What is the best Greg Dulli related album/release? Afghan Whigs, Twilight Singers, Gutter Twins and solo

Gentlemen in landslide.

gentlemen will probably win, but my vote is for black love.
overlong, but i played the shit out of that cd for a year or two in high school.

i doubt enough people will vote in this poll for it to be thorough. someone needs to poll the afghan whigs listserv, if such a thing exists.

i wanted 1965 to be great when it came out and it just kind of wasn't

I thought about voting for Black Love too.

Came very close to voting for the What Jail is Likw EP for the Ass Ponys cover alone - one of the best cover songs ever - but punked out and voted predictably. Sorry, but Gentleman = unfuckwithable

I'm voting Black Love for sure.

gentlemen edges out black love on the strength of "my curse" which dulli doesn't even sing. I can't be bothered with anything else; some of it is nice, but most of it runs together. oh I like 'up in it' and 'uptownn avondale' a lot though

your kisses scourge me, hyssop in your perfume

"my curse" is full of win. I would still vote Black Love because I haven't burned myself out on it as much as I have Gentlemen.

Don't care if it's predictable, Gentlemen for the win. Congregation is nice too.

Black Love, for the same reason as Ian.

The Afghan Whigs -- Histerectomy (Columbia eight-song promo sampler, 1998)

Best EP is the one with the Afghan Whigs' cover of TLC's "Creep" on it, but I don't think that's up there either.

Nope, it's not. That'd be:

The Afghan Whigs Honky's Ladder EP (Mute, 1996)

Gentlemen followed by Congregation

Black Love for me, easy....I like Gentlemen but Black Love goes farther into Dulli's crazy blaxploitation/noir delusions of grandeur.

Yup.

Toughie. Coulda been Congregation, Gentleman but Black Love it is. That's the one I still play the most. The songs were great live too.

Gentlemen, then Congregation. The best and worst live band I've seen.

Black Love. I could write a Lefsetzian rant on that mofo.

Black Love got ace reviews in the inkies and metal/rock mags here but is it true it didn't get much love in the US press? The same thing happened with Pavement - Wowee Zowie and Hüsker Dü - Candy Apple Grey IIRC.

I remember Black Love getting slammed in Rolling Stone.

Back then that could have been the kiss of death.

You mean there was a time people trusted Rolling Stone?

Just kidding. That time was back in the Buddy Bolden era.

i have a thing for the first twilight singers record as i am a fila brazillia fanboy

How did it get on in Spin?
x-post

I wrote a long piece on the Afghan Whigs where IIRC I said Black Love was better than Congregation but that opinion hasn't held up for me. The depths of Congregation just feel more human & raw to me.

I voted for "black love" but haven't really listened to the whigs much in a while to be honest. "gentlemen" second. There was a v long running Whigs listserv "congregation" (I think), I don't know if it's still around, but went from mid 90s to at least a couple years ago. probably still going. they were great live.. but.. "miles iz ded" live = total guyville

I voted for Gentlemen: the first songs are still such a rush; "My Curse" and the last song are classic also.

what the fuck is "honky's ladder" about, btw? any interpretations?

Hardly anyone voting Twilight Singers yet? I mean, most of the Whigs records are excellent, but Blackberry Belle just does something else to me, entirely. That one's got my vote.

And IIRC, Honky's Ladder was more of a single for that track than a full-stop EP release.

the EP was "bonnie and clyde" .. I don't know if that was only a radio promotion thing? i have one but got it from my college station

congregation

"bonnie and clyde" was hidden track duet of Dean Wareham and her of Stereolab singing Serge Gainsbourg's song on Luna's Penthouse. But probably a different b&c.

Does "Black Love" have "Going to Town"? 'Cause that might sway me from voting for "Gentlemen".

"blackberry belle" is great, why did I never listen to this before?

yeah Black Love has GTT and all kinds of other sexy jams. Such a great companion piece to Gentlemen, maybe my favorite 90's tandem.

"blackberry belle" is great, why did I never listen to this before?

YESSSSS!!!

also: no love for 1965 here?? that album is 3/4 absolutely over-the-top *fantastic*.

1965 is the only Afghan Whigs album I've heard, and I loved it when it came out. I just bought Gentlemen on the strength of some of the comments on this thread!

You won't be disappointed - it's one of the best records of the nineties and it actually holds up well today

As does Black Love!

NO BACKBEAT SOUNDTRACK NO CREDIBILITY

their sub pop stuff is good too, actually, i still like it.. wondering where my copy of "up in it" has gone...

i think 1965 is pretty bad

It's not their best but it certainly isn't bad.

another gem: the Uptown Avondale EP!!

i mean, has there been a better covers EP/album released, ever?

That's a great ep.

i have a tape of b-sides sitting around somewhere w/other cool stuff - cover of "will you love me tomorrow" w/marcy mays & of "my world is empty without you" especially.

My World is on the What Jail Is Like EP, along with Mr. Superlove, Dark End of the Street, etc. great stuff. Dulli might be my favorite coverband.

The Gutter Twins album is superb, the best thing he's done since Afghan Whigs. If you haven't heard it then I recommend it.

this thread made me put on gentlemen and it brings me waaaay back

the guitar work on this album is brilliant, the handclaps on debonair, everything about this is classic

i love when the ILX zeitgeist decides its time to reevaluate an entire bands discography

the problem with 1965 is that it's too 'hey baby baby' loverman for me, it just sounds seedy. where gentlemen/congregation/black love all had a touch of self disgust about them, 1965 sounds like he buys his own bullshit.

^^^^^^ my thoughts exactly, esp. the "who's hot, who's not" bs
i do like when he says "little rabbit" but mostly it's cheese compared to the rest of their records. i mean, i know "seedy" is part of his schtick but it's almost not seedy enough. it's smarmy. there's a difference.

for me "domani" is one of the only post-whigs songs that sort of approximates the whigs-era sweeping melodrama that makes them so appealing.

(i voted black love, btw -- nothing beats bulletproof in my book for head-swirling drama)

I think w/the Whigs threads seem to keep showing up here every now and then.. I get nostalgic, Gentlemen was one of those records I played all the time late high school/freshman year college

1965 1965 1965 1965

they've all got some great songs. 'uptown again' on 1965 is a tight rock song without getting into the 'got a little wine, some marvin gaye' crap later in the album. 'bulletproof' -> 'faded' = awesome. especially live when dulli screams TAKE ME AWAY.

but gentlemen is just some next-level shit as an album.

'bulletproof' -> 'faded' = awesome.

correction: Bulletproof -> Summer's Kiss -> Faded = awesomer

i meant bulletproof through faded, so yes

<i>the EP was "bonnie and clyde" .. I don't know if that was only a radio promotion thing? i have one but got it from my college station</i>

It was a promo-only; the tracks are Going to Town, Creep, If I Only Had a Heart, You've Changed, and I Want to Go to Sleep.

Ned wrote something about Black Love that was pretty otm. It used to be at his old homepage but I can't find the article or the homepage.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

OK, I found Ned's piece- it was about Gentlemen.

Could you link to Ned's piece, pretty please?

http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~tewing/ned/nedmain.html

whatshisname on congregation

sadly his gentlemen/1965 piece is mia

never mind, here it is: http://www.lastplanetojakarta.com/articles/gentlemen.html

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

poor, poor Twilight Singers :(

Good to see so many votes for Congregation and Black Love but not surprised the lurkers voted Gentlemen.

I hadn't listened to twilight singers until this week. haven't heard the first record. "Blackberry Belle" I really like. rented a car & took a drive down 95 listening to that one yesterday.
currently relistening to "gentlemen" (brother woodrow/closing prayer = gorgeous), it makes me feel kind of ill, i didn't really get back then how messed up it is.

"Powder Burns," something seems off...

Twilight As Played By... is gorgeous, wish he'd wanted to keep doing that sort of stuff on the side instead of just turning the name into Greg Dulli's Rockin' Revue.

great stuff from J0hn there btw

Powder Burns tries too hard to rock out. Same with the worse songs on Blackberry Belle. Slinky and creepy is where Dulli excels.

<3 East 17th & Into the Street off the first album. Had to vote Gentlemen though.

From the LPTJ review of Gentlemen:

"By the time one gets through the ballad, “My Curse,” sung achingly by Scrawl’s Jody Stephens...."

uh.... is that supposed to be a funny joke?

Well, it wasn't Alex Chilton singing it, that's for sure.

How are The Gutter Twins live?

Consensus seems to be "much stiffer than the similar Twilight-Singers-with-Lanegan lineup" that was out the last couple of years

Are you kidding? Saw 'em a week ago, they were fucking incredible.

"Powder Burns," something seems off...

agreed; not Dulli's best record by a long shot, but a few great songs on there, regardless.

Are you kidding?

Just going by nerds! TS-w/-Lanegan is the only Dulli that's ever come here, and they were HORRIBLY stiff, so I'd hope it's not the case.

YEAH, BUT what are you gonna do about the Afghan Whigs? Here’s this band from Ohio that sprung up right around the same time as all those other bands that cropped up like herbicide-resistant weeds in the wake of Nevermind -- you know who I mean: Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins

This timeline isn't correct. And I never associated them with STP and AiC.

pretty awesome clip of AW covering "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5cY7YduMlU

Jody Stephens' MySpace

http://www.myspace.com/plusalsotoo

Black Love for me, easy....I like Gentlemen but Black Love goes farther into Dulli's crazy blaxploitation/noir delusions of grandeur.

Man, there is some great Shaft-style hi-hat + wacka-wacka guitar on Black Love.

can't comprehend how out of all of that someone would vote for the gutter twins

So are any of The Twilight Singers records worth hearing? I loved the Afghan Whigs but have completely lost touch with anything Greg Dulli has done since.

Yeah, Blackberry Belle is good. Don't know the others.

His new live albume "Live at Triple Door" is great, with a beautiful version of "King Only." Then again, I like the Twilight Singers and the Gutter Twins better than Afghan Whigs.

Also, check out "Cigarettes" on "Amber Headlights."

So are any of The Twilight Singers records worth hearing?

The first one is completely gorgeous, but a completely different band/idea to the subsequent ones. The Gutter Twins record beats any of the later TS albums proper, but She Loves You comes close due to cohesion of concept. Haven't heard Amber Headlights or the live non-physical-release one.

Also, check out "Cigarettes" on "Amber Headlights."

The magnitude of the love I have for this song is probably illegal in some states.

http://www.innocentwords.com/tabId/807/itemId/1389/Greg-Dulli-Embarks-on-FirstEver-Solo-Tour.aspx

OCTOBER

08 New Orleans LA- DBA
12 Nashville TN - Mercy Lounge 

13 Cincinnati OH - 20th Century Theatre
14 Chicago IL - Double Door 

15 Detroit MI - Magic Stick
16 Cleveland OH - Grog Shop
18 Cambridge MA - Brattle Theatre 

19 New York NY - Bowery Ballroom
20 Philadelphia PA - Johnny Brenda’s
22 Pittsburgh PA - Brillobox
23 Baltimore MD - Ottobar 

27 IRELAND DUBLIN – Whelan’s 

28 IRELAND BELFAST - Spring & Airbrake 

29 IRELAND GALWAY - Roisin Dubh 

30 IRELAND CORK - Cyprus Avenue

NOVEMBER

02 PORTUGAL LISBON - Santiago Alquimista
03 PORTUGAL PORTO - Hard Club
04 SPAIN VIGO - Teatro Salesianos 

05 SPAIN MADRID - Charada 

06 SPAIN MONDRAGON - Kulturate 

07 SPAIN ZARAGOZA - Lopez
09 SPAIN SEVILLA - Teatro Central
10 SPAIN BARCELONA - Sidecar
11 SPAIN PALMA - Teatre Lloseta
13 BELGIUM ANTWERP - Trix
16 Los Angeles CA - Troubadour

17 San Francisco CA - Café Du Nord 

18 Seattle WA - Crocodile Café

20 Portland OR - Doug Fir Lounge

Time to bring back the Twilight Singers and make a vampire album, you'd think, but no, Mr. Dulli goes solo. :-)

i think there's a twilight singers record coming out next year

Also, check out "Cigarettes" on "Amber Headlights."

― thirdalternative, Monday, January 5, 2009 1:11 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The magnitude of the love I have for this song is probably illegal in some states.

― Johnny Fever, Friday, January 29, 2010 4:44 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Pulled out Amber Headlights just now to give "Cigarettes" a listen, and then got caught up in "Domani". It's basically just an album incomplete or discarded ideas, but these two songs are as good as any he's ever recorded, Whigs or otherwise. GOD DAMN.

I seem to have my annual Dulli period in January, apparently.

you should be more or less constantly in heat for dulli tbh

Good point.

The thing about "Cigarettes" is that it's half-reprised as "Get the Wheel" on Amber Headlights, but is also monkeyed around with as "Follow You Down" on Blackberry Belle and neither alternate version is even a quarter as good as "Cigarettes". idg why he buried it on his solo joint that barely anyone ever heard.

bcz of the circs of the entirety of Amber Headlights getting buried and then turned into a solo joint, I'd warrant

Cigarettes sounds like it was made for the AW album that never was after 1965.

I bought Up In It new and hot off the press. Never had any use for anything he's done since.

Apparently he is working on new material with Steve Kilbey!!?? This show would be a lot more intriguing if they were going to have the Whigs rhythm section + Marty & Peter.

“An Evening With Steve Kilbey & Greg Dulli “ will feature the duo performing a stripped down set. Kilbey & Dulli will perform a wide selection of songs encompassing both of their careers along with debuting several new ones.

http://www.theecho.com/event/361577-evening-steve-kilbey-los-angeles/

They've been working on a Steve Kilbey solo album since Kilbey sang at the Whigs show in Sydney last year

twilight robbed

xp - i did read that!
you have to understand that the above post was an attempt to contain my excitement.

I was half braggin bcz I was at the show

Oooh super jeal

Kilbey kept doing star jumps between verses

Today it’s Blackberry Belle