What I do and do not like about BB Melvins

[norecess]

Exactly, and what song hasn't been? It's always different with the Melvins, always... something... except for some riffs here and there off the last, let's say, two albums.

The Melvins are getting older, but man, so do we.

[Smellis]

Also, as far as POTRE songs go, it's probably pretty tough to translate those songs to a live setting due to the extensive use of electronics and production techniques.

I do hope there comes a day where they play the whole thing live though

Weren't the MELVINS in the middle of the POTRE tour playing all that stuff live when Kevin dropped out? I never got to see it they were headed in my direction when that happened and never made it. It was history from there     

[black stallion]

Hey! Didn't you just say you weren't a dreamer?

[Justafilthylurker]

But they're playing as a three piece... and a two piece... right now. I mean, it's actually happening. You get the best of both worlds.

[glen]

But they're playing as a three piece... and a two piece... right now. I mean, it's actually happening. You get the best of both worlds.

a fine point.

[>>>JZS<<<]

Yeah, next time y'all see Buzz at a show, why don't you tell him that you think he's taking his band in the wrong direction.......please.

Calm down there chief. I was just expressing my thoughts on a band's fan board, that's all. Like I said in the initial post, I'm not complaining, just thinking out loud, and I never said the band was going in the wrong direction. I think I was more than complimentary about BB. btw, I've never hesitated to tell anyone what was on my mind, in person. This however does not bother me enough to mention it to anyone other than a bunch of other Melvins fans and I think it is a worthy topic of discussion/debate, on a Melvins fan board. That is why I brought it up.
Also, the title is "What I do and do not like about BB Melvins" in case you missed it.

That wasn't aimed at you directly. Of coarse your opinion is valid. I've just seen so much Big Biz criticism on the board lately, most of it about their new album, I just had a knee jerk reaction. The Melvins have been awesome in all of their incarnations & I'm sure they will continue to be with or without The Biz.

[Pelican]

That's cool, and I totally agree. Until they die, they will be most awesomest, no matter what form they take. 

I really like the new BB album. Again, the whole going in a new direction thing, it might take a bit for some to get used to. I know I needed about two runs all the way through before I began to appreciate what was going on.

[norecess]

There was a 16 year old piano virtuoso on dutch tv tonight, a natural. he explained it quite well i thought. he was asked about mozart, and answered  how mozart was not a virtuoso, that there were other composers who played much more complex and technical, and that young piano players learn how to play by playing pieces by mozart at a very young age. what makes mozart so special, is that there is so much feeling in his music, the drama, emotions, it's relatively simple, also to play, but when the boy was asked if he started to understand this deeper layer underneath mozart's music better as he got older, he answered that he understood it less, that he learned that it got much more complicated, because he's not longer sure 'how' to play those 'simple' notes anymore.

Ok maybe this is something else. Definitely maybe.

[fraxs]

"why they hell didn't they hire Trevor Dunn after they fired Kevin?"

I think it has mostly to do with location. Dunn lives in New York whereas Big Business now live in LA. I could imagine there would be quite a bit of logistical problems if Dunn was the full time bassist.

Mark lived in London so I don't it would be that much of a problem....
I think its more that Trevor just has too much of this own stuff he's workin'.

[Idlehanz]

I don't care what they do, as long as they keep doin' it.

[Mad Arab]

They have only done two albums so far. Both of them are great albums, but I don't think they are going to stick with this 70's rock/sludge sound. I look at this group and I see potential awesomeness. The kind of awesome we have come to expect from the brain of Buzz. To have a bass player like Jared who I also think is a killer singer and an additional powerhouse drummer like Coady, I think its a very good chance for them to put out even better albums than the Melvins did as a trio. I think they are still getting comfortable with this line-up, making the kind of music they are fans of. Give it some more time. 
I get excited just thinking about the dynamics this lineup could mess around with.

[Smellis]

I don't care what they do, as long as they keep doin' it.

WORD

[m3kcomp]

my mind switches back and forth. right now I'm focussed on the three piece. specifically how those shows with Kevin used to feel.

when I heard BB wasn't on this tour I was a little bummed at first. when Dunn took the stage, I couldn't be more thrilled that they weren't there.

I've enjoyed the BB shows and the albums (a little less-so), but getting to see Dale play how he always used to...instead of teaching a drumming master course...was nice.

and it def. felt harder, darker...better than it has with BB.

it could also be a question of the material they have been playing. Boris still was amazing with BB...so perhaps if they choose some Maggot material on the next tour we'll see more devil horns.

[dead mike]

This consistent evolution of the band, not only in lineup but also in sound, has in my opinion fostered a general 'antsiness' in the bands fans, who have begun to expect drastic change every so often.

I agree with this. I can't imagine being half as obsessed with the melvins as I am if Lukin were still on bass.

Case in point: I think that by incorporating Big Business into the band, the melvins achieved something of an apotheosis of its decades-long habit of constant change. Adding a second drummer was cool but I thought somewhat gimmicky. But what floored me when I first heard A Senile Animal was the completely new dimension to the overall sound that was gained by harmonizing Jared's vocals with Buzz's. It almost sounded like an entirely new (and awesome) band. It was like the phoenix being reborn from the ashes of its former self: the same creature but at the same time a completely different bird.

What will the next inevitable lineup change look like? Will the melvins ever go back to being a trio? If so, can they ever be as sonically powerful as Big Melvins? Should they even try to be?

Such are the questions that keep me guessing and keep me interested in the melvins. For a band that's been around for a quarter of a century, such dynamism is, I'm pretty sure, unprecedented. Buzz's afro is now an ashy gray, but I get the sense that underneath that he's still a spastic 20-year-old who just wants to FUCKING ROCK.

[VaticanShotglass]

Just a few comments: 
yes, Melvins with Dunn was incredible (I was at the Chicago Show).

Yes, POTRE is largely doable and sounds great live.  I saw the tour for it (in Chapel Hill).  There was a lot of noise going on (even an odd strobe light in sync with some of it).  Kevin was all over the place, at times doing a Yowish microphone deep throat.  He seemed to sweat profusely, generally looked pretty rough, but still kicked ass.  There were points where it was hard to tell if he was just being Kevin, or was being off.  One or two times I decide it was being sloppy.  Still, much of the album was done, and was awesome.

One thing I liked about the sans BB show recently was that Buzz seemed to use much more of his vocal range throughout.  With BB the different singers tend to stay in their "slots" in a way that makes you miss all the great voices that Buzz pulls out.  There was more atmospheric vocals, more variety, and less shouty.  I'll leave it up to  you if this is due to the line up, the material, or a combination.