I’m pretty sure nobody’s ever called these guys bland or inoffensive…
Okay, I’m back and ready to tackle the metal aspect of this, with a little punk and maybe a couple of miscellaneous things to even it all out.
WordMan, you should see the list of things I didn’t bother to post, most of which I felt were just too well-known to bother with, but a bunch which were just lacking musically.
Anal Cunt, for example. I like them, have a couple of their CDs, but the truth is that the entire concept of the band was a joke. They’re a grindcore band, no doubt, but really each “song” exists for the purpose of having a title. I mean, they’re great titles, but for the most part the band’s purpose was to be obnoxious, not make great music. Although, don’t think the guys in the band didn’t have talent. They actually played those songs live and they sounded exactly like they do on the recordings. I say “played” because founder and vocalist Seth Putnam passed away last summer shortly after his 43rd birthday. If you look them up you’ll see that band members were involved in other bands/projects that weren’t jokes, tho: Pantera, Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, etc.
Anyway, speaking of Anal Cunt, a common misperception is that they named themselves after a song by GG Allin; the truth is that Allin recorded his song hers after the band was started. If you’ve never heard of GG Allin, well, let’s just say that the man was a force of nature that could not, would not be contained. He was on a one man quest to, as he put it, “make rock dangerous again”. With his backing band, The Murder Junkies, live shows were a barely constrained chaos (sometimes not constrained at all) that featured a sometimes naked Allin eating feces, mutilating himself with broken glass, razor blades or other implements (both sharp and dull), fighting with audience members, etc. His wiki page is pretty awesome reading. He recorded punk rock, country, spoken word, and even some fairly straight-ahead rock & roll. His music was crude, as were his lyrics, but it was impossible to turn away (unless you had to puke or something).
Guns, Bitches, Brawls and Bottles
Expose Yourself To Kids (this is now cemented in my head as Jerry Sandusky’s theme song, btw)
Bite It You Scum (live)
This interview with his mother, recorded a decade and a half after his death (I think), puts some perspective on him, and shows that he was, like Andy Kaufman, a consummate performer AND a human being, albeit a very troubled one.
The Meatmen are Tesco Vee’s band, all the way. And Tesco has a wicked sense of humor. I’ve seen them live twice, and both shows were loud, crude and completely offensive: a great time!
We’re The Meatmen & You Suck!!
1 Down 3 To Go
Mr. Tapeworm
Tooling For Anus
Which bring us to The Mentors (Sickie Wifebeater, Heathen Scum and El Duce), a crude punk rock/heavy metal band that wore black hoods on stage and totally offended nearly everyone in earshot. The fact that they play loud as hell just means that they piss off more people, which seems to be fine with them. Sadly, El Duce stepped in front of a train when he was 39 years old, nearly ending the band. Heathen Scum took over vocal duties tho, and hired a new drummer (Moosedick), and the band has soldiered on.
Golden Showers
Sex Booze Weed Speed
Adultery
Enough with the music history for a bit. Now that I’ve successfully transitioned from unbland and offensive punk rock to unbland and offensive metal, I’ll just toss out some stuff, most of which speaks for itself (on preview, I decided to add some genre labels; not all metal is thrash or CMVs):
Cannibal Corpse - Fucked With A Knife (death metal)
Cannibal Corpse - Evisceration Plague (death metal)
Cannibal Corpse - Sentenced To Burn (death metal)
Cannibal Corpse - Necrosadistic Warning (death metal)
I did want to note that CC was pretty much the model for Dethklok, and George ‘Corpsegrinder’ Fisher has done voice work for the show (shame on you if you don’t know what I’m talking about!). Live shows are a fucking experience and a half. I love this band.
DevilDriver - Grinfucked
Electric Wizard - Return Trip (stoner doom)
Electric Wizard - We Hate You (stoner doom)
Exodus - Children Of A Worthless God (thrash)
Exodus - Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer) (thrash)
Goatwhore - Apocalyptic Havoc (thrash)
Haunted Garage - Theme
Damn I made it thru “H” before I came across something that wasn’t straight up metal, but that needs to be in here. hed(PE) are a strange hybrid of rap and metal that is totally unlike what people think of when you use those terms to describe a band. They also incorporate funk, reggae, hip hop, and punk rock, for a style that they themselves refer to as “G-punk”. Their lyrics seems to offend a lot of people as being misogynistic (an accusation that’s hard to refute, to be honest), but their first couple of albums were amazing. Subsequent offering have been hit or miss, but they’re still around (I saw them a couple of summers ago). Their sound has changed drastically with constant lineup changes over the years, but they are still a brutally pounding outfit.
hed(PE) - Boom (How You Like That)
hed(PE) - Hey Bartender
hed(PE) - Crazy Legs
hed(PE) - Swan Dive
The Icarus Line - Up Against The Wall Motherfuckers (garage rock/punk)
Some of the offensiveness of this next band might be diminished because of the vocal style (“unintelligible croaking and growling” hasn’t really gone mainstream yet), but I find that when I play this in a crowd, people get pissed off as hell anyway. One of my favorite bands, they only released a couple of albums, really. Any hope of new material was dashed when the singer, Johnny Morrow, suffered a fatal heart attack in 2002.
Iron Monkey - Fink Dial (stoner/doom)
Iron Monkey - Supagorgonizer (stoner/doom)
Iron Monkey - Boss Keloid (stoner/doom)
The Jesus Lizard - Mouth Breather
Korn - K@#0%!
Lair Of The Minotaur - Let’s Kill These Motherfuckers (doom)
If you’ve never heard of them, Lard is a supergroup, at least as far as the punk/metal underground is concerned. Originally comprised of Jello Biafra, Al Jourgenson, Paul Barker and Jeff Ward, the group slammed into the world in 1989 with a couple of 12" releases. When they released their first full length, 1990s The Last Temptation Of Reid, they were easily one of the most powerful combos on the planet. After Jeff Ward’s suicide in 1993, the band released one more album and a couple of 12" records, none of which live up to the early promise of the band.
Lard - Forkboy
Lard - Can God Fill Teeth? (I use a clip from this as the ringtone for my dentist’s office; they were not amused)
Lard - Drug Raid At 4 AM
I was gonna list some stuff by The Lonely Island, but it was quickly apparent that I was gonna have like a dozen songs. If you haven’t seen them on Saturday Night Live, ffs go look for their stuff on youtube. Oh, alright, I’ll give you a place to start:
The Lonely Island - Motherlover (funny as hell)
Mammal - The Majority
Manhole - Victim (headbanging metal)
Marilyn Manson - Irresponsible Hate Anthem
Marilyn Manson - 1996
MC5 - Kick Out The Jams (one of the greatest and most notorious songs of all time; another of my favorite bands)
Megadeth - Peace Sells
I’ll close with my own personal theme song. I used to use this song to open every radio broadcast I did, until I got a gig at a country station to pay the bills. Management was not amused when they got phone calls from people complaining about hearing Motörhead at 6am on Sunday morning when they expected to hear the latest from Amy Grant or Vince Gill.
Motörhead - Ace Of Spades
Well, that’s half the alphabet. Again, this took me longer than I thought it would, and I actually skipped over quite a few bands, looking for stuff that was far from the mainstream and particularly offensive/distressing/upsetting to the vast majority of people. Since that’s kind of the niche of music I like, I have a decent collection of stuff that fits in there.
If anyone wants to know more about a band, just ask here and I’ll do my best to fill you in.
I’ll do the rest of the alphabet tomorrow, for anyone who’s still paying attention to this thread.
:eek: Snowboarder Bo, when you said you’d have a list, you did not disappoint. Actually, make that two lists.
I was wondering if I was taking the “inoffensive” part of bland and inoffensive too literally, but no, I guess not. Which, to me, makes that phrase almost meaningless, because it could be a description of pretty much all commercial music. Well, maybe not the bland part. But by definition all popular songs are going to be pretty much inoffensive.
I will say though, I was surprised one time when I heard a song called “Fuck the world” by Insane Clown Posse on the radio. It was on a so called “alternative” station, but frankly that was probably the only alternative song they’ve ever played.
hehe
Music is and always has been a driving force in my life and a passion for me. I am almost always listening to something. I keep a list (and have for as long as I can remember) of bands/artists and albums to find, listen to and possibly purchase. I enjoy a wide range of styles, and seem to find that everything I like leads me to at least 2 more things that I’ll like.
I spent a couple of years without hearing as a kid (completely deaf), and again for a brief period as a teenager, and can only surmise that somehow it’s given rise to a more distinct appreciation for how music tickles my own cortex. I’m always glad to share my favorites with others and similarly enjoy listening to other people’s music. I may not like it after I hear it (not everything is for everybody, after all), but it’s the act of listening that I enjoy first and foremost. And I love new things, new experiences. I could live a very long time before I got bored with this planet and all there is to see, hear, taste, touch and do.
Anyway, I’ll be back with N-Z tomorrow. I hope some of what you hear is to your liking.