sublime. the worst? i mean THE WORST???

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the teenage boys rock thread inspired this thought. could sublime be the worst band ever? i mean the most unredeeming heap of kak ever performed by a human being and put on disc and somehow sold to millions of dolts world wide (i hear they like this even in europe...) i mean really of all bands EVER not to even have one smidgen of maybe even a little kitsch, yuk yuk value?

let me list the ways of suckdom:
-fake white boy rasta act
-singer dies of overdose, what was his name again?
-SKA! SKA! white trash SKA!
-vague political morays about anarchism and rioting in the streets
-constant references to people and characters in their scene... "livin' with lou-dog is the only way to stay sane"
-writing totally rancid songs like "date rape" but still managing to capture the hearts of chicks worldwide
i mean do i even need to make this list?

or am i missing some crucial tenet to their limitless appeal? do white kids from the suburbs just like to pretend they now what's going on out there in the streets, in the hard life? is that why this shit sells? because kids want to "smoke to joints" like sublime?
don't getme wrong, i love my trash, but i just can't wrap my head around anything related to sublime. refute or agree. WORST BAND EVER. remember: they're not rock. they're not reggae. they're not rap. they try to do all three. they occupy their own universe of musical blandness. am i wrong? AM I WRONG??? and remember i want this as a gravestone!!!! sublime = death of man's hope for rock EVER again!

― jack dee, Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:23 (twenty years ago)

They fuckin' sucked, alright, but I'm sure there were worse.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:25 (twenty years ago)

I still like "Wrong Way," "Santeria," and a half a dozen songs off the big-hit album. They're too harmless to inspire this hate.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

Don't start a ry-ot, man

― 'Twan (miccio), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:26 (twenty years ago)

Taking Sides: Sublime vs. Blind Melon

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:28 (twenty years ago)

I get the idea you might have missed the point of the song "Date Rape". It's not an endorsement of it, ya know?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:29 (twenty years ago)

"They're too harmless to inspire this hate." this is where you are wrong. it's the harmlessness that inspires the hate...the utter blah! isn't that man's lowest moment? blaaaaaaaaaah

― jack dee, Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:29 (twenty years ago)

Sublime were not a very good band though, but as my Alex in crime points out there are other bands who were far worse.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:30 (twenty years ago)

no i get the point of that song alex... it's the nature of the annoying cautionary tale for uppermiddle class...

― jack dee, Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:31 (twenty years ago)

Sublime never made me want to cut my ears off in the same way that...I dunno...fuckin' Limp Bizkit or the Kottonmouth Kings or Creed did/do.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:31 (twenty years ago)

i mean, WORST ever?

i never *really* liked them, never bought a CD by them, but Dave Matthews strikes me as much worse (as the wonderful DMB thread illustrates)

the blah-ness isn't entirely their fault. it's the fans, a lot of whom had no real imagination to look beyond two sublime albums and bob marley's Legend before they started shitty faux rock/reagge garage bands that played many of the shit high school partys of my youth. surely that isn't entirely the bands fault.

― JD from CDepot, Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:32 (twenty years ago)

give me names!!! goddamit! who is worse? i think you miss my drift... its the fact that sublime EXISTS! not even how bad they are...look what a cultural thermometer they are! jjjjjeeeeezus!

― jack dee, Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:32 (twenty years ago)

Thermometer?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:33 (twenty years ago)

ok maybe i could settle a tie for DMB and sublime. abercrombie and fitch vs. faux "rock" tude with reggae politico roots.,,,,... need i say more

― jack dee, Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:33 (twenty years ago)

"Jailhouse" is a pretty good tune. a couple of others are also catchy. there are definitely worse bands.

311 are worse than both DMB and Sublime.

― gear (gear), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:34 (twenty years ago)

did Brad Nowell fuck your mom, jack?

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:35 (twenty years ago)

Are you implying that Jack is Brad Nowell's illegitimate son, Alfred?

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:37 (twenty years ago)

Are you implying that Jack is Brad Nowell's illegitimate son, Alfred?

"Nooo...that's not true...that's IMPOSSIBLE!"

http://iolarte.tripod.com/magmito/muertevad.JPG

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:40 (twenty years ago)

I never really listened to or liked Sublime, but I still remember how the trombone solo from "Wrong Way" and the beat from "Santeria" go (though I didn't remember the song names until Alfred's post), so that's something.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:41 (twenty years ago)

They sucked for all the above reasons but I really don't know if they were any worse than any of the other mid/late nineties ska/pop punk bands around.

They were probably the most popular band in my final year at school so I was forced to hear them a lot then, hated it then and ever since. No idea how they gained more attention than their peers, maybe just cause the singer died?

― Bn1 (Bn1), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:41 (twenty years ago)

I will admit that Sugar Ray's a much better band.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:41 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, Sublime are annoying, although I can understand how somebody could find it appealing without losing all hope of being a human being that deserves to exist.

Certainly anything involving Rob Thomas (of Matchbox 20 fame) is far worse. That's basically giving up.

― Gukbe (lokar), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:42 (twenty years ago)

Certainly anything involving Rob Thomas (of Matchbox 20 fame) is far worse. That's basically giving up.

You obviously haven't acknowledged the greatness of "Unwell" and "Lonely No More."

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:45 (twenty years ago)

yeah, i always liked "Unwell".

jack dee, where are you from?

― JD from CDepot, Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:47 (twenty years ago)

give me names!!! goddamit! who is worse?

311
Creed
Limp Bizkit
Kottonmouth Kings
Korn
Fuel
Nickelback
Seven Mary Three
Puddle of Mudd
Godsmack
Matchbox Twenty
etc.
etc.
etc.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:48 (twenty years ago)

you seem to know an awful lot about sublime

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:48 (twenty years ago)

"Date Rape" is probably an amusing novelty to some, but like anyone needs to hear it again now that Kelly Osbourne's "Don't Touch Me When I'm Sleeping" has rendered it COMPLETELY obsolete.

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:49 (twenty years ago)

I think Sublime were actually pretty rich. They definitely had that amazing ability to "give their songs a zip code," to paraphrase Tom Waits. Maybe you just don't like the zip code they conjured? Where Beck or his handlers try to cram it down your throat that Beck is the "product of L.A.'s smorgasboard of multi-cultural reference points" or whatever, Sublime genuinely seemed like that - for better or for worse. All the references to men selling oranges on freeway offramps; the casual and smart use of Mexican slang and Span(gl)ish, playing with class and race in unique ways.

Search "Waiting for My Ruca." That's a great song.

― Mugged Outside the Jabberjaw, 1993 (Bent Over at the Arclight), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:50 (twenty years ago)

who is worse?

are the Long Beach Dub All-Stars worse?

I think it's a bit cruel to still be mean to Sublime. Isn't dying of an OD on heroin and leaving a child fatherless enough punishment?

― Gukbe (lokar), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:50 (twenty years ago)

But then again, you will find that on the aforementioned Dave Matthews thread I also have stated that I like them.

― Mugged Outside the Jabberjaw, 1993 (Bent Over at the Arclight), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:51 (twenty years ago)

Alex OTM, Creed/Nickelback/Puddle of Mudd represents a much darker nadir than Sublime.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:51 (twenty years ago)

I think I might download "Santeria", actually.

"...I ain't got no crystal ball, well I had a million dollars but I...I spent it all!"

It's not so bad, really.

― Gukbe (lokar), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:52 (twenty years ago)

311 are worse than both DMB and Sublime.

yes

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:56 (twenty years ago)

hey you're back!

― gear (gear), Thursday, 17 November 2005 00:59 (twenty years ago)

I'm afraid I cannot allow Puddle Of Mudd to be lumped in with Creed and Nickelback. PoM gave us the glorious, ridiculous pop glory of "She Hates Me", and aren't generally as LUMPENLY awful as the other two, though they usually are awful.

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:03 (twenty years ago)

Whilst I'm not much of a fan of the NME, I do remember their fantastic review for "She Hates Me" as being, "and now we see why." Obvious, but quality.

― Gukbe (lokar), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:06 (twenty years ago)

Psychefunkapus are way worse

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:16 (twenty years ago)

By my count Puddle Of Mudd have made several tolerable glimpses into the word of post-grunge aggro straight white men, Creed has made two and Nickelback has made one. I believe PoM has been helped by the singer's psychosis, which adds a certain vulnerability.

― 'Twan (miccio), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:17 (twenty years ago)

http://www.artistdirect.com/Images/Sources/AMGCOVERS/music/cover200/dre600/e666/e66678wbhar.jpg

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:18 (twenty years ago)

I keep forgetting Sublime was even a band. So I guess that doesn't make them the worst band ever .. but maybe one of the most forgettable bands ever.

― D.I.Y. C.R.E.E.P. (dave225.3), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:20 (twenty years ago)

Sublime has a song about going to Garden Grove, so that's something in my book. I definitely agree with the Tom Waits "zip code" thing mentioned upthread.

― kickitcricket (kickitcricket), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:27 (twenty years ago)

Who the hell are the Kottonmouth Kings?

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:28 (twenty years ago)

This is because you have implausibly low standards.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:51 (twenty years ago)

ihttp://www.kansaiscene.com/2004_04/images/live_kottonmouthKings.jpg

these are the Kottonmouth Kings.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:52 (twenty years ago)

Sublime has a song about going to Garden Grove, so that's something in my book.

Yes, but so do the Mountain Goats, a far superior prospect.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 17 November 2005 01:54 (twenty years ago)

Fun haters.

― Sundar (sundar), Thursday, 17 November 2005 03:12 (twenty years ago)

I haven't heard of that band, Sundar. Are they really worse than Sublime?

(actually, I think it's a pretty great idea for a band name)

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Thursday, 17 November 2005 03:18 (twenty years ago)

So we're all agreed then? 311 = the worst?

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Thursday, 17 November 2005 03:19 (twenty years ago)

I'm fine with that.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 17 November 2005 03:19 (twenty years ago)

the next step down from a shitty band? a tribute to the shitty band:

http://www.badfish.com/

― amon (eman), Thursday, 17 November 2005 03:25 (twenty years ago)

I see your shitty Sublime tribute band and raise you Grassroots, the 311 tribute band

(omgwtfloletcetc)

http://www.peachtreetavern.com/phorum/read.php?1,21,84

― rogermexico (rogermexico), Thursday, 17 November 2005 03:34 (twenty years ago)

please tell me there are tribute tribute bands.

― amon (eman), Thursday, 17 November 2005 03:47 (twenty years ago)

... and tributes to tribute tribute bands, etc. and the hierarchy looking something like this:

http://www.eauth.com/Hierarchy.jpg

― amon (eman), Thursday, 17 November 2005 03:50 (twenty years ago)

yea, these guys were basically harmless. Their singles are like straight across the board 6.3s--none I'd say "hey, yeah, that's a pretty good song" but none that I wouldn't sing along to if it came on the radio or whatever. Boring but totally acceptable.

311 are much better. Gimme "Amber," "All Mixed Up" or "Down" over anything Sublime did, certainly.

― The Good Dr. Bill (The Good Dr. Bill), Thursday, 17 November 2005 03:51 (twenty years ago)

sublime are one of my favorite bands ever, go on get 40 oz to freedom & all the remixes of "doin time"

― _, Thursday, 17 November 2005 03:53 (twenty years ago)

extremely OTM. Whatever one thinks of the music, their racial "play" was among their most defensible aspects cause it came so naturally to them and their music in a way that I've seen(albeit rarely) from the odd smart, fucked up, racially matter-of-fact white boy growing up in SoCal all my life. With that connection, and thus skipping the probably common trap of totally conflating them with a percieved lunkhead fanbase, Sublime's music definitely hit the spot for a time and they're at least several evolutionary steps better than their knockoffs mentioned upthread, to say nothing of nu-metaldom.

― tremendoid (tremendoid), Thursday, 17 November 2005 04:23 (twenty years ago)

Is this even worth a comment with all the obviously much worse stuff out there?

― Really Now, Thursday, 17 November 2005 04:28 (twenty years ago)

"They're too harmless to inspire this hate." this is where you are wrong. it's the harmlessness that inspires the hate...the utter blah! isn't that man's lowest moment?

not to be a dick, but you'll grow out of this sentiment

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Thursday, 17 November 2005 04:29 (twenty years ago)

since when does bad music get a free pass, because "hey, it's harmless" ? looooool

― amon (eman), Thursday, 17 November 2005 05:05 (twenty years ago)

I still like "Wrong Way," "Santeria," and a half a dozen songs off the big-hit album.

Me too. "Daddy's got a new forty-fyeeeve..." That was a good single. And their rhythm section had some move to it.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Thursday, 17 November 2005 05:33 (twenty years ago)

If you lived (and surfed) in Orange County or San Diego, you wouldn't find Sublime so harmless. Worst band ever. Easily.

― tylero (tylero), Thursday, 17 November 2005 06:07 (twenty years ago)

I second tremendoid's OTM.

I've lived in San Diego since I was 10, and yeah it was like Sublime ultra-overkill, and it might still be in all the beach towns, especially Pacific Beach. They're the ultimate bro-down band, and at this point, it's still not possible for me to disassociate them from their legions of idiot fans and all the negative connotations those fans bring (not that all of their fans are idiots, of course, but god so many of them are)(Plus there's the simple overkill factor). At one point, though, I was actually able to enjoy them. I thankfully haven't heard much of them for a long time, and given another 5-10 years away from their music, I MIGHT be able to really enjoy them again.

And tylero, growing up in Orange County and San Diego, I find it hard to believe that you don't hate Sublime knockoffs more than Sublime. I mean, c'mon, Slightly Stoopid? Bargain Music?

― Lingbertt, Thursday, 17 November 2005 08:24 (twenty years ago)

I took a girl that I really liked to a Sublime concert (at the world beat center in San Diego when it was on hancock) during my high school days (must have been 92 or 93) and they picked her out of the crowd to go backstage after the show, while I waited for her. I should have left her behind. I'm not bitter or anything...

― tylero (tylero), Thursday, 17 November 2005 08:39 (twenty years ago)

Sublime were a band I wanted so much to hate hate hate until I heard the s/t final album, which I kind of liked. Dude had tunes.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Thursday, 17 November 2005 08:46 (twenty years ago)

I think "Pawn Shop" is my favourite of what I know.

― Sundar (sundar), Thursday, 17 November 2005 09:01 (twenty years ago)

I liked their cover of the Hong Kong Phooey theme on that cartoon songs compilation. But you can't really ruin that now, can you

― DJ Mencap (DJ Mencap), Thursday, 17 November 2005 10:07 (twenty years ago)

I think we're all wondering how the conversation went when she finally reappeared. Was she acting all guilty but trying to put on a face like, "Oh, nothing happened!" And were you all, "How many of 'em did you blow?" And did you "really like" her after this event or did you basically never see her again? That would piss me off.

But most importantly... (read my name)...

― What was this slut's name?, Thursday, 17 November 2005 11:35 (twenty years ago)

A great band, just based on all the sad sacks hedging their support above.

― Confounded (Confounded), Thursday, 17 November 2005 13:07 (twenty years ago)

i don't know, their attitude might suck but their music was cool afterall. so many nice songs and they weren't even black..

― mersenne twister (mersenne_twister), Thursday, 17 November 2005 14:24 (twenty years ago)

I just want to say that I recently saw my little brother had downloaded a Bob Marley song, and when I listened to it I realized it was really "smoke two joints" by Sublime and someone on the filesharing network had mislabeled it.

You know, I really try not to be an elitist about music, but if you heard a Sublime song and thought it was Bob Marley, you are a bad fucking person.

― Underscore plus, minus, comma, Thursday, 17 November 2005 14:35 (twenty years ago)

How about Smash Mouth? Actually, I'll take that back. I'd much rather subject my ears to Smash Mouth than Sublime.

Also, why couldn't those gents keep their damn shirts on? Bloated, sunburned beer bellies aren't eye-candy for anyone.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 17 November 2005 14:47 (twenty years ago)

I think the fact that the only bands that people have offered up as possibly being worse were from the same time frame is interesting. No bands from the eighties; no bands from the seventies; no bands from the sixties.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 17 November 2005 15:25 (twenty years ago)

how 'bout late '70s McCartney?

*runs

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 17 November 2005 15:35 (twenty years ago)

Sublime >>>>>>>>>>>> Three Doors Down.

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Thursday, 17 November 2005 15:43 (twenty years ago)

You don't like some trax from London Town or side one of Back to the Egg, Alfie?

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Thursday, 17 November 2005 15:44 (twenty years ago)

do white kids from the suburbs just like to pretend they now what's going on out there in the streets, in the hard life? is that why this shit sells? because kids want to "smoke to joints" like sublime?

I can't speak to Sublime being the absolute worst band ever, but they do suck mightily, IMHO. Anyway, you've more or less nailed the popularity of a number of groups with the above question. For example, Rage Against the Machine. Regardless of the talent of the various band members, their fan base was all about the aimless whiteboy "revolution" thing -- which is more or less bullshit, since those kids all a bunch of apathetic losers when it comes down to it. The closest thing they'll ever see to a riot is a mosh pit that's not being monitored by venue security.

― Josh Witkowski (braineater), Thursday, 17 November 2005 16:31 (twenty years ago)

You can't blame a fan for the fans it attracts.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 17 November 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)

Everclear?

― Shitloads Worse, Thursday, 17 November 2005 16:52 (twenty years ago)

You can't blame a fan for the fans it attracts.

Please tell me that was intentional.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 17 November 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)

It was. Except for the pronoun.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 17 November 2005 17:13 (twenty years ago)

A local "college"-type rock radio station (not college radio, but commercial radio for the age demographic) that I'm reasonably sure is listened to only by people in their mid/late-20s has started playing Sublime more often again. They also feature a lunch hour 90s-themed show, any new single that sounds suspiciously like Nirvana, and a lot of mainstays by artists who were big in the 90s.

― mike h. (mike h.), Thursday, 17 November 2005 18:56 (twenty years ago)

Sublime = Jimmy Buffet of O.C. punk

Rather difficult to escape the Sublime cult in SoCal, but to be fair if someone's going to blare music out of their jacked-up truck or apartment party there are much worse things imaginable.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Thursday, 17 November 2005 19:12 (twenty years ago)

POINT OF ORDER: Matchbox Twenty got much more tolerable once Rob Thomas figured out how to sing (particularly "Unwell").

― Dan (Excruciating Back Pain) Perry (Dan Perry), Thursday, 17 November 2005 20:26 (twenty years ago)

I don't know about you all, but I have a "suckiness threshold," after which any band that passes it is automatically the worst band ever, as long as I am listening to/thinking about them. So, in one sense Sublime are the worst ever, but on the other hand it's cruel to make someone choose between them and, say, 311.

― owen moorhead (i heart daniel miller), Thursday, 17 November 2005 20:36 (twenty years ago)

I have never heard of this band. Were their records even released in Europe?

― Matt #2 (Matt #2), Thursday, 17 November 2005 21:02 (twenty years ago)

smoke two joints by sublime

this was a cover, certainly, yes?

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 17 November 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

yes. the original by the toys. i like sublime! brad had a nice voice and he was genuinely good to amazing at making really tripped out dub on a lousy 4 track (see robbin da hood).

― howell huser (chaki), Thursday, 17 November 2005 21:56 (twenty years ago)

I don't hate them as much as the original poster, but my thoughts about Sublime have always been something like: Why waste time listening to Sublime when there are so many better bands out there? They always seemed so blah to me. 311 always seemed to have a lot more energy, which made it worse because their sickly catchy melodies would stick in my head easier. I haven't see anyone mention the Mighty Mighty Bosstones on this thread yet. Anyone remember Infectious Grooves? They get my vote for the worst whiteboy funk band ever to exist.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Friday, 18 November 2005 01:15 (twenty years ago)

Incidentally, I meant to say "I don't hate them as much as the original poster does". I don't hate you, jack dee.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Friday, 18 November 2005 01:16 (twenty years ago)

OMG and I totally forgot about these nutsacs:

http://www.barks.jp/image/photo/artist/1021062/IMAGE_FILE_URL.jpg

The Phunk Junkeez. ewww.

― recovering optimist (Royal Bed Bouncer), Friday, 18 November 2005 01:18 (twenty years ago)

"Sublime = Jimmy Buffet of O.C. punk"

OTM completely.

but yeah man, 311 was far worse.

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 18 November 2005 02:09 (twenty years ago)

There was a brief period 10+ years ago where I really liked Sublime, but never was all that crazy about it and I sort of forgot about them pretty quick after that. Since then I can understand how people could hate them, but I'm going to have to listen to the records again sometime, I haven't even heard a Sublime song in five or six years.

Thinking about all these terrible late 90's band, though, reminded me of something I haven't thought about in ages, a band that I hated so much when they were briefly popular. Truly, Crazy Town is the worst band ever.

― joygoat (joygoat), Friday, 18 November 2005 03:12 (twenty years ago)

Hot Action Cop were easily the worst band ever -- eventually even their publicist admitted it.

― novamax (novamax), Friday, 18 November 2005 16:08 (twenty years ago)

hahaha Crazy Town. we have a new winner (or loser).

― JD from CDepot, Friday, 18 November 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

dude jd, does isaac still play that shit at the depot? "crazy town got mad skills, cuz...i mean, talent's talent!" uuuuuuuuuuuugh.

wait actually he might have said the "talent's talent" line about jojo.

― ZR (teenagequiet), Friday, 18 November 2005 16:23 (twenty years ago)

POINT OF ORDER: Matchbox Twenty got much more tolerable once Rob Thomas figured out how to sing (particularly "Unwell").

The only thing that would make Matchbox Twenty tolerable would be an unforunate contraction of incurable deafness.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 18 November 2005 18:36 (twenty years ago)

Sublime is way better than most of those SoCal punk bands that were on Cruz records or Flipside, stuff like NOFX or worse the 10000 bands that followed in their footsteps playing that pop punk stuff that sounded like a watered down version of The Descendants.

Sublime was never really great, but I think they kind of did their own thing somewhat and actually had a couple of decent songs. They sampled The Minutemen, so they can't be all bad. Either way, the main guy from Sublime blew it and that was that. I think it is all kind of sad.

― earlnash, Friday, 18 November 2005 18:43 (twenty years ago)

Sublime would have been much better without the layer of 'ska' cheese - "Wrong Way" is a fine, fun song but the horns get old fast.

I remember a couple of decent songs off the Long Beach Dub All-Stars album, where they relied on guests (Barrington Levy, HR, etc.) for vocals.

― Erick Dampier is better than Shaq (miloaukerman), Friday, 18 November 2005 18:43 (twenty years ago)

two months pass...

jack dee you is worng son. Sublime throw down like you count. dont hate cause you want to be a sublime fan.

― Tom Hanarhan Cristanson, Wednesday, 18 January 2006 03:51 (twenty years ago)

Sublime suck moose cock.
311 might be worse.

Both bands play watered down versions of music that I don't like much in full-strength form. So yeah, they might not be the worst bands ever to exist... But they might be to me.

― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 05:06 (twenty years ago)

a lot better than Jane's Addiction

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 05:11 (twenty years ago)

One band helped invent a scene. The other ones water the music of pre-existing scenes down. I guess if you feel that innovation is a less desirable quality than making commercial pablum for the masses you can make that argument.

― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 05:17 (twenty years ago)

a lot better than Jane's Addiction

No.

― daavid (daavid), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 05:18 (twenty years ago)

...

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 05:19 (twenty years ago)

Both bands play watered down versions of music that I don't like much in full-strength form

I think the wrath one might feel for Sublime or 311 as opposed to Nickelback or Matchbox 20 is that even when you get around to dismissing them, you continue to listen to the records that might have inspired them. While they're far from being good, they probably didn't have too terrible taste in music themselves.

It's also easy to hate the watered-down stuff you listened to in High School before you were hip enough for the hard stuff. It takes everyone a few steps walk away from the popular crowd. Fifteen year olds aren't designed to listen to the Fall and vica versa.

― bendy (bendy), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 05:26 (twenty years ago)

The Fall aren't designed to listen to 15-year-olds?

― Guitar Phase (Matt Chesnut), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 05:53 (twenty years ago)

"Designed to ignore the fifteen-year-old-ah!"

― bendy (bendy), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 06:10 (twenty years ago)

a lot better than Jane's Addiction

Out.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 06:55 (twenty years ago)

I listen to the bands that influenced Nickelback and Matchbox 20 too. I mean, as bland as those two are, I'll bet that the group's members had a few Cheap Trick, Kiss and maybe even REM records between them.

While they're far from being good, they probably didn't have too terrible taste in music themselves.

A guy can give a million dollars to charity, he can hoard it and live off the interest, he can use it to pay for the extinction of cute puppies and kittens. Money isn't immoral or moral even, it's just there. What we do with it is what makes it moral or immoral. Music's the same way. Only different.

I don't know... I was 15 in 1984 and I don't think I was particularly "smart" then. Sure I listened to Rush, Van Halen (kind enough to name their album after the year), ZZ Top and Maiden/Priest, but I also managed to find out about Metallica and Minor Threat around then. Oh, and the Bad Brains who probably unwittingly influenced both Sublime and 311.

If some teenager wants to use Sublime and 311 as a gateway drug to better prototypical bands (like I later used the guitar-oriented industrial stuff like Ministry and KMFDM to go back and get into Chrome and Neubauten), okay, then I guess they served a purpose. Doesn't mean I can't curse them for the millions who remain convinced that that those bands are thee shit.

― Brian O'Neill (NYCNative), Wednesday, 18 January 2006 13:32 (twenty years ago)

four weeks pass...

There's nothing wrong with Sublime. Sublime is wonderful. I hate to tell you this, but music like Matchbox 20, Creed, Nickelback, and so on is fagget music. I've only ever heard chicks listen to them. Kottonmouth Kings are only good when stoned.

But seriously, even if you don't like them, how could Sublime be the worst band of all time? 311 isn't great, but they have a few real good songs.

You guys suck.

― bobby boy, Wednesday, 15 February 2006 02:55 (twenty years ago)

I love you.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 02:57 (twenty years ago)

Please don't go.

― Jena (JenaP), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 03:03 (twenty years ago)

i can't imagine i'm the only one to notice the sublime similarities in the latest batch of huge nme hypes

just glad it came to england eventually! you're having your turn

― marc h. (marc h.), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 03:24 (twenty years ago)

man i'm as black as can be, but grew up in the burbs, and i love sublime. i never listen to it anymore but it was the bridge between my white university friends and me.

― the rock n roll nigga (the rock n roll nigga), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 07:00 (twenty years ago)

Okay I'm not a Sublime hater really, their radio hits eventually started to grate on my ears but.........HOW COME NOBODY NOTICES THAT GUY FROM PUDDLE OF MUD(SHIT)IS JUST TRYING TO SOUND EXACTLY LIKE KURT COBAIN!?!?! I think it's far worse for a group to blatantly rip off another band's sound, same thing with that fatass from Seether. So in conclusion my friends, no I am definintely not a Sublime fan, but at least I can't think of another band that sounds like them (I mean, a band who they copied).

― xgurggleglgllg (xgurggleglgllg), Wednesday, 15 February 2006 08:22 (twenty years ago)

sublime was not the worst band ever. they were, by far, the best band ever. they started their own style of music. brads voice was magical. the guys were cool. im guessing most of the people saying they were the worst band ever are homosexual. or else they are just not down for partying, having a good time, or just chilling, because that is what sublime was all about. 311 is a decent band too. im from omaha where they are from so i used to like them a lot but ive heard they are dickheads and theyre music kinda got old so i can somewhat see people saying they are bad. i read somewhere that sublime was playing a concert with 311 and 311 was being snotty because they had a big tour bus and sublime was just in their van so after sublime played 311 was doing sound check and their sampler was on stage and brad deleted all their samples. thought that was kinda funny. but you fags that dont like sublime need to chill out and if you dont like them i guess thats your problem but dont talk shit. and whoever said they have a fake reggae style is a big fagget. they loved marley man, thats all. everyone i know loves marley, he was the man. and its not like they are completely reggae, they just throw a little bit of reggae in with everything else. if you cant appreciate that i guess its based on your own taste in music but dont say theyre fake reggae. you guys are all gay. peace.

― lou dog, Sunday, 19 February 2006 18:13 (twenty years ago)

i guess we're all gay?

― Christopher Costello (CGC), Sunday, 19 February 2006 18:19 (twenty years ago)

christopher otm. too gay for america, even!

― marc h. (marc h.), Sunday, 19 February 2006 20:34 (twenty years ago)

you guys are all gay. peace.

I think I know how I'm ending all of my correspondence from now on.

― telephone thing, Sunday, 19 February 2006 20:36 (twenty years ago)

http://www.urbanized-records.com/home/pics/jackets/10000/10428.jpg

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 19 February 2006 20:44 (twenty years ago)

Music for just chilling is the best kind.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 19 February 2006 20:47 (twenty years ago)

Don't alienate me.

― h0m0sexual, Sunday, 19 February 2006 21:18 (twenty years ago)

Oh crimeny! If knowing that Sublime were crap makes me gay then HELLO, SAILOR!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 19 February 2006 21:45 (twenty years ago)

i would just like to say that i most deffinitly agree with lou dog. You guys are fucking assholes. Sublime was the shit and still is. They were all about chillin and haveing a good time. much farther up someone said somthing about how all they sang about was rioting and anarchy. well you guys must be fucking retarded. the one song about rioting was about the rodny king riots and that was a crucial time in our history. im sorry if you would rather hear about big booty hoes then a song that means somthing. and i dont beleive that i have ever heard a sublime song that was about anarchy. get your shit straight before you talk shit about it. stop being douche bags. i think i know what your problem is. you guys need to get laid. you are all 30 year old virgins that have nothing better to do than talk shit about a good band. go get some ass and chill the fuck out.

― Fal Fal J, Sunday, 19 February 2006 22:00 (twenty years ago)

the one song about rioting was about the rodny king riots and that was a crucial time in our history. im sorry if you would rather hear about big booty hoes then a song that means somthing.

I'm glad that we had Sublime to highlight the importance of the Rodney King riots for us - clearly those ppl that write "big booty hoes" songs needed someone to explain it to them.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Sunday, 19 February 2006 22:15 (twenty years ago)

go get some ass and chill the fuck out

but wouldn't that make us faggets?

― midi sanskrit (sanskrit), Sunday, 19 February 2006 23:23 (twenty years ago)

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS but with 40s

― corey c (shock of daylight), Monday, 20 February 2006 00:43 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

you guys are all fucking losers. get some fucking lives. sublime was such a tight band. what kind of music do you fags like? polka? country? obviously some gay shit like that. fucking homos.

― ryan l, Saturday, 1 April 2006 18:45 (twenty years ago)

klezmer

― charltonlido (gareth), Saturday, 1 April 2006 18:48 (twenty years ago)

Showtunes.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Saturday, 1 April 2006 18:52 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, if we are not soooooo into Sublime then we MUST be listening to something REALLY bad! Come on, let's get real, there are a trillion bands out there that leave Sublime in the dust.

― xgurggleglgllg (xgurggleglgllg), Saturday, 1 April 2006 18:55 (twenty years ago)

what kind of music do you fags like? polka? country? obviously some gay shit like that. fucking homos.

-- ryan l
Ok, you got me. Musique concrète recorded in bathhouses.

― jimnaseum (jimnaseum), Saturday, 1 April 2006 18:57 (twenty years ago)

HOW DARE YOU call my Pansy Division records gay?!

― Telephonething (Telephonething), Saturday, 1 April 2006 18:58 (twenty years ago)

Oh, that was CLASSIC man!!

― xgurggleglgllg (xgurggleglgllg), Saturday, 1 April 2006 19:26 (twenty years ago)

...... I'm pretty darn certain that Johnny Cash was straight too.

― xgurggleglgllg (xgurggleglgllg), Saturday, 1 April 2006 19:31 (twenty years ago)

pet shop boys, saint etienne, kylie, etc. now let's all give ryan a handjob.

― gear (gear), Saturday, 1 April 2006 19:31 (twenty years ago)

I think it's a bit cruel to still be mean to Sublime. Isn't dying of an OD on heroin and leaving a child fatherless enough punishment?

It's a punishment that the CHILD didn't deserve. In fact, the child undergoes a multitude of punishments, while Brad's corpse gets humped by millions and flogged by millions of others. The child will eventually know this, as well as know that a) his father was a stupid junky, b) his father brought about much unwanted sex and beerbongery, and c) he will never have a real father. So, uh, yeah, talking bad about Brad Nowell is perfectly justified, in my opinion.

(I never could stand Sublime)

― trees (treesessplode), Saturday, 1 April 2006 22:16 (twenty years ago)

i never had a problem with sublime. i only saw the videos though. i could see their appeal. i just saw an ad on t.v. for some comp called buzz ballads(??maybe) and they showed a clip of staind and i visibly shuddered at the sight of the staind dude.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 1 April 2006 22:22 (twenty years ago)

Buzz Ballads track-listing:

1. Lightning Crashes - Live
2. Champagne Supernova - Oasis
3. If You Could Only See - Tonic
4. Glycerine - Bush
5. Doll Parts - Hole
6. Santeria - Sublime
7. Hemorrhage (In My Hands) - Fuel
8. A Long December - Counting Crows
9. Counting Blue Cars - Dishwalla
10. Linger - Cranberries
11. Hanging By A Moment - Lifehouse
12. Soul Asylum - Runaway Train
13. Til I Hear It From You - Gin Blossoms
14. Here's To The Night - Eve 6
15. What Do I Have To Do? - Stabbing Westward
16. Out Of My Head - Fastball
Disc: 2
1. It's Been A While - Staind
2. Jumper - Third Eye Blind
3. Waisting My Time - Default
4. Everything You Want - Vertical Horizon
5. Sex & Candy - Marcy Playground
6. Far Behind - Candlebox
7. The Freshman - Verve Pipe
8. Take A Picture - Filter
9. What It's Like - Everlast
10. Something's Always Wrong - Toad The Wet Sprocket
11. World I Know - Collective Soul
12. Desperately Waiting - Better Than Ezra
13. Angry Johnny - Poe
14. Save Me - Remy Zero
15. Easy - Faith No More
16. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Tori Amos

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 1 April 2006 22:24 (twenty years ago)

16. Smells Like Teen Spirit - Tori Amos

Jesus wept.

― Rodney's motives are beyond the comprehension of men (R. J. Greene), Sunday, 2 April 2006 08:40 (twenty years ago)

omg that comp is awesome. the sound of alternative one-hit burnout collapsing into itself. no goo goo dolls though.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 2 April 2006 15:34 (twenty years ago)

buy it now before Clinton Era Nostalgia really kicks in

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Sunday, 2 April 2006 15:51 (twenty years ago)

Sublime is what I always considered the best possible case for frat music: This is a combination of what the fratboys listen to, and it's never going to be any better than this.

311, on the other hand, I always considered as Sublime's evil twin, making the worst possible case for frat music.

― My name is Kenny (My name is Kenny), Sunday, 2 April 2006 16:36 (twenty years ago)

1. Lightning Crashes - Live

HER PLACENTA FALLS TO THE FLOOR

― Tiki Theater Xymposium (Bent Over at the Arclight), Sunday, 2 April 2006 17:32 (twenty years ago)

i like sublime

― shredding repis on the gnar gnar rad (chaki), Sunday, 2 April 2006 20:29 (twenty years ago)

i like bright copper kittens tied up with string

― Telephonething (Telephonething), Sunday, 2 April 2006 20:39 (twenty years ago)

FOR THE LIFE OF ME, I CANNOT REMEMBER...SOMETHING, SOMETHING..WE WERE MERELY FRESH-MEN

― latebloomer: a power and finesse vocalist (latebloomer), Sunday, 2 April 2006 20:48 (twenty years ago)

WE LIVE IN A WHEEL, WHERE EVERYONE STEALS....^$^%^#@%#@%#@%@ STRAWBERRY FIELDS

― latebloomer: a power and finesse vocalist (latebloomer), Sunday, 2 April 2006 20:51 (twenty years ago)

alien workshop t-shirts, doctor seuss hats

― latebloomer: a power and finesse vocalist (latebloomer), Sunday, 2 April 2006 20:55 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Brad Nowell wasn't as technically gifted as other guitarists like Vai, Satriani but what do you expect for ska? Ska is meant to be fun music, lighthearted music. If each song of their's was a 10 minute shred fest then that would be a different matter. But it's not. It's ska. They were however, a very tight band, and I don't get why everyone are dissing them? Personally I agree with ryan 1 to a certain extent. Although using 3 swear words plus fag and gay, when I very much doubt that the other writers here are is just stupid.

If you buy a ska record, you expect lighthearted humourous music. Therefore why diss Sublime when they do just that.

And the person who doesn't feel remoted sorry, pleased even, for Nowell's child is a complete wanker.

― blackholesun, Wednesday, 3 May 2006 13:12 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

'If you lived (and surfed) in Orange County or San Diego, you wouldn't find Sublime so harmless. Worst band ever. Easily.'

Based on what I'm reading, I'm picturing the Kevin Volchok character on 'The O.C.' as the distillation of this hated fan base.

― Carlos Keith (Buck_Wilde), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 19:10 (twenty years ago)

I AM OBSESSED WITH SUBLIME!!

― Knicky, Wednesday, 17 May 2006 19:38 (twenty years ago)

you guys are fuckin gay loosers.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 20:06 (twenty years ago)

That "buzz ballads" can't be for real. I love 90's rock and I wouldn't be caught dead buying that thing.

― billstevejim (billstevejim), Wednesday, 17 May 2006 20:08 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

sorry guys, you missed the point! they were not that great of a BAND MUSICALLY, but they didnt take sh## from ANYONE! they had FUN! it got noticed, it wasn't that great so they put it on vinyl Themselves and started Their own Worldwide Distributing Business! (Skunk Records)... not so dumb now, eh? UNlike most bands... they KEPT ALL THEIR PROFITS!
anyone that KNEW THEM knew this...
They laughed at the fame! They didnt even need a label to make it HUGE! -no MCA, no RCA, No B.S!- they skateboarded and surfed, so what? EVERYBODY thats cool does that- what bugs me are the kids half my age getting tattoo's of the Sunface, or wearing skater shirts and they dont even skateboard!

You guys totally missed the meaning of this band... turn it up and drive slow threw your neighborhood and laugh at old people! -thats what it was meant for!-

you young kids want REAL MUSIC- try Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Etc...

― tara govichek (Sublimey), Saturday, 1 July 2006 19:59 (nineteen years ago)

turn it up and drive slow threw your neighborhood and laugh at old people! -thats what it was meant for!-

uh, is this your idea of fun? because it seems stupidly cruel and lame to me.

― trees (treesessplode), Saturday, 1 July 2006 21:06 (nineteen years ago)

they skateboarded and surfed, so what? EVERYBODY thats cool does that-
they skateboarded and surfed, so what? EVERYBODY thats cool does that-
they skateboarded and surfed, so what? EVERYBODY thats cool does that-
they skateboarded and surfed, so what? EVERYBODY thats cool does that-
they skateboarded and surfed, so what? EVERYBODY thats cool does that-
they skateboarded and surfed, so what? EVERYBODY thats cool does that-
they skateboarded and surfed, so what? EVERYBODY thats cool does that-
they skateboarded and surfed, so what? EVERYBODY thats cool does that-

― Marmot 4-Tay: forth-coming, my child. forth-coming most righteous champion (mar, Saturday, 1 July 2006 21:09 (nineteen years ago)

...cant you just FEEL the sarcasm in those BOLD letters!

― tara govichek (Sublimey), Sunday, 2 July 2006 00:20 (nineteen years ago)

Quote

uh, is this your idea of fun? because it seems stupidly cruel and lame to me.

NO, but some think that punk/ska kids are stupid or lame... and as one as a kid growing up, i was cruel and lame at times... its part of learning...
this is about a band... they made their place in history and some are still jealouse about it... it was over, OVER a decade ago! so why rip on it now? let it (and Brad) R.I.P.

― tara govichek (Sublimey), Sunday, 2 July 2006 00:27 (nineteen years ago)

The music world runs on mediocre bands. I don't blame the bands for that, but when idolizatioin is thrust upon such a band, of course they take the brunt of my agression.

The word "Sublime" has permanently been grafted onto a composite image of every California pothead to walk the planet, and their faces always have these arrogant stoner smiles that drive me crazy.

Sure it was ten years ago, but the shrine is well maintained. Starting to see red now, need to leave thread.

― cosmo vitelli (cosmo vitelli), Sunday, 2 July 2006 04:47 (nineteen years ago)

dude yr so jealouse!

― Marmot 4-Tay: forth-coming, my child. forth-coming most righteous champion (mar, Sunday, 2 July 2006 04:48 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.giantmicrobes.com/images/doll/louse.jpg

― Marmot 4-Tay: forth-coming, my child. forth-coming most righteous champion (mar, Sunday, 2 July 2006 04:51 (nineteen years ago)

Ah, the incredibly dull sport of bashing bands out of general criticisms favour...Sublime are actually, if you allow yourself to neglect the public image one has of them and their fanbase, one of the few naturally eclectic, organically different bands out there. Apart from the fact that their singer and bass players both brought a very versatile approach to their playing their sound was also truly unique, ska being only one of their facettes, which they actually only sparingly employed...most of the time they played a strange rock-reggae hybrid.
as for infectious grooves, they had the funk, nevermind the talking lizards...

― mark scherrer (Applejack), Monday, 3 July 2006 21:41 (nineteen years ago)

What is a "facette"? Is it some kind of French bathroom fixture?

― Telephonething (Telephonething), Monday, 3 July 2006 22:33 (nineteen years ago)

alright, you got me, i'm a "Foreigner". Actually, i played guitar in that band.

― Mark Scherrer (Applejack), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 14:37 (nineteen years ago)

I basically like them, or at least their album with the hits on it (though not as much as I like Foreigner, admittedly.) It's better than any album I've ever heard by My Bloody Valentine, Bjork, Iron Maiden, Tori Amos, Pantera, They Might be Giants, Tupac Shakur, Belle and Sebastian, Dashboard Confessional, or Ween (for starters; honestly, there are thousands of bands they're better than; these are just random examples off the top of my head. Please ignore them.)

― xhuxk (xheddy), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 16:01 (nineteen years ago)

that list seems strangely calculated to offend a wide range of ILX tastes (although i should add i have no particular love for anyone on it, and i share your bafflement at tupac)

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 18:02 (nineteen years ago)

Nah, it's just my usual list; that I don't care for those bands shouldn't come as news to anybody here. If I'd put more calculation into it, it would have been a lot more interesting, trust me.

― xhuxk (xheddy), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 18:05 (nineteen years ago)

it's hard to pigeonhole a man who hates iron maiden AND bjork

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 18:11 (nineteen years ago)

I doubt I'm alone in that.(But for starters, I should've included the Red Hot Chili Peppers, who I've always hated, and who Sublime kinda remind me of regardless. That would've made a lot more sense.)

― xhuxk (xheddy), Tuesday, 4 July 2006 18:20 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

A few weeks after Nowell's death, fellow Southern California band No Doubt headlined a "cautionary" benefit concert in tribute to Nowell. Nowell's widow and the various bands who performed wanted to make it clear that they were not glamorizing the way that Nowell died, but that they wanted to celebrate his life as well as establish a college fund for his year-old son, Jakob.

― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Wednesday, 30 April 2008 00:00 (eighteen years ago)

"What I Got" is top summer jam material. At least the version in the video. The version I hear on the radio sux. Kinda weird that there are two versions of it.

― The Reverend, Wednesday, 30 April 2008 01:02 (eighteen years ago)

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