Submitted by libertarian1994 t3_zr8a2d in Music
So I know this is really random, but does anyone else find most of Steve millers music to be weird, not make any sense, and honestly… not that good?
Submitted by libertarian1994 t3_zr8a2d in Music
So I know this is really random, but does anyone else find most of Steve millers music to be weird, not make any sense, and honestly… not that good?
Get out.
Well, some people call him that.
But others call him the gangster of love ...
I’ve always called him Maurice 🤷🏻♂️
It was fun sing-along music back in the day. "I want to fly like an eagle..." is still in my head.
Fun fact: Boz Scaggs was the bass player until he went solo.
This is what I remember about Steve Miller
Back in the 90s, his concerts had the hottest girls attending.
Because he speaks of the pompatus of love?
Really? That’s crazy because even by the 90’s his music was getting pretty old.
His bass player is awesome.
I used his music to teach ESL in Colombia and the hottest girls imaginable loved it and started following me around so there's that.
Yeah, I saw him a couple times back then and it was surprising to me too. Good shows too.
I have never heard anything by Steve Miller Band that I would consider “weird”, but also I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything beyond their big radio hits. can anyone provide any examples?
Just found out they’re from the 70s and not the 90s. Super ahead of their time no?
I find most of it to be boring and bland musically. However, he did have at least a couple that were exceptions to the rule: Jungle Love, Threshold/Jet Airliner.
Not weird at all, compared to the stuff he was imitating. Doesn’t make much less sense than the rest of what was on the radio in his heyday. He’s derivative and not much of a singer, but he had maybe 8 or 10 decent songs and that’s more than most artists. I can’t imagine why anyone would either hate or love his music. (Except of course for Miles Davis, who was quite reasonably pissed off at having to open for him. One of Bill Graham’s few bad pairings.)
Just read the lyrics on some of his big hits and try to make sense of what he’s talking about
Can you give some examples of the other artist you’re comparing him to? I’m 27, so my basis for comparison is really just rooted in the cassettes and cd’s my dad had lol
Saw him just a few years ago when he toured with Peter Frampton. The guy still has it. His voice was still good, his playing was on point, and the visuals were entertaining. Took my 20 something daughter. We both loved the concert.
The entire B side of Circle of Love is one long weird song.
Boz and Steve were classmates and started a band together when they were like 12 or 15. Saw Steve w Marty Stuart a few years ago. Outstanding show; under appreciated guitar chops, and no one sounds quite like him.
Fly Like An Eagle is a great record .
*inhales deeply* "Leaving home, out on the road..."
Abra abracadabra, I wanna reach out and grab you
Eddie Money had a similar sound. Others might include Tommy Bolin or Peter Frampton.
He did in the late 80s
He comes out of the psychedelic blues scene in the US from the late 60s, so of course there's some "weird" stuff in there. And he's definitely more than his 70s hit songs which kind of turned into college party anthems in the 80s & 90s.
Depending on what you're into, a deep dive might yield some of his more interesting stuff.
Also, in general.. it's often the music you find "weird" that ends up being some of your favorite stuff as your ears attune to it, while the stuff you like right away can become boring and disposable.
As a guy who was a teen during his heyday I could never understand his level of success. His stuff was good, but not hit parade number one, constant rotation good.
Wild Mountain Honey is a wierdly constructed tune.
I've been listening to him since I was 10 years old,,absolutely love jet airliner but I was born in 66 also,,opinions vary
He had a song around 1969 that sounded very much like Hendrix. The riff that opens Jet Airliner is the same as Cream’s Crossroads. Another one steals the riff from the Stones’ Jumpin Jack Flash. The Joker takes whole lines from an obscure 1950s R&B song
I’ve always thought that Steve Miller’s The Joker is the sonic blueprint for Sublime’s What I Got.
I like how Steve Miller’s stuff is so simple yet so effective. He’s like the poster boy for Keep It Simple Stupid.
Steve has an odd catalog. There's this constant pull between doing what he wanted to do, not really knowing what he wanted to do, doing what was popular and trying to sell records so, yeah, it's a little weird and uneven.
He comes from a folk and blues background but started off playing psychedelic rock. He hit a comfortable (ish) stride in the 70s where he managed to fuse his background with a slicker, more arena rock style. While he managed to get one radio hit out of it, he didn't pull off the next transition into a new wave sound off in the early 80s as well. After that he pretty much went back to his roots and stuck closer to his blues background.
It is uneven but, damn, there are some amazing freaking songs in his catalog, even from the earlier years. It takes digging but there are some true gems in there.
People judge the mid 70s hits, but know nothing about the album tracks and early material.
BunkytheClown t1_j126r6m wrote
No, I find it weird, nonsensical, and pretty good.