Oh man, how could I have forgotten - if we’re going to branch out into hip-hop territory, then there’s always the glammy electro-funk of “World Class Wreckin’ Cru” which later spawned the more-hardcore-than-thou, riot-inducing jams of N.W.A.!!! That’s a Ministry-level re-think there.
And it wasn’t easily forgotten when N.W.A. broke up and began feuding with each other; Eazy E (who wasn’t a “Wreckin’ Cru” member) called out Dr. Dre (who was) for his awkward career transition, e.g. “from wearin’ lipstick / to smokin’ on chronic at picnics…”
As usual, Bowie is the obvious answer. Sometimes the “rock n roll chameleon” thing is overstated, but the transition from Diamond Dogs to Young Americans is pretty drastic. Especially for the time period.
Laugh all you want, but the jump in credibility from The Real Thing (disposable pop metal) to Angel Dust (avant genre bending 90’s keyboard metal with growled vocals) was astounding.
Check out they’re first EP/album which is a straight-up CA hardcore punk classic. Then look at their shark-jumping butt rock abominations “Hit and Run” and “Revenge”. They went from being really dark and aggressive to looking like a bunch of faggots who cloned themselves from the combined semens of Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) and Renegade (Lorenzo Lamas). Oh, it sounded like complete diaper fill too.
Here’s my take. I generally only favor bands/artists who are in a constant chameleonesque state. When you become so predictable within a certain style that the slightest change in direction is noticeable means that you failed before you decided a change was necessary.
Here’s my take. I generally only favor bands/artists who are in a constant chameleonesque state. When you become so predictable within a certain style that the slightest change in direction is noticeable means that you failed before you decided a change was necessary.
The motivation behind the stylistic shedding of skin, or at least what I perceive that motivation to be, plays a big role in how much I personally respect changes in an artist’s presentation.
The “re-thinks” that seem motivated by some desire to maintain credibility literally sound worse to me, and can generally be told apart from “re-thinks” that are done for some reason that maybe the artist isn’t fully able to explain…some compulsion or response to the ‘muse’ or whatever.
That’s maybe part of the attraction to 80s-90s Ministry for me…I still can’t accurately gauge how much of the changes came from Al’s fear of being disrespected by his peers, and how much of that came from an innate restlessness and a need to try new things.
Check out they’re first EP/album which is a straight-up CA hardcore punk classic. Then look at their shark-jumping butt rock abominations “Hit and Run” and “Revenge”. They went from being really dark and aggressive to looking like a bunch of faggots who cloned themselves from the combined semens of Uncle Jesse (John Stamos) and Renegade (Lorenzo Lamas). Oh, it sounded like complete diaper fill too.
Hey Gunnar, you’re the resident G.G. Allin expert; do you consider his, uh, changes in performance style over the years to be worthy of inclusion on the ‘radical re-think’ list? Or was the poop-eating, constantly bloodied G.G. just a natural progression from what he was doing in his earlier years?
No, I don’t think The Geege can be in this same discussion. Granted, there’s a transition of sound from his earlier stuff which has a real pop sensibility to his later more growling aggro stuff, but he’s always just been GG. Punk, crusty, and . . . well, GG.
There are a few albums or songs where it’s a bit of a head shaker but nothing really where you go, “Seriously? This is the same guy?”
Plus one of the reasons that GG’s “sound” was all over the place was because he’d pretty much play with whoever would have him. If you make a list of all the crappy albums, 7"'s, and just shows that he’s done with various band names, the list is incredibly wrong. Most of them are pretty awful, by the way.
Here’s a special treat for y’all.
Showing CLEARLY that not only did we lose an amazing artistic musician, but someone with a vault of untapped acting potential too.
Here’s a special treat for y’all.
Showing CLEARLY that not only did we lose an amazing artistic musician, but someone with a vault of untapped acting potential too.
Hahaha at the mention of “acting potential,” I knew EXACTLY what that was going to be before even clicking on it. Too bad that GG Allin was never cast in any John Hughes movies.
“We’re takin’ over the cityyyyy!!!” Of course you are, GG…
No, I don’t think The Geege can be in this same discussion. Granted, there’s a transition of sound from his earlier stuff which has a real pop sensibility to his later more growling aggro stuff, but he’s always just been GG. Punk, crusty, and . . . well, GG.
There are a few albums or songs where it’s a bit of a head shaker but nothing really where you go, “Seriously? This is the same guy?”
Plus one of the reasons that GG’s “sound” was all over the place was because he’d pretty much play with whoever would have him. If you make a list of all the crappy albums, 7"'s, and just shows that he’s done with various band names, the list is incredibly wrong. Most of them are pretty awful, by the way.
Here’s a special treat for y’all.
Showing CLEARLY that not only did we lose an amazing artistic musician, but someone with a vault of untapped acting potential too.
That video of GG’s last gig(and last night on earth) is so fucked up…the looks on people’s faces out in the street were just priceless…“what the fuck is that dirty naked scumbag doing rolling around on the dirty streets”!! hahaha
That video of GG’s last gig(and last night on earth) is so fucked up…the looks on people’s faces out in the street were just priceless…“what the fuck is that dirty naked scumbag doing rolling around on the dirty streets”!! hahaha
I’ve watched that video many times. I find it fascinating and also sad. It really shows what a magnet for complete derelict leeches he was. There’s GG’s core trying to make their way to freedom like they’re the “Warriors” trying to get out of the city, and there’s a surprising number of people they run into along the way that are just really pleasant and seem to have a connection of some sort with him.
Then across the street or following at a semi-safe distance is this pack of mongrel spectators who want so desperately to be part of something.
It’s on YouTube and I’ve probably watched it all the way through 4 or 5 times.
Yeah and that junkie chick was so annoying…she just wouldn’t shut the fuck up…it is fascinating to watch knowing that a few hours later he would be dead…I think they put that video on the extras for the Hated dvd if I’m not mistaken…
Yeah and that junkie chick was so annoying…she just wouldn’t shut the fuck up…it is fascinating to watch knowing that a few hours later he would be dead…I think they put that video on the extras for the Hated dvd if I’m not mistaken…
I think later re-issues of “Hated” had the funeral stuff. They might have had that pre-death segment too. It’s wild stuff.
Then across the street or following at a semi-safe distance is this pack of mongrel spectators who want so desperately to be part of something.
It’s on YouTube and I’ve probably watched it all the way through 4 or 5 times.
The book “I Was A Murder Junkie” by the band’s former roadie is a fascinating (and actually very well-written) look at some of the bizarro personalities who trailed GG everywhere he went.
There’s a really telling part in there where the author gets his roadie gig not because of any exceptional technical know-how, but just because he’s an apparently ‘normal’ person who “isn’t going to just worship GG the whole time.” Much of the book revolves around how any shred of normalcy in the life of GG Allin and co. is like a refreshing novelty for them.
Yeah, I want to get that book, but it’s always out of print and outrageously expensive.
I find the “normalcy” of GG a fascinating topic of its own. With the cult that he’d kind of created by default and the deity that he’s become post-mortem, so many of these mindless goons just seem to think that all he did was roll around in his own shit 24/7 and look for things to punch. But that was just a small part of his life (well, no, it was a HUGE part of his life, but a tiny fraction of his daily existence).
The home videos of him hanging out with his family and joking or doing in-store signings and talking to shop staff and such really show how “regular” he COULD be, and how in control of his persona he was.
One of my favorite albums he did was an accoustic country album called “GG Allin and the Criminal Quartet – Carnival of Excess”. It’s really great.
I don’t know how true this is, but I’d read somewhere that he was really tired of the punishment that he was enduring on tour as a result of what he’d kind of created of himself and the uncomfortable box that his “fans” expected him to be in. He was supposedly hoping to kind of get a break from that and reinvent himself a bit as a country act or something. Like I said, I don’t know how much, if any, weight that holds, but I could empathize with him if there’s truth to it.
Now time to check for that book to see if anyone’s done a reprint or if it’s still 100 bucks . . .
First Four . . . then Black Album . . . then Load/Reload . . . St. Anger . . . finally back to form with Death Magnetic . . . and then another kick in the dick with LULU.
