SteveXFR

I don't think so. I listen to music a lot while sat at my desk working or while just sat doing nothing and I still think it's just pointless, fancy rubbish and half the tapping and fancy stuff isn't really adding to it as a piece of music. To me a ot of it just feels crowbared in. I feel the same about YouTube slappers playing a million notes a minute while sounding like a filing cabinet falling down a fire escape. I enjoy punks simplicity and brutality and its honesty. It's just not trying to be fancy. I do enjoy some more complex music such as Tool, Gojira and Rush but I enjoy them as complete pieces of music rather than just a series of solos which never go anywhere.

As far as I can tell, prog is complicated for the sake of being complicated. I dislike Joe Satriani, Joe Bonamassa and Jaco Pistorious for the same reason. I guess punk is the absolute opposite. Simple, to the point and effective.

I don't like Black Flag. I love hardcore punk and I'm sure most of the bands I love were influenced by Black Flag but none of their songs quite hit the spot for me.

I'm with you on the Sex Pistols. They were just a bit cheesy. Ramones were OK but once you've heard one of their songs you've heard them all For me, the greats of 70's punk were The Clash, The Damned, The Ruts and The Stranglers. I'm also a big fan of Dead Kennedys and Misfits but I think they're 80's

Absolutely spot on! Last time I went to a grunge gig was Mudhoney in 2018 and it was just as explosive as I remember in the 90's. I did manage to inhale a dreadlock in the mosh pit. Very unpleasant.

Pearl Jam only ever made one grunge album and that was Vs. The rest of their music was just hard rock. Grunge was definitely a style of heavy rock with its own sound but there were a lot of bands who became part of the scene who didn't have that sound

Nirvana were I the right place at the right time and were more accessible for the average person than grunge bands with roots in metal like Alice On Chains or the Hardcore roots of Mudhoney and Tad

I generally don't like Rolling Stones. I don't think they're bad, just can't get excited about their music. There's just two exception, Street Fighting Man and Paint It Black. I think both of them are fantastic songs. Nirvana are another band I feel that way about. Most of it I could take or leave but Love Buzz and Territorial Pissings are brilliant. Maybe it's because I never felt their music really represented grunge that well and that Tad, Mudhoney and Melvins deserved a lot of the recognition Nirvana got.

That's very true. I regularly work with several chartered civil and mechanical engineers and their engineering skill can be rather dubious at times.

Surely Simply Red can't be made worse?

I can think of loads of reggae inspired punk, metal and rock but not really covers. I'm a big Rancid fan and they owe a lot to reggae.

Yes, by Easy Star All Stars. Really good album. I heard an interview where Nick Mason was asked his opinion of it an he was really positive about it. They also have albums called Radio dread and Sargent Peppers Lonely Heart Dub Band There's also Doom Side Of The Moon by Sword

Not an amazing bass line but Klaus's tone is particularly disgusting so it sounds great. The Dead Kennedys one and only attempt at new wave

Are you OK with the qualifications of Dr Dre and Judge Jules? Surely Doctor and The Medics are all qualified medical professionals?

Would you say the same about doctors, lawyers, architects etc? Try calling yourself any of those without any qualifications.

I'm also a mechanical engineer. Qualified to the same level although I don't pay the imeche fees anymore so don't have the letters after my name. I completely disagree with you I'm afraid. Engineers often do make or fix things, I used to make lots of prototypes, I've installed new equipment, I've been out fault finding. A sound engineers job could definitely be described as engineering. They are diagnosing sound problems, manipulating acoustics, manipulating sound waves. They are applying physics to produce a product. There's a fair amount of art in what they do as well as science. Maybe they're closer to a BSc or maybe Ba qualified engineer rather than a BEng but they certainly deserve the title engineer far more than plenty of people who I deal with (project engineers especially).

Youth was also asked for comment but was busy with a special cigarette and mixing another boy band album.

Do Killing Joke count as new wave?

I don't think I'd ever join a band with members who are in a relationship. I've never hear of that situation turning out good long term. Have you considered a hit man for the singer?

I only ask because I was jamming with the guitarist in our band and he picked up a bass and started playing and we thought it sounded great. As long as there was an octave or more between us it sounded really good. If we strayed too close it got a bit muddy.

Just listened to Sheriff Fat Man again. Quite clearly a synth, not a bass. Don't know where I got that idea

I like that a lot.

So I didn't imagine it!

Are there any rock bands with two basses? I'm sure there was one back in the 90's, possibly Neds Atomic Dustbin or Carter USM

Thanks. If it takes years then that's what it takes. At the moment I spend the first 15 minutes playing a simple riff to a metronome (Iron Man this evening) and then bash out some fun tunes for half an hour then half an hour to an hour working on whatever song I'm learning.