NAPSTER Memories

[PCLoadLetter]

OK, I was just looking at the aforementioned KISS thread and found this gem:

After slagging off Zeppelin last night I went and watched their London O2 concert. I was pretty impressed and it was much better than any footage I had ever seen of them......at least of them in their peak years. But I still don’t think too much of them regardless. I have always thought of the band as kind of a “training wheels” rock band. You like them when you are young but they don’t offer much past a certain age.

I think some people just look at the costumes and the show that Kiss puts on and think that they are just a novelty act or something. But think about the sheer number of books, movies, documentaries, retrospectives, etc., that have been done on Kiss over the years. There are not too many bands besides maybe The Beatles who have had as much ink spilt over, and every little bit of their history has been covered in the most minute of detail. I don’t think a “novelty act” would garner such attention over so long of time.​

Now, I'm not the biggest Led Zeppelin fan.... but suggesting Led Zeppelin is a "training wheels" rock band to prepare people for grown-up genius like KISS is ****ing hilarious to me.

 

[Huggy]

Bubbler's right, that forum is not for amateurs.

I have been a pretty serious music guy for decades, listening to it, reading about it (been a Rolling Stone subscriber since I was 12 which I am sure they would gleefully destroy me for) and writing about it (briefly).

I am a huge Hendrix fan and took a gander into a Jimi thread that was overrun with people arguing which releases of the three studio albums he recorded in is lifetime were the best far as mastering, track selection, God knows what else. Which of the myriad Hendrix live releases had the best version of X song. Way too much, even for me, and that was only a seven-page thread, not one with thousands of replies.

 

[Bubbler]

Normally, I'd assume the dude defending "Christine Sixteen" was on a wind-up. ****ing with me. If that were here, I wouldn't take it seriously for a second.

Not on that forum. I think 95% of them are dead-ass serious which makes it all the more hilarious.

 

[Bubbler]

I'm also fascinated by the psychology of super fans. Namely, how they pick-and-choose what doesn't pass muster, which is virtually nothing, but it's almost like their mind knows that if they defend everything a band does, they have no credibility. So they cherry-pick one song or two, slag it, and say, "See! I can be critical of (fill in the blank band)."

 

[Bubbler]

OK, I was just looking at the aforementioned KISS thread and found this gem:

After slagging off Zeppelin last night I went and watched their London O2 concert. I was pretty impressed and it was much better than any footage I had ever seen of them......at least of them in their peak years. But I still don’t think too much of them regardless. I have always thought of the band as kind of a “training wheels” rock band. You like them when you are young but they don’t offer much past a certain age.

I think some people just look at the costumes and the show that Kiss puts on and think that they are just a novelty act or something. But think about the sheer number of books, movies, documentaries, retrospectives, etc., that have been done on Kiss over the years. There are not too many bands besides maybe The Beatles who have had as much ink spilt over, and every little bit of their history has been covered in the most minute of detail. I don’t think a “novelty act” would garner such attention over so long of time.​

Now, I'm not the biggest Led Zeppelin fan.... but suggesting Led Zeppelin is a "training wheels" rock band to prepare people for grown-up genius like KISS is ****ing hilarious to me.

Back in the day, Conan O'Brien used to have a "Walker Texas Ranger" lever on his show which kicked in a random ridiculous clip from that show.

That game can be played with the Hoffman Music Forum. Go to the first page and post the most ridiculous thread title.

Right now? "The Great Importance Of Stone Temple Pilots".

You can't make this **** up!

 

[wicked]

My man crush on Bubbler continues to grow. He's a 15-year veteran who can still throw 95 and throw high and tight without plunking the guy in the head.

Also still waiting for that Penn Station fight.

 

[Huggy]

I love Squeeze, but a thread dissecting their catalogue, song-by-song with almost 8,000 posts? I'm not going up that junction.

A brief, ****ty recording of The Who doing "I Can See For Miles" in 1968 is gushed over like The Basement Tapes.

 

[Huggy]

The KISS vs. Zeppelin argument is hilarious (and I am a fan of both). Yeah, there have been books and docs etc. on KISS - all stage managed by Gene and Paul.

 

[sgreenwell]

I had no idea there was anyone over 8 years old who took KISS seriously until I started reading that forum.

If posters there voted on the top ten albums of all time I think you'd get seven from the Beatles, two by the Monkees, and "Music From The Elder."

Ha, Chuck Klosterman has written a lot about them over the years - And Ratt.

 

[qtlaw]

The KISS vs. Zeppelin argument is hilarious (and I am a fan of both). Yeah, there have been books and docs etc. on KISS - all stage managed by Gene and Paul.

The only better about KISS than Zeppelin is that it was soooooo much cooler drawing "KISS" in class than the Zeppelin.

 

[Batman]

OK, I was just looking at the aforementioned KISS thread and found this gem:

After slagging off Zeppelin last night I went and watched their London O2 concert. I was pretty impressed and it was much better than any footage I had ever seen of them......at least of them in their peak years. But I still don’t think too much of them regardless. I have always thought of the band as kind of a “training wheels” rock band. You like them when you are young but they don’t offer much past a certain age.

I think some people just look at the costumes and the show that Kiss puts on and think that they are just a novelty act or something. But think about the sheer number of books, movies, documentaries, retrospectives, etc., that have been done on Kiss over the years. There are not too many bands besides maybe The Beatles who have had as much ink spilt over, and every little bit of their history has been covered in the most minute of detail. I don’t think a “novelty act” would garner such attention over so long of time.​

Now, I'm not the biggest Led Zeppelin fan.... but suggesting Led Zeppelin is a "training wheels" rock band to prepare people for grown-up genius like KISS is ****ing hilarious to me.

This guy running that forum?

 

[Captain_Kirk]

Unabashed KISS fan here (actually of the original lineup, which kind of takes it up to the aforementioned Elder). I like Christine Sixteen the song; the lyrics are, of course, beyond cringeworthy.

Was surprised (or it shocked me in KISS vernacular) to run across the band playing the song on Letterman in 2012.



That takes an incredible amount of tone deafness or balls to trot that song out in this century: you can decide which.

And this thread was also my first experience with the Hoffman forum. Wow. I looked up a couple more obscure bands, and there's plenty of posts and threads where they get mentioned. Searched my fave band, REM, and ran across a song by song breakdown thread of 733 pages and 18,000 posts, in a thread that's less than 2 years old.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Now y'all did it.

I'm into the Eric Carmen/Raspberries thread, up to my elbows.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

As everyone here knows, my musical tastes lean almost entirely towards mainstream and I've been skewered endlessly for it. All in good fun. And I like most of Kiss' hits. But their body of work is eminently disposable pop produced by a pair of whores who spent the first 25 years of their careers licking their fingers and trying to adjust to the direction of the wind. Disco? Concept records? No more makeup? Hair metal? Guns n' Roses-like sleaze rock? Grunge? Makeup again? LOOK AT US WE'RE PRESENT AND CURRENT! (Credit to them for "Revenge," which came out just as Nirvana changed the world and actually sounded different from all the other records coming out from hair metal bands in 1992)

The last 25 years have been an unabashed cash grab that's endlessly mocked the fans they insist they love so much. With Ace & Peter squeezed out, it's been a tribute band with backing tracks for the last God knows how many tours. Why should anyone defend Kiss' legacy when Gene & Paul think so little of it? And once the 72nd "farewell" tour ends, they'll start up The Kiss Experience (four randos in the outfits) authorized by Gene & Paul, or some ****. Damn, I should visit those boards and pull some Bubbler-like ****!

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

This guy running that forum?

One of the great sly lines in that episode (I think it was that one) is when Gene's tongue unrolls and a few seconds later you hear Lois moan "Oh Chaim."

Also those guys are ****ing 73 and 71. That's wild.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Damn, I should visit those boards and pull some Bubbler-like ****!

I guess that's really a thing. ;)

 

[HappyCurmudgeon]

I took a job back in 2000 at this wanna-be online retail outfit strictly because they had a T3 connection and I could burn about 10 music CDs a day. I was burning stuff and selling it to friends for $7/pop. Probably made as much selling CDs as I did at the job.

 

[Batman]

One of the great sly lines in that episode (I think it was that one) is when Gene's tongue unrolls and a few seconds later you hear Lois moan "Oh Chaim."

Also those guys are ****ing 73 and 71. That's wild.

That episode is more than 20 years old and to this day I can't hear "Rock and Roll All Nite" without singing, "And have a wonderful ... time" when the big build-up to the chorus hits.
I love the way those early Family Guy episodes skewered the absurdity of KISS. The one where the Christmas special "KISS Saves Santa" (which I always assumed was a parody of "KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park") is playing in the background of the whole episode is awesome as well.

 

[Bubbler]

Now y'all did it.

I'm into the Eric Carmen/Raspberries thread, up to my elbows.

Probably been on that thread. Love me some Raspberries.

I was THRILLED when Eric Carmen followed me on Twitter and complimented me on a tweet I made about the Raspberries.

Turns out, he's basically a loon and I have him muted these days, but I'm still pretty thrilled about it.

 

[Bubbler]

Unabashed KISS fan here (actually of the original lineup, which kind of takes it up to the aforementioned Elder). I like Christine Sixteen the song; the lyrics are, of course, beyond cringeworthy.

Was surprised (or it shocked me in KISS vernacular) to run across the band playing the song on Letterman in 2012.



That takes an incredible amount of tone deafness or balls to trot that song out in this century: you can decide which.

And this thread was also my first experience with the Hoffman forum. Wow. I looked up a couple more obscure bands, and there's plenty of posts and threads where they get mentioned. Searched my fave band, REM, and ran across a song by song breakdown thread of 733 pages and 18,000 posts, in a thread that's less than 2 years old.

Musically? It's one of their best songs. Hooky as ****. There's a reason Tone Loc sampled it on "Funky Cold Medina".

Lyrically? Well, you know the rest.