Word: guitars
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Rising (SST Records) by Husker Du: Lead guitarist and singer Bob Mould may not have the talent of Thompson, but he uses his guts more than his fingertips anyway. Mould's guitar sounds like either a DC10 or Mount Vesuvius with heartburn, but he manages to sneak some very catchy melodies within the din. Despite the damage it does to your eardrums, "Celebrated Summer" is a wonderful pop song. These Minneapolis fat boys may share a lot in common with a rabid steamroller but there's something of Mary Tyler Moore there...
Life's a Riot With Spy Versus Spy Etc. (Go-Disk Records) by Billy Bragg: Billy Bragg takes a bit of getting used to. He plays an unaccompanied electric guitar and sings as if he has a pound of cotton jammed in each nostril. After the ear has become accustomed, though, this collection of previously released material, a plethora of political and personal tales of woe, really hits home. "A New England" achieves both the humor and sadness of early Dylan. After all, if the world could grow to love a nasally hick from Hibbing, Minnesota, then...
Favorite hobby: Playing guitar...
...success of the 1982 release Combat Rock, containing the radio/video hit "Rock the Casbah." The band's ensuing tour was riddled with disputes between Strummer and former band member Mick Jones. Aside from commercial problems, the two were faced with differing musical styles. Strummer favored the loud, fast guitar sound that was most evident on earlier Clash releases, while Jones wished to pursue the synth/dub style evident on Sandinista! and Combat Rock. Jones's new band, Big Audio Dynamite, has gone on to do what they intended. Strummer, however, seems lost...
Things don't get any better on the last three tracks on side one. "Are You Red...Y" completely drowns out Strummer's vocal in New Order-ripoff rhythm tracks. "Cool Under Heat" opens with a Husker Du guitar lead, and combines inappropriate acoustic guitar with more electronic abuse. "Movers and Shakers" wraps up the side with an interminably long lesson about how to succeed by "working coins from the cold concrete" (just like Strummer is doing), complete with synthesized Mariachi horns...