Them Crooked Vultures, not so supergroup
Posted on 13. Nov, 2009 by stevecrane in Music, featured
I could probably be said to have lead a fairly sheltered musical life. I haven’t really listened to music radio for many years and thus often lack exposure to artists others would consider well known. Such is the case with Queens of the Stone Age, whom I have somehow never been exposed to. So when I became aware of the genesis of Them Crooked Vultures and the imminent release of their debut, eponymous album, I had to resort to Wikipedia for the pedigree of Josh Homme. The names of bandmates Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones were more familiar.
I’m a fan of Nirvana’s music although that is probably more due to the talents of the late Kurt Cobain than the those of partners Grohl and Novoselic whose individual contributions never really stood out in my mind. I was never a fan of The Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl is not some great musical icon to me. Likewise, while I love Led Zeppelin’s music I never paid much attention to the individual contributions that each member brought to the band. So it surprised me to hear this merger of little known (to me) musicians being described as a supergroup.
Full marks to the band for their pre-release of the entire album in streaming format on Youtube. A kick in the teeth for record companies and a sign that the band understands the value of the Internet as a means of getting their music out there and growing a fan base.
I started listening to the music with little idea of who the band was and no pre-conceived idea of what to expect. Having become used to hearing the parade of soundalike modern bands my sons listen to I was blown away by the rather unique sound. Despite the bias of two Americans to one Brit, the majority of the album has a British blues rock feel. Despite the Led Zeppelin link there is less of a Zeppelin influence than one might expect. I think I heard more influences from Deep Purple, particularly noticeable on Caligulove, in which Jones injects some organ work that could have come from the Hammond of John Lord himself.
All in all a solid rock album. No standout, iconic tracks but a very listenable album that will get your feet tapping and your head nodding. Do yourself a favour and ignore all the dismissive reviews writing them off as just another “super group” destined for failure. Listen to the album; give the music a chance and I’m sure that you’ll want to buy it yourself, just as I plan to do as soon as it becomes available.
To stream the album visit : http://moralfibre.co.za/metalnews/2009/11/10/metal-news-10-nov/ and click on the Them Crooked Vultures image.
Related posts:
- Your Name in Neon- The Endeavour- album review
- Sick Puppies – Dressed Up as Life Review
- An interview with The Shotguns
- Rock Out Radio – Streaming Rock Radio!
- A review of Jet’s ‘Shaka Rock’
Start the conversation on Facebook
10 Responses to “Them Crooked Vultures, not so supergroup”
Leave a Reply
Popular Posts
- Smirnoff Experience 2010 brings DJ Tiesto to Johannesburg: It’s been to New York, Moscow, Paris and London, and 319 comment(s) | 40950 view(s) | by
- DJ Tiesto is not dead.: Unless Dj Tiesto, rumoured to have been killed in a car 4 comment(s) | 4322 view(s) | by
- An Interview with Jack Parow : Jack Parow truly is original, he is in fact the "o 28 comment(s) | 23853 view(s) | by
- Win 2 tickets to see Basement Jaxx in Johannesburg: On the 4th of September Basement Jaxx will be perfo 36 comment(s) | 1722 view(s) | by
- Nokia 5800 XpressMusic review: "With the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, we set out to con 2 comment(s) | 22865 view(s) | by
Our Sponsors
Ok, I’m gonna be a bit of an ogre here, I don’t usually do this, so Steve, I apologise in advance if this upsets you, but reviews like yours are all too prevalent on the internet these days, so I’m gonna vent.
Firstly, do you currently, or have you ever played a musical instrument?
If yes, have you played in a band, written your own material and played live gigs (doesn’t matter if they sucked, all of my gigs sucked, but everyone’s a critic right?).
If you’ve answered yes to all these questions, we’re doing well, but we’re not out the woods yet.
You’ve written a review for which you admit to having done basically no research, which I’m sorry to say, doesn’t lend you much credibility.
And yes, I realise that many people out there reading this are probably in exactly the same situation you are, ie. they have no clue about the musical elements or history that has come together in a supergroup like Them Crooked Vultures, but your review is not helping this in any way.
Also, and I’m sorry but I’m going to get personal here, Dave Grohl is not a musical icon to you? His contributions to Nirvana never stood out in your mind? Are you aware that Cobain himself described Grohl as ‘a fucking metronome’ and one of the best drummers to ever play?
Grohl is a God. There is hardly a musician out there who is as accomplished as a drummer, guitarist and vocalist as Grohl. LISTEN to his work, ALL of it, and I guarantee you your opinion of Grohl will change.
People said Foo Fighters would NEVER work, they said Grohl was just cashing in on Nirvana’s fame and he was a total sell out for doing so, but six studio albums later, Grohl is still capable of writing awesome and inspiring rock music that is consistantly good.
I URGE you, PLEASE to listen to the latest album, ‘Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace’ and really let it sink it because it’s an excellent album and very succintly proves my point that Dave Grohl is a musical genius.
Once you’ve done this, I’d urge you to do the same with both Queens Of The Stone Age and Homme’s other side project, Eagles Of Death Metal. Homme and Grohl are cut from the same cloth, Homme is also a musician who plays guitar, drums and sings and writes dark, sexy, dirty rock music that makes no apologies, nor does it make any attempts whatsoever to appeal to the masses, which, these days, is a welcome relief from the other pop-slop that radios insist on bludgeoning us with.
As for John Paul Jones, he’s a dinosaur man! He’s a T-Rex! When he gets on that bass guitar he’s 50ft tall, his riffs were the meat on the bones of everything Zepplin did. Yes, it does take a specific ear to really hear and appreciate what bass guitarists actually do in a band, but re-listen to your Zepplin collection when you get a chance and focus on what Jones is doing. You can feel his basslines in your guts.
So yeah, bottom line is I don’t think you were qualified to write this review.
The primary goal of any review should be to educate your readers about the subject matter, engage with them and get them inspired to go out there and listen, really LISTEN to music because it is the only art form that is able to capture and communicate emotions and ideas without ramming them down your throat through sensory overload like film and TV does.
And because of that it is my belief, and has been for a good number of years, that more than religion, more than politics, more than self-help gurus and talk show hosts, it is MUSIC that will save us.
slick tiger..rick rubin has never played an instrument are you telling me your opinion is more valid than his because you played a few gigs…music is all about how the music makes you feel…this reviewer is not really digging them crooked vultures and thats cool..i actually think they suck balls..another average rock white stripes kind of thing,,thats just what we need..as generic as britney in my opinion… i think foo fighters are cool,nirvana is cool..dave grohl is a talented man..not a genius..i dont like how that word gets thrown around..if you describe grohl as a genius then how would you describe mozart or john coltrane? but i suppose its just your opinion.. please dont try take something subjective like music and give it marks..just coz talented musicians get together doesnt mean they will make good music…
Go F***K Yourself man…. If you know anything about music you’d understand what this guy is going of at Steve for. If musical talent was a means to measuring divinity this group would be up for the job of holy trinity. God Son and Holy ghost you decide which is which. Rubin is a musician because most decent producers are. Trent Reznor ring a bell? So go home put you’re Killers album and jerk off while staring at yourself in the mirror. Them crooked Vultures will be played by loyal fans people who can actually appreciate good music for decades to come. Generic my f*****g ass your face is generic oh by the way the word you where looking for was mediocre like you’re mind. Oh yea Coltrane played jazz you dumb f*** if you’re going to compare them crooked vultures then do it to something like Dire Straights or even Clapton. Have you ever even listened to Queens Of The Stone Age you ignorant dipshit? Was Coltrane’s IQ higher than 140? Was it? So don’t f****** bitch about a word being used incorrectly if you use it incorrectly yourself. You cant even prove Mozart had an IQ that high though it is more than likely.
Greg – a couple of things:
1. Rick Rubin played guitar in a punk band called ‘The Pricks’ when he was in highschool, then later in ‘Hose’ before he moved over to hip hop production (Thanks Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rubin)
2. I told you my opinion was more valid than Rick Rubin’s? Was I drunk?
3. Contrary to your comment, Steve actually liked the album (see review above)
4. I’m not ‘giving music marks’ I’m giving this review marks, bad ones, because I think that Steve, like millions of other people writing on the internet, is unfamilliar with his subject matter.
His opinions are his and as such must be respected and valued, PROVIDED he can back them up.
Otherwise it’s like de-evolving back to the nursery school playground – ‘This album is nice.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I said so.’
Awesome!
You make some interesting points but I don’t agree that one needs to be an expert to offer an opinion on any subject. My expertise or experience might be used to evaluate the credence a reader should give to my opinion, but surely has no bearing on my opinion itself.
music is something you can say i just like it…coz thats how i feel..thats whats cool about music..it just makes you feel a certain way,,,its a neanderthal thing sometimes…you didnt say your opinion was more valid than rick rubins but rick is not a musician and yet has one of the most important ears in music..if you think playing in a punk called the pricks counts then thats sad..if he heard the album then he has full knowledge of the subject matter,,heres my review of the album..i listened to it once and it sucked coz i felt nothing…. haha ”grohl is a god”who are you comparing him to..liza manelli..you can say i love dave grohl but calling him a god is disrespectful to miles..haha,,,oh ja and josh homme likes guys
”Rubin was unpopular among the other musicians due to his complete lack of musical ability beyond a few rudimentary guitar chords” thanks for the wikipedia link
I don’t think one needs to be a musician, or even have musical tendencies to have an opinion on whether an album is worth listening to or not. BUT, I have to agree with SlickTiger and say that this review is uninformed and trite. All it does is show that you are perpetuating all the gag inducing dross floating around on the Internet and that you have the skills and facilities to upload bar room opinions onto a webpage. Well done! Basically, what I read from your review was, ‘Blah blah, I don’t know what I’m talking about. Blah blah blah, blah blah Why waste your time reading this? Blah. Blah! Blah blah… blah blah. Blah. Blah! I like this album but don’t listen to me because my mother brought me up on Jon Secada.’ A little bit harsh, I know, but come on, this review is the equivalent of Pop Idol as a litmus test for quality TV viewing. Enough rant from me! Blast me if you will.
Amidst this anal retentive debate going on here, can someone please write an actual critical review of this album please? My opinion is that it is not that much of a departure from anything that the individual members have created or been involved in before. For sure, Homme knows how to write a riff that gets the adrenaline flowing, Grohl knows how to get the foot tapping and head banging, and Jones is more than capable of keeping it all together, but, have we not heard variations of this music before? Have we not heard Homme croon in the semi-hushed and abrasive liquid metal (paradox I know) voice of his before? Have we not heard Grohl smack the snare and kick with such fervour and dedication in syncopated rhythms and untempered stability before? And to be honest, amidst the predictability, Jones does little to redeem the slight variation on what the members have been known for.
My verdict, the album is a solid 1 or 2 listens. By track 4 (Dead End Friends) you have heard the potential of the rest of the album and it starts to become an homage to the collective member’s previous incarnations in other bands. Not a bad thing, there is solid groundwork here, but a design that is quirky but timeless or intriguing it is not.
There is not enough new going on here to justify the member’s talents. Whilst this album will be great in the car cranked up to 11 driving to your mate’s house party 20 minutes away, it is not a classic or a redefinition of the genre, it is simply the sum of its parts, nothing greater.
So, having been roundly lambasted for my “review”; what have I learned?
Before I get into that I should mention that I didn’t volunteer to review the album. In fact, writing music reviews is something I had never even considered doing. After I had tweeted that I liked the album, Vincent asked if I would write a review for MoralFibre. I said that I was no writer but that I would try and put something together that evening, neglecting to mention that I’m no student of music.
So comes that evening and I have to produce something as promised. My review starts off as “I don’t know much about music, but I know what I like and I like this album.” Obviously I can’t just send this in so I wonder how I’m going to flesh it out. After looking around the net at some other reviews I see that many of them are not really looking at the music but are writing the band of as just another supergroup. Given my lack of musical knowledge I don’t really know the strengths of the musicians involved and considering a supergroup to be composed of people I know to be really huge stars I decide to use the angle that these guys are not well known to me in their own rights, so I would hardly call them a supergroup. But I also suggest that they should not be judged on the strength of a label in any case. Add a bit of waffle around some of the influences I hear in the music; end of with a fleshing out of the idea that I like the album and think readers might like it too, and I’m done. Voila, a “review” that I send off to Vincent, thinking he’s never going to want to post this rubbish. But he does and not too surprisingly it elicits several tirades from people that might take themselves just a tiny bit too seriously.
So, what did I learn. I learned that I should just say no in future when I’m asked to write on a subject I don’t think I’m particularly knowledgable in.
Hi Steve, I think that the responses your post elicited were in actuality exactly what a post about music would ordinarily produce – regardless of whether in fact you’d consider yourself an expert or not.
But for your self-referential comment that you might not be the most informed person to comment on the album, your opinion, much like the others above is of the same value.
Them Crooked Vultures doesn’t make music for future reviews, instead as with every band, they’re more interested in hearing the opinions of those listeners who have taken the time out to get into their work.
I asked you to make comment on the TCV album because you’ve always been a presence following our music writing for a while now, and thought it be great to have you share your opinion with us.
I for one enjoyed the debate which your article inspired, barring those inflammatory remarks which had more to do with your ability to write a review than the review’s content itself.