Is Mumford & Sons the worst band out there today?

[Mickey Massuco]

I couldn't imagine an American act trying to offer an updated take on New Kids on the Block.

This is insulting, and also hilariously misguided in retrospect. Mid-late 90s was filled with NKOTB wannabes!

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

YPOV, Incandenza is right. The Backstreet Boys were the first in the wave of NKOTB wannabes. In 1996 (when I think Backstreet Boys first video was), it certainly wasn't cool to pay homage to New Kids. It took like a year or two for the boy bands to really break in the States but when they did it was huge.

MuchMusic was on my cable system in the early '00s. It was where I first heard 50 Cent like a half minute before MTV. What I mostly remember is a lot of Our Lady Peace and watching the network so much that I kind of bought into the idea theywould break thought in the States and be the rock act of their generation.

Our Lady Peace had a few hits on rock radio (and a few minor pop hits) so it's not like they're like the Tragically Hip here (who I think still play arenas in Canada) but man, thirteen year old Kamala really whiffed on the prediction of them being the U2 of our generation. Doesn't help that they got their big push in the States around the time Strokes and White Stripes were getting big and sweeping arena rock like Creed and stuff was becoming passe.

 

[Incandenza]

Yeah, the B-Boys were the first of the New Wave of Boy Bands. It wasn't until after they blew up that I learned that they were not Canadian at all but from neighboring Orlando.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

YPOV, Incandenza is right. The Backstreet Boys were the first in the wave of NKOTB wannabes. In 1996 (when I think Backstreet Boys first video was), it certainly wasn't cool to pay homage to New Kids.

Hey, I did say in retrospect!

Fun fact: Serena Williams once said Our Lady Peace was her favourite band.

 

[vivisectvi]

Yeah, the B-Boys were the first of the New Wave of Boy Bands. It wasn't until after they blew up that I learned that they were not Canadian at all but from neighboring Orlando.

Didn't they start out popular in Europe or something, then Canada and then the States?

 

[Cackling Co Pilot Kamala]

NSync, Backstreet Boys, all of those bands hit it big in Germany first : then UK then Canada and finally U.S.

It's really weird how small the gap between NKOTB and the boy band revival was. It was like five years at most. Gap between BSB and NSync and One Direction was much bigger.

Funny thing about Backstreet Boys, is that when their first U.S. album came out, they were briefly marketed as a R&B group.
http://youtu.be/iWLrodg2ryc

 

[Incandenza]

A 5-7 year window played a part in why I assumed they were Canadian. My knowledge of popular Candian music in the mid 90s was based entirely on the Canadian bands I'd see on MuchMusic, and a lot of them had a sound that was commonly heard on U.S. pop radio in late 80s/early 90s. Hence why I thought Backstreet Boys were Canadian, too.

 

[BUTT]

Funny thing about Backstreet Boys, is that when their first U.S. album came out, they were briefly marketed as a R&B group.
http://youtu.be/iWLrodg2ryc

When NKOTB's debut album came out, they were signed to Columbia Records' black music division. ;D

 

[Incandenza]

Backstreet Boys were signed to Jive Records, which was largely a rap label until it made a move into whiter, poppier territory.

 

[NoCalMike]

Mumford & Sons. I had the "pleasure" of listening to their music on a road trip down to LA once. My friend and friend of friend(s) were talking this band up like they were the second coming of Queen or something so I expected to at least not hear the most boring uninspired music I've heard in a good decade. That may be going overboard, but it was just built up so much. They probably aren't THAT terrible, but I'll never listen to them again by choice.

I think I am more amazed at the folks who gush over them. There is no reference point, as in how they were directed towards them, it's not like they listen to any of the more authentic folksy style bands. I have no idea why they settled on Mumford & Sons.

 

[vivisectvi]

Monsters of Folk > all the rest.

 

[vivisectvi]

A 5-7 year window played a part in why I assumed they were Canadian. My knowledge of popular Candian music in the mid 90s was based entirely on the Canadian bands I'd see on MuchMusic, and a lot of them had a sound that was commonly heard on U.S. pop radio in late 80s/early 90s. Hence why I thought Backstreet Boys were Canadian, too.

I get that. I probably though they were Canadian as well, to be honest.

 

[DrVenkman PhD]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-3lNFHQz9Q

Wouldn't be possible without them.