Maybe we are too hard on Billy

[WeilandFan]

Originally Posted by fuzzyroes

The new "album" unquestionably sucks.. But that's not my point. My point is that he's just a regular 52 year old dude and that we probably shouldn't expect the new music to be any good. Green Day and Pearl Jams latest releases were both crap and they don't get an iota of the people ripping on em online.

I dunno, his latest social media posts had me thinking... I always assumed that Billy wouldn't bother to read any of the message boards or anything, but it kinda sucks if he does and it upsets him. He had a wicked stretch of inspiration and passion and it's gotta be a bummer to have to try and live up to that for the rest of his life.

As far as the negativity goes, I think it's especially perverse when it comes to the Monuments record. That was a good release and I think some people get off on just ripping on the guy... With that said, the latest 2 albums have been rubbish, so what the fuck do I know!

If I were worth $50 million or whatever Billy is, I'd never look up any shit about myself on the internet again.

[MonumentsRocks]

People are saying his music sucks because they don't like him as a person, and since music is 100% subjective, they have 0% burden to prove it sucks. It's like the rotten tomato is just sitting there, waiting for you to throw, and he's over there, egging you on. He's getting what he deserves, and that's fine, but I wish everyone else was more honest about what truly motivates their attitudes towards his music.

[Mals Marola]

Originally Posted by fuzzyroes

There certainly is a bit of a disconnect between how he portrays himself in the videos and music as opposed to how he carries himself in public. People evolve and change though. He's not a young man in his 20's anymore. Simply living life will harden even the most delicate of souls.

so wait, the stage-lunge was a recent thing, lol?

[Elphenor]

Originally Posted by MonumentsRocks

People are saying his music sucks because they don't like him as a person, and since music is 100% subjective, they have 0% burden to prove it sucks. It's like the rotten tomato is just sitting there, waiting for you to throw, and he's over there, egging you on. He's getting what he deserves, and that's fine, but I wish everyone else was more honest about what truly motivates their attitudes towards his music.

nah most of us want to like the music

it's why ill still give everything a good faith play

[slayed23]

Originally Posted by fuzzyroes

Didn't he grow up in a little suburb an hour or so out from Chicago? He was a blue-collar kid with a tumultuous upbringing and despite all odds, made it big. Pretty cool.

It sucks that he wasn't able to sustain his quality level of artistic production, but there's a ton of musicians throughout the past 60 years who had the same story. No one remembers or holds all of the shit releases that artists like Beach Boys and Neil Young had after their glory years against them...We should just appreciate the Gish-Adore run and whatever songs that we enjoy that came after and ignore and forgive all of the crap.

To do this, we have to come to the realization that the glory days are over. If there's a couple of songs on a release that we like, we shouldn't focus on the 8 songs we hate. I think that's why I can appreciate Monuments. To me, Tiberius and One and All are good rocking tracks, so it's cool to still be able to enjoy new music like that after all of these years.

While I agree with you that people here are too hard on Billy (for the dumbest reasons too), I disagree with where he grew up as some sort of against all odds story.

The Lake County and northern Cook County Illinois general area is one of the top 5 nicest locations in the United States. It's safe, wealthy, clean, tons to do, job opportunities, etc.

[pinetree]

Originally Posted by FoolofaTook

pinepee stfu

run2pee were you the one who recommended breakfast of champs? cos i can't put it down. it's that good.

cool book for high schoolers

[MonumentsRocks]

In the commentary track of 1979, Billy sort of describes growing up in the suburbs as if it was something distinguishing about his and Jonathan Dayton's experience growing up, but afaik that's been the defacto white kid experience for several decades, ever since white flight became a thing. Yeah, suburbia sucks, that's part of why Smashing Pumpkins sold so many records back in the day. Your parents drive downtown to do things that matter while you're stuck in Nowhere USA, with nothing worth seeing or doing within the travel radius of your bicycle. Then you get your first car and everything is fine after that.

[enthusaroo]

"hard on Billy"

yikes