Best Decade Tournament - 90s - Numbers wins!

[LetMeSleep]

I always do poorly in these things because my list goes out the window and I pick a heavy hitter.

[Lament]

There's no one in charge here right now, so I say go for it, Varis.

[Birds in Hell]

I mean, look at Spenno's 80s group. That was an awesome set of picks, not in that I loved every song he picked, but in that his picks represented him in a way that was unique to his tastes while still being true to whatever the spirit of this whole exercise is. If everyone picked like that, this would be a lot more fun.

Aw shucks, Lament - back at you, re: your teams. I wouldn't necessarily make those same selections either (though I like plenty of those songs) but they very much impart a sense of your musical sensibility.

[Iholdthepain]

Radiohead on the other hand - it wasn't till around 2000 when Kid A came out that I really started paying attention to them.

I'm gonna get blasted for this I'm sure, but I was beyond disappointed with Kid A when it came out. I found it to be a really boring retread of what artists like Massive Attack and Tricky and Portishead had spent most of the 90s doing. But because it was from "ROCK'S GREAT HOPE" everybody acted like it was the greatest thing ever. I found the whole Kid A "experience" to be really off-putting. Thom Yorke was in every fucking major music magazine giving promotional interviews about how he wasn't promoting anything. "We're not doing videos but here are mini-videos for every single song!" "No tours. Just two VIP/Celebrity/Press packed megashows in LA and NY that will be reported on like the second coming of Christ."

It just all seemed so fake and hypocritical, especially since at the time my line of thought was "Y'know, you can always just stop doing promo and press. I mean, Pearl Jam did just that a few years ago, and they were in a position of far more power and popularity." But whereas Ed got criticized back then for being whiny and ungrateful, Thom was praised for all of the "statements" he was making about the industry.

And then the album came out. And there was nothing exciting or groundbreaking or even all that interesting about it. But the world at large had decided it was a classic before it even came out, so there was no point in having a dissenting opinion. It was the same month Stankonia and Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea came out, so Kid A was out of my rotation pretty fast. When Amnesiac came out I gave Kid A a second chance, and found I liked a few songs, as I did with Amnesiac as well. But I just didn't care anymore. When Hail to the Thief came out, I thought it was terrible. I'll still give their new albums a listen, but again and again I just don't give a fuck. I still love the first three records though, and a lot of the non-album stuff from those eras as well.


99% of people here will disagree with me, but I don't really care. In my mind Radiohead has been running a smoke and mirrors scam for almost fifteen years now. It's like some kind of amazing "Emperor's New Clothes" act that I've just stopped trying to understand.

Honestly, I was too fucked up to care about press statements and industry bullshit. It was the exact same reason why I stood in line the moment Vs. was released... I was there when Kid A came out, and YES it did become an instant classic. Amnesiac deconstructed it when released only half a year later, which further melted my rave-partying brain into oblivion. Maybe they were 'ripping off' Massive Attack, Tricky and Portishead (all of which I was thoroughly enjoying at the time, too), and maybe they were the 'Great Rock Hope'... Maybe they were whatever persona you claim them to have been, and I agree that Hail2 is their least impressive album... They did tour through TX for The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A/Amnesiac releases, though.

[Iholdthepain]

Yeah, but I mean, we're not assembling a library here. We're trying to have fun. Get a little out there with your picks. Instead of trying to decide what the 7th or 8th best Soundgarden song is, pick something someone might not have heard in years, if at all. I dunno. Put some personality into your picks.

Maybe we should do that for a 'Deep Cuts and Obscurities' tournament, then... This is a 'Best Of' tourney, and the cream usually rises to the top. I could easily rattle off some local garage rock bands none of you have heard of, who greatly impacted my life in the 90's...

maybe I will...

[LetMeSleep]

Are you really that anti- ... those bands you mentioned?

No, I really like REM and the Beastie Boys. Soundgarden and Jeff Buckley both have some songs I like. I've never cared for Tool or Tom Waits. I can't stand Radiohead now, but I loved them in the 90s and still enjoy their three 90s records. I just think when everyone stacks their groups up with the same artists it gets kinda dull.

Maybe over-played, maybe cliche... but for great reasons.

Yeah, but I mean, we're not assembling a library here. We're trying to have fun. Get a little out there with your picks. Instead of trying to decide what the 7th or 8th best Soundgarden song is, pick something someone might not have heard in years, if at all. I dunno. Put some personality into your picks.

This was my fear with PJ songs. Sure they have maybe 10-12 that could appear in this but if there are 26 then jesus christ.

[koopee27]

Are you really that anti- ... those bands you mentioned?

No, I really like REM and the Beastie Boys. Soundgarden and Jeff Buckley both have some songs I like. I've never cared for Tool or Tom Waits. I can't stand Radiohead now, but I loved them in the 90s and still enjoy their three 90s records. I just think when everyone stacks their groups up with the same artists it gets kinda dull.

Maybe over-played, maybe cliche... but for great reasons.

Yeah, but I mean, we're not assembling a library here. We're trying to have fun. Get a little out there with your picks. Instead of trying to decide what the 7th or 8th best Soundgarden song is, pick something someone might not have heard in years, if at all. I dunno. Put some personality into your picks.

This was my fear with PJ songs. Sure they have maybe 10-12 that could appear in this but if there are 26 then jesus christ.

well, as for me, i aint gonna pick a PJ song for sure..

kp

[Birds in Hell]

Yeah, but I mean, we're not assembling a library here. We're trying to have fun. Get a little out there with your picks. Instead of trying to decide what the 7th or 8th best Soundgarden song is, pick something someone might not have heard in years, if at all. I dunno. Put some personality into your picks.

Maybe we should do that for a 'Deep Cuts and Obscurities' tournament, then... This is a 'Best Of' tourney, and the cream usually rises to the top. I could easily rattle off some local garage rock bands none of you have heard of, who greatly impacted my life in the 90's...

maybe I will...

See, now you're getting it!

I'm not remotely trying to construct a team that represents the very best songs of the 1990s, by whatever yardstick one might hope to measure that, I'm just choosing a bunch of songs that I think are great and hopefully give some kind of insight into my musical tastes (for better or worse).

[Lament]

Maybe we should do that for a 'Deep Cuts and Obscurities' tournament, then... This is a 'Best Of' tourney, and the cream usually rises to the top. I could easily rattle off some local garage rock bands none of you have heard of, who greatly impacted my life in the 90's...

maybe I will...

Are you suggesting that I don't think the songs I'm picking are among the best of the decade that I'm picking from? Cause that would be wrong. I genuinely love every song I've picked in every tournament so far. And as hard as it may be to believe, everything (with the possible exception of Red Sleeping Beauty) I've picked has been something that absolutely is iconic to some decently sized segment of the music-loving population out there. Maybe not to RM, but I really don't care. What makes this place interesting (to me, at least) are the things musically that we DON'T have in common.

And by all means, please do pick stuff by some local garage rock bands none of us have ever heard that greatly impacted your life. That'll be a billion times more interesting than a good deal of stuff that will probably be picked.

[Iholdthepain]

And by all means, please do pick stuff by some local garage rock bands none of us have ever heard that greatly impacted your life. That'll be a billion times more interesting than a good deal of stuff that will probably be picked.

[Heathen]

where is this motherfucker

[Birds in Hell]

What is it with these foreigners?

[William Bloke]

There's no one in charge here right now, so I say go for it, Varis.

Ha! We've been down this road before, you and I Lament, and I'm not heading back there today...

[William Bloke]

What is it with these foreigners?

Can't trust 'em, spenno.

[William Bloke]

And for what it's worth, you fuckers have made me totally re-arrange my picking strategy for this thing. Let's see where this leads...

[Lament]

There's no one in charge here right now, so I say go for it, Varis.

Ha! We've been down this road before, you and I Lament, and I'm not heading back there today...

It worked out last time, didn't it?

[William Bloke]

There's no one in charge here right now, so I say go for it, Varis.

Ha! We've been down this road before, you and I Lament, and I'm not heading back there today...

It worked out last time, didn't it?

[Lament]

How long do people have now, three hours?

[LetMeSleep]

And for what it's worth, you fuckers have made me totally re-arrange my picking strategy for this thing. Let's see where this leads...

The mind games have started.

[Heathen]

the fact that the title still says koopee probably doesn't help