Premier Rock Forum

Past that, I gotta ask...

If Revelation is a deal breaker, where are you at on Iceburn?

I liked them when I was in junior high, but not after that. The sloganeering felt pretty disingenuous, moreso than the aforementioned Clash and Crass. Tom Morello's riffs were cool until I started listening to Sabbath. The fake scratching was annoying.

numberthirty wrote: Past that, I gotta ask...

If Revelation is a deal breaker, where are you at on Iceburn?

Seemed kinda like that whole scene's version of a band like Brutal Truth or some of the Earache roster: heavy music owing a great deal to Zorn-derived avant-channel surfing. In this case, nth generation hardcore instead of death metal or grindcore at the base. It also seemed to take a page from some of the jazzier SST bands. I think they got much further out after that, but I wasn't exactly paying attention. I don't mean any of that to sound dismissive, as my memory of Iceburn is not particularly vivid.

The only thing I can recall hearing at the time was a split album (w/Engine Kid?) and maybe whatever proper LP was concurrent w/that. Didn't make me want to turn it off, like say Sick of It All or Texas Is the Reason, but failed to really move me, as well.

OrthodoxEaster wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2024 6:12 pm

numberthirty wrote: Past that, I gotta ask...

If Revelation is a deal breaker, where are you at on Iceburn?

Seemed kinda like that whole scene's version of a band like Brutal Truth or some of the Earache roster: heavy music owing a great deal to Zorn-derived avant-channel surfing. In this case, nth generation hardcore instead of death metal or grindcore at the base. It also seemed to take a page from some of the jazzier SST bands. I think they got much further out after that, but I wasn't exactly paying attention. I don't mean any of that to sound dismissive, as my memory of Iceburn is not particularly vivid.

The only thing I can recall hearing at the time was a split album (w/Engine Kid?) and maybe whatever proper LP was concurrent w/that. Didn't make me want to turn it off, like say Sick of It All or Texas Is the Reason, but failed to really move me, as well.

Pretty sure it was.

That said, in my memory both of the Iceburn tracks were improvs based on themes from "The Rite Of Spring"

Evil Empire came out when I was a 14 year old stoner. Blew my fuckin mind. I'm scared to go back with adult ears and spoil the memory.

I remember looking back at it in my 20's and thinking Brendan O'Brien and Andy Wallace did an unusually good job making that record sound big but actually interesting. The rhythm section was unfuckwithable. A shame that Audioslave was so awful.

losthighway wrote: Sat Sep 07, 2024 8:25 pm Evil Empire came out when I was a 14 year old stoner. Blew my fuckin mind. I'm scared to go back with adult ears and spoil the memory.

I remember looking back at it in my 20's and thinking Brendan O'Brien and Andy Wallace did an unusually good job making that record sound big but actually interesting. The rhythm section was unfuckwithable. A shame that Audioslave was so awful.

Agreed, Audioslave had the chops to be something great with Cornell in the mix but it just didn't fire on all 8 cylinders for some reason.

The first record fucking cooks. There's also this awesome cover of "Bulls on Parade" by Denzel Curry:

[youtube][/youtube]

Excellent, powerful rock band. Evil Empire is the one where they knock it out of the park IMO; but the debut and covers record are also very strong. That version of 'Microphone Fiend' is a real showcase for what they can do; generating a lot from very little (see also: Chaos A.D by Sepultura).

They were running out of steam by Battle of L.A. Morello got either too ornate or too reductive w/ stock telecaster rock twang riffs. Most of the songs begin to not work (despite valiant efforts from the top tier rhythm section). Smart to stop there. Audioslave continues on the trajectory of mixing more "classic" and "tasteful" Rolling Stone approved rock into the mix and is even more misaligned as a result.

Asinine politics, but if that was what motivated those vocals and that energy, I can tolerate it.

Not crap.

I absolutely hated this band when they came out. Cannot say that I like them now.

Their politics had little impact on the mainstream despite bringing their politics there. They get absolute props for sticking to their guns, and it's not their fault that people didn't hear them.

Their music is not made for me.

Actually one of the funniest things about this band more recently is comments on places like Instagram with right wing chuds suddenly realising they’re spouting Marxist propaganda.

“I’ve been into Rage for years, but why are they now so political!”. They’re also hate figures for anti vaxers for some reason.