Do bands produce brilliant music when they hate each others guts? Obviously if there was no monetary gain for them in the situation they would simply not bother meeting each other. For this reason it seems to only happen to massive bands.
There are lots of stories though about bands who were cracking and sometimes not even talking and being able to pull off one of the best albums of their time. Most notable examples seem to be The Beatles, Pink Floyd and Fleetwood Mac. They all had problems I believe.
Is it a good idea to play band members off on one another, keep pushing them until they are an inch before the splitting up line and then sticking them in the studio and see what they produce?
I remember reading a story about Miles Davis. I think it was in his autobiography, and I can't remember the details of who was involved exactly, but it went something like this...One day one of Miles' saxophonists came up to him and complained that one of the keyboard players (maybe Keith Jarrett) was playing the wrong kinds of chords underneath his solos. So Miles took note of this, and the next time he saw this keyboard player he said to the guy, 'hey man, [saxophone guy] was telling me that he loves your shit, you should play more of that stuff'.
I think there are probably a couple more examples of him pitting musicians against each other like this, and it seemed to work out fine for him.
John Fogerty was such an arrogant asshole that his own brother quit the band at the height of their popularity and declared that he was irreplaceable because nobody would ever be stupid enough to join a band with their internal problems. The drummer and bass player (Doug Clifford and Stu Cook) then wanted more creative say and to have their songs included on future albums. Fogerty responded by insisting that the songwriting for the album Mardi Gras be split evenly three ways, but that he would play lead guitar and sing only on the tracks he wrote. The result is maybe the worst album ever recorded by a major act, and a rift between the three surviving members that has never been even remotely close to being healed.
So the answer is not necessarily yes. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
RockyRaccoonIs it solipsistic in here or is it just me?ModeratorProfile Maryland
I think it depends on a lot lf things. There are some instances in which bands with conflicts do well and some where they don't. I mean, from what I understand, Zeppelin had little to no internal issues and obviously they put out a bunch of great albums. In some instances, I would say it's good to be in a band with people you like, you can play off each other, feed off each others' energy. Yea, The Beatles made some of their best work when they were at war with each other, but they also made some great stuff when they still liked each other. It's different for everyone. _________________ Progressive Rock
Dinosaur Jr made their best two works right after their debut, which was a period of major strife in the band. YLOAM was probably made under less strife though, and is the better of the two albums (compared to Bug).
Husker Du's music got poppier and poppier as Bob and Grant fought more and more. There was more diversity in the music for sure, but I'm among the people that think their apex was Zen Arcade (which I believe is the general consensus, might be New Day Rising).
Some bands have the lead singer basically take over the band as they grow farther and farther apart, leading to what is almost a solo album. There are times when this is for the better (Mr. Bungle with California), times when opinions are a bit mixed (Pixies and Pavement) and then there are cases where the records released were pretty damn crappy (Replacements)
From what I understand, Talking Heads were able to function pretty well as The David Byrne Show. It wasn't until Brian Eno came that they hit their stride, but their first three albums were pretty great.
I'd say regardless of whether or not internal conflicts in a band affect their music positively, bands can create just as phenomenal works when the band is unified and content with one another.
Honestly I think the main thing affecting quality of music is artistic sense and artistic direction
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