OFF: The Weller/Kilmister controversy

[Tim Hall]

Stephen Swann wrote:

>>Whatever Paul Wellers faults, dismissing his work out
>>of hand is just crass.  The best of The Jam stands up
>>well against anything else of its era, and as for the
>>current crop of guitar bands, more of them sound like
>>XTC wannabes or bad Joy Division copyists than sound
>>like Jam tribute acts.

XTC are another one of those critic-friendly bands that I've never 
really 'got'. But as a fan of old-school prog rock and metal, I've never 
liked cared for most of the 80s new-wave scene, much of which sounds 
rather musically shallow to my ears. (I'm on this list as a BOC fan 
rather than an HW fan)

> I agree that dismissing The Jam's work out of hand is
> just ridiculous, but I think the original poster was
> right - a lot of bands these days do sound like they've
> got their nose up Paul Weller's ass.

I never intended to dismiss The Jam out of hand; I do think consider 
Paul Weller overrated, especially his rather dull recent solo stuff, 
which seems to be treated with a reverence it doesn't really deserve.

IMO, The Jam were were more of a 'lyrics' band than a 'music' band; tune 
out Weller's lyrics and a lot of their hits start sounding very, very samey.

OTOH, you *could* say the same about Lemmy ;)