Not As Good < > Not Good

 

Oftentimes people sometimes confuse the two.  I suppose many of us who are married, and had several different romantic partners over the ages, might acknowledge that the person they settled down with was not their optimal sexual partner – but the person who was, had other issues (e.g. infidelity or general personal incompatibility) which made the current partner the overall optimal one.

 Moving away from relationships, this features for several musical groups.

 GRATEFUL DEAD.  The band began in San Francisco in 1965 and remained active until Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995.  After that time, the surviving band members reformed for several tours, playing the classic material with no new material recorded or released after Jerry died.  Veteran Deadheads will tell you that Jerry’s health issues in 1986 mean that the ’86-’95 version was never quite as good as the ’65-’86 version. 

 A colleague of mine had seen them multiple times before 1986 and never after that.  I invited him to join me for the 2020 show of Dead & Company – Jerry’s place taken by John Mayer, and original members Bobby Weir, Bill Kreutzman and Mickey Hart still on stage, bassist Phil Lesh still alive but too old to tour anymore – at Jiffy Lube Live.  Initially he dismissed this out of hand, but after listening to official recording of the 2019 show, he changed his mind.  [Update 2021: While the 2020 show was canceled due to COVID, we managed to see the show in August 2021, and both enjoyed it immensely, Jerry Garcia's absence notwithstanding.] 

 I’m not in a position to compare Dead & Company with pre-86 Grateful Dead.  My sole experience with Jerry-era Dead was two shows at RFK, 1992 and 1995.  I would say the subsequent shows I saw were comparable enough in quality to make the shows worth attending.

 AC/DC.  Bon Scott died in February 1980, soon replaced by Brian Johnson.   The first two Brian Johnson albums, Back in Black and For Those About To Rock (We Salute You) were top quality and just about as good – in my opinion – as the Bon Scott albums.  After that, the quality dropped dramatically.   Listening to the current album, Power Up, it’s occurred to me that musically, the band is still OK.  The “weakest link” is Johnson’s vocals, accurately described as “Marge Simpson”.  Of all the available singers, Brian Johnson is the best they can find?  Fortunately the band plays Bon Scott material and plenty of songs from Back in Black.  But later material from Blow Up Your Video through Stiff Upper Lip seriously straddle the distinction between “not as good” and “not good”. 

 Black Sabbath.  For their part, Sabbath have their classic Ozzy Osbourne era, followed by two excellent albums with Ronnie James Dio, then a slew of albums which aren’t nearly as impressive.  However, I listened to Eternal Idol and Headless Cross, both with singer Tony Martin, and found them enjoyable enough.  Not quite up to Heaven & Hell or Vol 4, but enjoyable enough.  I’m revisiting TYR right now, and will tackle Cross Purposes, Forbidden, and 13 in the coming weeks.  I can’t say there’s any Black Sabbath album, with any singer, I’d describe as “not good”.  Moreover, on the Cross Purposes tour, they pulled out “Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath”, “The Wizad”, “Into the Void”, and the full “Symptom of the Universe”, including the second acoustic part.  I’ve heard bootlegs from the ‘70s with Ozzy, and even then they weren’t playing the full song.  So give them some credit for putting on an awesome show, even if it wasn’t even Martin’s own material.

 Van Halen.  I haven’t heard the Gary Cherone album (Van Halen III), nor the fourth Sammy Hagar album (Balance), and of course I have heard all the David Lee Roth albums – offhand, I don’t recall much about A Different Kind of Truth, the only post-Hagar DLR album.  I prefer the DLR material, but Hagar’s stuff is good enough to qualify as “not as good” instead of “not good”.  Having said that, also prefer Hagar on his own and with The Circle (with Vic Johnson and Jason Bonham) or Chickenfoot (with Joe Satriani and Chad Smith).  I can’t say I’ve heard anything by Hagar I could call “not good”. 

Wishbone Ash.  Here's a band that's been around since the early 70s.  The classic lineup, for the first four albums, S/T, Pilgrimage, Argus, and Wishbone IV, was Andy Powell (guitar/vocals), Ted Turner (guitar/vocals), Martin Turner (actually not related to Ted) (bass/vocals), and Steve Upton (drums).  After IV the various band members left, leaving Andy Powell the only original member.  The classic lineup reunited in the late 80s for Nouveau Calls, but soon Powell was left by himself again, at this point I don't know why.  By the time I got into them and was looking to see them live, (2000), Powell remained the only original member of the band.  I chose to see the band anyway, and lo and behold, it was a worthwhile experience.  Of course, Powell's lineup plays plenty of classic tunes, and the current group puts out new material of competitive quality.  Maybe not as good as the first four, but certainly "good enough".