Rocker Says the Stones, the Who and Metallica ‘Blew It’
by Jeff Giles January 8, 2014




Simone Joyner / Carlos Alvarez / Larry Busacca, Getty Images



We’ve all been disappointed by a late-period record by one of our favorite bands, and to one extent or another, we’ve all engaged in an endless debate over whether it’s better to burn out or fade away. For Buzz Osborne of the Melvins, the answer is neither; creativity takes effort, and he expects great artists to keep trying.
Of course, any long-term artistic pursuit is bound to include its share of failures, and in a recent exchange with the A.V. Club, Osborne identified the crucial moments where recording acts that once showed great promise — including the Rolling Stones, Metallica and the Who — took a wrong turn that, in some cases, they never recovered from.

For Osborne, the Stones “just fell apart” in the mid ’70s. “The last big record they did that had anything good on it was ‘Some Girls,’ and that was 35 years ago,” he argued, adding, “They have since continued playing. I don’t know what it is they’re doing, but the thing I imagine completely destroyed them was drugs … I could not be bothered to see them live now. I saw them in the early ’80s and it sounded like amplified motocross. They’d literally be halfway through a song before I could tell what it was.”

That doesn’t impact his love for the early stuff, however. As he put it, “They went from being one of the best bands ever to whatever they are now. I still listen to that stuff. I think that stuff is unbelievable. I’m never tired of it and I never have been. Those records should be in every collection. If you don’t have ‘Sticky Fingers,’ then you really don’t like rock music, because that’s where it all started.”

Osborne went on to recall his first time listening to Metallica’s debut, saying, “When their first record came out, I thought, ‘Oh, wow! This is a nice breath of fresh air’ … I thought they were a great marriage of what Judas Priest was doing and what Venom was doing. It was teen angst mixed with heavy metal. What I’ve always loved about heavy metal is that it’s rebel music. Regardless of whether you like these guys, they’re p—ed off. That was a total plus to me.”

These days, it’s a bit of a different story. “I would like to take the band on that back cover of the ‘Kill ’Em All’ album — I would like to take those guys and put them in a time machine and run them forward and make them sit through ‘Some Kind of Monster’ and say, ‘Guys! Do not let this happen!’ You know what I mean? How could they not be appalled? They go from a song called ‘Whiplash’ to a psychiatrist in the studio for $10,000 a week. Metal up your ass, indeed.”

As far as the Who are concerned, Osborne draws the line at ‘Who’s Next.’ To that point, he argued that the band were making “super well-crafted, well thought-out, unbelievable” music — but “after that, they drifted off.”

“I imagine drugs destroyed them,” mused Osborne. “Then Keith Moon died and they replaced him with Kenney Jones. That’s when I saw the Who and it was relatively limp. The songs were good and that helped carry it, but I thought the obvious replacement for him should have been Rat Scabies from the Damned or Clem Burke from Blondie.”

For Osborne, the solution is to keep trying — to keep really working — at all costs. “I’ve always had the idea that multi-millionaire rock stars should work harder than anyone, because they have the ability to do it,” he explained. “Look at an artist like Andy Warhol. He never stopped working even after he didn’t need to work again. I think when he died he was worth $200 million. He certainly didn’t need to work, but he did. Francis Bacon was a brutal alcoholic, but painted from like 6 A.M. to noon every single day until he died.”


http://ultimateclassicrock.com/buzz-osborne-stones-who-metallica-comment/

who the F... are the Melvins ?

if you never heard of the Melvins then their opinion doesn't matter?
That would mean none of our opinions matter even more, at least The Melvins are an active, successful band that makes records still… we have shitty jobs and post on the internet… I put this is the loss column for Us!!!!

.
"  .............the Stones “just fell apart” in the mid ’70s. “The last big record they did that had anything good on it was ‘Some Girls,’ and that was 35 years ago,” he argued, adding, “They have since continued playing. I don’t know what it is they’re doing, but the thing I imagine completely destroyed them was drugs … I could not be bothered to see them live now. I saw them in the early ’80s and it sounded like amplified motocross. They’d literally be halfway through a song before I could tell what it was.”

That doesn’t impact his love for the early stuff, however. As he put it, “They went from being one of the best bands ever to whatever they are now. I still listen to that stuff. I think that stuff is unbelievable. I’m never tired of it and I never have been. Those records should be in every collection. If you don’t have ‘Sticky Fingers,’ then you really don’t like rock music, because that’s where it all started.”

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" As far as the Who are concerned, Osborne draws the line at ‘Who’s Next.’ To that point, he argued that the band were making “super well-crafted, well thought-out, unbelievable” music — but “after that, they drifted off.”

“I imagine drugs destroyed them,” mused Osborne. “Then Keith Moon died and they replaced him with Kenney Jones. That’s when I saw the Who and it was relatively limp. The songs were good and that helped carry it, but I thought the obvious replacement for him should have been Rat Scabies from the Damned or Clem Burke from Blondie.”

Some Guy wrote on Jan 8^th, 2014 at 10:52am:

BOLLOCKS !

I would like to introduce this Melvin guy to some quality acid.

MrPleasant wrote on Jan 9^th, 2014 at 3:32pm:


Will do, amigo.  You can celebrate the coming end to the U.S. "War on Drugs."  The geeks are on the ropes, and this failed, multi-trillion dollar, illogical effort, which goes against every principle of American determination and exceptionalism, is doomed.  While the dope battles may continue for some time, the War is finally lost. 

Still, it would be good to see Mick and Keith come together to write some great new music. But you'd have a better chance of getting Gazza and glencar together to write new hit songs.

Does anything NOT stink in the Cornhusker State? 

This guy is not totally talking crap and I agree with GimmeKeef here: the quality of their albums has been dwindling since Some Girls, but they're still bring the goods live.

I think Buzz Melvins makes a mistake by using Warhol as an example, while he took the exact same road as the Stones or The Who. Warhol's latter day stuff isn't half as relevant as the stuff from the 60s or early 70s. He was making art for famous people by the end, making alternative portraits of pics and making up for his high cost of living that way. It's good fun, but nothing earth shattering or anything. A harsh Judge would say the old Warhol is a half-hearted copy of the 60s Warhol with the fresh ideas. 

The same can be said of the Stones: I think what they do is still good fun, but not as relevant as the stuff they did before I was old enough to go see a show (I was born in '73 so the Stones were one year past their prime ). Buzz thinks they're epigones of themselves.

corgi37 wrote on Jan 12^th, 2014 at 7:16am:



Shortly after their umpteenth personnel change: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvins

people on here are pissed, that Osborne said a thing many of us have said?
then we bitch he's a hater, by hating on him, a hard working musician, which is what most people have to be in order to make the music, we claim to love…
do you only like one or two bands? are you completely a kiss ass to those bands? and before you talk about how shitty his music is, have you listened to it, or just having contempt prior to investigation, which is also a sad trend with fans of bands that have stopped making new music and feel the desire to defend that… yet that is also the biggest gripe fans have, please make new music on a regular basis… sheesh!

It's fair criticism if you ask me P, I just disagree with him on the quality of the live shows. They're great fun, even if the set is predictable.