Is it cause they is black ?

[Cairobill]

Boning in the Boneyard by Fishbone is my favourite cut from the parliament/punk genre....it's fantastic but they went off the rails...

Couldn't deal with Living Colour at all, really didn't like their music, it had this weird Poodle-Rock element in the sound that turned me off.

Early Chili Peppers are a weird one for me too. I love the odd track but can't stomach an album of the stuff - lots of energy but it's too scattershot. Rubin enabled them to work as an albums band in my opinion. Still can't really stomach too much chilis though...apart from the later more song based stuff where they hold back much more....still don't listen to it much if at all nowadays...

Trouble is, apart from these good bands, the whole slap/rap/metal thing is shot through with some of the worst music in existence IMO...

Nick

[NancyJohnson]

[quote name='Cairobill' post='692832' date='Dec 24 2009, 10:30 AM']Boning in the Boneyard by Fishbone is my favourite cut from the parliament/punk genre....it's fantastic but they went off the rails...

Couldn't deal with Living Colour at all, really didn't like their music, it had this weird Poodle-Rock element in the sound that turned me off.

Early Chili Peppers are a weird one for me too. I love the odd track but can't stomach an album of the stuff - lots of energy but it's too scattershot. Rubin enabled them to work as an albums band in my opinion. Still can't really stomach too much chilis though...apart from the later more song based stuff where they hold back much more....still don't listen to it much if at all nowadays...

Trouble is, apart from these good bands, the whole slap/rap/metal thing is shot through with some of the worst music in existence IMO...

Nick[/quote]

I'll agree with Bonin' In The Boneyard, sir! It probably has to be the choice cut from [i]any [/i]of the aforementioned bands. I wouldn't be so hasty as to say the genre was totally throwaway; you either liked it or not...Marmite. It did however throw up some great musicians, but then it did spawn a handful of white bands (Limp Bizkit, Extreme, Korn maybe) who once the genre had been put through the machine, were just so awful.
P

[witterth]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' post='692839' date='Dec 24 2009, 10:52 AM']I'll agree with Bonin' In The Boneyard, sir! It probably has to be the choice cut from [i]any [/i]of the aforementioned bands. I wouldn't be so hasty as to say the genre was totally throwaway; you either liked it or not...Marmite. It did however throw up some great musicians, but then it did spawn a handful of white bands (Limp Bizkit, Extreme, Korn maybe) who once the genre had been put through the machine, were just so awful.
P[/quote]
Fackkin A to that Nancy!!!!

Edited December 24, 2009 by witterth

[dumelow]

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='692796' date='Dec 24 2009, 09:22 AM']Its a small world you live in, Danny - I can pretty much say, unequivocally, that the percetnage of the musicians I regularly play with that will have owned or heard BSSM is tiny.[/quote]

the percentage of musicians that you regularly play with are probably a minority compared to people who purchase popular music albums

[phil.i.stein]

anyone remember Urban Dance Squad ? they had some good moments as i recall..

[maxrossell]

I think with that kind of music race isn't really an issue. Racists don't usually tend to like music that has very obvious roots in black culture like funk and blues. It's actually kind oif weird - I remembered the other day that it only occurred to me that Tom Morello is black several years after I became a fan of RATM. It was when I read an interview where he was lamenting that some of the people showing up to see them play were white supremacists. Same with Lenny Kravitz, or Phil Lynott, or even Jimi Hendrix. I don't think fans of that kind of music tend to think in terms of skin colour.

I think RHCP did well because they had very pop-oriented music with tons and tons of hooks, and other bands at the time were a bit more niche.

[peteb]

[quote name='bilbo230763' post='692796' date='Dec 24 2009, 09:22 AM']Its a small world you live in, Danny - I can pretty much say, unequivocally, that the percetnage of the musicians I regularly play with that will have owned or heard BSSM is tiny.[/quote]
TBH - I think that illustrates how small your musical world is rather than the other way around

[Conan]

I like pretty much all of the bands named in this thread, but the Chilis are definitely less of an "acquired taste" IMO compared to the others. Some of my Favourite tracks of all time are by Fishbone, but christ they produced some stinkers too!! Same with Living Color, who are now enjoying some popularity thanks to those awful "guitar hero" type computer games.... I much prefered them with Muzz Skillings though to Doug Wimbish - they sounded much more like a "band" then!

Dan Reed Network were fantastic too - Slam is still one of my favourite albums, Great live act too in the early 1990s...

In a similar but slightly more soulful genre, anyone remember Roachford?!

[phil.i.stein]

is it 'cos they is dutch ?
[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IjMTyDtEaM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IjMTyDtEaM[/url]
or is it something to do with the sinister presence watching from the wings that limited their commercial success ?

[YouMa]

[quote name='Jase' post='692804' date='Dec 24 2009, 10:37 AM']Is Flea black?[/quote]


I thought he was australian,like David Bowie.

[Lfalex v1.1]

At the risk of flying in the face of accepted wisdom, I dare to suggest;

Ritual de lo Habitual > BloodSugarSexMagik

[Mykesbass]

[quote name='maxrossell' post='694256' date='Dec 27 2009, 01:42 PM']Racists don't usually tend to like music that has very obvious roots in black culture like funk and blues.[/quote]

Whoa, what about the whole skinhead/ska scene - now I know a lot of skinheads were in it for the music but a hell of a lot of them would dance the night away to Prince Buster and then go out causing all sorts of racist mayhem (not what they used to call it).

[phil.i.stein]

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='694447' date='Dec 27 2009, 06:48 PM']Whoa, what about the whole skinhead/ska scene - now I know a lot of skinheads were in it for the music but a hell of a lot of them would dance the night away to Prince Buster and then go out causing all sorts of racist mayhem (not what they used to call it).[/quote]
very valid point !
it will need someone more intelligent than me to explain this bizarre social phenomena, but to hazard a guess, they were all just a bunch of thugs who would have beaten up their own kin for supporting a different football team...cat, pigeons, off we go..

[YouMa]

[quote name='Mykesbass' post='694447' date='Dec 27 2009, 06:48 PM']Whoa, what about the whole skinhead/ska scene - now I know a lot of skinheads were in it for the music but a hell of a lot of them would dance the night away to Prince Buster and then go out causing all sorts of racist mayhem (not what they used to call it).[/quote]

Skinheads have caused numerous problems within the bald community.

[foal30]

"on a candystrip"
yeah that was alright

RHCP had a lot of money spent on them by a major label
the other bands mentioned, on a comparative level, did not.
this, generally, is the single biggest factor in whether a band is commercially successful or not.

[The Funk]

[quote name='obi 2 kenobi' post='692238' date='Dec 23 2009, 01:12 PM']Is it because their songs were 'better' or is there another reason ?[/quote]

The songs on BSSM were better - and there was more for their audience to relate to, which probably includes race in an indirect way.

[51m0n]

BSSM was probably the best funk album of the decade IMO

Really.

It had none of the cheese associated with funk of the 80's (remember it came out in '91!), and had a truly funky feel throughout, raw as eggs though.

It was groovier than anything that anyone had heard since P-Funk put on nappies

It had a couple of absolutely killer singles

It had massive label and MTV backing

It was (and still is) the high point of RHCP (by a country mile). Anyone doubting this really needs to listen to it and then their personal favourite RHCP album. As a whole album it is clearly their best, and I'm a bona fide RHCP nut of old, IMO the next best is either Mothers Milk (for the horns of all things) of Freakey Stylee, they havent come close with anything after Californiaction, and One Hot Minute was a rock album.

None of the other bands mentioned had anything like such a high quality product and follow up (OHM flopped this side of the pond, was massive in the US)

I like a lot of the other bands mentioned, and other than not [i]quite[/i] having anything as good (although Nothing's Shcking and Sailing The Seas are as close as Reality of My Surroundings - all in the next rung down IMO) they all had less backing/marketing or just ex/imploded (Jane's Addiction, Primus, Fishbone). RHCP, apart from having a similar issue to Spinal Tap, but with guitarists, have stayed constant for years and years. Their music has steadily declined in freshness though.

Of course they were lucky!

But they gave themselves a chance by sticking together and having some great material. And the gift of the gab....

IMO colour had nothing to do with Fishbone not being where RHCP are. Fishbone were great, though more niche, and utterly exploded

Edited December 28, 2009 by 51m0n

[4000]

[quote name='NancyJohnson' post='692543' date='Dec 23 2009, 07:45 PM']I've gone over this many many times in my head...I believe RHCP were lucky; plain and simple. Right place, right time. While Blood Sugar Sex Magic is a good (not great) CD; fundamentally in Rick Rubin they had a strong, in vogue producer at the helm, production is strong as a consequence, but it does not belie the fact that the vocals are poor (AK simply can't hold a tune, but hey, he's a millionaire and I just work in an office, so what do I know?) and the guitar playing is very scratchy. Chad'n'Flea are however in good form throughout. Let's not forget that they released two pretty patchy albums prior to BSSM. Now ask yourself one question. Have they ever surpassed this album? If you're not a big fan, can you name more than one album they released since (without looking on wikipedia)? Sure they have this inane ability to sell through and put bums on chairs, but they're even more a cartoon of the band that they were in 1991.

Arguably they were not the best of that particular genre by some stretch...musically I'd say Primus win there by some way; I'd argue that most of the other contenders (Living Colour, Fishbone, Stevie Salas Colorcode, Dan Reed Network, Jane's Addiction, King's X) worked better as a sum of their constituent parts than the RHCPs.
P[/quote]

I think your assessment of BSSM and the RHCPs is a very personal one. Without arguing in the historic context (where BSSM actually appears to stand up) arguing that cd "x" is poor, great, superb, trash etc is pointless. Different strokes for different folks. Where you argue that AK can't hold a note, others will point to his unique delivery. Where you argue that thew guitar playing is scratchy, others (me included) will argue that JF is one of the most emotional, fragile, compelling guitarists in rock.

However, having seen both Living Colour and the RHCPs live, and being a big fan of both, I would have to say the main difference between the two was songs. Yes, it's possible that the world wasn't ready for Living Colour, but IMO (and others may disagree) they never had the songs that RHCPS had. Same goes for Primus and to some degree Fishbone. As others have already stated Under the Bridge particularly was a song that was embraced by the mainstream, and that ultimately is where commercial success lies.