Gene Simmons G2 Thunderbird

[uwe]

I never have issues with your beautiful playing, it's just that all the overdrive/distortion is sometimes too much make-up!

Your high register soloing is lovely.

[Ken]

I never have issues with your beautiful playing, it's just that all the overdrive/distortion is sometimes too much make-up!

Your high register soloing is lovely.

How do you feel about Tom Petersson, then?

[uwe]

WARNING: UWE'S CHEAP TRICK RANT !!!
It's a subject I would rather avoid given how many Trickster fans (don't continue reading!!!) we have here, but (having seen Cheap Trick three times in concert) since you asked:

- Whenever I saw Cheap Trick live, I found them a billowing barrage of noise. They seem to have no control over their live sound at all. I remember a gig where they played together with Status Quo and Deep Purple, both were sound machines of immaculate industrial precision, Cheap Trick sounded like the echo of a second rate garage band playing a mile away in comparison.

- Tom Petersson's live bass sound is so diffuse, he might as well not be playing at all. It's all one great undifferentiated sound mess, to the point of sounding out of time in places

Perhaps they are fine in clubs, at open airs I have seen them fail every time.  "Live At Budokan" sounds diffuse to me too, the only thing you hear well and without too much echo-o-o-o-o are the Japanese girls screaming.

My gosh, they even sound noisy here, Nielsen's guitar is a mess to me, he makes Neil Young's electric guitar playing sound controlled in comparison:



The guys who wrote the original don't (granted, the audio is doctored):



Oh, and I don't like Rick Nielsen's habit of playing minor scale solos over major chord progressions either. He sure would not have lasted long with The Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker, Outlaws, Charlie Daniels, 38 Special or Molly Hatchet. Or Boston for that matter. Playing solos in major keys skillfully is a thoroughly American art which he doesn't master - he plays like a Brit who doesn't know better (Oasis have issues finding the right keys for solos over major harmonies too). It drives me nuts when guitarists don't know their scales. Nielsen is a professed Status Quo fan, in that case he should take lessons with Francis Rossi re the art of major scale solos:

[Ken]

Wow, that's disappointing.

[uwe]

I'm sorry, can't help it. I have a lot of Cheap Trick's stuff and always make an earnest attempt to understand what's to like about it, to no avail really. Robin Zander's vocals do nothing for me either. His voice is not what I would call emotion-drenched.

But I'm ok with the drummer(s), whether Bun E. Carlos or Herr Nielsen Senior's own DNA!!!

I believe it would benefit the music if Petersson droned less on his 12-string and switched to a 4-string with which (i) you might hear him better, (ii) he might play something different to the root note at least once in a while.

[Ken]

Viva la variety!

[TBird1958]

At least there's some clarity here...............4 string Lull Thunderbird Signature.

[ilan]

I completely agree with Uwe. It had to be said.

[uwe]

Indeed and it's a nice version, but that is hardly how Cheap Trick generally sound live. Nice of them to dig this one out though and of course they have some credibility doing it given how they actually played with Lennon.

And Petersson kept his 12-string mushmonster thankfully away.

[uwe]

I completely agree with Uwe. It had to be said.

LOL - Ilan, danke, we'll found a club here, the CTHS (Cheap Trick Hate Squad) ... 

As consolation: I applaud their longevity and Nielsen's general quirkiness.

[westen44]

These things being said are making me feel much better about the Cheap Trick concert I missed long ago in New Orleans.  I had even already bought my ticket, too.  But there is nothing to make me feel better about the two Allman Brothers concerts I came so very close to seeing.  Trying to convince me the Allman Brothers had major flaws would be pretty much pointless. 

[uwe]

Like any band the Allmans could have an off night, but generally the amount of improvisation in their music and their overall musicianly skill would guarantee a few highlights even on a less than stellar night. The only other major bands still active on the touring circuit in recent years that were/are as much into jamming were/are, ironically, Deep Purple, the Dave Matthews Band and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Most other name bands these days fear to challenge their audience. A tradition carried on well, of course, by the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Gov't Mule, the two Allman split-offs.

[Alanko]

I completely agree with Uwe. It had to be said.

I'm in the same boat. I want to like Cheap Trick, with their big power pop compositional style, zany humour, reverence for Brit Invasion music, etc. I just can't do it! American artists that show that degree of reverence for pioneer British acts (add Todd Rundgren to that list) just seem a bit too earnest and slightly unsettling?

I find Tom Petersson a slightly annoying bsssist. There's a video of him playing a '60s T-bird through a HiWatt rig on YouTube. It is several minutes of annoying showboating with zero bass playing going on.

[gearHed289]

The first 3 CT albums are classics in my world. I got turned on to the first two while in 8th grade, and bought Heaven Tonight (on 8 track!) when it was released. I pretty much fell off after that, but still like them. They've been a customer of mine for over 20 years (not that they buy much). I just saw their backline manager two days ago. Nielsen is definitely sloppy as hell live, and the 12er is an acquired taste (I even sold mine). I think Zander is an incredible, versatile vocalist, and the Bun E. beats rock! They did a full Sgt. Peppers show some years ago, and TP played a white T-Bird throughout.

[westen44]

Like any band the Allmans could have an off night, but generally the amount of improvisation in their music and their overall musicianly skill would guarantee a few highlights even on a less than stellar night. The only other major bands still active on the touring circuit in recent years that were/are as much into jamming were/are, ironically, Deep Purple, the Dave Matthews Band and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Most other name bands these days fear to challenge their audience. A tradition carried on well, of course, by the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Gov't Mule, the two Allman split-offs.

The Allman Brothers may have been a little overrated.  But that can be said of many other bands, too.  In my book, they were definitely the best Southern rock band, although they said they didn't want to be called that.