Shed Seven - Do they Rock or Not

[Bigsby]

i absolutely adore shit britpop.

It's a whole sub-genre, called "shitpop".

[Stripey]

i really wish people would post threads like this in the music discussion forum

[Chris]

i really wish people would post threads like this in the music discussion forum

Oops, never spotted that. Will move it now.

[Guest bluesxman]

Ha ha, check all the wannabe music snobs sneering at Britpop because it's not obscure enough to be 'cool'.

'Oh, those Stone Roses, music for commoners.'

Despite the fact that they should probably have given up the ghost gracefully years ago, Shed Seven had numerous good tunes at the time, their second album especially was actually pretty good, they certainly don't deserve to be lumped in with Menswear etc.

They never sounded anything like Oasis, typically lazy comparison.

[Chris]

It's not just snobbery. I like lots of very very uncool acts but I just think Shed Sheven are fucking awful.

[Alkaline]

I totally disagree with all the Shed Seven bashing. Maximum High was a cracking album as was Change Giver.

They have some really good singles as well:

Chasing Rainbows

Getting Better

Going For Gold

On Standby

Disco Down

Speakeasy

And for those that were saying they copied Oasis, Shed Seven have been around a year longer than Oasis and were playing a totally different sort of music compared to the blatant Beatles rip off that Oasis have been churning out for the past 16 years. Don't get me wrong, Definitely Maybe was a great album (as was What's the Story...) but everything else they've been dishing out recently is utter garbage.

As for the "laddy music" comparison, i object to that sweeping generalization. Shed Seven were nowhere near a Neddy/Laddy band when they were, for all accounts, popular.

Pity i couldn't go to this gig as they are a classic piece of Britpop that i never got to see at the time. Now, if only Blur would get there finger out i'd be very happy.

[Guest bluesxman]

I totally disagree with all the Shed Seven bashing. Maximum High was a cracking album as was Change Giver.

They have some really good singles as well:

Chasing Rainbows

Getting Better

Going For Gold

On Standby

Disco Down

Speakeasy

And for those that were saying they copied Oasis, Shed Seven have been around a year longer than Oasis and were playing a totally different sort of music compared to the blatant Beatles rip off that Oasis have been churning out for the past 16 years. Don't get me wrong, Definitely Maybe was a great album (as was What's the Story...) but everything else they've been dishing out recently is utter garbage.

As for the "laddy music" comparison, i object to that sweeping generalization. Shed Seven were nowhere near a Neddy/Laddy band when they were, for all accounts, popular.

Pity i couldn't go to this gig as they are a classic piece of Britpop that i never got to see at the time. Now, if only Blur would get there finger out i'd be very happy.

Good man. Add in 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night?' their best song IMO.

I never pointed out anyone in particular for snobbery but there's been plenty of it in this thread.

[framheim]

no no no, shed seven were pish. just shit.

and i was a big britpop fan, just did not like shed seven. or suede.

[Guest bluesxman]

no no no, shed seven were pish. just shit.

and i was a big britpop fan, just did not like shed seven. or suede.

You can't just say 'I was a big Britpop fan', then choose 2 bands at random to dislike, makes no sense.

If I recall correctly Suede pre-dated the whole Britpop era by some years, as did Blur, it really kicked off under that designation with the emergence of Oasis, those 2 bands just got dragged into it by way of being British, guitar based bands....and of course teh Blur vs. Oasis debacle.

[Larsen B]

You can't just say 'I was a big Britpop fan', then choose 2 bands at random to dislike, makes no sense.

If I recall correctly Suede pre-dated the whole Britpop era by some years, as did Blur, it really kicked off under that designation with the emergence of Oasis, those 2 bands just got dragged into it by way of being British, guitar based bands....and of course teh Blur vs. Oasis debacle.

Why can't he say that?! He liked the "genre" or "movement" on the whole, but disliked two specific bands within it. Nothing wrong with that. I could say I was a huge grunge fan, but didn't like Mudohoney or Tad. I would be lying though. (Grunge was mainly shit and so were those two bands)

Many people would argue that Suede were the start of Britpop and that the genre then got dragged down and (sadly) defined by ladrock like Oasis. There is one oft referred to cover of Select magazine in 1993 (I think) which featured Brett Anderson on the cover draped in a Union Jack with the headline "Yanks Go Home!" as a retort to grunge. I believe Denim and Blur also featured in that issue as those British bands ready to send the "yanks" home. Anyway, I digress, Suede were good and Shed Seven were shit.

[Guest bluesxman]

Why can't he say that?! He liked the "genre" or "movement" on the whole, but disliked two specific bands within it. Nothing wrong with that. I could say I was a huge grunge fan, but didn't like Mudohoney or Tad. I would be lying though. (Grunge was mainly shit and so were those two bands)

Many people would argue that Suede were the start of Britpop and that the genre then got dragged down and (sadly) defined by ladrock like Oasis. There is one oft referred to cover of Select magazine in 1993 (I think) which featured Brett Anderson on the cover draped in a Union Jack with the headline "Yanks Go Home!" as a retort to grunge. I believe Denim and Blur also featured in that issue as those British bands ready to send the "yanks" home. Anyway, I digress, Suede were good and Shed Seven were shit.

In your opinion. Suede were a decent singles band but were severely overrated. And at the end of the day, whether you, Dave and whoever else thinks they are shit, Shed Seven are playing the Music Hall and Suede are defunct.

And that Select article was pish, I remember it well. Denim? Well, they lasted long eh? And subsequent to that, Blur developed a new lease of life by changing their sound to that of an American lo-fi indie band when their mock-Cockney Great Escape era was getting rather stale and less successful....

Several Grunge bands and the people who were of that era are still going strong. The fact is that America produces with great regularity bands who piss on anything Britain has to offer and Britpop was a laughable exercise in Britain's music press trying to convince itself that Britain was a hive of talent when it was what it has always been, a producer of 1 or 2 good bands now and then which always spawns a legion of hangers on and copyists trying to jump on a bandwagon who are nowhere near as good as the real thing.

[Guest Steven Dedalus]

In your opinion. Suede were a decent singles band but were severely overrated. And at the end of the day, whether you, Dave and whoever else thinks they are shit, Shed Seven are playing the Music Hall and Suede are defunct.

And that Select article was pish, I remember it well. Denim? Well, they lasted long eh? And subsequent to that, Blur developed a new lease of life by changing their sound to that of an American lo-fi indie band when their mock-Cockney Great Escape era was getting rather stale and less successful....

Several Grunge bands and the people who were of that era are still going strong. The fact is that America produces with great regularity bands who piss on anything Britain has to offer and Britpop was a laughable exercise in Britain's music press trying to convince itself that Britain was a hive of talent when it was what it has always been, a producer of 1 or 2 good bands now and then which always spawns a legion of hangers on and copyists trying to jump on a bandwagon who are nowhere near as good as the real thing.

I remember that Suede article as well! (I might even still have it).

I'm with Dave though, Suede and Shed Seven might have pre-dated britpop, but they were an integral part of it, and both bands thrived under it and were happy (at the time) to be lumped into it.

I just thought SHed Seven were total also-rans, to be honest. The;r first album was a lame-o attempt to jump on the baggy band wagon, and then they did it woth the Britpop thing. I remember reading an interview in Select where even Whitter admitted that thier first album was guff.

Suede were a bit rubbish as well. Dog Man Star was ok, but I never liked Trash (or whatever the album was called). Actually, it was called Coming Up, but I can't be bothered deleting what I just wrote.

"Stay Together" was pretty good though...

My favourite britpop band were the Bluetones! So, I can't really talk, to be fair.

And Denim weren't that bad! They were no Felt, though.

[Guest bluesxman]

Good man. Add in 'Where Did You Sleep Last Night?' their best song IMO.

I never pointed out anyone in particular for snobbery but there's been plenty of it in this thread.

That song was called 'Where Have You Been Tonight?'. Duh. Idiot.

Anyway, how was the Shed Seven gig?

[sross90]

The gig was great. I would have made a change to the set list tho. (I always would for nearly every gig I go to).

I would have swapped Maximum High for On an Island with you.

[Guest idol_wild]

Ha ha, check all the wannabe music snobs sneering at Britpop because it's not obscure enough to be 'cool'.

'Oh, those Stone Roses, music for commoners.'

Despite the fact that they should probably have given up the ghost gracefully years ago, Shed Seven had numerous good tunes at the time, their second album especially was actually pretty good, they certainly don't deserve to be lumped in with Menswear etc.

They never sounded anything like Oasis, typically lazy comparison.

It's strange on this site how if you openly dislike an act who aren't 'obscure', then you get branded a snob. I don't think snobbery comes into it with Shed Seven. They were, to my ears, just genuinely terrible. And I owned an album of theirs once.

I, myself, never said they sounded like Oasis, but they are a band who strived to be lumped in with Oasis back in '94 and '95. They looked similar, wore almost identical Ben Sherman gear, and ripped off the Oasis logo on their t-shirts!

They were just obviously nowhere near as good as early Oasis. Definitely Maybe still stands out, to me, as one of the best debut albums of the 90s.

But anyway.

[framheim]

You can't just say 'I was a big Britpop fan', then choose 2 bands at random to dislike, makes no sense.

If I recall correctly Suede pre-dated the whole Britpop era by some years, as did Blur, it really kicked off under that designation with the emergence of Oasis, those 2 bands just got dragged into it by way of being British, guitar based bands....and of course teh Blur vs. Oasis debacle.

yes i can, and i did.

I loved bands of a similar ilk to Shed Seven and lapped up an inordinate amount of pish bands at the time but just couldn't get into Shed Seven. The only other band like that was Suede. I hate when people bandy about the word 'random' seemingly at random. There was nothing random about me choosing those two bands particularly as this whole thread is about Shed Seven. That's about as unrandom as you can get. The Suede reference was thrown in there to show that Shed Seven weren't an isolated case.

I'm not going to get into an argument about who was Britpop and who wasn't because that's just ridiculous.

[french_disko]

So, did Shed8 RAWK last night?

Workmate told me they were "shit" and "boring" and he likes that sort of stuff.

Re:Britpop - I was thinking about it when reading the thread and tried to think of the bands I owned anything by. All that sprung to mind were Oasis, Blur, Pulp, Suede, Paul Weller, Supergrass - and I'd say that 4 of those pre-dated the whole scene anyway.

To me, regardless of the merit of the music, it was very much a product of it's time - post-Grunge, pre-Millenium (and how dated is that concept?), Post-Tory, pre/early-Blair. Very much a there & then scene with no real lasting vision or plan in regards to the music.

However, it's interesting that some of the also rans such as Dodgy, Kula Shaker and, dare I say, Shed 7 are back & bigger than before. there was an article here about it last month in The Guardian that's worth a read - 'We're bigger now than ever' | | Guardian Unlimited Arts

ps for the record, I'm a sonic youth fan, if that makes any difference......

[Pierre Von Mondragon]

'Back in Denim' made the Guardians 1000 albums... list last week, I remember seeing a video at the time, Nifty!

[TR!ΔNGL€ T€€TH]

ps for the record, I'm a sonic youth fan, if that makes any difference......

French_disko in Sonic Youth fan shock!!

Next thing we'll probably find out is that yr a Stereolab fan as well...

[Alkaline]

I

I, myself, never said they sounded like Oasis, but they are a band who strived to be lumped in with Oasis back in '94 and '95. They looked similar, wore almost identical Ben Sherman gear, and ripped off the Oasis logo on their t-shirts!

I guess irony and japery are things that are lost on you then because that t-shirt was a direct pisstake.

[Guest idol_wild]

I guess irony and japery are things that are lost on you then because that t-shirt was a direct pisstake.

Yeah, but still: they were lumped in with Oasis and they fucking lapped it up. Ironic t-shirt or no ironic t-shirt.

[Alkaline]

Yeah, but still: they were lumped in with Oasis and they fucking lapped it up. Ironic t-shirt or no ironic t-shirt.

No, they lapped up being part of the Britrock scene which Oasis happened to be part of. They sound nothing like Oasis, in fact Shed Seven owe more to the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Kinks than the Beatles sound-wise.

[Guest idol_wild]

No, they lapped up being part of the Britrock scene which Oasis happened to be part of. They sound nothing like Oasis, in fact Shed Seven owe more to the likes of the Rolling Stones and the Kinks than the Beatles sound-wise.

Oasis also take on those three influences (by 'take on', I mean 'rip off'). So...

Are you trying to tell me Shed Seven sound nothing like Oasis at all?

Open-chord rock-pop with blues scales played over the top? Nothing like eachother at all?

Vocal delivery aside, I think the two have quite a similar sound actually.

[Alkaline]

Oasis also take on those three influnces (by 'take on', I mean 'rip off'). So...

Are you trying to tell me Shed Seven sound nothing like Oasis at all?

Open-chord rock-pop with blues scales played over the top? Nothing like eachother at all?

Vocal delivery aside, I think the two have quite a similar sound actually.

Have you actually listened to a Shed Seven album? They only sound like Oasis by virtue of the fact that there's guitars, bass, drums and vocals and they both play Rock. Surely by that analogy Shed Seven and Oasis sound like about 80% of all music worldwide.

Maximum High sounds nothing like Definitely Maybe.

[Guest idol_wild]

Have you actually listened to a Shed Seven album? They only sound like Oasis by virtue of the fact that there's guitars, bass, drums and vocals and they both play Rock. Surely by that analogy Shed Seven and Oasis sound like about 80% of all music worldwide.

Maximum High sounds nothing like Definitely Maybe.

You're right, those two albums aren't especially similar. I used to own Maximum High when I was around 15/16. I'd say the likes of Hey Now, vocal delivery aside, is in a very similar mould to, say, Speakeasy.

It's Getting Better All The Time is akin to the song Morning Glory. Again, vocal delivery aside.

If no-one else can hear it, then oh well. Not only do I clearly lack a sense of irony, but I also lack a sense of hearing.

To say that the two bands sound nothing alike at all is something I actually find quite incredulous.