Fishbone Or Bad Brains

esskayesskay 221 Posts
edited May 2011 in Strut Central
At their creative peaks who do you prefer Fishbone or Bad Brains? Different styles of music naturally but a lot of the songs hold up well after 20+ years. With the live shows w/original line-ups it's a toss up. Good times back in tha day in the '80's
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  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    Bad Brains>everything

  • staxwaxstaxwax 1,474 Posts

  • RAJRAJ tenacious local 7,782 Posts
    SoulOnIce said:
    Bad Brains>everything

  • PrimeCutsLtdPrimeCutsLtd jersey fresh 2,632 Posts
    RAJ said:
    SoulOnIce said:
    Bad Brains>everything

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
    Fishbone easy.

  • asstroasstro 1,754 Posts
    I've seen Fishbone live more than any band I don't play in and I love them to death, but nothing is ever seeing Bad Brains. Greatest Band Ever.


  • The_Hook_UpThe_Hook_Up 8,182 Posts
    PrimeCutsLtd said:
    RAJ said:
    SoulOnIce said:
    Bad Brains>everything

  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    Gonna have to go with Bad Brains. I would also add that you could recombine their names and get two new awesome band names:

    Fishbrains

    Bad Bones

    Feel free to poach those for your next project ;)

  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    Comparing these two bands bugs me.

    Bad Brains over everything.

  • motown67motown67 4,513 Posts
    Bad Brains because they were more consistent, but man Fishbone in a small club was completely amazing.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    24-7 Spyz

  • I love both bands, but Bad Brains IS the business. And I'm not saying that just because I'm from DC. Plus, I always felt more of a consistency from Bad Brains than I did from Fishbone. There was never a period where I felt disinterest with Bad Brains.

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    I'm with Bassie. I hate the comparison. "Is It Because They're Black?" ;)

    Love Fishbone. Huge part of my experience growing up was set to a Fishbone soundtrack. And for the record, I still think that "Give A Monkey A Brain..." is a criminally underrated album. Seen them many times live and they never ever disappointed. In fact I remember one particularly amazing show back in 1996 when it was Goodie Mob (who had just come out with "Soul Food") and De La Soul (fresh off the release of "Stakes Is High") opening for them. Fishbone was the backing band for Goodie Mob and RIPPED it. De La did their thing and it was kind of when they really hit their stride as live performers (having seen them when "3 Feet High..." was out they were pretty terrible back then.) Then Fishbone came out and melted my face off. Angelo did a whole thing at the beginning and the end with a solo Theremin and spoken word performance. They had Joi as one of their backup singers and halfway through their show they had her do several of her own numbers and covers. Truly one of the greatest performances I've ever seen, no hyperbole.

    But nobody touches Bad Brains. Ever.

  • esskayesskay 221 Posts
    It's honestly not a "black" thing-it's just both bands were a part of very formative music years for me in the early '80's-naturally add The Specials, The Untouchables, The Selecter, reggae, soul, & hip hop to the mix too.

  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    Yeah I was just breaking balls, man.

  • magneticmagnetic 2,678 Posts
    I'm not choosing it's a tie. :icegrill:

  • pickwick33pickwick33 8,946 Posts
    The new Fishbone documentary is worth seeing...

  • rootlesscosmorootlesscosmo 12,848 Posts
    bassie said:
    Comparing these two bands bugs me.

    me too.

    but adding 24-7 spyz to the discussion (unless it's a joke) is even more lame.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    rootlesscosmo said:
    bassie said:
    Comparing these two bands bugs me.

    me too.

    but adding 24-7 spyz to the discussion (unless it's a joke) is even more lame.

    its a joke. and the only reason they are bieng compared is bacause they are black.

    they werent hot at the same time.

    oh they bohth used guitars in the 80s. its so tired.

  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    batmon said:
    the only reason they are bieng compared is bacause they are black.
    Probably, but another way of looking at that is: The reason they get compared is that there is the opinion that their music would not be as special were they white.

    I've never had much use for those if-my-mother-had-wheels-she'd-be-a-wagon type arguments, but I grew up with a lot of dudes who were adamant that if Bad Brains/Fishbone were white, they'd just be considered a really good punk/thrash-funk (jesus, did I just type that?) band, rather than godhead. The irony is that I also had to listen to a lot of dudes--ostensibly on the "other" side--whose defense of both bands boiled down to: "But they are black--that's why it's cool!"

    It never felt that way to me (I bought the yellow tape just before a school trip to New Orleans, and listened to that shit for most of the thirteen-hour ride, and a couple summers later I got sonned when a dude who borrowed my dub of The Reality Of My Surroundings peeled back the label and exposed the fact that my Maxell had previously housed Hot Rocks 1964-1971; I tried to tell him, "Hey, I taped over it though, right?" but he still clowned me), but I've heard variations of that sentiment from enough unrelated quarters that I believe it's a real "thing" with a number of folks.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    the white perspective isnt the only perspective

  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    Cosmo said:
    In fact I remember one particularly amazing show back in 1996 when it was Goodie Mob (who had just come out with "Soul Food") and De La Soul (fresh off the release of "Stakes Is High") opening for them.
    I saw this same show when it came through South Carolina, and it was pretty fucking phenomenal. One of countless highlights was watching all the crisp, grown-man-shirt dudes who were there for Goodie Mob start to head for the exits when Angelo came out commando in overalls all showing his asscrack, but then--when Joi came out wearing a scarf and a sneeze (what's up, pickwick!)--decided that, you know what, they might could stay a little bit longer after all.

  • jamesjames chicago 1,863 Posts
    batmon said:
    the white perspective isnt the only perspective
    Heavy.

    You're of course right, but what I'm talking about here is what I think might be one of the reasons that lies further behind this particular comparison, a comparison which I don't think I've ever heard a black person make.

    If you've ever heard a black perspective on this comparison besides "There really is no comparison," I'd be interested to know about it.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    james said:
    batmon said:
    the white perspective isnt the only perspective
    Heavy.

    You're of course right, but what I'm talking about here is what I think might be one of the reasons that lies further behind this particular comparison, a comparison which I don't think I've ever heard a black person make.

    If you've ever heard a black perspective on this comparison besides "There really is no comparison," I'd be interested to know about it.

    i hear you, but its that highlighting of the racial link that i feel diminishes the critique.

    now one can compare any two groups but lets not front here like the skin color isnt the primary criteria here, despite dude talmbout "these are just two groups that i liked in the 80s".

    like i said before both group had creative peaks at different times.

    weve been down this road before.

  • holmesholmes 3,532 Posts
    Of course Bad Brains. Fishbone were great but not at the same level as Bad Brains. Creative peak BB>Creative peak FB.
    But which band fell hardest?
    These turds are basically the same records in essence.




  • CosmoCosmo 9,768 Posts
    holmes said:



    Tripping. That's a great album.

  • mrmatthewmrmatthew 1,575 Posts
    Cosmo said:
    holmes said:



    Tripping. That's a great album.

    Cosign.
    That album is great.
    But it was thier last great album.

  • mrmatthewmrmatthew 1,575 Posts
    "now one can compare any two groups but lets not front here like the skin color isnt the primary criteria here, despite dude talmbout "these are just two groups that i liked in the 80s".

    Minor Threat or The Clash?

  • asstroasstro 1,754 Posts
    mrmatthew said:
    Cosmo said:
    holmes said:



    Tripping. That's a great album.

    Cosign.
    That album is great.
    But it was thier last great album.

    Even "Chim Chim" has 5 or 6 really good songs on it, they didn't fully jump the shark until Fish and John Bigham left the band.

  • asstroasstro 1,754 Posts
    The black perspective on these bands (as well as later ones like 24-7 Spyz, Living Colour, etc) as far as myself and my friends were concerned was that it made it OK to want to listen to and play aggressive rock music. Before I heard Bad Brains the only black rock hero was Hendrix, and he might as well as been from Mars considering he died in 1970. The fact that I liked rock music was embarrassing, especially punk rock. I used to hide my Police and Clash tapes from my friends when they came over. Going to see Bad Brains and Fishbone shows in the mid 80's was what made me want to be a musician. I probably wouldn't have considered it as much if they hadn't been there as role models to identify with. I don't think white kids know how much that meant to us back then.
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