I will say one thing about Shudder to Think (well, I’ll probably say more). They committed, for me, the greatest crime possible for a band. And it is this:
Okay, they had a lineup change for Pony. Happens to bands all the time, coincided with the switch to a major. Okay. I don’t begrudge bands for wanting to be in a financially sound position, and I always wish them well when they decide to make the jump. I don’t cry sellout, it just makes me nervous for their future. I have watched so many of my favorite bands go to a major, put out one mediocre album, and disband. It’s distressing. But that’s not the point here (there, I’ve already said more than one thing…). I thought Pony was a great album, but in some ways not a great Shudder album. I think Pony came out in 93ish? by this point in my record-buying lifetime, there were bands I had been following for years, and had seen change and evolve. This is natural. I don’t want Fugazi to release “Repeater” five stinkin’ times. If you like repeater, listen to it. I have called this the “Andy effect”. A good friend of mine in school named Andy absolutely hated the second album by any band you’d care to mention (except Crimpshrine, but that’s a different thread. What the h*ll is up with Crimpshrine fans, anyway?). Second Nuisance album? Hated it. Second Godbullies album? Hated it. Plaid Retina? Has-beens. In on the kill Taker? Don’t even get him started!
So maybe my reaction to Pony was after being subjected to years of negativity, and saying “hey, I don’t have to hate this if I don’t want to!”. Sounds obvious in hindsight. But I tried to listen to Pony without thinking of the history of the band, and found I enjoyed it. It worked as a whole, instead of screeching to a halt at the end of side one while Craig blathered about sugar mountains.
But I haven’t made my point yet. As of Pony, everything is okay in Shudder world. The sh*t hits the fan with 50,000 B.C. By this album, the drummer has left. Okay. We’ll forgive that. So they get a new drummer. Then I look at the album cover. Hmmmmm. Three guys. Where the hell is the new drummer? Are there no drums on this album? Oh, there are? Then what the hell? He’s not a smart enough dresser?
Now, maybe I’m biased. I’m a drummer. But that doesn’t matter. Any band that has a contributing member, on every stinking song, should be acknowledged as part of the band! I mean, at least smashing pumpkins acknowledged that Kenny Arnoff was filling in (what was the deal with those glasses? Did he just get back from the shooting range? But I digress…). When Mac vacated the throne for Jesus Lizard, horrible as it was, the very capable James Kimball became part of the band. So when a band like the Cranberrys has their real keyboard player hiding under the stage, while the pixie lead singer bangs on a keyboard that isn’t even hooked up, it pisses me off. Or the “fifth” member of REM. Who are you fooling? Why?
As of 50,000 B.C., Shudder never acknowledged 50% of their rhythm section. It just seemed very contrived. I actually enjoyed 50,000 B.C. to some degree, but even less as a Shudder album.
I haven’t really answered the question. But I did forgive, and accept, the compromises for Pony. Heck, I loved that album. But at 50,000, the dynamics of the band, their image, overtook the music and soured it for me. And that’s too bad. That to me doesn’t seem to far off from liking or not liking a band based on how snappy they look, or how many tattoos they have. The music should always come first. With 50,000, the weight became too much to became too much to bear.
