are together" on a ton of the solo (and that term is used loosely here) albums. Look at Only Built for Cuban Links....

- Guillotines (Swordz): GZA, Raekwon, Inspektah Dek, Ghostface.
- Verbal Intercourse: Raekwon, Nas, Ghostface
- Wu Gambinos: Raekwon, RZA, Method, Master Killah, Ghostface.

I mean, some of their best songs are on solo albums, yes, but it's not like a ton of members have been absent for them.

My favorite Wu album is a toss-up between Liquid Swords and Enter the 36 Chambers so this is a tough call for me. We could do a spin-off thread on this topic alone.

 

[Black Lushus]

I understand what you're saying, but an album featuring Ghostface on every single track wears thin on me at times. Not that he's bad, but I like variety.

 

[EHME]

I may catch some flack for this but....the Wu-Tang Clan, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Not that a lot of the solo work is intolerable or anything. I mean, there are some down right great solo albums out there, but when the guys are together, it just sounds so much better.

I feel the same way about Tha Dogg Pound, and Boot Camp Clik.

I mean both groups when they went solo have had really good albums. But together they just make magic.

 

[THE KEELEDOVER KID]

I loved Death from Above 1979, but MSTRKRFT is just boring and Sebastian Grainger's solo stuff is only so-so.