Blender doesn't like lyricists: Greg Graffin, Panic! The Disco, Ben Gibbard, Henry Rollins, Dashboar

Posted by aubin on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 10:30 PM (EDT)

News (138 comments)

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Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not respon sible for them in any way. Seriously.

TraumaSponge (October 18, 2007)

Henry Rollins is sometimes unbelievably terrible (read any of his books that aren't about touring) but the energy he puts into his songs makes you not even care how stupid what he's saying may be.

FloggingMurphy (October 18, 2007)

Greg Graffin is a great lyricist. Luckily Blender is the worst music magazine, so their opinion isn't taken seriously by anyone.

Matthew330 (October 18, 2007)

Didn't he write that when he was like 16 anyway?

AnarchyPants (October 18, 2007)

I like this logic.

If the worst magazine says you are the worst then you must be the best.

(-X) (-X) = X

allison_le_gnome (October 19, 2007)

Actually that's X^2.

Nameless (October 19, 2007)

Actually it's (-X)^2

MisFit4Me (October 19, 2007)

Techincally, it's all the same. The first equation stated was just factored. The second one was just wrong.

NotPatriotic (October 19, 2007)

correct, whay the fuck do I want to be a math mahor ,, drink alcohol it is fun.

AnonymousCoward (October 19, 2007)

because you can be both!

Nameless (October 19, 2007)

I might take them more seriously, if they just didn't knock him for the polysyllabic words.

I mean, if they knocked him for "I'm going for a walk/not the after dinner kind" it would be kind of different. Not so much, but kind of.

iamthebat (October 18, 2007)

Bad Religion and Black Flag are one thing... BUT LEAVE DEATH CAB ALONE!

evil_crap_monster (October 19, 2007)

death cab's good but i must say

this:

"he's got five albums of come-ons so abstruse the ladies will barely notice him tugging on their ankles."

is a fine description.

someone138 (October 18, 2007)

First of all...How are Black Flag pioneers...and how is Greg Graffin on this list for worst lyrics. I think he makes you think with his lyrics if you really listen to them. This list is bullshit like all the rest of them...I mean Fred Durst is above Greg in this shit. ...come on, that says it all.

fallingupwards84 (October 18, 2007)

First of all...How are Black Flag pioneers...

well lets see here... um... they only founded hardcore on the west coast back in the late 70s early 80s

someone138 (October 18, 2007)

Well...I'm not knocking Black Flag in any way but Henry Rollins ruined them. Keith and Ron, I think made them what they were...maybe I wrote something before I thought about it...they are, before Henry fucked shit up!

fallingupwards84 (October 18, 2007)

get mad at Ginn for changing the sound, not Henry

plus, My War and Slip It In are better records than any of the others preceding it anyway

randomhero323 (October 18, 2007)

My War is amazing.

someone138 (October 18, 2007)

You know...I own My War and Slip it in and they don't compare to Jealous Again or Nervous Breakdown. so....yeah. Who ever fucked it up I don't know?

Ollywood (October 18, 2007)

Man... that comment was just childish

fallingupwards84 (October 18, 2007)

yep, joke account

NotPatriotic (October 19, 2007)

You are a dumbass. Damaged kills every album Black Flag ever put out. Depression and Police Story are the best songs the band ever recorded.

fallingupwards84 (October 19, 2007)

blah blah blah lies lies lies

randomhero323 (October 18, 2007)

joke?

ConsolationPrizefighter (October 18, 2007)

That means Blender considers Fred Durst worse than Greg Graffin. Thanks for playing.

skankin_in_the_pit (October 18, 2007)

With the possible exception of DOA no hardcore band toured near as much as Black Flag did in the early days. They played EVERYWHERE and caused countless bands worldwide to form. Any bands that tour relentlessly playing a relatively new style of music are gonna be pioneers, intentionally or not.

Black Flag aren't anywhere near my favorite 80s hardcore band, but not calling them pioneers is just fucking nuts.

RightCliqificus (October 19, 2007)

pioneers or not, there WERE really really shitty, but because we're all "supposed" to worship their balls, nobody says it. They didn't make ANY good music. Whoops. Sorry. Am I breaking the "rules" here. We all need to maintain our own personal badass-ness and keep putting bullshit bands up on pedestals. Minor Threat fucking sucks too.

Cox_Attack (October 19, 2007)

You like 311. Shut the fuck up. Those bands are put on pedestals for a reason.

RattusNorvegicus (October 20, 2007)

hmmm heres a link you'd probably enjoy. www.meatspin.com

necktattoo (October 19, 2007)

did it all for the nookie, the nookie, so you can take this cookie

damagdsole (October 22, 2007)

this is the worst thing i've ever read on this board

how are black flag pioneers, mind blown

fallingupwards84 (October 18, 2007)

how the fuck could you argue that Graffin is even just an average lyricist? he's one of the greatest ever.
i understand criticism for Rollins, people say that his lyrics are very repetitive, but i personally love his style

DeadMilkMan (October 18, 2007)

Their honorable ripa on Panic! and Dashboard aside, the rest of those bands are known for their great lyrical content. Fuck you, Blender.

AphasiacIIC (October 18, 2007)

fuck greg graffin.

Nameless (October 19, 2007)

*Insert obligatory webcam/sex/fuck joke here*

baseball (October 19, 2007)

it's ridiculous that you always have something bad to say about Bad Religion..

yet you love the most watered down musical/lyrical ripoff of them, Pennywise

martinNZ09 (October 18, 2007)

Thanks Blender for yet another crappy piece of journalism, once again cementing your place a magazine that aint worth wiping my ass with

speeds (October 18, 2007)

i like how it says "Dashboar"

speeds (October 18, 2007)

kinda like.. you know... bore...

Preston (October 19, 2007)

Kinda like the quick-to-sprint and deadly Dash-Boar--beast of the Bhurmese jungle.

Dante3000 (rich) (October 18, 2007)

Blender we get it, you hate what most people praise because you're unique. You're original. You're funny. We get it, you're so anti that you bash anti artists like Tom Watts and Henry Rollins. Congratulations.

Now if only you'd put some thought, research and decent penmanship to your work maybe someone would give a shit.
-Dante

SlackMFr (October 19, 2007)

Amen.

BLENDER is a poor SPIN on ROLLING STONE. (and all 3 blow !!!)

firestarterkaraoke (October 19, 2007)

amen brother, i wish blender would just shut the fuck up, plain and simple

RightCliqificus (October 19, 2007)

i wish dante would shut the fuck up. this dude is so retarded that he doesn't realize his name is automatically in EVERY POST, yet he re-writes it every time anyway.

rupson (October 19, 2007)

are you new to this concept? its a message board. he expresses his opinion, dialog, and debate. its a free country. i don't see you contributing anything worthwhile ya f'ing dofus!

Dante3000 (rich) (October 18, 2007)

I will say this about Death Cab. Some of their stuff is pretty good but some of it just seems like the song ends when Ben runs out of lyrics.
It's like, "Okay guys, I stopped caring about the song at this point, now we just slowly end it."
Very strange.
-Dante

RightCliqificus (October 19, 2007)

wait. so you think he should keep writing, even after he clearly doesn't care anymore? that's fucked.

SteveJonesTheRealBones (October 18, 2007)

blender is the new budd!yhead!

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

MN_punkmaster-skaman (October 18, 2007)

Greg Gaffin is not awfu at writting lyrics. Given, Brett Gurewitz is the better song writter of the group, Gaffin is pretty damn good.

NoControl (October 18, 2007)

Greg wrote the best songs on Against The Grain, which is probably the best punk album ever.

Albert_Belle (October 18, 2007)

I'm not so sure about the best songs on Against The Grain. To me Anesthesia, 21st Century, Walk Away, Turn On the Light, and Flat Earth Society were the stand out tracks on that album. With the exception of Modern Man and Entropy which were both great Graffin songs.

Nameless (October 19, 2007)

Wrong!

"Anesthesia" is easily the best song on that entire disc. And that was a Brett song!

MisFit4Me (October 19, 2007)

Brett wrote the catchy songs and Greg wrote the thought out songs. Combined into an album, they fucking owned.

baseball (October 19, 2007)

they still own

lyrics on New Maps of Hell are fantastic

alkaline59 (November 14, 2007)

graffin writes the lyrics man. Mr. Brett may write some music with him, but graffin has always been the primary lyricist

Dante3000 (rich) (October 18, 2007)

Others on the list:
Common
KRS-One
Paul McCartney

It also bares noting that Graffin is apparently worse than Kevin Federline...according to Blender.
SO CONTROVERSIAL!
-Dante

damnitsderek (October 19, 2007)

COMMON?

Are you fucking joking me?

Adlai_E_Stevenson (October 19, 2007)

To their credit, the example they use as his worst lyric is pretty embarrassingly bad.

damnitsderek (October 19, 2007)

Yeah, but nobody is perfect. It's ridiculous that he made this list and someone like 50 Cent didn't.

JohnnyZ77 (October 19, 2007)

cant believe Paul McCartney and Greg Graffin are on this lift.

and Heather mills is a money hungry whore by the way!

SteveJonesTheRealBones (October 18, 2007)

i find it funny that they acknowledge kevin federline as a lyricist

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

someone138 (October 18, 2007)

I thought he just fucked rick chicks and lived off their money?

veganboyjosh (October 19, 2007)

i dunno about the rest of you, but i love me some rick chicks,

PervyD (October 19, 2007)

word.

JohnnyZ77 (October 19, 2007)

acknowledging federline as a lyricist is like pooping on poop.

Hi-ProGlow (October 18, 2007)

I really don't like Blender.

Does anybody know that one video?...it's by a hardcore band...'bunch of bros shooting people with paint ball guns. My friend was asking about it, and I have no idea.

givemeamuseumandillfillit (October 19, 2007)

http://www.myspace.com/thecrimesceneahc

Greatest band ever.

Ghost_of_D_Boon (October 18, 2007)

Blender Magazine = Toilet Paper With Pictures

CCSummers (October 18, 2007)

i feel really bad to whoever is reduced to whipping with magazines. that must hurt like a bitch

SteveJonesTheRealBones (October 18, 2007)

general outrage and vaginal sand

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

fallingupwards84 (October 18, 2007)

Jim Adkins should have been on here since all his shit is made up and meaningless to him anyway

lazylane (October 18, 2007)

Low blow.

Thus_Spoke_Sean (October 19, 2007)

oh for fucks sake. seriously? He writes GOOD songs. who cares if they are fictional, i'll take that over all the AWFUL music being written about fuck wad singer getting dumped in real life.

im sorry if i took the bait there, but jesus, why must we bitch about good music? isn't what we are supposed to "like" ?

jacknife737 (October 19, 2007)

yep because a metaphor never can never expressed anything close to emotion.
/sarc

jacknife737 (October 19, 2007)

times like these i wish we had an edit function.

BluthCo (October 19, 2007)

I bet there are a lot of others whose lyrics are fictional that don't admit it.

Concept (October 18, 2007)

I like how they include KRS-One and Common on a list of "The 40 Worst Lyricists In Rock ".

Plus the fact that they would pick those 2 out of all the rappers is just retarded.

SalsaShark (October 18, 2007)

To be fair, you are wrong.

I'm page 2 into the list and Diddy, K-Fed and Timbaland have all made appearances.

halfcutskeleton (October 18, 2007)

He said rappers.Not clowns.

Concept (October 18, 2007)

I wasn't implying that they only picked those 2, just the fact that they would pick those two when there is so much more to choose from.

Thanks for going out of your way to be right though.

SalsaShark (October 18, 2007)

Wow, well, thanks for going out of your way to be offended by me pointing out what I thought was a flaw in your statement. You flatter yourself an awful lot -- I didn't read the article to correct you, I read the article to read the article. Gasp!

And while I understand your point that they chose those two choices (I agree that they aren't good ones either), I was trying to show that they did select more from the "so much more to choose from," all of whom I mentioned are lower than Common on the list.

ForgetThisPlace (October 18, 2007)

I have verizon, so mxyertones doesn't work for me. Any other suggestions?

Ven89 (October 18, 2007)

http://mobile17.com

Welcome

allison_le_gnome (October 19, 2007)

I have the krazr/k1m and I had to hack into it.

letthebeatdrop (October 18, 2007)

a big fuck you goes out to blender for bringing death cab into this.

SalsaShark (October 18, 2007)

Greg Graffin? What the fuck? Of all of the people to pick, you go with... Greg Graffin? What a crock of shit.

Also, The Casualties should be #1 on this list. Now, I know why they are not on here (They're not famous enough). However, I am puzzled why the Ramones didn't make it (Good music, incredibly awful lyrics quite often).

fallingupwards84 (October 18, 2007)

nah the dumbed down lyrics were part of what made the Ramones so great

i dont wanna walk around with you
so why you wanna walk around with me?

NotPatriotic (October 19, 2007)

THe Ramones and the Casual9ties are abpur equal in lyrical quality both bandsw are not good. I have never understood why everyone loves the Ramones they are not that good aror even good at all.

Jesus_H_Christ (October 18, 2007)

When I start caring about your opinion, Blender, maybe I'll get pissed.

-tom

JayTee (October 18, 2007)

"This madness should speak like bullets smashing glass in a silent movie"

yeah that's just awful

How to make a pop culture trash list.... 90% duh-factor 10% taking shots at real artists for the sake of tipping a sacred cow.

Booooooring

Nameless (October 19, 2007)

You dork.

"Incomplete" is a Brett song.

JayTee (October 19, 2007)

DOH!

I keep forgetting he had a small hand in Stranger Than Fiction.

halfcutskeleton (October 18, 2007)

Shoot me if I ever take Blender magazine serious about anything.

NickBuysVinyl (October 18, 2007)

again, when did we start caring what Blender says? Maybe they are ripping these guys because they dont understand them. I mean, this is a magazine that prasies mediocricy and frequently covers talentless acts. Simply put: the lyrics in some of the bands' songs they are bashing are simply too intelligent for the people behind this shitrag.

Alcus (October 18, 2007)

OK!! Everyone help me out...doing my Fest schedule and I can't decide between the lawrence arms or the gaslight anthem

NoControl (October 18, 2007)

larrys

eran_zombis (October 19, 2007)

The lineup for the show the lawrence arms are playing has more star power than the gaslight anthem show. That'd make it a more energetic, less personal experience. I'd probably choose the Fat showcase.

fallingupwards84 (October 19, 2007)

are you kidding me? larry

mikesinkovich (October 19, 2007)

gaslight

Nameless (October 19, 2007)

I'd go for Gaslight Anthem, but... I don't really know much about the Lawrence Arms. So it would be the one I go for.

NotPatriotic (October 19, 2007)

Witchlses with Dicks is beter than both bands,and its thier lasts show ever waht ch thempunk.

misterspike (October 19, 2007)

You're new here, aren't you?

Smitty17 (October 18, 2007)

I hope Rollins tears this guys head off. He is the last person I would talk shit about.

DrewXFishy (October 19, 2007)

hell yea he would too

Albert_Belle (October 19, 2007)

Define shock value.

Albert_Belle (October 19, 2007)

I'll give ya a hint. Kitchen appliance.

istapledmyfoot (October 19, 2007)

This dude is a phallus but he's got a killer vocabulary. Doggerel? Tarantella? Abstruse? It almost makes me ignore how obvious and irrelevant his commentary is.

damnitsderek (October 19, 2007)

I saw "tarantella" and immediately thought of Super Taranta! .

Nameless (October 19, 2007)

Didn't Punknews have a link to this article in a different story?

SlackMFr (October 19, 2007)

BLENDER is a poor SPIN on ROLLING STONE.

(a worse trilogy than the newest Star Wars films)

Nameless (October 19, 2007)

I see what you did there...

douglas_is_rad (October 19, 2007)

Blender = the biggest attention whores on this planet.

"Our articles are controversial. Please read our magazine!!! PLEASE!"

jakeweed (October 19, 2007)

now i know for sure that i have zero respect for blender. anyone who bashes greg graffin's lyrics is a fool.

Hey_ska (October 19, 2007)

If i were Sting, i'd be plotting to bomb the Blender headquarters. Fuck Blender.

AlmostPunkEnough (October 19, 2007)

to repeat what everyone else has said: Blender is fucking trash, and no one in the goddamn world take them seriously.

it's Maxim!!! but for MUSIC!!! get it????? no?

elephantdwarf (October 19, 2007)

99% of the world hates dashboard confessional according to this. so... that means 1% likes it. that's still a preposterously high number of people. dude needs to get his math correct.

skamocore (October 19, 2007)

yeah 60 million fans would be pretty cool, actually

Cos (October 19, 2007)

Best Bad Religion lyrics:

(from "1000 Fools")

I heard them say that the meek shall reign on earth,
Phantasmal myriads of sane bucolic birth.

and

The masses are obsequious, contented in their sleep.
The vortex of their minds ensconsed within the murky deep.

Long live Thesaurus Rock!

Jesus_H_Christ (October 19, 2007)

Dictioncore.

-tom

Splendidtune (October 19, 2007)

Bad Religion>Blender

damnitsderek (October 19, 2007)

What Blender is failing to recognize is that NOBODY IS FUCKING PERFECT.

No one is going to write amazing, brilliant lyrics with every song they pen to paper.

All that Blender does is pick a song or two that obviously isn't the best from any given artist and use that to make them look horrible.

Jesus Christ, this is nothing but flamebait written by idiots looking for a rise out of people.

thomas7155 (October 19, 2007)

Dude, Jim morrison is on this list. String Is number one. It looks like what they did is took some of the greatest lyricists of all time, and then mixed in a few retards (K-fed, Ryan Ross, Fred durst) to make it look like they knew anything about lyricism. I mean, Greg Graffin is the greatest lyricist of all time. His songs are profound, yet ridiculously catchy and aggressive. I mean, really If they wanted to pick on a singer for a skatepunk band, they should used Fat Mike.

elephantdwarf (October 19, 2007)

fuck jim morrison. and who is String?

Autosuggestion (October 19, 2007)

The frontman of the String Cheese Incident.

elephantdwarf (October 19, 2007)

cheese is a good guitarist.

greenerton (October 20, 2007)

even fat mike is an excellent lyricist, considering the style of the band...not necessarily profound most of the time, but certainly witty and well thought out

thomas7155 (October 19, 2007)

Oh, and while I DO find Rollins style a little repetitive (saying the same thing over and over in a song), his lyrics are still pretty good. Like the verses of "Rise Above".

fallingupwards84 (October 19, 2007)

thanks for taking the time to define "repetitive" for us

Adlai_E_Stevenson (October 19, 2007)

I think you're being sarcastic (saying the opposite of what you mean with satiric intent).

Rozcoemission (October 19, 2007)

They probably have Dave Matthews and the singers from Creed, and Nickleback on their "best lyricists" list... fuck blender, they're a bunch of tampons!

Killtaker (October 19, 2007)

Hmmm...Blender Magazine...recent covers: Woman From Pussycat Dolls (have no idea what her name is), Guy from Saturday Night Live (again, no idea), and Avril Lavigne.

Very credible music magazine.

Cox_Attack (October 19, 2007)

I don't know how you can diss Rollins lyrics. He's completely sincere in what he sings/says. I think that alone makes him a great lyricist.

For real, I hope he storms Blender and a blood bath ensues.

abrrock (October 19, 2007)

yea, the list is stupid but this line made me laugh

"Anthony Kiedis: The Buddhist in the frat house"

rupson (October 19, 2007)

Blender makes a great firestarter. Just put some under your kindling, and POOF! - you gotta nice fire in about 30 secs.

scorpiondeathlock (October 19, 2007)

the fact that alanis morisette and noel gallagher are on this list is fucking ridicilous.

even more ridicilous is how awesome this is

"Baby, let's put the X in sex/Love's like a muscle, and you make me wanna flex" ("Let's Put the X in Sex")

those should be on the 40 most genius lyrics ever.

rob_rob (October 19, 2007)

Someone cares about what the blender thinks?

Mafiachick1313 (October 19, 2007)

Fuckheads. Graffin and Rollins are great lyricist.Blender's fuckin' retarded.The only issue i read was the one with Danzig.

MARKO630 (October 21, 2007)

i dont care, i like limp bizkit

BrandonSideleau (October 22, 2007)

wow...someone should take the people at Blender and skin them alive......Greg Graffin is one of the greatest lyricists in the history of music and Henry's stuff is all very intelligent and introspective. These guys should just shut the fuck up and go back to listening to whatever garbage music they listen to.