Mixtape: Melvins’ Buzz Osborne picks songs by “bands that were good, but blew it” [The Onion AV Club]

Pick the best song (or songs if you pick Hüsker Dü) but only if you agree with the premise that the band subsequently "blew it," therefore meaning you are picking the song most in the spirit of the mixtape.

buzz actually thought zen arcade was the last great Husker Du as he felt New Day Rising was the start of the decline (he was wrong there)

Can't figure out whether the Stones or Metallica had the greater differential between their early greatness and their late suckitude.

stones never made anything as bad as st anger or death magnetic but have sucked longer?

Stones have sucked for longer so

lol xp

also what AG you don't think Sweet Little Neocon is as bad as St. Anger?

though you could argue metallica have sucked since 1990 7 years after 1st album whilst the stones took over a decade to suck.

shakey thats a song rather than an album right? At least the stones albums usually have a few ok songs on them.

also the stones have a drummer who can drum!

haha yeah that's not really arguable imho

Yeah, he's wrong about Husker Du and Replacements. I mean, I adore "Sorry, Ma" and find it the Replacements album I listen to most often but "Let It Be," "Tim" and "Pleased To Meet Me" are amazing.

husker du blew it

xpost Well, he's coming at it from a pretty narrow viewpoint of what their value was. But isn't he right at least in principle about DTAS and ASD? While there were a lot of very good songs, the project was fatally compromised by ego and "tryna hit the BIG TIME".

That's probably also his objection to Husker, but I see their decline as not as steep and more organic - just a band kind of sadly falling apart rather than one "selling out" as such.

Oh, the Replacements certainly did blow it! Just later than Buzz thinks they did.

One of the worst shows I ever saw was Elvis Costello with "All Shook Down"-era Replacements supporting at Madison Square Garden. It was so boring. I would put Elvis Costello on my own "blew it" list, actually.

EC is more like "blew it - got it back - aced it - blew it - really blew it - oop, nailed 'er again - blew it again - that one was good - rotten - pretty good - awful - awful - less awful - whoa, just missed by a hair - blew it - much better" etc

Whereas once Buzz's artists blew it, it was over. 'Specially Jimi. *ducks*

the birthday party blew it?

By breaking up.

how did Isis blow it?

By breaking up .

You fuckers should read the article.

haha man Jared lookin like Buzz Jr. these days

lol xp

write-in vote for the melvins

What song?

oh i was just fucking around but honey bucket i guess?

Voted Replacements. I've never had any use for them at all, but "Stink" is actually pretty good.

Oh, the Replacements certainly did blow it! Just later than Buzz thinks they did.

Totally agree with this. I think Buzz is wrong about Husker Du though, I love the two WB albums.

Voting for the Stones, there are definitely days where I think Sticky Fingers was their peak.

Melvins blew it when they signed to Ipecac and released that horrible trilogy or whatever it was, but the two-drummer thing was the real death blow. Should've held on to Kevin Rutmanis.

Maybe HAT was part of the trilogy. I'm remembering the album with Leif Erickson singing "Smells Like Teen Spirit."

Garrett. Holy shit.

I wonder who would have done a better job of a Nirvana cover - Leif Erickson the 20th-century American actor or Leif Erickson the 11th-century Viking explorer.

Mmmm..

I'd say The Who did not blow it, they finished the job they came to do, then carried on anyway

Keith Moon died and they replaced him with Kenney Jones. That’s when I saw The Who and it was relatively limp. The songs were good and that helped carry it...

I think this is OTM though. Kenney Jones era was my only live Who too, and it definitely did not pummel enough.

Melvins blew it when they signed to Ipecac and released that horrible trilogy or whatever it was, but the two-drummer thing was the real death blow. Should've held on to Kevin Rutmanis.

Melvins pretty much sucked (Lysol and an isolated track here or there aside) until they assimilated Big Business. The two-drummer thing has been the best thing to ever happen to them.

No way, man.

Nah this part is about right Melvins blew it when they signed to Ipecac and released that horrible trilogy or whatever it was
that's the only part of their career that pretty much sucked. Pretty much everything before and after is decent to great and they rock live with 2 drummers. If you ignore "lolz" like Prick.

OG article was great and I agreed w/Buzzo on almost all of it. I really like some later period Melvins like the CD w/Lustmord.

as far as "band I think blew it most",

Isis, “Hall Of The Dead” (2009) - don't care
The Rolling Stones, “Bitch” (1971) - he hedges by mentioning Some Girls as the cutoff, and I like stuff after that
Metallica, “Whiplash” (1983) - they probably blew it but I wasn't really invested at the time
Black Flag, “Jealous Again” (1980) - tempted to vote for them cuz of just how badly Ginn has blown it
The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (1971) - love some shit after this but he has a point re: new drummer
Hüsker Dü, “Chartered Trips,” “Indecision Time” (1984) - this probably gets my vote, I had a lot invested in them as a listener/fan
The Replacements, The Replacements Stink EP (1982) - this would get my vote if I cared abt the band but I don't, Stink rules tho
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Spanish Castle Magic” (1967) - "blew it by dying" is persuasive, true, maybe him
The Cows, “Death In The Tall Weeds” (1998) - I should like this band but they still haven't clicked
The Birthday Party, “Fears Of Gun” (1983) - since I love Nick Cave's solo shit I must disagree w/this one

Isis, “Hall Of The Dead” (2009) - who cares
The Rolling Stones, “Bitch” (1971) - successfully turned themselves into a money-making machine, can't imagine they give a shit about whether or not they're any good so they hardly blew it on their terms
Metallica, “Whiplash” (1983) - see Rolling Stones
Black Flag, “Jealous Again” (1980) - I wonder if Buzzo has heard Jam Bang? Ginn / SST blew it in so many many ways!
The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (1971) - see Rolling Stones again
Hüsker Dü, “Chartered Trips,” “Indecision Time” (1984) - can see why some people didn't like the later records, but at least those records were enduringly(ish) popular...
The Replacements, The Replacements Stink EP (1982) - ...unlike later Replacements albums. Kind of fits with the myth though, success wouldn't have suited them and Westerberg would probably have ended up dead
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, “Spanish Castle Magic” (1967) - voted! What a ridiculous waste of potential
The Cows, “Death In The Tall Weeds” (1998) - 10+ years of moderate acclaim and club-level gigs can take it out of a band, no grunge crossover success for these guys
The Birthday Party, “Fears Of Gun” (1983) - "I think it has something to do with drugs probably" yes you could conceivably be right there

I really want to vote Birthday Party on here because he's right-one of the best bands EVER.

But his song choice is not superlative so I have to be honest and vote for The Who.

yes jimi hendrix blew it by dying, what a jerk.

isis sucks
Stones still rule
Killemall purism is the weirdest most misdirected purism
Black flag sucks
pretty much otm re the who
Husker du sucks
The replacements suck but their best stuff probably was the earliest stuff
The cows, i was not yet a teenager in their heyday
The birthday party never blew it, but nick cave totally blew it.

Voted Metallica (suck since 1985), have never heard Husker Du/Replacments/Birthday Party/Blag Flag/Isis/Cows so possibly not the most qualified to weigh in here.

I think he's really off with what a lot of people like about the Replacements and Husker Du.

It's all a bit Albini re. Nirvana - "REM with a fuzzbox". Yeah, maybe it isn't for you in that way.

He's right about the Birthday Party. What made them great is nothing like what made Husker/Mats great.

Someone who reduces the Husker's Warners albums to a pale imitation of REM doesn't have ears

yes jimi hendrix blew it by dying, what a jerk.
― brimstead

Yeah, he was, and he did. It's not like he was hit by a bus; he systematically drank and drugged himself to death. What a fucking waste.

also Treacle OTM ^

"Melvins pretty much sucked (Lysol and an isolated track here or there aside) until they assimilated Big Business."

This is pretty much idiotic (Lysol is great though and it's a true a lot of esp. pre-Lysol records were nowhere near as good as the Melvins were live).

Odd list. I guess the Who probably most egregious example of a band persisting past sell by for seemingly no reason.

"They go from a song called “Whiplash” to a psychiatrist in the studio for $10,000 a week. Metal up your ass, indeed."

Best line in the article.

yes jimi hendrix blew it by dying, what a jerk.
― brimstead

Yeah, he was, and he did. It's not like he was hit by a bus; he systematically drank and drugged himself to death. What a fucking waste.

Oh i agree! Drug users, what a bunch of human garbage

Jimi hendrix deserved to die, asaic

afaic

http://i11.tinypic.com/53ucxtl.gif

Drugs are assholes

Hendrix probably blew it the worst though

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I voted Black Flag. I understand that Metallica and the Stones really got bad, but at least they were making some money. Buzz says in the article, I think, something about how the worst sell-out is one that doesn't sell any more records. At least they had some money and it makes it easier to blame the sucking on the money (or the lack of whatever the money replaced in their lives).

Whereas Greg Ginn has done almost as much to kill indie music and Flag's legacy as he had in helping create both of them.

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

I wouldn't specifically pin it on Black Flag the band, but if you're talking about Ginn/SST and how all that went pear-shaped, he would be no.1

There was a potential audience there for Husker Du and certainly the Replacements that would never be there for Black Flag. So in that respect, the first two bands blew it.

But again just in the way Buzz would put it.

not