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Originally Posted by Norma J
I don't thin kyou really mean that. I don't see how you could.
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easily, fugazi might have had a more expanded musical language, but they never had even an ounce of the power, the excitement, the passion and the energy minor threat had; they were one of the few bands who sound like they are about to leap from the speakers, and what they are talking about is so important to them that they have to give it to you with all they have. not only that, but the lyrics are so fucking real, they are probably the only band i can relate, lyricswise, and i'm not talking about straight edge, it's about feeling alienated and betrayed and dealing with it.
having said this, i can't imagine minor threat still existing in 1984 or having a reunion, that's just dumb. same, in a much smaller scale, with embrace.
fugazi tried for the most part to be better musicians (nothing wrong with that) and focused more on it, which is cool, yet, they were always conflicted in between keeping it "punk" (meaning still being very simple) or taking it an extra mile (using other instruments, playing their instruments with more precision and skill...that's why the best musician in fugazi was joe, dude is one of the best bassists i've ever heard yet he has a ton of abandon with what he plays, reminds me of a more skilled chuck dukowski), resulting in sometimes boring moments where they would try to stretch a song while refusing to play something interesting.
lyrically, the band abyssmal, everything that was great about minor threat and rites of spring is that those lyrics sounded like something they were seeing and feeling and both ian and guy have this gift to make these very personal situations and making them feel universal; instead, they started to talk about global problems, politics and social upheaval, dumbing them down and reducing them into slogans at best.*
live, they were hilarious, not only for the aforementioned "we want to have an improv section but at the same time, we're only going to play the same three chords! punk rock!!!!!" attitude towards music, but because they try to act like enlightened older brothers educating their fans, while at the same time treating them like idiots, stopping songs in the middle to talk about what they are about, lecturing them about the problems in the world and, in general, making an atmosphere of seriousness when playing high energy music. they would start the show by telling the crowd not to mosh and shit, and if an asshole started to act like an asshole, ian would address the person by "sir", if someone is beating somebody else up, does he deserve to be treated like a gentleman? and then, the crowd who follows them get shut down and ignored by the band. not to mention the hypocrecy (sp?) of them being against slamdancing and stuff while at the same time they are the ones jumping from speakers and contorting themselves.
minor threat was a no bullshit, no attitude band, it was something very intense. fugazi was a band built and driven by bullshit, all these rules and principles they created and then talk shit about people who follow these very same principles.
*i don't usually listen to the lyrics but ian and guy are capable of so much more; still, i can bear to not listen to what they are saying so i can enjoy them. they just don't hold a candle to minor threat.