Is Live a gimmick band? Options

[Pokey]

I was thinking about this before .. I don't really count pre TDTH Live and post TDTH Live as the same band .. so I'm talking about the year 2000 onwards .. has Live become a bit of a gimmick bands?
"Here comes Lordi, they wear monster suits!" "Here come Live, they sing about Love and Water!"

To me it sort of seems like they've settled into a groove now where they have taken on the role of "well the world isn't a very nice place so lets just sing about happy things and try to inject a little bit of happiness into it!"
Some people would say that is fair enough as well ... but to me it doesn't seem like a group of guys who are singing about their lives and their ups and their downs .. it feels like they're in the groove now that they make music about love because .. it's just what they do.

Just a thought I had today .. maybe I'm way off because it's really hot today

This heat is making me crazy

[Pokey]

I've said it once, and I'll say it again - there are no U2 fans, only people who think they like U2, but they don't .. you're all kidding yourselves and you can't argue with that. I don't care "if it wasn't for U2 there would be no Live!" .. it doesn't mean I have to respect them or like them ... hell my old man Mozza is fanatical about The New York Dolls and they inspired him to get into music, but they suck as well.

U2 are the most overrated band of all time, there is nothing about them that stands out that makes them deserving of their legendary status. Bono has an average voice, all the rest don't exactly excell at anything they do in terms of making them the best or "up there" in their field. Bono's ego adds to it, hell it's not an ego, it's a mental illness. True that they don't suck in the way like group of high schoolers who can't even play instruments would suck if they tried their hand at the band thing .. but it's the fact that people rave about U2 so much .. it makes me sick. People think they're more enlightend and "holier than thou" if they're a U2 fanatic, and of course I'll get a barrage of comments now saying "well I'm a U2 fan and I'm not like that!", sure.
I just don't think U2 deserves the respect they get, I don't think they deserve the title of being one of the greatest ever bands just because Bono does charity work.
"The Edge" what the fuck? I might have thought that was kinda cool when I was 9 years old.

"BUT LOL POKEY, BONO BRINGS ATTENTION TO SOME GOOD CHARITIES!" .. fantastic, doesn't mean they become a better band because of it. Bringing attention to charities doesn't somehow make his voice any better. He doesn't "Hulk up" after he's given some money (usually someone elses that he's just handing the cheque over to) and then suddenly go into super-mega-god-rockstar mode.

U2 appeals to almost the lowest common denomonator after emo music .. people who want to be "touched" by music and bask in the glory of "the great ones". These people don't know good music, they should be ignored because by falling in with this crowd they're just ruining it for everybody by egging U2 on.

This has been said by someone else but it's pretty much my favourite article ever,

When people in this day and age think “rock star,” they probably think Bono. Bono, on stage in his big sunglasses and his flowing shirt. Bono, with that wry little smile of his, talking to some politician about matters in the third world with a barely-detectable hint of condescension in his voice, the kind that says “we both know that I am right, but you are a fatcat and I am the voice of the people.” Bono’s impeccable hair, and Bono’s resolute chin. If we held elections for “rock star,” Bono would win. While Bono was once just the leader of a post-punk band with political pretensions, he now seems to view himself as the ambassador between rock and roll and the real world. The problem is, rock and roll does not need an ambassador to the real world, nor does it want one. Those familiar with the BBC sitcom “The Office,” which has been released on DVD in America to great popularity recently, might draw a parallel between Bono and Gareth Keenan: If being a rock star is a job, Bono thinks he is assistant regional manager, but he is just assistant to the regional manager. He is rock and roll’s most sycophantic, detestable toadie, trying to worm his way into the world of management without getting hired. For those of you who have no idea what I just said, I will provide an alternate explanation: Bono is a twat. Stop making records and go save the world off camera.

There, U2 suck.

What did I make this thread about again?

Oh yeah, Live being a gimmick band. I'm not saying they are, but it's the fact that whenever Live is brought up around people most of their reactions are "the band that sings about love?" .. it's what they've become known for and for the past 7-8 years or whatever it's pretty much what they've been doing, so that in a way is gimmicky.

This post has been edited by Pokey: Jun 9 2006, 9:29 am