Big Wreck - Why aren't these guys the biggest band on the planet?

octatonic

Such a good band, such amazing songs.

I just don't get why they aren't bigger than they are.

hubobulous

I was going to start a new thread on this, but found yours first. Just a stunning band, and the new Ghosts album is awesome.

Control and Wolves from the last album Albatross are simply brilliant. And its rare for me to like new bands.

hubobulous

Iamnobody

I was excited by this thread and didn't mean to wade in negatively but...

Why aren't they big?

My opinion is because; the middle video in particular is middle of the road. The singers voice is fairly generic sounding and lyrically they are forgettable and lacking in some interesting melodies.

Good musicians don't necessarily write decent songs, though there are some decent guitar parts and bass lines. I like the mad guitar work and outro guitar solo to the first video for instance but it doesn't and shouldn't prop up the whole song.

Any other reasons? Yeah rightly or wrongly they are not young and don't have a marketable image.

And the final nail in the coffin - the guitarist is using a double neck in the second video!

hubobulous

Isn't music a weird thing?

I love the melodies that these guys create. I find them instantly memorable and whistleable, (a litmus test for me in some respects). I think the outro solo on Control adds to the song, but doesn't prop it up. The Wolves vocal line on both the verse and chorus I really enjoy.

Not pissing on your parade at all. Just funny how we both react to the same elements of their music completely differently.

hubobulous

The girl in the Ghosts video is hot. Just thought I'd confirm my position on that one :-)

lustycourtier

I thought they sounded like a bland version of the script tbh. Reminded a bit as owell of Minus the Bear, who, I think should be huge too.

octatonic

Iamnobody said:

I was excited by this thread and didn't mean to wade in negatively but...

Why aren't they big?

My opinion is because; the middle video in particular is middle of the road. The singers voice is fairly generic sounding and lyrically they are unforgettable and lacking in some interesting melodies.

Good musicians don't necessarily right decent songs, there are some decent guitar parts and bass lines. I like the mad guitar work and outro guitar solo to the first video for instance but it doesn't and shouldn't prop up the whole song.

Any other reasons? Yeah rightly or wrongly they are not young and don't have a marketable image.

And the final nail in the coffin - the guitarist is using a double neck in the second video!

To me their songcraft is what they are best at.

carlos

It's like Coldplay with guitar solos or something? ZZZZZZZzzzzZZZzzz/10 from me

octatonic

Eh?

They are about a million times heavier than Coldplay.

EricTheWeary

georgenadaintl;295308" said:

It's like Coldplay with guitar solos or something? ZZZZZZZzzzzZZZzzz/10 from me

I got through a bit of one of them and thought that. Festival fodder for beardy students.

ICBM

I thought more like Elbow with guitar solos but it probably comes to much the same thing...

I only watched the first one, because it bored me enough that I couldn't be bothered with the others. I did watch it all the way to the end but it was a real effort.

Dull song, predictable lyrics, too long, cliched arrangement, too much guitar, the sounds are tired, they also look like musos with too much gear.

While those criticisms can certainly be applied to a lot of successful bands, they generally got successful when they were still young, interesting and at least a little bit 'alternative', and only got dull later. (Maybe even including Coldplay, although I always thought they were dull to begin with.)

Iamnobody

hubobulous;295212" said:

Isn't music a weird thing?



I love the melodies that these guys create. I find them instantly memorable and whistleable, (a litmus test for me in some respects). I think the outro solo on Control adds to the song, but doesn't prop it up. The Wolves vocal line on both the verse and chorus I really enjoy.



Not pissing on your parade at all. Just funny how we both react to the same elements of their music completely differently.

You aren't pissing in my parade! I've corrected a couple of typos from my earlier post so it should make more sense now.

I'm just completely underwhelmed by them as are a few others.

breakstuff

ICBM said:

(Maybe even including Coldplay, although I always thought they were dull to begin with.)

This

@ICBM,the wisest man on the forum for a reason.

randomhandclaps

One thing that goes against them is that the singer was obviously born of a unethical lab experiment designed to see what a child would look like if it's father were Nick Cave and it's mother Neil Young.

fnpt

randomhandclaps said:

One thing that goes against them is that the singer was obviously born of a unethical lab experiment designed to see what a child would look like if it's father were Nick Cave and it's mother Neil Young.

I see a bit of Cliff Richards in here as well.

koneguitarist

Doesn't do a lot for me to be honest, a little like Cherry Ghost, but not so memorable

Danny1969

I like em, Dire Straights more than Coldplay springs to mind, lot of expression in his playing

That Wolves song is superb, what a great hook and verses are good

octatonic

Danny1969 said:

I like em, Dire Straights more than Coldplay springs to mind, lot of expression in his playing

That Wolves song is superb, what a great hook and verses are good

Also worth checking out Ian Thornley's other project:

Rocker

octatonic said:

Such a good band, such amazing songs.

I just don't get why they aren't bigger than they are.

@Octatonic, hard to judge them on three crappy YT vids but I would like it if the vocalist could actually sing. Even Bono sings some of the time. I will see if I can get one of their cd's in Tower Records soon....

hubobulous

I know this will also attract divided views, mostly along the lines of plagiarism, but I think the first solo in Ghosts is as close as I've heard to SRV aside from that man himself.

Did Thornley have to copy him that closely? Don't care. I think it sounds awesome :-)