Posted by R. Griswold (198.24.75.34) on October 24, 2019 at 11:33:39:
In Reply to: Re: Not to be too "obsqueescious" (as Dana Carvey said impersonating Dennis Miller)... posted by GabeFu on October 18, 2019 at 08:07:01:
Obviously, this was 20 long ass years ago, but honestly it would be one thing if Rich had some nice riffs and pieces to work into a new album, but he didn't., IMO.
I am glad people like Lions or whatever, but I hear the disjointed CR?RR relationship all over it like I do with Warpaint and BTF. It was never the same in the studio IMO, after what Band was.
I mean the gimmicky Lickin, Cosmic Friend, Ozone Mama, the recycled riff on Cypres Tree? All awkward for me for various reasons.
After reading the Gorman book, the bottomline for me is, once they put money as the #1, it was all over. The millisecond they all got huge checks from Sony and saw their money was back to the lifestyle they (CR/RR) wanted, TBC was cooked creatively, IMO.
When the money was a cherry on top to their own art from 1990-1997, that's the Black Crowes on why people even bother posting here, IMO. Otherwise, it's really just that incredible 6-7 year run the greatest all time bands all seem to have.
Anything past that, is a fractured, sort of bits and pieces of who they were, where it never fully came together with the CR/RR base of the writing, with the awesome, as important sprinkles and cherry on top from Ed and Marc.
I don't disagree at all that it's unlikely Page had little songwriting cooking at that time, but I mean, Lions material? It's horrible.
Even the songs people sort of like like Midnight from the Inside out, is middling for their catalog.
Again, once they lost their way and that CR/RR creative bond fractured FOR THE MONEY, it was all over. That was their focus; how to strategically make it seem like they were the same band.
Remembering back, deep down, as you were following that band at that time, for me, anyway, that's what I knew was happening, but didn't want to admit it.
Once spring '99 rolled around, I was pretty much checked out and realized what had happened.
2005/early 2006 was great and the closest they've ever come to be genuinely a true band again, albeit with money as the carrot.
Isn't it ironic a really good album named Band, which sort of showcases the best the Crowes have to offer musically, songwriting, sound-wise, etc, SHOULD have been this really successful bounce back album in the Fall of 1997, being really an isolated, good rock record in line with what PJ was doing and maybe STP, etc, some legit bands at the dawn of a horrendous era, musically?
It's just classic Crowes..have this really great thing, and then find a way to sabotage the shit out of yourself in the process.
There's so much in that book that confirms what I always thought, but we just never had the stories to go with all of the embarrassing pitfalls.