The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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From the "In the City" single up to the "Beat Surrender" single (their entire lifespan, basically) The Jam barely put a foot wrong. The Direction Reaction Creation box set from the '90s featuring pretty much everything they ever released is great value for money, and like it or not the band meant a great deal to a hell of a lot of people and still do. It's pointless comparing The Jam with The Stranglers because they're two very different bands, and it's possible to like both for very different reasons and I do. The Jam were all about "traditional" songwriting and Weller truly mastered the art of the single during that era ("Strange Town"/"The Butterfly Collector", for example, or "Going Underground"/"The Dreams of Children" etc.), whereas The Stranglers were far more exploratory.
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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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Greatkudu wrote: 31 Oct 2020, 10:48
OK a rather pointless thread as its all opinions, but saw a documentary about the Jam last night and after they showed Rockpalast from 1980,and to be honest it bored me, I fell asleep, it got me thinking, I think they were vastly overrated, of course some great songs but generally just very samey, I was comparing the Stranglers Rockpalast 1983 performance and even though its not the best performance it blows away the Jam in every way and of course you have Hugh and his infamous banter, Weller just had no character or charisma, but just my thoughts as so many people rage about the Jam to me, sadly I just don't get it. Lt Kudu over and out.
Yeah ...can see what your saying about the jam '80 rockpalast compared to the stranglers '83 agreed...the stranglers were on another level for me too.
But i have always liked the Jam with paul in it...hated the stlye council but do like alot of his solo work.But yeh i agree about the '83 Rockpalast gig even though the stranglers of ' 81 hammersmith odeon blew anybody out of the water for me even themselves in '83 Rockpalast.....lol
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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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toilerinblack wrote: 03 Nov 2020, 00:03
Greatkudu wrote: 31 Oct 2020, 10:48
OK a rather pointless thread as its all opinions, but saw a documentary about the Jam last night and after they showed Rockpalast from 1980,and to be honest it bored me, I fell asleep, it got me thinking, I think they were vastly overrated, of course some great songs but generally just very samey, I was comparing the Stranglers Rockpalast 1983 performance and even though its not the best performance it blows away the Jam in every way and of course you have Hugh and his infamous banter, Weller just had no character or charisma, but just my thoughts as so many people rage about the Jam to me, sadly I just don't get it. Lt Kudu over and out.
Yeah ...can see what your saying about the jam '80 rockpalast compared to the stranglers '83 agreed...the stranglers were on another level for me too.
But i have always liked the Jam with paul in it...hated the stlye council but do like alot of his solo work.But yeh i agree about the '83 Rockpalast gig even though the stranglers of ' 81 hammersmith odeon blew anybody out of the water for me even themselves in '83 Rockpalast.....lol
Yes I like some Jam stuff but think they were vastly overrated and I loathe Town Like Malice, the Stranglers Rockpalast isn't even their best gig but still blows away most bands, I don't like Weller much or didn't, but always liked Foxton and Buckler, I just find the Jam songs very samey to be honest, but down in the tube station at midnight is their Magnus opus, so you see I do have balance. Lt Kudu.
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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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Greatkudu wrote: 03 Nov 2020, 01:06
toilerinblack wrote: 03 Nov 2020, 00:03
Greatkudu wrote: 31 Oct 2020, 10:48
OK a rather pointless thread as its all opinions, but saw a documentary about the Jam last night and after they showed Rockpalast from 1980,and to be honest it bored me, I fell asleep, it got me thinking, I think they were vastly overrated, of course some great songs but generally just very samey, I was comparing the Stranglers Rockpalast 1983 performance and even though its not the best performance it blows away the Jam in every way and of course you have Hugh and his infamous banter, Weller just had no character or charisma, but just my thoughts as so many people rage about the Jam to me, sadly I just don't get it. Lt Kudu over and out.
Yeah ...can see what your saying about the jam '80 rockpalast compared to the stranglers '83 agreed...the stranglers were on another level for me too.
But i have always liked the Jam with paul in it...hated the stlye council but do like alot of his solo work.But yeh i agree about the '83 Rockpalast gig even though the stranglers of ' 81 hammersmith odeon blew anybody out of the water for me even themselves in '83 Rockpalast.....lol
Yes I like some Jam stuff but think they were vastly overrated and I loathe Town Like Malice, the Stranglers Rockpalast isn't even their best gig but still blows away most bands, I don't like Weller much or didn't, but always liked Foxton and Buckler, I just find the Jam songs very samey to be honest, but down in the tube station at midnight is their Magnus opus, so you see I do have balance. Lt Kudu.
Yeh Your right the jam were a bit very the samey thats what the stranglers for me has made them made them stand out from the rest over the decades is that they were never too frightened to try something new.
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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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I quite liked the Jam, they were good at what they did and Foxton is a great bass player.
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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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They just did one thing but did it good-ish

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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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Y'see, I don't agree that The Jam were "samey" at all. "In the City" does not sound like "Precious", "Scrape Away" does not sound like "Going Underground", "The Bitterest Pill" doesn't sound like "Set the House Ablaze" etc.

I get that this is a Stranglers forum and naturally there's going to be bias, but comparing The Jam at their live peak against an off-the-boil Stranglers and saying the latter were objectively better is hilarious.
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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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StanInBlack wrote:Y'see, I don't agree that The Jam were "samey" at all. "In the City" does not sound like "Precious", "Scrape Away" does not sound like "Going Underground", "The Bitterest Pill" doesn't sound like "Set the House Ablaze" etc.

I get that this is a Stranglers form and naturally there's going to be bias, but comparing The Jam at their live peak against an off-the-boil Stranglers and saying the latter were objectively better is hilarious.
Set The House Ablaze is a superb track and the best on Sound Affects imo. It is their epic track, of course the Stranglers did it regularly on every album and that is another thing that sets them apart from everyone else..

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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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It wasn't meant to be stranglers v Jam that's silly as different bands, I'm sorry I still stand by my view that they were overrated, but I except others disagree, it was really after watching the Jam rockpalast where I was so bored I fell asleep, last on this a few great songs. Lt Kudu.
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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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Greatkudu wrote:It wasn't meant to be stranglers v Jam that's silly as different bands, I'm sorry I still stand by my view that they were overrated, but I except others disagree, it was really after watching the Jam rockpalast where I was so bored I fell asleep, last on this a few great songs. Lt Kudu.
you fell asleep lol

The Jam overated maybe, but then the Stranglers are underrated so maybe that's part of the "problem" ?

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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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aldinblack wrote: 03 Nov 2020, 18:03
Greatkudu wrote:It wasn't meant to be stranglers v Jam that's silly as different bands, I'm sorry I still stand by my view that they were overrated, but I except others disagree, it was really after watching the Jam rockpalast where I was so bored I fell asleep, last on this a few great songs. Lt Kudu.
you fell asleep lol

The Jam overated maybe, but then the Stranglers are underrated so maybe that's part of the "problem" ?

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You have hit the nail on the head, spot on Sir. Lt Kudu.
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Re: The Jam some good songs but rather boring imho

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aldinblack wrote: 03 Nov 2020, 10:21 Set The House Ablaze is a superb track and the best on Sound Affects imo. It is their epic track, of course the Stranglers did it regularly on every album and that is another thing that sets them apart from everyone else..
I agree - up there with Funeral Pyre as one of the most intense things they ever did, and you're right about it being their "epic", although In the Crowd is probably longer. There's not many Jam songs that go past the 4 minute mark, and only one or two go past the 5 minute mark - it's not what they were all about, really... whereas The Stranglers allowed themselves to be more indulgent.

I was just saying to Jim the other night that I wish The Stranglers at their peak had tried to pull off a side-long epic like The Damned did with "Curtain Call" ... I reckon they had something like that in 'em.

One thing that The Jam and The Stranglers have in common is that Jon Savage disliked both, and he was fucking wrong about both.
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