The Darkness reckon they have a better chance of breaking America than Oasis thanks to a better attitude. The band told David Letterman on Friday: "I
don't know how hard Oasis tried. I'm not really sure how good they are either. They must have strutted in, four and a half foot tall or whatever they are, thinking, 'Oh God, this country's ours for the taking!' and then as soon as it doesn't go their way they go, 'Ooh, that's not quite working is it? Shall we go back to the UK where we're really popular and successful? Knock it on the head, can't be bothered with this.' To me it's laziness and arrogance."
From: Via: CMU
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
yea...all that "best band in the world" crap really didn't do 'em any good.
at least not with me.
2 - Eric Olsen
Screwed by their own hype and attitude - they were okay and had some pretty good songs, but not nearly enough to justify their own hubris. Shitty vocals, too.
3 - Mark Saleski
except for "Wonderwall" i never really heard anything that made me want to run out to the store (ok...not even "Wonderwall" did that)
but that crap they pulled on the live mtv/vh1 thing where the singer couldn't go on because of a "sore throat"...that was the end for me.
4 - Anne
I agree that Oasis had some catchy, well-crafted songs, but their lead singer's antics and plagarism of the Beatles finished it for me.
5 - Mark Saleski
that's another thing....the supposed swiping of the beatles sound i just could not hear.
6 - ClubhouseCancer
Judging by the Darkness's appearance on Letterman, they should wortry more about their own act than comparisons with with Oasis.
They absolutely sucked. Their singer wasn't even in the suburbs of the correct note during most of the song. Truly awful singing, truly awful outift, truly awful hair.
As for Oasis, I think they only did really one thing well, musically: Lennon-esque bratty braying vocals over chimey guitars.
However, that one thing is one of the cornerstones of rock, and they did it really well. ("What's the Story Morning Glory," "Wonderwall,""Supersonic", "Some Might Say")
So what's that add up to? Dunno.
7 - Mark Saleski
since that was absolutely my first experience with the Darkness (the letterman gig) i'll give them the benefit of the doubt...
anybody ever notice though, that lots of bands' singers end up a little off key on tv apperances? i always chalk it up to the unfamiliar surroundings.
8 - ClubhouseCancer
Well, it's also lack of rehearsal time and the weirdness of singing through different monitors and with a strange mix.
But a talented musician can always make it work â€" ever heard, say, Stevie Wonder or Willie Nelson or Alison Krauss or Elvis Costello sound bad on TV? Me neither.
The Darkness guy's pitch problems and general musical deficiencies sounded far more deep-seated to me.
Do you agree that he sounded beyond bad?
9 - Mark Saleski
ya know...i really didn't notice it. but that was because i was sitting there marveling at the weirdness of that falsetto thing...and thinking about how it reminded me of Hocus Pocus.
10 - Andrew Ian Dodge
Yeah crappy sound-men used to doing speaking rather than music does not help either. I have seen many talented musicians sound cack of TV programs. Don't base your opinions on appearance on a TV, base on seeing the band live or on their CD output.
11 - Ms. Tek
Actually, I have seen the Darkness before they started to make it in the States.
They really do kinda suck in person. Here is this band, super-popular on the British Charts and they have this huge crowd watching them at T In the Park and they could not get the crowd to sing along with them...
Now I don't know how much experience you may have had with drunk Brits and Irish but... gettin them to sing along is NEVER a problem. The Darkness just could not get the crowd going.
I then saw them on late night with Jools Holland and once again it was like... "Yeah, okay... Queen lite... next!"
They are not all that. They are good because no one else is doing the Queen style cock rock right now... So that makes them unique- that doesn't make them good, however.
12 - John Shakermaker
No comment on The Darkness. They are what they are; only time will tell if they'll stick.
As far as Oasis goes... yeah, they are arrogant as hell, but isn't that one of the foundations of being a rock star?
What most people in America don't understand is that when Oasis came onto the scene, British music was bland and uninteresting, caught somewhere between weak punk rock that lacked the punch and inspiration it had in the 70's and 80's and the early, still developing and not yet well crafted version of mid to late 90's pop that produced such acts as The Spice Girls, Take That, BBMak, All Saints, etc. If it weren't for Oasis, pure British guitar rock would have remained dead. Sure, Bush would still be big around the world except for their own country and Radiohead would still be "innovative" more like a modern-day Queen rather than Led Zeppelin, but unadulterated, balls to the wall guitar rock from England would not exist. Of course Blur supporters will argue that their band would've still done the job themselves, but time has shown that Blur was just Oasis' little brother in the 90's Britpop movement, and fans of both bands will agree that it was the rivalry and feud(s), that would not have existed without both bands, that truly added fuel to the fire.
Finally the issue of the "plagiarism" of The Beatles. First of all, it's the fricking Beatles! Everyone since them has been influenced by The Beatles, and it's got to be more apparent in bands from England. I mean, how many bands from Seattle have been unjustly categorized as Nirvana or Pearl Jam wannabees? But as far as the "plagiarism" comment, that's just pure ignorance. To anyone making that argument, I challenge you to present me oh, lets say 5 instances of "plagiarism." I guarantee you will not be able to because of at least one of the following reasons: first, you just don't know Oasis' music and just copy what you've heard from other people (who's the plagiarist now?), literally everyone I know who has listened to Definitely Maybe never talks crap about Oasis ever again; second, you're not really a good enough Beatles fan to properly critique any band of plagiarizing them, you're the person who screams, "plagiarist" every time you hear the word "Jude" in a song; and third, you have a narrow musical background.
If you listen to just 2 or 3 Oasis songs, and you know music, you will hear shades of the Sex Pistols, the Stone Roses, Mott the Hoople, the Jam, the Rolling Stones, and Iggy Pop as much as, if not more than, the Beatles. But you just won't listen will you, and I don't care. Feel free to live in your close-minded world listening the fricking Darkness. You'll live on cursing Oasis and never even contemplate that bands like your beloved Coldplay, Travis and the Strokes all consider the band you curse as they should, rock royalty. But that's fine, live your life. Oasis' music has never been about segregation. "Proper sing along rock anthems" is what your missing, and it's truly your loss, not mine. Live forever!
13 - Esmat Azmy
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14 - SFC SKI
I can see that John has the same volatility in his opinions of music as I do, and even though he is completely wrong I applaud his single-mindedness in standing up for what he likes.
I did not buy any Oasis albums, I was forced to listen to them, and I was immediately turned off by the whiny vocals, derivative style, and sameness of all songs. Coldplay, Travis and the Strokes, all bands that suck, because they revere a band that sucks. The Darkness are great because they know and live by the secret of all great hard rock bands; the lyrics don't matter worth a damn if you have a killer riff, played loud and often enough. Hell, the only reason lyrics even exist is to keep the band from degenerating into one tofu-eating aimless jam. Better 100 years of the Darkness than one minute of Oasis.
15 - andy
our guitar player just saw The Darkness last Friday. He said that they weren't that "active" on stage, but they were funny as hell and sounded great. He said his voice was right on all night and he sang soooooooo high. He said his high notes were clear and strong too.
16 - Esmat Azmy
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17 - Supersonic7
Anybody who is an admitted fan of the Darkness, shouldnt be allowed to comment on other bands. I take it as a pesonal insult to hear the Darkness being mentioned in the same sentence as Oasis. Thats like comparing madonna to led zepplin.
18 - John of the 'Ton
While i am quite fond of the darkness, I have to say, Oasis are out of their league completely. :P
Sure, they plagiarise (but not from the beatles, they just have their sound in many) but it doesn't mean i don't enjoy their music.
A good example of their plagiarism is Same Size Feet (Stereophonics) and The Hindu Times. :P
The lead singer of stereophonics forgave him.
19 - Tan The Man
I'm ashamed of Oasis. They lost it.