BUSH: Why Critics Hated Gavin Rossdale's Band
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
- Why critics didn't like Gavin Rossdale's band Bush.
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While grunge music was on it’s way out by the mid 90’s a new sub-genre of rock called post-grunge sprouted up in it’s final days and one of those early bands was British group Bush. Despite selling millions of records and selling out tours, they would be lambasted by critics as being derivative of the bands from Seattle. Today let’s talk about why critics hated Bush, what they had to say about them and the one legend who gave advice to frontman Gavin Rossdale on how to cope with all the hate.
Compared to the grunge bands before them, Bush leader Gavin Rossdale had a pretty posh upbringing. Growing up in the northwestern, London his father was a doctor who had politically connected patients some of which were part of the African National Congress. His mother meanwhile was a model. Rossdale would attend a prestigious prep school, and attempt a career at soccer that was cut short due to an injury. His parents would divorce when he was just 11 and he would be raised by his father and aunt.
All the members of Bush, had older siblings who were teen-agers in the late ‘70s, when the punk explosion was at its peak. They would be exposed to groups like the clash and the Sex Pistols. Rossdale was a late arrival to picking up guitar not playing the instrument until he turned 19. He would tell Chicago Tribune “I left home at 17, was this wandering soul at 19, and decided to become a singer--a very purposeful decision to be the singer, because I wanted to be rich and famous. It was then I decided I wanted to be on a stage craving the attention of thousands of people.”
Rossdale would support himself with odd jobs while playing in a variety of bands one of which was named Midnight who actually landed a record deal, but they eventually went nowhere. According to Rossdale, he soon became damaged goods in London and moved to America in 1991, relying on the kindness of friends and in some cases ex-girlfriends to survive.
IT WAS IN November of 1991 while attending a bryan adams show Rossdale met his future bandmate nigel pulsford. The pair bonded over their love of Pixies and decided to start a band adding bassist Dave Parsons and drummer Robin Goodridge. ” The quartet would call themselves Bush, a name which was inspired by Shepherd’s Bush, a district in west London”
Bush soon recorded a demo and got signed to hollywood records,long story short they lost their record deal after one of the big wigs who backed Bush died in a helicopter crash. But, they would be rescued by Interscope who put out their debut record Sixteen Stone on December 6th, 1994. The first single was such a massive success that the album, which was due out in early 1995 had it’s release date moved up a month earlier.
It was in the fall of 1994, LA radio station KROQ started playing the song ‘‘Everything Zen’ and well the singles just continued - Machine Head, Come Down, Little Things. Glycerine. The album would go on to sell over six million copies in America. Some chalked up the band’s success not just to their musical talent, but their lack of competition.
‘
Compared to 1994, 1995 was a light year for alternative rock bands,
Despite the success of Bush, critics weren’t fans. The band received a lot of comparisons to bands from Seattle, most notably Nirvana.. Rolling Stone even did a whole piece on the band in 1996 titled “nirvanawannabees.’ Bush tried to ignore the comparisons, but you couldn’t deny the similarities: Rossdale recalled seeing Nirvana in 1991 when he first moved to America, he dated or was at least friends with Courtney Love, he dealt with chronic stomach pain like Kurt Cobain, they shared similar influences, and Bush would even worked with Nirvana producer Steve Albini on their second record. Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl even saw the similarities and it escalated with a short lived feud between the pair. Grohl apparently wore a shirt with Bush’s name on it, but the S was replaced with a dollar sign.
Rossdale would answer these comparisons telling Spin “I didn’t teach myself to sing in a certain way,” “You can’t manufacture that, you know. “That Seattle comparison is really such a lazy one,” “If you’ve got loud guitars, and the singing isn’t screechy-high,
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Never understood the hate for the group loved Sixteen Stone. Agree?
Agreed.
Swallowed is a pretty good track. They were just too pretty lol
Disagree. I understand the hate. I like many of their songs, but I cannot listen to some songs like Swallowed or Comedown. They're good songs, but they're very sentimental too.
Great album
Back in the mid-90's I loved Bush and 16 stone. However, even then at only 16 or so I could hear the waning creativity in their music on Razorblade Suitcase. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't inventive or different enough and by the late 90's that sound had been done so many times and often much better than they managed to compose it. It's a shame they didn't blossom into something bigger and better with Razorblade Suitcase, like Gavin's comparison of Smashing Pumpkins progression from Gish to Siamese Dream. Considering Gavin's own admission of only wanting to be a singer for fortune and fame, Grohl's "BU$H" shirt sounds pretty spot on. At least Gavin achieved his dream, just not the longevity. I think the lack of genuine artistic/creative vision that is really required for long term success in any performance art caught up with the band.
Sixteen Stone and Razorblade have never left my playlists. From cassette to cb to digital. Two awesome albums.
Even Science of Things was amazing. Golden State is where I kind of checked out, but no one can deny those first three albums.
@@user-tz2zz5ij1s I’ll have to give science a spin then.
@@user-tz2zz5ij1sto me, Chemicals Between Us is up there with the best rock songs. I've always loved it. They took chances which I wish more artists would do.
Grew up on the west coast and was a huge Nirvana Fan. Bush came out with their first album and it was awesome too. Didn't feel the need to make any comparisons at all. Just enjoyed it. Felt that Kurt's work was more emotional and personal than the Bush stuff was. Grunge was just hard rock music in the end. More hard rock music CD's the better
Exactly, I never even realized there was the contention, they shared a genre but the comparisons for me ended there , bush was more romantic and nirvana was more visceral
It's crazy how people like to think you have to choose one or the other. I loved both bands, although I preferred Bush a little more, probably because Nirvana was already done, when I started listening to them.
@@CharlieFaderthat's super weird cause Bush only had 1 decent album while Nirvana released 5 that were all masterpieces from start to finish
@@xp8969 that’s subjective. What album was that according to you? Sixteen Stone?
@@xp8969 That is opinion as is anything with respect to music/art/style. I like Bush more thna Nirvana too. There are Nirvana songs that are in my "favorite of all time" list but overall they do not resoonate with me like Bush does. There is no black and white scale to determine which music speaks to each person body and soul. I also enjoy that they are relasesing new music now. Gavin's career was resurrcted when he was cast on the UK version of The Voice. That spurred him to release 2 new Bush albums since 2020 and they have produced hits that charted, their latest "More Than Machines" being the 2nd Bush song to ever hit #1 in the UK. I believe many 90's Bush fans are unaware that they got back together in 2010 (Gavin & 1 OG member) and have released 5 albumns since (2011, 2014, 2017, 2020, 2022).
I still love this band
Me too!! 😊
Their first 3 albums are great. After that though, I could care less.
Me too. 😊
I do, as well.
@@RyanAnthonyDigitalMedia Golden State was still pretty good overall
I love Bush! Machinehead, Glycerine, and Comedown are great records! Gavin is a huge influence on me as a vocalist.
Those are songs, not records fyi
@@actionjacksondan🤓☝️
I wasn't aware of the hate and loved the first album. I can't tell you how many days/weeks I would play Glycerine on repeat to help make it through young adulthood. Somehow that song was able to smooth out the ragged edges of life so that all the stuff that was going on around me didn't hurt as much as I knew it should and listening to it allowed me to get back up whenever I got knocked down.
Same. Didn’t realize they were getting hate. Everyone I knew liked them just fine without drawing comparisons.
Love the first 2 wasn’t feeling the 3ird onwards so much
🤮
@@Devik666 The Science of Things album is underrated as hell...
Sixteen Stone is STILL one of the best albums of the 90's. I didn't care much for their other stuff, but I always circle back to it....such a great 'snapshot' of the times 🙂.
Absolute truth.
🤣🤮
The Science of Things was a good album. I still listen to Letting the Cables Sleep and The Chemicals Between Us. Glycerin and Machinehead are excellent songs from other albums.
In the 90s: "does it sound like the other bands? bad!!!!"
Now: "does it sound exactly like every other artist with their computer beats/autotune? genius! sublime! best of all time
The worst 90's rock is still better than the utter crap we get now.
Sublime was just awful sound. Sublime is, Give me a needle and nothing to do for 7 days. Even then, they sucked.
Always adored Bush 🖤 Gavin possesses an absolutely beautiful voice.
Bush is pretty good. Even Rossdale's later stuff, like Bush's 2010s Renaissance with stuff like "The Sound of Winter" and his side project Institute, were fun listens.
Razorblade Suitcase is a legit masterpiece. The songwriting is excellent, Nigel's experimental and eerie guitar work combined with the classic Steve Albini sound really made the record special
Nigel is so underrated...
I'll have to check it out
@@CharlieFader Never a truer statement!!
Greedy Fly was a great showing of their musical talent.
@@krymera666x7 it had such a cool drum groove in the verses from Robin.
Haters gonna hate. Bush is one of the greatest bands ever. Saw them live in Vancouver last night and they still put on one of the best shows ever. Rossdale is an absolute treasure with a stellar band along side him. Keep rocking Bush! We love it!
"Sixteen Stone" is one of the best debut records and one of the best albums of all-time.
Word !
Maybe not all time tho : )
I actually liked them a lot in the 90s and early 2000s. Good band!
I like them much better these days then I use to. They put on a great live show.
Just saw them and it was a great show and the new material is also very good. Props to them for still doing it.
Sixteen Stone is one of those albums that is fantastic from start to finish
First 2 albums were obviously massively influenced by 90's Seattle bands but Gavins strongest songwriting was on "Science of things" , it was darker, moodier contained synths,keyboards and strings, more variety of song/genre and more importantly had it's own identity 🙏 Great album 🏆
Everyone's influenced by somebody, somewhere. I never thought they were copying Nirvana.Gavin was lovely but that's not why I listened to them.
Still love Bush.Surprised he didn't mention the Bush X story.
Glycerine brings back a lot of sad memories of when one of my best friends died back in highschool. I swear I heard the song everywhere I went.
I feel that. It was a bittersweet song for sure, but it had the opposite effect for me - whenever I was sad or doubted life or thought about what the world would be like if I left it I would play Glycerine for hours and hours on repeat and it would bring me to a sort of neutral place no matter how negative or dark my thoughts were. It was like drowning and just laying back to float to the surface.
Razorblade suitcase is still one of my favourite albums
I was just a kid and some of my first records where Nirvana, Bush, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, Nirvana and Weezer. I believed as a kid all these bad mostly hated each other. I know most magazines at there best hated Weezer, STP, Bush and even Rolling Stone where not big fans of the Pumpkins. After decades I can now listen to Sixteen Stone in piece and know it is a solid record. A good 4/5 stars.
I got into bush as a teenager in the mid 2000’s when I saw the movie Fear. I know they sound like nirvana but I was always able to tell the two apart. 🤷♂️
Have always liked them, He's an excellent writer, and they've continued to make great music to this day
love Bush, especially Razorblade Suitcase, which is amongst Grunge's ten best albums imho. While I see the Seattle comparison, I never heard THAT much similarity to Nirvana. The voice is way different and tends to follow the guitar a lot more, the lyrics are way less weird, the noise slide/leadguitar is also a big factor.
Another Song I LOVE by Bush is "Distant Voices." I can't describe it, but the melody, lyrics, instruments is just so beautifully done. Just makes my heart feel...bittersweet
I really never got the comparison. I thought of Nirvana always as an unrefined, great, almost punk rock type band. Bush was way different. Bush was a more refined, slick, hard rock type band. I can now see some similarities, and you pointed them out in your video, but back then, they were nothing like each other, to me. Great video!
As a huge Bowie fan I would like to know how the two knew each other and how the line from Bowie's song "Mickey Mouse grew up a cow" was put into Bush's song.
It's ironic that some of the bands critic's loved are no longer around yet Bush are still making music and touring. Not to mention sixteen stone is in my opinion a classic.
I really enjoy this TH-cam channel!!! I absolutely love music!!! 🎵 🎶 🎸
Glad you enjoy it!
I love Bush & always have. Thought they were underrated. Thank you for covering them.
Everybody sounded like each other at any point in time in music
I really loved Bush from the moment I heard everything zen. Saw them twice in concert. Fantastic on stage. They were popular in Australia.
*The lesson is "critics and gatekeepers suck".* Bush was a terrific band with a ton of hits in the early years. I always loved how their sound was inspired by Pixies. I find it so curious when people hate a band because they sound too similar to a band they like. It makes no sense.
Imagine Dave Grohl mocking them with a t-shirt with a $ on it... and then went on to Foo Fighters to produce the most radio friendly stuff you could think of in rock. I don't dislike Foo Fighters and I love Nirvana, but sometimes the guy really seems to have a screw loose. He's worshipped as this Platonic ideal of a rock star, but I really don't like the guy personally (not saying I actually know him, I just really don't wanna have a beer with him.)
@@mercster Grohl was just jealous, apparently his girlfriend at the time was on tour with Gavin and the boys.
@@CharlieFader Ahh, yea maybe so.
I love Bush. Have since Sixteen Stone. They’re great live.
Bush was always blasting back in the day. I saw them in Buffalo for the Sixteen Stone tour. It was a life changing concert!
I also don't get the Nirvana comparison. They didn't sing alike, Nirvana was way way much more punk and it showed in almost every song. It's like if you're young, in a band and blond then you're the same.
cant say I like them but that damn Woodstock performance was something else . dude brought it !
I don't care what the critics say. Glycerine still brings tears to my eyes after 30 years.
I was a closet Bush fan in high school. I proudly wore Marilyn Manson and NIN shirts everyday so I couldn’t let it be known I dug them.
WOW, Edgy!.
Say what you will, the guy still knows how to write an emotional song
I think he tried, but I didn’t feel any. When Cobain sings he’s technically doing everything wrong but it sounds great because he’s real, he’s baring his soul, and you can tell he means it. When Rosdale sings he’s doing everything technically wrong and it sounds horrible because he’s bored to death and so am I.
I always liked Bush. I guess if you don’t pay attention to the music press/critics you can just enjoy what you like!
People gave STP guff for ‘copying’ Pearl Jam, which if you’re a musician is ridiculous. Different feel, tones, different vocal delivery. Ed should’ve gotten more Springsteen criticism than Scott received compared to Ed.
I genuinely like 'em! Whenever their music comes on my Spotify or TH-cam Music, I jam out, raise the volume. Cool music. Why not?
I never knew about this hatred. I loved Bush as a teen. I still live their music. Gavin was always a sexy man
They came out when I was in Jr. high. as small town middle America no where kids, we loved Bush. still listen to them in my 40s
Bush X 🇨🇦 I meet Gavin around the time that Rolling Stone magazine was released he autographed it and scribbled out the word "seriously"
Bush has always been great. Their newest album is pretty damn good.
i had an entire summer with 16 stone. one of my all time favorite cd's every song!
I went to a bush concert. They put on an amazing show, I would buy tickets again in a second
OMG I GOTTA GET BACK TO THE 90s.
I always enjoy their softest songs,being "Letting the Cable Sleep," my favorite. I think Razorblade Suitcase and Sciene of Things are my favorite albums. But yeah,some of their songs can be boring.
Other favorite songs:
Bubbles (Mallrats)
"Straight no Chaser",
"A Tendency to Star Fires"
"Greedy Fly,""Cold Contagious," "History,""Synapse" "Bonedriven" "Out of this World" "Glycerin" (live), "Hurricane" "Mind changer" "Chemicals Between Us"
Sixteen Stone was a monumental album. I was 7 years old when it came out. I still listen to the album all these years later. Fantastic album. Their second record is very very good as well.
Love these guys seen them the Goo Goo Dolls way back in the day and saw them again with Theory of a Dead man recently!
Only really listened to the first 2 album and liked them. Razorblade Suitcase was the first CD I ever bought.
Nirvana vs Bush? Apples & oranges. Bush still going strong, live performances are great!
I love Bush! Grew up listening to them and Gavin was my first crush. I ended up meeting him back in 2011. He is so nice!
I always liked Bush. I didn’t think they were incredible or anything, but they have some memorable stuff for sure, and I enjoyed following them in the 90’s. Comedown, little things and machinehead are still amazing as far as I’m concerned!
While nowhere near my favorite, I still like this band. Swallowed still pops into my head unbidden.
I’ve loved Bush from the beginning! Funny, I went to London for the 1st time in 1995. When I got to my hostel, they were playing Bush. I went to the rec room, the TV was on, and there was a Bush video on MTV. They’ve been popular in my world.
I was 22, almost 23 when Nevermind came out. I was well aware of the underground music scene. That said, I liked Bush a lot, especially their 2nd albums. Most critics aren't cool enough to be musicians so they take out their anger and jealousy on bands with their pens.
First cd I ever bought. Still get heat from that decision
I was obsessed with Sixteen Stone for 2 years & think every album to date has had some great tracks. Saw Bush at Edenfest 96 in Canada...amazing. Gavin's solo album Wanderlust was decent, but leaned too pop-rock for my taste. Two standout songs not on any Bush/Gavin album are "Adrenaline" (written for the movie XXX in 2002) & his colab with symphonic metal band Apocalyptica, "End of Me". I also like Nirvana & never thought they sounded even remotely alike. IMO, critics couldn't handle a post grunge band with a lead as model gorgeous as Gavin Rosdale.
Just saw them live this year, first two albums are still 🔥
You should do a story about them being called Bush X in Canada at the beginning of their career.
Gavin had a gift for melody. I can appreciate that.
My first concert was Bush, The Toadies and Blur October 2nd 1995 at the FOX THEATER in Atlanta ga. They used footage from that show for the video to Glycerin.
Do a video on the band "cold and "earshot". Both on back on tour now
Shows what a cridic knows! Bush was awesome!! Loved there music!!
Why no mention about the Sound of Winter when they came back? It was one of the most surprising/successful band comebacks
No Nigel, no Bush man... Nigel was the secret weapon. Gavin at that point was just using the Bush name. Sure songs like Sound of Winter, Flowers on a Grave, and Bullet Holes are pretty darn good jams but nothing compared to their earlier stuff...
Badass band... I still play their c d's on a regular rotation. And yes I said c d's! Truth is I own a copy of that music and if the world of computer Storage goes to hell in a Handbasket, I can still reach over and pop in my cds and Listen wherever and whenever I want.🤘😎🤘
The first 2 Bush albums are soooo good. "Comedown", "Little Things", "Glycerin", "Greedy Fly", "Machine Head", etc are such great songs. Very catchy and well made songs. Gavin Rossdale has a terrific voice and I like the guitar/bass tones and production. I never was into their third album and beyond but man those first two albums are just great.
Them 2 are excellent
razorblade suitcase is one of my favorite albums of all time, in utero definitely above it on my list, steve albini no nonsense production is the way music should be recorded
I was 19 when 16 stone came out. I remember hearing Come Down for the first time and was reminded domewhat of grunge given the distorted guitars at the beginning of the track.
Regardless of whether Bush was influenced by the Pixies (as Gavin has Claimed) or Seattle grunge, i think its a moot point.
Razorblade Suitcase gave me and my friends a welcome releif to all the Oasis that was playing on the radio at the time.
Loved Bush from day 1 and still do. See them in concert every chance I get!!
I remember seeing Gavin on Rolling Stones magazine and had Nirvanawannabes on the headline
Razorblade Suitcase is awesome, the slow, low end, distorted guitars produced by Albini are freaking great.
And what people are hearing when they compare them to Nirvana is actually the Pixies influence that both Bush and Nirvana had.
Razorblade Suitcase is their best stuff in my opinion, more grit combined with melody.
Great band! Greedy Fly is their best song.
Saw them live maybe five years ago. They put on a fantastic show.
Loved them then and now.
I gotta say.. I decided not to see Bush when they toured the states in 95. To this day I really regretted that. They were to play Tramps here in NYC, a small more intimate supper club venue. I got to see many other bands there such as Girls Against Boys, Face to Face, and Elastica. I jumped on the next chance I got to see Bush in NJ some 16 years later. Aside from the man bun, Gavin was on point and every song was completely solid.
best band of the 90s and still rock today! my all time favorite band!
Well, obviously. Shaving helps keep it fresher, smoother, and softer.
'critics of bush' haha shave that caveman lookin tumbleweed
Love their music and I like Gavin a lot. I wish the original members were still together
I actually really enjoyed Bush' last album. Real bangers on there, catchy songs, well crafted album.
I remember when i first heard them. I loved it. I thought of Grunge as Grunge and, to me, Bush didn't have anything to do with that. "Post Grunge" was not a thing back then. That was a term that came along years later and it's a misnomer. Back then, we were calling it Alternative. STP was another band that was considered Alternative that came out around that time; and Toadies. I have never heard anyone compare Nirvana and Bush until now. That seems strange to me. I mean, I guess they are both bands that play music. Other than that, I don't see a similarly.
I guess, if Rolling Stone is your idea of what's cool in music, I can see why you wouldn't like anything decent.
Very good point about it just being called "alternative". There was too much labeling after the fact by critics. STP were labeled as a grunge copy band by critics, and that blinded people to their LA hard rock and 60s psychedelic pop influences. Modern bands like Narrow Head are dealing with the same labeling. Everyone has their say on which alternative band Narrow Head "sounds like" according to their own point of view, and it ends up being a list of like 30 different bands in total. Well, maybe they're just another good alternative rock band and not ripping off anyone in particular.
Saw them in concert and they put on a pretty good show back in the 90s.
The singles off sixteen stone helped me feel good at learning guitar when I was 13.
I didn't learn that stone was a unit of measure until much, much later.
I'm not gonna lie (usually how a lie begins😃)... but I thought Bush was an ok band. Every time I hear Machine Head, which is usually preceeded by a decent amount of time, I get a little amped up. That song seems to have a "driven" or an aggressive push to it. Just sounds cool. But ya, Sixteen Stone is a pretty cool album. Were they ever my favorite band? No. But did I sorta rock out whenever I heard them? Ya. A little bit.
Goid stuff, my guy.
👃😎👃
Definitely with you on the aggressive push to it, which made it my favorite track as well
Haha. He said "bush"...
I thank you all are dam good keep up the good songs your number 1 I wish you the best jam on my last name is bush tack care GODBLESS ROCK ON
Sixteen Stone is easily one of the best albums ever made. Absolute gold from start to finish, to this day. They got pretty hit and miss after that, but when you peak out of the gate, that'll happen
Yeah, of course the comparisons with the Seattle grunge bands was fair - I always knew that, and I didn't care. I loved the Seattle sound, I wanted more of it and Bush were offering that. Rossdale's background was irrelevant to me, because the songs seemed authentic and that was all that mattered. Some acts just get a target painted on them by the music press, the journalists all pile onto what seems like an easy target and it takes a brave soul indeed to express a contrary opinion ... It was the same with Stone Temple Pilots and more recently with Lana Del Rey. As Bowie said, the only thing the artist can do then is outlive their critics.
I was 17 the year sixteen stone came out and I really liked it. And I really liked “greedy fly” off of razor blade suitcase. The first two albums were fantastic. Later albums weren’t bad,just seemed repetitive.
i remember going to chicago's q101 twisted 8 ball around 2001 or something. bush really stole the show that evening and was not expecting it. what a show
I rember at 16 when they came. I thought they sounded nothing like Nirvana. I loved what they were doing sonically. Their song writing was totally original. Sixteen Stone became the soundtrack of my teenage years.
They sound pretty much like them. So much so that Dave Grohl called them out
@@msnewsenior Not really tho.. you want a Nirvana wannabe band try Puddle of Mudd.. Bush had a much more distinct sound and in my opinon were more refined than Nirvana...
I'm Still Breathing In And Out While Walking From My Machines.
Everything Zen.... I dont think so !!!!
Man Bush was my fav band from 1994-2000
Saw them live in the Shepherds Bush Empire in April 96, was so insane
Met the Gavin backstage after too !!!
I've always liked them. Never compared them to Nirvana.
My 26 year old daughter even likes them.
Still a fan of Bush. I may not love every single album, but I dig more of their music than not. The last two albums are both killer. I've seen them live twice, 2019 & 2022. Both times they put on a great show!! 🤘