The leader of the bland

[ericcoleman]

What is the blandest rock band ... IYNSHO?

It's a toss up for me between The Doobie Brothers (before Michael McDonald came in) and The Steve Miller Band. Just dull dull dull dull dull dull.

Comments

Bland blend band

[markiv1111.livejournal.com]

Gary Lewis and the Playboys.

Nate

[phillip2637.livejournal.com]

My first reaction was "Grand Funk Railroad", though that's using a definition of 'bland' as monotonous rather than insipid.

[barondave.livejournal.com]

Oh, Sparks. Good lyrics, dull music.

Of the major bands (ie ones with a hit or two), Duran Duran, The Righteous Brothers, The Carpenters.

[ericcoleman]

The three british albums, Kimono My House, Propaganda and Indiscreet are all exciting rock and roll. They lost me after that. Parts of Angst In My Pants are pretty darn good, but yeah, with those exceptions I have to agree.

[fredhuggins.livejournal.com]

Their brief stint with Rupert Holmes was regrettable (although that album does have "Goofing Off" and "Over The Summer," which NAIL Klezmer and The Beach Boys, respectively), and I understand that new wave and techno is not to everyone's taste (although I think "Please Baby Please," off In Outer Space, is a masterpiece by any standard), but check out their newer stuff. Lil' Beethoven, Hello Young Lovers and Exotic Creatures of the Deep. Experimental, uncategorizable and never uninteresting.

[erik]

Wings

[erik]

Even before that, really.

I've sort of come to see Sir Paul as a cultural sponge/mirror/parrot. When the Beatles were together, he was sparking off the other members of the band and creating things as original as they did. As their influence on him waned, he was just reflecting the 70s as a whole. And Denny Laine.

[tarkrai.livejournal.com]

I'd have to throw my vote behind Wings, too. Even more than the Doobies.

Dull, Dulll

[sexybass.livejournal.com]

Being a one time big Doobie and Steve Miller fan I agree the Doobies weren't all that exciting on stage bu they wrote some great songs and I saw Steve Miller open for the Eagles and the band blew them away. I have to agree that Wings were dull but Paul did write some good songs out of it. I just loaned Phil a Doobies DVD hope you weren't bored Phil? :-\ Gary Lewis was definitely boring even if I did learn to play "This Diamond Ring".

[phillip2637.livejournal.com]

I've watched part of the Doobie Brothers DVD so far and liked it fine. I prefer the songs they did with Tom Johnston -- the singer on the DVD -- to the soul/lounge stuff from McDonald's time.

I'm mixed on Miller. I like a lot of the music on his first five albums, but I think he ran out of ideas right after that. Or maybe it was the wholesale change of band members after Number 5.

[ericcoleman]

Miller had lots of good ideas, they were just all someone else's

[fredhuggins.livejournal.com]

I've never been a huge Doobies fan, but I've always loved "Listen To The Music." Call it a weakness if you like, but I find it irresistibly catchy.

Re: Dull, Dulll

[ericcoleman]

Blowing the Eagles away just involves showing up. They easily make this list.

[ldwheeler.livejournal.com]

I would say Loverboy, but that's too easy a target.

In the 80s division, it's easily Starship, which is sad considering the Jefferson Airplane history behind it.

[ericcoleman]

Starship ... sigh. We Built This City On Rock And Roll, but we couldn't be bothered to write a rock and roll song about it.

And Loverboy is never too easy of a target.

[born-to-me.livejournal.com]

Have I told you that I love you lately? Or often enough? I'll be stealing that Starship line from you, thankyouverymuch.

[fredhuggins.livejournal.com]

Creed. Fucking Creed. Fucking Goddamn Bloody Diapers Creed. Pseudo-religious assholery, boring repetitive riffs, My First Diary lyrics, shirtlessness confused for rock, obscene pretentiousness without an iota of talent to back it up...it literally hits ALL my hate buttons.

[lickintoadz.livejournal.com]

THIS THIS THIS OH GOD THIS.

[cassildra.livejournal.com]

THIRDED

[noyoki-sato.livejournal.com]

Fourthed.

[fredhuggins.livejournal.com]

If this is a democracy, I seem to be winning. And yet, by simply remembering Creed, I think we've all lost something much more important, deep down in our eternal souls.

[tlunquist.livejournal.com]

The trouble is, the band that most immediately came to mind is not a rock band by any definition no matter how generous. And this fact caused me to realize that I can't answer the question, because I'm not enough of a music snob to know which bands are rock bands and which are just pop bands.

But my hands-down winner in the bland pop music category goes to Air Supply.

[ldwheeler.livejournal.com]

Seconded, with the definite exception of "Making Love Out of Nothing at All," written by Meat Loaf's favorite collaborator, Jim Steinman.

Of course, there's an irony factor involved with hearing Air Supply sing the line, "I can make all the stadiums rock!"

[tlunquist.livejournal.com]

hearing Air Supply sing the line, "I can make all the stadiums rock!"

Yeah. SURE you can. Good luck with that - let us know how it works out for ya. :)

[jblaque.livejournal.com]

The Doors. Their work bores me stiff, and I think Morrison is/was vastly overrated.

[fredhuggins.livejournal.com]

At least the Doors had a very distinct sound. Whether or not it's your cup of tea, if you hear a Doors song, you instantly know it's them.

For me, a key to true blandness is unoriginality, nay, a significant attempt to blend in (remember, blend is one letter from bland) and Just Be Mediocre.

[jblaque.livejournal.com]

Point.

[bammba-m.livejournal.com]

going purely on stage presence the one time I saw them: Radiohead.

Totally frigging boring as hell.

[freeimprov.livejournal.com]

Huey Lewis and the News.

[ericcoleman]

In the words of Bobcat Goldthwait

"If you saw Huey Lewis on the street would you think "there is one of the biggest rock stars in the world" or would you think "is that a friend of my Dad's?"