"It's no use cutting if your knife's not sharp"

Pastor_Of_Muppets

If Jeremy Clarkson were a rock star...

Chuffola

Philly_Q said:

I really don't mean this sarcastically, but what is his audience?  

No idea!  He does have one though - he's made a decent career out of it and I admire him for that. I should be the demographic for this kind of music - old geezer, classic blues-rock stuff. Just leaves me cold though - there's much better out there for sure.  

But he's living on a sunny island in the Med and looks like he has a great life, so who's the fool?

LastMantra

Not bad. I read the thread before listening and was expecting worse. The solo was quite good. 

mikeyrob73

Lyrics are horrifically cheesy, didn’t mind some of the guitar but fair play to the lad he is doing better than 99% of us that post on here 

Blaendulais

Lewy said:

It’s one of those things where the high production value of the track and video puts the terrible lyrics into even starker relief...just ends up like a David Brent video. Brilliantly orchestrated nonsense.

Would probably come across way better in a straightforward live video, ironically.

DAvid Brent came straight to mind I agree Also the drum teacher from Whiplash

ThePrettyDamned

I like his more belting voice tbh. 

Bidley

Vocally he's come a long way from the Tesco Value Eddie Vedder impression he was doing with Dorje.

Kind of agree with @Jetfire , not sure what to make of this new venture - it's totally different to Dorje. His bandmates are oddly absent in the video too.

SPECTRUM001

mark123 said:

AlexC said:

Not for me. I’m just judging this on it’s own merits. To my ears it sounds very, very, very American influenced. And it’s got that chugging rhythm going on which turns me right off.
And it’s not very original. Sounds like it could’ve been made by any number of people about 40 yrs ago.
Video’s well edited though.

Same for me , don't get me wrong he is an amazing player but you look at Noel Gallagher, he probably knows 10% of the fretboard to what Chappers knows yet he can write a song with a 3 chords and hook that gets worldwide acclaim and sells millions.
I guess its better to be a good songwriter with limited knowledge than be a wizard player with average songwriting , to me its 80's cheese rock with poor lyrics.

Totally agree. Didn’t Lou Reed also already prove this theory ?

I actually quite like Chappers’ online presence as long as he is not demoing, playing or singing.

But I cannot stand this stuff, and was also disappointed it wasn’t Rob Halford - who somehow gets away with murder (Breaking The Law).

However - good for Chappers for actually doing it and putting it out there !!!!???!

ToneControl

It's fine, why all the hate?

SPECTRUM001

ToneControl said:

It's fine, why all the hate?

Because he is British and has the confidence to promote his career, views, playing etc ?

ToneControl

ThePrettyDamned said:

I like his more belting voice tbh. 

yeah, sounds a lot better

Nerine

I can’t comment on the lyrics because I couldn’t really make them out after listening a couple of times on my phone. I would imagine if I listened in my studio I would probably be able to comment on the mix, because it doesn’t translate great on an iPhone. 

But the melodies weren’t bad. His voice in the choruses seemed pretty good to me. Has a touch of the Miles Kennedy’s about the tone. Maybe that’s what he’s going for. Ignoring the slightly dubious lyrics (that I did hear) and the cheesy video, there’s not a lot to dislike. 

I don’t really get the hate to be fair, and I am definitely not a “Chappers” fan. Definitely not. 

My overarching response to all the negativity feels like it should be “well show us what YOU’RE doing, then!!” 

I’m currently in the middle of producing and writing a solo EP/album and I can tell you right fucking now, it is not easy when trying to preempt how you think certain things will come across, or trying to establish who/what your audience is. There is a whole fucking lot of questioning your own talent, abilities, songwriting skills etc. It’s a constant mindfuck trying to gather enough confidence to know what you’re doing isn’t going to be completely rejected so for that alone I completely applaud him. 

The whole track is entirely decent, IMO. I listened to it more than once just out of curiosity alone. 

If I released a track to this kind of response I’d be utterly disheartened. 

Nice one. 

stratman3142

ToneControl said:

It's fine, why all the hate?

Yes. Sounds good to me.

Caffeine_Vampire

ToneControl said:

It's fine, why all the hate?

It's Spinal Chap.

JerkMoans

Looks/sounds pretty cool to me.

Bald dude goes on holiday with a bunch of guitars, magics new instruments in woods and on beaches, while singing about axes and knives and shit.  Probably Gollum and elves and whatnot, too, for all I could make out.

Precisely the sort of shit Led Zep sold a billion records doing.

I am, however, reminded of the Withnail and I thing about hair being your aerials...

Anyway. 7/10.  

carlos

Dominic said:

Yes, I like Chapstick but the video only lacks a wind machine ...........it's just awful

No hair to blow back with the wind machine.

tony99

Brize said:

I like Rob - he's a decent sort of cove. However, he needs to set his ego aside and accept that he's not a front-man. 

Yep, that's it.

TINMAN82

Nerine said:

My overarching response to all the negativity feels like it should be “well show us what YOU’RE doing, then!!” 

I’m currently in the middle of producing and writing a solo EP/album and I can tell you right fucking now, it is not easy when trying to preempt how you think certain things will come across, or trying to establish who/what your audience is. There is a whole fucking lot of questioning your own talent, abilities, songwriting skills etc. It’s a constant mindfuck trying to gather enough confidence to know what you’re doing isn’t going to be completely rejected so for that alone I completely applaud him. 

If I released a track to this kind of response I’d be utterly disheartened. 

Nice one. 

I can understand why another musician might take this stance and defend their fellow artist but I don’t agree with it. 

You’re basically implying noone is allowed to express a less than positive opinion about music or an artist unless they can themselves demonstrate musical superiority. That justifies any old tosh given the majority of music consumers have normal jobs/ lives and arn't themselves musicians.

Yeah fair play to Chappers for putting himself out there, working hard and earning a living. I’m sure he’s gone through all the angst and existential turmoil you describe to get to this point. I still think the end result is boring and derivative with annoying vocals.

Cookiemonster

I used to like Chappers and the Captain. I never cared for those dreads he sometimes wore, and he has always been a bit cartoonish as a person.

 I thought the guitar range when it came out looked pretty good.
 Not a fan of most of the music he has made, however I don't mind this. 

He needs to listen to Clutch !!!! 

oh_pollo

SPECTRUM001 said:

Because he is British and has the confidence to promote his career, views, playing etc ?

Or, you know, maybe people watched the video and found it to be utter gash.