Nate Dort wrote: Tue Aug 23, 2022 9:38 am
It's kinda strange/fascinating what gets lumped in with "glam rock." This is one of those genres that's really more about the aesthetic than the sound.
A lot of the early 70s glam rock was really geared towards reviving the '50s and early '60s R&B, blues, & early rock 'n roll sound, which is interesting because that was only like 15 years prior.
Wizzard was Roy Wood's way of trying to capture a Phil Spector thing.
Marc Bolan's Electric Warrior and The Slider stuff was a riff on Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry.
Alvin Stardust.
Mud.
Suzy Quatro did some of this, though being cast as a regular on Happy Days helped solidify that image.
Then there's the more prog / art rock side of glam.
Bowie.
Roxy Music.
Mott The Hoople on the Ian Hunter-led albums.
Jobriath.
Some of the Alice Cooper stuff.
Lou Reed.
Be-Bop Deluxe.
Alex Harvey
Mick Ronson's solo stuff
Then you have the proto-punk glam stuff.
New York Dolls.
The Runaways. Zolar X
I had heard of but never heard this band. So I queued up Timeless. These guys were fucking killer!
Re: Sparkle Dome: Best Glam Band
Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2022 5:03 pm
by Krev
This cat could bring it on occasion:
Re: Sparkle Dome: Best Glam Band
Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2022 7:03 pm
by losthighway
Digging around in this stuff I've found a lot of enjoyment for Slade as one of the bands I'd spent less time with.
My only critique of their early work is the vocal processing. On some of the rippers on Sladest and to a lesser degree on Slade in Flame there is an intense tremolo effect. On the one hand it's cool because it's deployment of a classic effect in an uncommon way (Crimson and Clover aside), on the other it sounds fucking gross. It is a total sensory thing to me like wet jeans or uncomfortable fabrics.
Re: Sparkle Dome: Best Glam Band
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:09 am
by Nate Dort
Yeah, Skweeze Me, Pleeze Me has this super short delay effect on the vocals that kinda drives me nuts. Makes it sound robotic and phasey.
Re: Sparkle Dome: Best Glam Band
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 11:24 am
by susanvp
David Bowie. How can you even ask? David Bowie, and the Spiders from Mars. Though I suppose I can imagine there being an argument for Roxy Music.
Edit: Allow me to recommend Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, from the Seventies to the Twenty-first Century. There's a lot in there about all the bands mentioned thus far in this thread and more, with detailed chapters on the careers of '70s groups like, for example, the Tubes and Cockney Rebel. I believe Zolar X is covered at length too.
Re: Sparkle Dome: Best Glam Band
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 2:02 pm
by tallchris
Definitely Bowie, for TMWSTW through Diamond Dogs. Love those first couple Roxy records too, and the Dolls.
Never have really dug into Sweet or Slade, and if I'm being honest, I think T-Rex has some amazing singles but have always found the full albums dull and samey.
Nate Dort wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 9:36 am
Sweet is probably my least favorite of the bunch. I'd take The Glitter Band or Wizzard or Mott or Suzy Quatro over Sweet.
Wood Goblin wrote: Mon Aug 22, 2022 11:10 am
Sweet sucks. I don’t get the praise for that band.
Pretty sure the old PRF convinced me Sweet were a great band. Once you get past the Chinn / Chapman period - Wig-Wam Bam, Block Buster! - you'll find one of the best 70s rock bands. They have a similar appeal to me as Cheap Trick and Slade, and like them you hear quite a contrast between the poppier singles and the harder rocking live band. Sweet Fanny Adams onwards, and especially Desolation Boulevard, are the albums to explore. There's also at least one good live album whose name escapes me.
Wig-Wam Bam is an extremely pleasurable guilty pleasure of mine. And I feel no guilt whatsoever about my love of Teenage Rampage. On that basis alone, I’m tempted to give Sweet my vote to absolve them of the ignominy of currently being scoreless — but I shall respect the sanctity of the poll.
To quote wiser words than my own: “Just because something’s cool doesn’t mean something else doesn’t suck, Beavis.”
Re: Sparkle Dome: Best Glam Band
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2022 12:28 pm
by Kniferide
I don't know if they are best, but I love Sweet and am sad they have no votes.