Who sparkled best?

T Rex
Total votes: 16 (35%)
Slade
Total votes: 2 (4%)
New York Dolls
Total votes: 3 (7%)
David Bowie
Total votes: 15 (33%)
Sweet
Total votes: 1 (2%)
Roxy Music
Total votes: 9 (20%)
Total votes: 46

Re: Sparkle Dome: Best Glam Band

75
I've been on a glam kick lately. I still need to check out T Rex, but my observations so far:

First two Roxy Music albums achieve absolute baller status. Awesome musicianship. Killer bass playing. Eno going wild. The recordings are up front and in yr face. You can really hear the Pere Ubu similarities. Hence Roxy gets my vote as the best glam band. These albums are basically perfect IMO. I would even put them above Eno's solo albums, and I really like those.

Bowie obviously rules. Ronson was a genius. Ziggy is my favorite Bowie stuff. That album defines glam. The arrangements rock, the singing rules. Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane are also A+ albums in a glam vein.

First Dolls LP is good but the recording is really thin, like a grandma pushed the Record button. Rhythm section is just kind of...blah. Raggedy. But I feel like that's the vibe they were shooting for. Anything after the first album feels like a let down. This band wasn't that interesting musically but they were obviously a key element in the development of punk rock. The Ramones took this formula and made it kick ass with louder guitar and a more rocking rhythm section. Johnny Thunders was a brilliant guitarist.

Lou Reed's Transformer has a handful of quality songs but anemic, embarrassing sonics. This record hasn't aged that well IMO. Apart from the Blue Mask I've never dug Reeds solo stuff anywhere near as much as the Velvets. Reed was a genius songwriter but Cale, Morrison and Yule were also obviously integral contributors to those Velvets albums, in retrospect.

EDIT: Ok, T. Rex ain't my thing.

Re: Sparkle Dome: Best Glam Band

78
Krev wrote: Tue Nov 28, 2023 3:11 pm That first Dolls record doesn't sound thin.
I mean, the album is still great. It just doesn't rock that hard, to my ears. Compare it to other stuff from that period, like Rocks, Paranoid, Fun House, Sticky Fingers. The recording sounds lackluster to me.

The songwriting is strong enough to where it doesn't really matter.

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