90's Region - Weezer vs Rancid

[IrishCanadian25]

1st Round 90's Region Match

Weezer vs Rancid​

Please take into account the entire body of work of the artists, their mark on the music industry and/or society as a whole, their influence on other artists, lyrics, music, etc. If you have not already done so, please review the rules of the tournament and the Wrestlezone Forums. Have fun!

 

[Shadowmancer]

Anything involving Tim Armstrong is great. His solo stuff is great. The Transplants are great. Rancid get this just based off of What I have heard of Rancid and the entire solo effort of one Tim Armstrong. One of the most underrated guys in Music today.

 

[Dylanis]

Weezer is an easy vote here. They are one of the most underratted bands of the 90's -- the Blue Album was one of the most popular albums of the decade, selling atleast 6 or 7 million copies. They introduced a generation to what real indie and emo music was in the early 90's.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

These are two bands that got famous off of how bad their lead singer sang.

Rancid- Tim Armstrong has this raspy, grainy, totally "off" voice which so many people find endearing. I don't get it, but whatever. Punk fans like it because it is unpolished and unconventional.

Weezer - the musical savior to nerds everywhere, singing about wearing sweaters to parties and playing Dungeons and Dragons in their garage. The voices were even nerdy.

And yet you have two big successes here. I went with Weezer, mainly due to their mainstream success and ability to reinvent themselves with songs like "Hashpipe" and "Beverly Hills."

 

[X]

First, to the guy above IC25, Weezer is not emo. Emo = Articles of Faith, Rites of Spring, Dag Nasty. Not Weezer. Emo is not what it's called today--- emo is hardcore punk with a focus on melody and thought-provoking lyrics. Not kids with eye liner on crying about their girlfriends leaving them.

But IC25, what's this about Rivers Cuomo having a bad voice? How does he have a bad voice? His voice can be extremely melodic at times.

I loved old Rancid, but now I'm not so big on Armstrong. Not a big Transplants fan. But his work with Operation Ivy alone makes him amazing in my book.

Armstrong may have a rough singing voice, but so haven't many great artists. John Lennon & Tom Waits have atrocious singing voices in the classical sense, but both obviously are great singers because of the emotion in their lungs.

I absolutely loved Weezer's album Pinkerton. It's totally different from all of their other stuff, and so much better. "Tired of Sex" is one of my all time favorite songs, in any genre. The Blue Album of course is a stone-cold classic as well ("My Name is Jonas" is amazing among others). Even the Green Album is great, and Maladroit had some good moments as well.

But I hate their new stuff. "Beverly Hills" is an absolutely terrible song, that never ceases to annoy me, even though I know it's one of my favorite bands in Weezer.

Weezer takes this one for me. But it's close.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

But IC25, what's this about Rivers Cuomo having a bad voice? How does he have a bad voice? His voice can be extremely melodic at times.

Holy words in my mouth, Batman!

I never said he had a bad voice. I like his voice. I NEVER said it was "bad." I said it was "nerdy." And you know as well as I do, I am right about that. Great voice. VERY nerdy.

 

[X]

These are two bands that got famous off of how bad their lead singer sang.

Errr...are you or are you not saying that Weezer got famous off of how bad of a singer Rivers Cuomo is here?

Sorry if I misread that.

 

[IrishCanadian25]

Errr...are you or are you not saying that Weezer got famous off of how bad of a singer Rivers Cuomo is here?

Sorry if I misread that.

Oh, my fault. I did say that. In which case, I retract that statement - I didn't recall making i because I never wished to make it. I enjoy Cuomo's voice, and even Armstrongs. Instead of "bad" I think I was going more for "unconventional."

Nice catch, smartass.

 

[Dylanis]

First, to the guy above IC25, Weezer is not emo. Emo = Articles of Faith, Rites of Spring, Dag Nasty. Not Weezer. Emo is not what it's called today--- emo is hardcore punk with a focus on melody and thought-provoking lyrics. Not kids with eye liner on crying about their girlfriends leaving them.

Ok, where to start. I agree that:
- emo is not kids with eye liner crying about their girlfriends, etc.
- emo is not what it's called today

Ok now to where I disagree:
- After emo ='d Dag Nasty, etc., it sort of shifted to define bands like Fugazi, a more indie-rock style. You can almost call it emo II. Emo evolved, just like "Rock Music" evolved. The difference between "hardcore rock n' roll" of the 70's and today is vast.
- Weezer's album, Pinkerton (which you love), helped introduce some people to the "indie-emo" music, a phase that was starting to pick up ground. Gavin Edwards of Rolling Stone stated that "the record became a cornerstone of the late-Nineties emo movement" - and this is true.

Just to note, it's a shame that Pinkerton did so poorly in stores and that it was once hailed a failure - so much so that Rivers began to hate it. Luckily, critics now realize how great of an album it is.